I would like to know what your routine is in general, but I'm also specifically curious about what products you use, if you use them, and what the rationale is behind each product.
My routine:
Morning
- Rinse face with warm water.
- Scrub face and neck with warm, wet washcloth.
- Apply facial moisturizer with SPF (I use CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30) to face, neck, and hands.
Evening
- Shower.
- While in shower, scrub entire body with an exfoliating mitt (ie this one).
- Apply a retinol (I use Retin-A (tretinoin 0.05%)) to face, neck, and hands.
- Apply facial moisturizer (I use CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion) to face, neck, and hands
- Apply body lotion (I use CeraVe Moisturizing Cream) to whole body, excluding hands, and face.
I have used, and considered continuing using a BHA (also AHA?) liquid exfoliant (I have read that it shouldn't be used at the same time as retinol due to PH requirements, ie use it in the morning and retinol in the evening) (I previously used Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, but I no longer because I have lost trust in Paula's Choice overall due to their borderline false advertising regarding their retinol product [1]), but I am unsure of what a good product would be, and the rationale behind it. I have also heard about Vitamin E, though I've never used it.
References
- "[Research] Study: The Ordinary and Paula's Choice retinols are unstable". toa20. r/SkincareAddiction. Reddit. Published: 2023-01-26T17:49:01.223Z. Accessed: 2024-10-29T05:16Z. https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/10lxshy/research_study_the_ordinary_and_paulas_choice/.
I agree with the sunscreen, although I wouldn't use it if I wasn't planning to stay out in the sun for long, but that's about it for an average person. Your body is supposed to hydrate itself, and getting dirt and grime off is the function of a shower. I'm sure not everybody's skin hydrates itself enough so they would probably need to use a moisturizer, sure, but that doesn't mean everybody should do it all the time.
Same for acne, that's a case where it makes sense to use some products because your skin is clearly failing to maintain itself, but again that doesn't mean you should do the same thing if you don't have such issues.
What causes skin cancer, UV radiation, can be higher on cloudy days. Dermatologists across the board recommend sunscreen every day.
But I agree some people don't need to do anything except sunscreen and they're fine. Some people choose to do extra even if they maybe don't need it, for a variety of reasons. My whole point is that there's no need to dunk on someone who chooses to take care of their skin in a different way than you need to. You don't know what OP faces and you yourself said more products can be warranted if you have any problems like acne or whatever.
I acknowledge that your point is some people don't need to do anything extra though I believe we disagree about the frequency of people who need more skin care products and who might benefit from a basic routine similar to OP's. I think most would benefit and you think it's not necessary for most people. We can genuinely agree to disagree without ragging on OP or people who have skincare routines in general.