Day & Night, what skincare ingredients to use and when

Do you need a separate day and night cream in your skincare routine?

Very often you will see a skin cream labelled as ‘day’ or ‘night’ use. Are they different and do you need both? Can your skin tell the time and will it fall off if you use a ‘day’ cream in the evening? Read on for my thoughts and advice:

How often have you been told that you need a separate night cream because ‘your skin absorbs more nutrients at night’ or my personal favourite: ‘nighttime is when your skin works hardest to repair itself so you need a richer cream’? What now? Surely the time that your skin is working the hardest is during the day when it is being bombarded with pollutants, cosmetics and free radicals?

Does your skin act differently at night? The answer is not really, not in any significant manner that would require different treatment. Skin is still skin whatever time of day it is and it always needs the same things to fuel it’s processes: anti-oxidants, peptides, enzymes etc. etc.
As to the notion that you need a richer or greasier cream at night: why would you? Does your skin change from dry to not dry then back again in the space of 24 hours? Of course not. It’s just a sales pitch that we are all so familiar with that we forget to question it.

The important thing is to use the correct products for your skin and it doesn’t matter a jot when you apply them.

BUT – there are always exceptions to any rule and here are the two exceptions to this one:

1. Always use SPF during the day but never at night. This is because the sunscreen ingredients can sometimes be a little irritating so even though you can’t be without it during the day for obvious reasons, it is as well to give your skin a break from it at night.

2.Any product containing Vitamin A (retinol) or any of it’s derivatives should only be used at night as it can make your skin light sensitive. For the ultimate in repairing and anti-ageing night care we love our Overnight Repair Cream. See the video below for all the reasons why you should have this in your routine!