Skinimalism: What Is it and Why I’m Embracing This Trend

The 12 step skincare routine sounded amazing at first. I mean just think of all those active ingredients working to treat that acne, smooth those wrinkles, brighten those undereye circles and perfect your skin. But after while, taking 30+ minutes to apply skincare just got a little tiring. And that’s why I’m embracing the skinimalism.

So what is Skinimalism? Well, skininimlism is a trend that takes beauty back to the basics. It’s a movement to embracing your real skin — less makeup and fewer beauty products with a less is more approach.

These days there are a gazillion skincare ingredients out there. But more isn’t always better. Being a skincare junkie, I know first hand that that too many skincare products can lead to irritated and sensitive to skin.

Recently I’m recovering from a bout of hives and a rash from trying out too many new skincare products at once. And this really made me think about going back back to the basics and giving the skinimalism approach a try.

Now skinimalism applies to makeup as well as skincare. With natural, minimal or no-makeup beauty looks where your real skin — texture, pores, blemishes, discoloration, and all — shines through. But in this post, I’ll be talking more about my new pared down skinimalism skincare routine.

Skinimalism: Trimming down skincare options

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a true skincare junkie. I love shopping for new products, layering serums, and trying the latest and greatest in skincare. But recently I had a bad reaction to some skincare, that left me reconsidering if all these products were actually good for my skin.

Just around that time, became more familiar with the idea of skinimalism. And I realized that what I was doing by applying all sorts of different skincare ingredients was really doing more harm than good.

Here is the before an after of my Skinimalsm skincare routine:

Along with reducing the number of products I was using, I was also began to use more multi-tasking products that could create a similar effect.

For example doing a 3 step cleanse was a little much, and I was probably over cleansing my skin. So I traded in my 2 step cleanse and daily exfoliation for just the Knockout Daily Exfoliating Cleanser from Tarte that could cleanse my skin and give me some exfoliation in just one step.

I also cut my serums down to one. Using the Dermalogica Biolumen-C Serum that offers benefits of skin brightening, exfoliation, hydration and wrinkle reduction.

And instead of using a moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation. I just use the Clinique Age Defence BB Cream with SPF 30 that does the job of all 3.

Evening Skinimalist Skincare Routine before and after

For my evening time skincare routine, I traded my double cleanse for the Aesop Purifying Cream Cleanser which does a great job removing my makeup as well as cleansing my skin.

Then instead of layering 2 serums, I just use one serum with multi tasking properties, like the Biossance Squalane + 10% Lactic Acid Resurfacing Night Serum. Which helps with pores, dullness, uneven skin texture and blemishes.

I also starting using sleep masks as well, and they’re a great one step product that gives extra dose of active ingredients for boost to my skin without making things over complicated. My go to has been the Glow Recipe Avocado Melt Retinol Sleeping Mask which is great of anti-aging, skin tone and texture as well as treating blemishes.

Overall, taking a more minimalist approach to my skincare routine has been great. It saves time and my skin has calmed down from using too many products. Would you try a skinimlism skincare routine? Let me know in the comments below!

XOXO,