I sometimes wonder, if aliens—or even just my 79-year-old dad—were to watch the beauty routines on TikTok, what would they make of them? The multistep processes can include glowing LED face masks, chemical peels, face shaving (preceded by a dusting of face powder), and countless bottles of potions, some of which are made from snail mucin or salmon sperm or colostrum.
Still, though, I scroll. Even to me, the algorithmic target of this content, some of it seems absurd, not to mention exhausting. Who has the time? And moreover, does any of it even do anything? And while I’m asking myself these questions, I’m doing…nothing. I’m stuck in a state of skincare paralysis and have been for some time.
I know that basic skincare, like washing your face, keeping it moisturized, and wearing sunscreen, is just as important as any other thing we do to keep ourselves healthy and happy. But I get overwhelmed by the cacophony of advice. I know that consistency is the key to seeing any kind of result when it comes to skincare (or, really, anything), but like a lot of people, I’m a procrastinator, and hard deadlines are the only things that spur me into action.
I’m 42 now, and after two kids and pregnancy losses, the evidence of all of that on my face—the melasma, the eye bags, the worry lines—are as close to a deadline as I’m going to get. I wanted to figure out how to address some of my concerns through effective products and a routine I could commit to. I’m grateful to age, and I love my crow’s feet, but I could do without the hormonal discoloration. I’d prefer not to have luggage under my eyes.
In a world of digital chaos, the solution was to go analog. I sought out Shereene Idriss, a dermatologist I’ve always admired for her ability to cut through social-media noise and deliver straightforward advice to her now more than 1.1 million Instagram followers.
“There’s so much information out there,” Idriss acknowledges. One of her approaches is to start small: “If you try to tackle redness and breakouts and pigmentation and elasticity and wrinkles all at once, you are going to fail.”
After I confessed to her that my current “routine” consisted of sunscreen and moisturizer and often falling asleep before washing my face, Idriss set about prescribing a pared-down regimen to address one issue: melasma that had spread across my already freckled face following pregnancy. She suggested a tightly edited list of products and sent me on my way with a worksheet that broke down my skincare routine by morning and night, the order I was to use everything, and how much of each; this part turned out to be the key for me.
That piece of paper, now splotched and creased, still lives in my vanity drawer. For the first month, I followed it like it was gospel: In the morning, after splashing water on my face, I used Idriss’s complexion-brightening serum, followed by moisturizer and sunscreen; in the evening, cleanser (I love the feel of Rhode’s), followed by prescription hydroquinone pads, then the same serum and moisturizer. She added an optional glycolic mask to use a few times a week, because she asked me if I could handle adding one more product and I optimistically said yes. (I couldn’t.)
It has been several months now, and, mostly, I’ve stuck with my routine. My skin is brighter and happier than it’s ever been. Like most people, I make what feels like a million decisions a day. It turns out that to finally take care of my skin, I just needed to turn my phone off and let someone else—a grown-up who went to medical school—tell me exactly what to do.
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