I’ve written general guides on skincare and specific topics like tretinoin but I’ve never actually detailed my skincare routine. I find it helpful to sort of organize and think about things you are doing in this manner because it opens you up to constructive criticism, allows you to reflect on what you are doing and why, and from there you can overall refine your processes.
If you’ve read my posts for my supplement or hair growth protocols you will know that I am constantly experimenting with various products, techniques, and other interventions in many aspects of health and appearance. This personal skincare routine is therefore only talking about things I use consistently and likely won’t change for a while.
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Personal Skincare Routine
My main goals for skincare are fairly intensive. I subjectively feel as though my skin has aged a lot compared to my actual age so that is a main concern. I also specifically target large pores as well as aim to boost collagen production as much as I can. Acne is also a slight concern but not the main focus.
Diet & Hydration
This is big for me – I used to be someone who drank maybe one glass of water daily. As you may know, this is terrible for your skin and there have even been studies showing that if you are someone who doesn’t drink enough and then starts drinking normal amounts your skin will bounce back to some extent in terms of fullness, etc.
As someone highly interested in optimizing health, I can say for certain that when my entire system is optimized the effects roll over into my outward appearance. Things like fixing and paying attention to gut health, cutting out processed and sugary foods, avoiding large amounts of dairy, etc all drastically benefited my skin.
As you probably know, things like skin aging may be related to overall health practices (like avoiding the sun, not smoking, and proper nutrition) and other conditions like acne may be related to things like sugar, hormone imbalances, etc. This means that when I optimize for my diet and health overall I am therefore helping my skin in many aspects as well.
I feel this is such an important area that many of the skincare creators and communities flat-out ignore and even actively dismiss when asked about it. I find it hard to believe that if you are eating a diverse diet filled with different plants and other high-quality sources of nutrition it wouldn’t benefit your skin in some way.
Outline
Morning
- Numbuzin No.1 Easy Peasy Cleansing Oil
- Numbuzin No.2 Deep Clean Fresh Cream Cleanser
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen
Evening
- Light water cleanse
- Tretinoin .05% cream x3 weekly
- Moisturizer
Occasional
- The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution
- The Ordinary Multi Peptides
- Always experimenting with other actives & products
Tretinoin
I wrote a full guide/discussion on tretinoin here but I’ll briefly explain here from the viewpoint of my skincare routine.
This is one of the most effective products I have ever used in terms of skin appearance (aging, pores, overall quality). Before I started tretinoin my skin quality was bumpy in harsh lighting and I never had that smooth “healthy” look I wanted.
Pretty soon after starting tretinoin, this changed drastically, when I view my skin in harsh lighting I can see way less appearance in terms of pores and skin age. I also have an overall healthier appearance in terms of my skin overall – it’s hard to describe but when you see smooth, hydrated, collagen-rich skin without any spots it just screams health and makes you feel amazing.
Throughout my younger years, I struggled with acne and inconsistently used both Differin and tretinoin. More recently I’ve used a tretinoin .025% cream from January 2022 to November 2023 and have recently switched over to a .05% cream as I wanted to fully clear up any lingering acne and pores to achieve that “glass skin” appearance.
My upgrade to .05% is already going well – there isn’t much difference in terms of anti-aging but my aim for the increase was to target my pores and any remaining acne. The skin peeling somehow seems much “better” than .025% if that makes any sense. I got inconsistent peeling from .025% which was fairly drying but the .05% peeling is more like a sunburn peel. Whatever the difference is, my skin feels so healthy, pores even smaller, and quality much smoother.
If you are struggling with acne increasing strength may be something to look into, if you are just looking for anti-aging then .025% is fine. A concept I’ve toyed around with is even ramping up to high strengths like .1% daily so my skin has an amazing acne-free base and then going down to maintaining with just .025% three times weekly. This is because the effects of tretinoin seem to be cumulative and build over time – so if I speed up to where I want in terms of acne and pores and then drop down I wouldn’t be exposing myself to such a large concentration of medication but would still have results I desire.
Overall I am very happy with tretinoin and would at the very least recommend consulting with a provider about .025% for anti-aging and overall skin appearance. There are many telehealth companies online that can legally and reputably walk you through this process providing consultations and medication. I go this route as I do not trust “grey market” sources for products I put in or on my body.
Routine
The main idea for my skincare routine is the Pareto principle. I want the most results from the least amount of product used and time wasted. From there I can always experiment further with innovative or trending products or target specific concerns but I like having an easy base.
My core skincare routine is made up of 5 products which could be 4 products if I wasn’t using an oil cleanser. If you haven’t seen my post about oil cleansing I highly suggest it. Large pores used to be a huge concern for me before I started oil cleansing but the “2-step cleanse” has greatly improved them. I find it to be worth the slight increase in time and money invested for my skin.
Something else I want to talk about is the fact this stuff seems to snowball. For example, when I had a ton of acne I never would’ve been able to experiment and reach that “glass skin” appearance because any active ingredients would’ve likely irritated my skin and made it look worse. Once you establish a base of clear skin you may be able to venture into things like chemical exfoliants, Vitamin C, and other products to strive for that next level of skin quality.
Final Thoughts
Overall I hope you learned something from my skincare routine. I think it’s important, especially for guys looking to improve their skincare to know that even a simple few-minute protocol won’t cost much and will provide a huge increase in their appearance not only in the short term but depending on what you use the gains could be exponential over the long term.