How to build a skincare routine

Even if you’ve properly cleansed your skin before hitting the hay the night before, cleansing again when you wake up is truly a must. Sweat and oil production doesn’t stop when your head’s on the pillow, so doing a repeat helps you start your day nice and refreshed. The world of cleansers is vast.

There’s a cleanser tailored exactly to your skin type. For those with dry or sensitive skin, opt for Galatée Confort, a calming cleansing milk that soothes dry skin and doesn’t strip natural oils. Combination skin? Try Gel Éclat Clarifying Cleanser Pearly Foam. For all skin types, reach for an all-rounder like Clarifique Pore Refining Cleansing Foam which will refine pores and give your skin a deep clean.

After you’ve cleansed, it’s time to tone. Toners come in all shapes and sizes but one thing remains true between them all, they’re crucial to keeping your skin the best it can be. For a soft, refreshing touch, reach for Tonique Douceur. This alcohol-free formula, infused with gentle botanical extracts, helps remove lingering impurities while respecting the skin’s natural hydration. The result? A fresh, balanced finish that feels clean and smooth.

Now that you’ve cleansed your complexion and your skin is prepped for the rest of your skincare routine, it’s time to get to business. Targeting specific skin concerns is best done with products like serums. There are serums for every skin concern you could imagine – from dark spots to wrinkles and even redness and dryness, there’s something for everyone.

Our best-selling Génifique Ultimate is an anti-ageing face serum that’s packed with pre and probiotic fractions that help your skin retain its youthful look. For a brightening serum that also plumps your complexion, reach for the Advanced Clarifique Double Treatment Essence. Use with consistency and you’ll see why serums are so important to your skincare routine.

The skin around the eyes is notoriously thin and delicate, which is why it’s one of the first areas to show signs of aging such as wrinkles. Therefore, you need to take extra care of your eyes by using a dedicated eye cream. Génifique Yeux Ultimate is designed to target multiple concerns – from dark circles to fine lines – while helping to strengthen the skin barrier. Enriched with micronised Beta-Glucan CM, it delivers hydration and reinforces your skin’s defences.

It’s time for one of the key steps in your routine, since hydration is important to achieve healthy-looking skin. Once you’ve layered your toner, serum and eye cream, nourish the rest of your complexion with a hydrating day cream. Reach for the Absolue Soft Cream for a decadent day cream that’ll leave your skin nourished and soft for the day ahead.

Rain? Shine? Doesn’t matter – sunscreen still needs to be a part of a good skincare routine, as research shows that sun exposure is responsible for 80% of signs of aging, including wrinkles, sagging, and dark spots. The same goes if you’re indoors, since windows typically don’t offer sufficient protection against the sun’s harmful UV rays. Always follow your day cream with a SPF-rich sunscreen. It’s one of the best things you can do for your complexion.

A good nighttime skincare routine is beneficial for maintaining healthy looking skin – for a few reasons. First, nighttime is when the skin’s moisture barrier is more permeable, allowing active formulas to work more effectively on the skin’s surface. This makes it the ideal time to nourish, repair, and replenish your complexion while you sleep.
Read on for a simple, step-by-step nighttime skincare routine to try before you go to bed:

1. Use a makeup remover
2. Cleanse skin
3. Apply a mask or exfoliate
4. Tone skin
5. Apply serum
6. Dab on eye cream
7. Slather on a night cream

Unless you want to wake up with raccoon eyes, first remove any stubborn eye makeup with Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover. Not only do makeup removers like this effectively remove even waterproof formulas – they do so gently enough that they’re safe for those who have sensitive eyes or wear contact lenses. And that’s important, as continued tugging and rubbing the eye area to cleanse it can result in damage to the delicate skin there over time.

As your mum may have told you time and time again, it’s important to cleanse your face before bed. Otherwise, the combination of makeup, oil, and grime that’s collected throughout the day could potentially clog pores, which may lead to nasty breakouts. Use a gentle cleanser like Galatéis Douceur that leaves your skin feeling soft and supple.

After cleansing, exfoliate your skin. Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the surface of the skin to reveal new, healthy skin. While traditional scrubs offer mechanical exfoliation, incorporating a foam with exfoliating properties can streamline your routine. Our Clarifique Pore Refining Cleansing Foam is formulated with salicylic acid and French beech bud extract to gently exfoliate and purify the skin.

Two or three times a week, target your skincare concerns with a face mask. If it’s one you leave on for a few minutes then remove, such as Advanced Génifique Hydrogel Melting Mask, follow it with the rest of your nighttime skincare routine – which starts with toner.

Just as you do in the morning, follow your nightly cleanse with a quality toner. To boost luminosity while replenishing moisture, use the Advanced Clarifique Double Treatment Essence toner to exfoliate your skin and visibly refine skin texture.

Serum gets the spotlight again, since serums are designed to deliver efficacious formulas to the skin’s surface. For that reason, it should be a mainstay in your nighttime skincare routine. Apply Génifique Ultimate to your skin and neck to reap its anti-aging benefits and bring meaning to the phrase ‘beauty sleep’.

Treat your eyes while you snooze, too; again, it’s part of an excellent skincare routine. Gently dabbing on an eye cream helps refresh the look of the eye area come morning.

A night cream is your final nighttime skincare step. These tend to be even richer than your day cream which helps to truly nourish your skin as you sleep.

Wake feeling refreshed and hydrated with a rich night cream such as our favourite Rénergie Multi-Lift Night Cream. It’s enriched with caring ingredients that not only hydrate – but also reduce the appearance of wrinkles and tightens skin as you get some shut-eye.

Looking for some extra care? Read more about our Hydra Zen Nuit Neurocalm Night Cream to explore whether it’s right for your skin’s evening needs.