Sunscreen, BHA, clay mask, oil cleanser, toner, AHA, retinol, moisturiser, sheet mask, cream cleanser… If you’re having trouble finding the time (or the dedication) to do all the steps in your skincare routine, here are some time-saving methods I’ve found to work for me over the years.
1. Wash your face in the shower
If you shower at night, washing and scrubbing your face in the shower works amazingly.
- You don’t have to worry about splashing water all over your clothes and down your sleeves (the actual worst in winter), or spend ages trying to splash enough water onto your face to wash off your cleanser – just stick your face under the shower head! (Make sure the shower temperature isn’t too hot though.)
- You can save time by multitasking in the shower – wash your face while waiting for your hair conditioner to soak off, let your oil cleanser sit while you shave your legs etc.
- Showers work great for washing off clay masks too – just dunk your face under the shower head briefly and the entire mask will be washable in seconds. Less mess as well!
2. Do skincare while doing other things
The good thing about skincare is that you don’t have to be staring at your face in the mirror for most things. If you’re doing something that doesn’t require your hands, you can fit some skincare in there! Or you can do things during the waiting times in your skincare routine.
For example, you can:
- Mask while working (bring work into bathroom if your mask is messy)
- Put on serums and moisturisers while catching up on social media
- Put on your face goo while watching TV
I also find that it makes skincare feel less like a chore when it’s broken down and not all in one big block. I wash my face in the shower, then put on serums when I get out, then apply moisturisers right before I go to sleep.
3. Simplify your routine
If your skincare routine feels too long…then maybe it IS too long! It’s tempting to slather on every product anyone’s recommended on a skincare forum, but a lot of the time it becomes a matter of diminishing returns. Can you take out some steps? Can you combine some steps?
For example:
- Can your face cream double up as eye cream?
- Can you use a moisturising sunscreen, or a moisturiser with high SPF?
- Do you really need to wait 20 minutes for your chemical exfoliants to absorb? Try it with and without the wait time for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference!
- Did that new serum really do anything or are you using it “just in case”? Take it out and save time (and money too!). This is where introducing your products one at a time pays off.
In fact, sometimes it’s better to have a simpler routine and only use one or two actives each day – some actives can be incompatible with others, and too many actives that do similar things can irritate and inflame your skin, which leads to more breakouts and faster ageing.
What are your skincare shortcuts? Let me know in the comments below!
Great tips. I like my skincare routine, so it is taking a while one some days. The part about cleansing while beeing in the shower is saving a lot of time for me and I’m already doing it 🙂
Yes! I will only wash my face in the shower. I hate getting water all over myself. Everybody needs to do it, pro tip!
Hmm I pretty much always wash my face in the shower at least in the mornings. It definitely shaves off some time because I’m doing a lot in the morning – wash, splash mask (just added that), toner, serum and benzyol peroxide, and finally spf with moisturizer. All of that together probably takes about 15-20 minutes.
At night my routine is super easy I just wash and exfoliate same toner benzoyl again and then moisturizer. It takes maybe 15 minutes. I always do it right before bed if I’m not showering as a kind of close down the day routine. While I’m waiting for creams etc to dry too I do other things like taking care of my hair so its like I’m multitasking.
I think the sad truth however is that a person just has to take time for their skin. Even if you have the most flawless skin in the world time is still needed for a moisturizer and spf separately or in combo as a bare minimum. The reward will be worth it later. At least that’s how I think about it. I also think if I can spend 1 million years creating super complicated nail art I can spend 20 minutes or so to take care of my skin 🙂 I really love your blog btw as a bit of a skin care junkie I love reading what you’re trying etc.
I find that having a solid skincare regimen is quite easy to integrate into morning/evening routines and actually makes me look after myself in other ways. I use 3 products at night (plus a cleanser); what I do is I cleanse, put on my treatment (either AHA or retinol), floss, put on my hydrating gel, brush my teeth, then finally put on my evening moisturiser. I do pretty much the same thing in the morning (cleanse, daytime moisturiser, brush teeth, sunscreen). I find that these routines ensure I brush and floss thoroughly every day, not only because I want each product to sink in before applying the next but also to give each some time to work.
I like to mix similar products together. My Benton Aloe gel goes with my Dr. Jart liquid. My FTE goes well with my Hado Labo hyaluronic acid lotion etc. This way I’m not overdoing the products but also getting all the superstar ingredients. Investing in good quality sheet masks is also key if you want to be moving around the house and not have it fall off.