annashay 
We at Team TNMA have been following the trend for excessive night-time beauty routines with interest (horror). What started as an excuse for some me-time has evolved into beauty product gluttony. Encompassing face, body and hair (scalp serum, anyone?) all the lotions, potions and masks take so long to apply, beauty influencers would be better off streamlining the process and getting a good night’s sleep. Though, routines are time-lapsed on social media – and usually culminate with the morning reveal or “shedding” of layers of product. The motto is: ‘the uglier you look at night, the more beautiful you look in the morning’. I have yet to see a 40+ woman documenting her morning shed… but it may only be a matter of time (feel free to direct me to their videos).
What fascinates us is how financially- and time-consuming all these steps are – not to mention questionable in their long-term sustainability and healthiness. A typical example starts with frown-line tape to stop (often Botox-ed) foreheads from expressing themselves in sleep. Synthetic overnight face-masks are buried under plastic lip- and eye-mask patches. (How does the skin ‘breathe’?!). Hair is brushed 100 times then rolled and wrapped in layers of hair product, rollers and silken caps to eschew frizz and ensure the perfect amount of body. All this is then bow-tied with a jock-strap for one’s jowls. Spotting a lucrative trend, Kim Kardashian has jumped on it with her Skims Seamless Sculpt Chin Wrap. Inspired by the bandages used after plastic surgery to compress facial swelling and promote healing, they have been co-opted by young beauty influencers for a “snatched” jawline the next day.
Photo courtesy of skims
If you are anything like me, you barely have the time or energy to wash and moisturise before bed. I’ve mostly followed the bare minimum advice of ‘cleanse well and use sunscreen’. Dermatologist Dr Renée A. Beach would prefer we choose a routine and stick to it because ‘consistency is the key to good skin’. So here, I’ve updated the three-steps most of us grew up with, as a simple, effective, skin care routine for night.
Step 1 – Cleanse
Today’s alternative to our mothers’ soap bar is to wash, with lukewarm water, using a gentle cleanser that won’t strip your skin of its natural lipid barrier. I like Byoma’s Milky Oil Cleanser with squalane and moringa seed oil or CeraVe which has a selection of great Hydrating or Foaming Cleansers by skin type. Kate Somerville’s Goat Milk Moisturizing Cleanser contains skin-soothers Manuka honey and goat milk, good ingredients for sensitive and irritated skin. To wash away hard-wearing mascara and waxy eyeliners, make-up artist Anna Durston recommends Pai’s Light Work Cleansing Oil. If you do wear a lot of make-up or are a city-dweller exposed to daily pollution, using a Micellar water like beauty-editor favourite Sensibio H2O by Bioderma will pick up what the cleanser missed.
Image: Pai
Step 2 – Serum or Topical Treatment (optional)
Next, address specific skin needs if you have them: a dermatologist’s prescription, a topical for adult acne, or a serum that targets a specific skin concern. Both La Roche-Posay’s Retinol B3 Serum and Bondi Sands’ Fountain of Youth with Bakuchiol (a gentler, plant-derived Vitamin A alternative) deliver smoother skin texture and reduce the look of fine lines. If sunspots and discolouration are your problem Korres Apothecary Wild Rose Spotless Serum is a vegetarian-friendly formula that contains 15% Vitamin ‘Super C’ which is better absorbed by skin. With both Vitamins A & C remember to use sunscreen in the day.
For pimple-prone oily skin, Caudalie’s Vinopure Acne Serum contains both niacinamide (Vitamin B3) and salicylic acid to treat and prevent adult acne outbreaks. A more budget-friendly alternative containing both ingredients is Cetaphil’s Gentle Clear Triple-Action Blemish Serum.
Changing products frequently can be a recipe for a bad reaction, so it is best to start slowly with over-the-counter serums and see how your skin reacts. If you really must tackle more than one concern, keep it simple with fewer products and ingredients, or find a good all-rounder like Eucerin Hyaluron-Filler Epigenetic Serum with Epicelline®. The company has spent 15 years analyzing over 50,000+ ingredients to see how they work against the environmental causes of premature aging on our genes. The results are a serum-moisturiser hybrid that is suitable for all skin types.
Photo courtesy of Boots No7
Step 3 – Moisturise
Products with hyaluronic acid and glycerin will help draw moisture to dry skin like Murad’s best-selling Restorative Hydro-Hyaluronic Cream. Tatcha’s Indigo Overnight Repair and Lancôme’s Advanced Génifique Night Cream aim to help skin recover from the stress of the day. For a less luxury price, our team recommends Boots’ No 7 Future Renew (Damage Reversal) Night Cream, ‘ It smells and feels good and does the job’.
For oily/combination skin, try a lightweight gel formula like RoC Retinol Correxion Wrinkle Correct Night Cream – a little goes a long way – and The Outset’s Restorative Niacinamide Night Cream is ideal for oily, rosacea-prone skin.
A hack for combatting winter dryness is to add a drop of facial oil to your normal moisturiser. Alyson turned me onto By Sarah’s Hero Facial Oil – a mix of nut, seed, fruit and flower oils that absorbs quickly leaving skin soft, not greasy. By Sarah also does treatment oils that could be used instead of a serum. Anna Durston uses, ‘a pea-sized amount of Pai’s Rosehip Bioregenerate Oil all over the face,’ noting the healing properties of Rosehip oil – especially if you have scars or sun damage.
Don’t forget your eyes, neck and lips
Having a separate eye cream is a personal preference. But, if you prefer one because it is specifically formulated for use around the eyes, Estée Lauder has just launched their Advanced Night Repair Eye Lift + Sculpt to complement their very popular night serum. Fragrance-free SkinCeuticals’ A.G.E. Advanced Eye is expensive but it has won loads of fans and awards for its ability to tackle crow’s feet, dark circles and de-puff all-in-one. And for busy women, Tula’s Skincare 24-7 Power Swipe Eye Balm is good for all skin types. The easy-glide stick is unusual for an eye product, but it is super portable for travel or last-minute, bedside application.
There are some good neck creams out there, but you can simply extend your face or eye moisturiser to your neck and décolletage. I’m sure some skin professionals are balking at this suggestion, but the point is to keep things simple and not ignore these areas. Lastly, if you don’t already have a lip moisturiser you love, we have TNMA’s 20 Best Lip Balms for Grown Ups as a guide.
Alexia Economou is a design and culture journalist, and regular TNMA contributor.
Please note: Quotes and advice from dermatologist Dr Renée are from her guest spot on The Social CTV. That’s Not My Age is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
First photo is from John Lewis skincare dept.
This post was published on
thatsnotmyage.com
on October 7, 2025 and written by Alexia Economou.
