Skin· 4 min read
A Simple Routine for Sensitive Skin: Cleanse, Moisturise, Face Oil
Two or three steps, done gently morning and evening. A calm daily routine for sensitive skin, and how to add actives slowly when your skin is ready.
Words: Íris Laxdal
When skin feels stressed, the instinct is often to add more: another serum, a stronger treatment, a new step. In my experience, sensitive skin asks for the opposite. A short routine, done gently every morning and evening, is where calm, balanced skin begins.
This is the routine I come back to myself and the one I suggest when someone writes to me saying their skin reacts to everything. Two or three steps. That is all.
Step 1: Cleanse Gently
Everything starts with a cleanse that leaves skin soft rather than tight. Oil cleansing works on the simple principle that oil attracts oil, so it lifts away makeup, sunscreen and the day without stripping the skin.
Massage two or three pumps of Wildflower Oil Cleanser into dry skin, including the eye area. Add a little warm water and it turns into a light milk. Rinse with water or a warm damp cloth. In the morning, a splash of lukewarm water or a quick cleanse is often enough.
A good routine for sensitive skin is not about doing more. It is about doing a few things well, every day.
Step 2: Moisturise
A moisturiser brings water back into the skin and helps support its natural barrier, the layer that keeps moisture in and irritants out. Lupine Bloom Moisturizer has a light, milky texture with niacinamide, panthenol and lupine peptides together with our Icelandic Botanical Complex. Smooth one or two pumps over clean face, neck and décolleté.
If your skin is on the oilier side or you prefer to keep things very simple, you can skip this step and go straight to the face oil.
Step 3: Seal With a Face Oil
A face oil is the step that brings comfort, especially in dry winter air and wind. Warm two or three drops of Arctic Youth Face Oil between your palms and press gently into skin that is still slightly damp. Ten plant oils, Arctic bilberry, blackcurrant and blue tansy with our Icelandic Botanical Complex help soothe the look of redness and dryness and leave skin with a healthy-looking glow.
Used after the moisturiser, the oil helps hold that moisture in. On its own, straight after cleansing, it is a complete two-step routine.
Two Steps or Three?
- Two steps: cleanse and face oil. Lovely for normal or oilier skin, or simply for the days you want less.
- Three steps: cleanse, moisturise and face oil. For dry, tight or stressed skin, and for our long Icelandic winters.
In the morning, finish with sunscreen. It is one of the kindest things you can do for sensitive skin.
When You Are Ready: Add Actives Slowly
Once your skin feels calm and comfortable, you may want to add a serum. Introduce one at a time, a few times a week to begin with, and give your skin a few weeks before adding anything else. Apply serums after cleansing and before your moisturiser.
- Morning: Sun Glow Vitamin-C Serum with 15% THD, a stable form of vitamin C, and Arctic berries for brighter-looking skin. Fragrance free and suitable for sensitive skin. Always follow with sunscreen.
- Evening: Moon Magic Bio-Retinol Serum with clinically studied 1% bakuchiol, a plant alternative to retinol, and astaxanthin from Icelandic microalgae. Fragrance free and suitable for sensitive skin.
Keep Sun Glow to the mornings and Moon Magic to the evenings. As always with something new, try a little on a small patch of skin first.
Give It Time
Skin renews itself slowly, so give a new routine four to six weeks. Notice how your skin feels in the morning, after a cold walk, after a long day. Most of all, enjoy the few minutes it takes. For me, this small ritual is a moment to stop, breathe and remember myself.
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