We’ve previously discussed the importance of having a good morning skincare routine. After all, how you start your day usually impacts the rest of your day. But now I want to share with you my customizable nighttime skincare routine, which is just as important. 

Going far beyond simply washing your face, the best nighttime skincare routine prepares your body for both sound, restful sleep and helps your body activate autophagy—the process in which your cells detoxify themselves. Simply put, creating a nighttime skincare routine that prioritizes whole-body health truly gives you glowing skin from the inside-out.

So, let’s take a look at my night skin care routine for glowing skin and discuss why it’s so effective.

Why You Need a Customized Nighttime Skincare Routine 

If you’ve ever had to make it through a day after experiencing little sleep the night before, you know how important it is to have restful slumber. And research has shown that what you do in the hours and moments leading up to bed can drastically impact your quality of sleep, which is why creating a nighttime skincare routine that supports your ability to sleep is so important. 

Now, because everyone’s circadian rhythm is different, the amount of sleep you need each night is as unique as you are. While some people require five sleep cycles consisting of 90 minutes each, for a total of seven and a half hours of sleep, others perform better with four sleep cycles, for a total of six hour of sleep. You can use a sleep tracking app to help assess how many cycles you need. Personally, I need five full sleep cycles to feel refreshed and function at my best. This is also the amount of sleep I require to get the most out of my autophagy.

Our bodies activate the most autophagy at night while we are resting, so it’s important to me to set myself up for high-quality sleep that leaves me feeling rested and restore in the morning, knowing my body is filled with energized, renewed cells. Without quality sleep, autophagy can be disrupted, which often leads to increased signs of aging—something no woman wants.

Given the importance of sleep, I’ve created a nighttime skincare routine that truly supports glowing skin from the inside-out because it was specifically designed to activate autophagy while also allowing my skin to rest. Keep reading to learn all about my simple night skin care routine and how you can use it for yourself.

The Best Nighttime Skin Care Routine for Women

Here is my three-step nighttime skincare routine. Once you determine how many sleep cycles your body requires, follow these steps to prepare your skin—and your entire body—for optimal quality rest.

Step 1. Prepare your brain.

One of the hardest parts about settling in for the night is to powder down your brain and stop those stress-inducing thoughts that plague so many of us. It’s so easy to simply lie in bed and scroll through our social media feeds or check email, but the lights emitted from your phone are known to inhibit quality sleep. Plus, you may stumble upon something that can increase your cortisol levels, which impacts your natural circadian rhythm—and stress has been known to negatively impact your skin

To help prepare my brain for rest, I like to set an alarm that sounds an hour before bedtime that tells me it’s time to start “powering down.” During the first 20 minutes, I prep for the next morning, including picking out the next day’s clothes, make lunches, pick up any items lying around, and do anything else that will help me feel prepared for the next day. I also recommend setting aside your phone at this time, if at all possible, and not looking at it again until the following morning.

Step 2. Prepare your body.

After I’ve spent 20 minutes taking care of anything that would have otherwise lingered in my mind, I spend the second 20 minutes focusing on my personal hygiene and my topical nighttime skincare routine. If I’ve had a particularly stressful day, I’ll take a nice hot shower, bubble bath, or Epsom salt bath to help my body relax and promote detoxification. I also like to enjoy a delicious cup of Autophagy Tea to promote autophagy and support morning energy.

Next, I brush my teeth and then wash my face and, contrary to popular practices, I don’t use toner or moisturizer at night a majority of the time. This is actually a critical part of my nighttime skincare routine because it allows my skin to breathe, which helps to prevent clogged pores. Plus, following a diet high in healthy fats helps to generate moisture in your skin from the inside-out. I follow this routine with a lymphatic massage using OMI Renew Wrinkle Lifting power Serum in the morning.

Step 3. Prepare your room.

Finally, in the last 20 minutes of your nighttime skincare routine, focus on preparing your room. To get the kind of rest you need for glowing skin, your space needs to be relaxing. Begin by lowering the lights, decrease the temperature to about 65 degrees (which promotes quality sleep), play some relaxing music, and do some gentle stretching.

Finally, engage in some light reading or gratitude journaling shortly before you drift off to sleep to put yourself in a positive, relaxing mindset for the next day. By giving yourself time to relax and settle down before bed, you’re giving your body the opportunity to prepare for the self-detoxifying work it will be doing while you’re asleep and further supporting your nighttime skincare efforts.

In Summary:

• The best nighttime skincare routine goes far beyond what you put on your face. It’s a routine that prepares your body for both sound, restful sleep and helps your body activate autophagy during your sleep.
• Without quality sleep, autophagy can be disrupted, and this often leads to increased and premature signs of aging.
• My personal nighttime skincare routine includes three steps designed to help your skin glow from the inside-out: preparing your brain to “power down” and let go of the day’s demands, preparing your body for relaxation and your skin for renewal, and preparing your room for an optimal sleep environment.