5 Clean Skincare Steps That Will Have Your Dry Sensitive Skin Living Its Best Life

My easy 5-step routine to support happier, healthier, wrinkle-free dry to normal sensitive skin, day and night

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Really, the routine starts here: with HYDRATION. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Healthy, hydrated skin starts with WATER and the best foundation of a daily routine to support your skincare begins by drinking more of it. Consume your fresh-from-the-earth nutrients to get all those skin-happy antioxidants: fruits, veggies (& even supplements). Eat a rainbow of color. The antioxidants actually exist in the pigments of fruits and vegetables!

My morning skincare routine

Let's get down to basics—my weekday mornings are usually early to start and packed till lunch with back-to-back on-screen meetings, so the time I have available to tend to my skin regimen is short, and the products I use need to make an impact. I've consolidated my lengthier weekend morning routine into purely the staples for my Monday through Friday.

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Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

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Hardworking basics: Monday—Friday

Step 1: Cleanser

A good first move is to give your skin the time it needs to adjust to the warmth of your water before applying your cleanser. If you start your day in the shower, allow a minute or two to acclimate to the temperature—think warm, not hot (hot showers can actually be very harsh on skin and hair). If you're skipping the shower and saving time at the sink, splash your face with warm water before soaking a washcloth in hot. Make sure it's not too hot to the touch, and drape over your face for a few moments, allowing your skin to soften and pores to open. Then another splash.

I like to use DHC's ultra-hydrating olive concentrated cleansing oil or Tatcha's super-sloughing rice wash, depending on the dryness or dullness needs of my skin. I usually stick with my go-to DHC olive oil cleanser for daily use, but if I'm finding that my cheeks could use a little more scrub, Tatcha's rice wash is the perfect gentle exfoliant.

Step 2: Pre-hydration

This is a very key step that many might skip, but including it in your routine gets you much better results if your skin is naturally dry. Pre-hydration is what I call my prep serum, the lightest layer of your lineup that acts as a first bond for all of your other products. Think of this as you would tiling a floor—you could just lay the tiles down on your surface, and you'd have a tiled area, but it wouldn't function very well or last very long without the cement you'd need to hold it in place. This is exactly how the pre-hydration layer works—it's prepping your skin to accept and hold onto the next layer of hydration you're going to apply. The Ordinary's marine hyaluronics is the perfect pre-hydration layer as it's an exceptionally lightweight serum of marine exopolysaccharides, antarctic marine glycoproteins, red and blue-green algae, amino acids, and a high water content, creating a softer, plumper canvas that attracts and holds moisture deep below the surface. Apply a few drops to your forehead, high cheeks, nose, and chin. There's no need to use this one sparingly.

Step 3: Serum

In skincare application, you should always build from lightest layer to heaviest. Step 2 was a featherlight serum to set us up for the rest. Valjean Labs' hydrating hyaluronic acid with vitamin B5 is only slightly less viscous. Apply a couple drops to your forehead, high cheeks, nose, and chin.

Step 4: Moisturizer

On no-makeup days, I'll top things off with my thickest layer—Tatcha's dewy skin cream—then make my way to the espresso machine. On the days I might actually wear makeup for in-person meetings, I'll add a slightly lighter moisture layer to set up for my thicker makeup primer. Biossance's squalane and probiotic balancing gel moisturizer sinks in quickly, just like I need it to.

Step 5: Primer (if makeup day)

Just like pre-hydration is the backbone of your moisture layers, a good primer is the backbone of flawless foundation. If you want to build a creamy, cake-less, no-crease canvas for your maquillage, underpin it with Bobbi Brown's vitamin enriched face base. Make sure you have the time to give it a few minutes to really sink in before you start your makeup.

morning routine:

cleansers: DHC Olive Concentrated Cleansing Oil, Tatcha The Rice Wash;
pre-hydration: The Ordinary Marine Hyaluronics;
serum: Valjean Labs Hydrate Facial Serum with Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin B5;
moisturizers: Biossance Squalane + Probiotic Balancing Gel Moisturizer, Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream;
primer: Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base

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Eat a rainbow of fruits & vegetables. The antioxidants are in the pigments!

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My evening skincare routine: Nighttime is nourishment time

Nighttime is the best time to take more moments for yourself. Your sleep will thank you. Your skin will thank you. Take the day off and ease into your nighttime routine. I like to sip a heavily-honeyed mug of chamomile and fennel tea before starting my evening skincare and hunkering down into the serenity of a good night's sleep.

Step 1: Cleanser

DHC's ultra-hydrating olive oil cleanser does double duty as both a non-abrasive cleanser and a makeup-melter.

Step 2: Toner

You'll notice I skipped this step in my morning basics. For me, it's not completely necessary so long as I use a pre-hydrator. But this is bedtime, and I consider this me time. I embrace the excess. The Ordinary's glycolic acid 7% toning solution is the perfect post-cleanse prep.

Step 3: Pre-hydration

My favorite product in the mix, if you can't already tell—now's the time to smooth on The Ordinary's marine hyaluronics—no amount of this exists that is too much. Don't go sparingly.

Step 4: Serum

Hyaluronic is soon going to become a part of your daily vocabulary. Smooth on some of Valjean Labs' hydrating hyaluronic acid with vitamin B5 and take another sip of tea if you haven't already.

Step 5: Cream, Mask, or Oil?

The last step in my evening skincare routine is truly determined by whatever it is my skin may need—if not also sometimes by a whim. To moisturize, to mask, or to oil? That is the question. Depending on my surface assessment, Herbivore Botanicals' blue tansy BHA and enzyme pore refining mask or lapis all natural facial oil are standbys for everyday happy skin; Tatcha's dewy skin cream or Laneige's water sleeping mask are great for thicker hydration; Glow Recipe's fun, fruity masks are light and particularly plumping; and Herbivore Botanicals' emerald oil with CBD and adaptogens is great for calming stressed skin. The best thing about all of these? You can smooth them onto your visage and go right to sleep—no need to wash off within minutes as some masks might require.