22 Expert Skincare Tips for Your Healthiest Skin in 2022
Are you a skincare obsessive? Or just starting your skincare journey? Either way, there’s one thing you can never get enough of: expert advice.
We’ve compiled our best tips for healthy, radiant skin culled from decades of clinical research and testing to help you navigate your skincare journey with complete confidence.
From superstar ingredients to regimen optimization tricks, here are the skincare secrets that make the difference between feeling okay in your skin and feeling ecstatic.
Tip #1: You don’t need a 12-step skincare routine.
More products doesn’t necessarily equal better. Aside from being time-consuming and expensive, an overabundance of products can stress your skin. A healthy skin care routine consists of four basic steps: cleanser, toner, corrective serum, hydrator/protector. You can speed results with booster products, but these four are the essentials you can’t do without.
Recommended: Skin Fitness System
Tip #2: Calm acne inflammation with ice.
Long before Kylie and Kendall Jenner touted the “slush facial” as the next big thing in radiance-boosting, Dr. Fulton was expounding the virtues of cold therapy for skin health. Rubbing ice over your skin is the best way to quickly reduce acne inflammation and speed healing. Plus, it enhances product absorption, so your corrective serums will work more effectively.
Bonus: it’s free! Just massage cleansed skin with ice for two to three minutes up to three times a day.
Recommended: Sulfur Clay Mask
Tip #3: Toner is unskippable.
There was a time when stripping the skin of oil was the primary goal of a toner. Formulas were little more than alcohol and water. The more it stung, the better it worked was the thinking. Today’s toners are formulated to address the full spectrum of skin issues from acne to aging and are designed as much for repair and renewal as they are for refining.
The secret bonus of a toner is prepping your skin for better absorption of follow-on products to maximize results. Skip the toner, and you undercut the effectiveness of your serums and creams.
Recommended: Normalizing Tonic
Tip #4: Don’t wait for your first wrinkle to start using an active regimen.
Prevention is always easier than repair. Start early with actives like vitamin A, peptides, and acids to protect against environmental damage and slow the effects of aging. If you have acne, make controlling breakouts your top priority to avoid damage from scarring or pigmentation. Fortunately, many of the ingredients that are best for acne management also help push off the signs of aging. And because most of the long-term damage from UV exposure happens before age thirty, daily sunscreen is essential.
Recommended: Derm-A Gel
Tip #5: Sunscreen is non-negotiable.
UV is the biggest accelerator of skin aging, and most of the long-term damage from UV exposure happens before age thirty. The easiest way to slow the aging process is to wear sunscreen and limit sun exposure. Remember, UV can penetrate clouds and glass, so make sunscreen part of your morning regimen all year round to slow the clock.
Recommended: Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30
Tip #6: Acids cure the dulls.
Acids dissolve the “glue” that binds dead cells together to slough them away and instantly give skin a brighter, fresher appearance. Each has its particular strengths—smoothing, tightening, firming, thickening, and brightening among them—that can be harnessed to address your individual concerns.
Our favorite AHA? We’d have to say mandelic acid for its gentle action and multi-tasking ability to target acne bacteria, excess pigment, and signs of aging without irritating sensitive or hyperpigmentation-prone skin.
Recommended: 3% Mandelic Acid 3-In-1 Toner
Tip #7: Take care of your skin barrier.
The skin barrier is your firewall to the world, protecting you from irritants, allergens, chemicals, and promoting skin repair. A weakened or compromised skin barrier shows means redness and irritation. Nourishing oils, peptides, humectant ingredients, and antioxidants boost lipids and protect against moisture loss to help keep the skin barrier strong and resilient. Healthy barrier. Happy skin.
Recommended: Skin Nourishing Toner
Tip #8: Dry skin needs exfoliation.
Lack of moisture causes skin cells to die more rapidly, creating an excess of dead cells on the skin’s surface. The cellular buildup blocks moisture from entering the skin, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of parch. Exfoliation clears a path for moisture to enter the skin, improving elasticity, reducing the appearance of fine lines, and undulling skin.
Recommended: Buffing Grains Exfoliating Cleanser
Tip #9: Discover niacinamide.
This vitamin B3 derivative is a multi-tasking monster of skin enhancement and a key component in many Vivant serums and toners. It’s a potent antioxidant and powerful anti-inflammatory with proven benefits for everything from texture to tone. As a co-factor in the synthesis of ceramides, niacinamide raises nourishing fatty acid levels in the skin, increasing elasticity and improving barrier function.
Because it inhibits the transfer of melanosomes (the transporters of pigment) to skin cells, niacinamide also helps defend against hyperpigmentation, age spots, and acne scars.
Recommended: Daily Repair Pads
Tip #10: Cleanse consciously.
If you’re using a cleanser with active ingredients but rushing through your cleanse, you’re not getting the optimum performance from your product. Wash your face for 60 full seconds before rinsing off your cleanser to allow the ingredients to do their work. The extended massage time also revs up circulation, bringing oxygen and beneficial nutrients to the skin.
Recommended: Mandelic Acid 3-In-1 Exfoliating Cleanser
Tip #11: Layer products from light to heavy.
Products with the lightest viscosity should be applied first to ensure optimal absorption—thinner serums to thicker serums, and finally, lotions and creams. Heavier formulas like moisturizers can act as a barricade to other products, so they need to go last. Moisturizers and sunscreen are the icing on the cake.
Recommended: Derm-A Renew
Tip #12: Bump up to the next serum level to push your results.
The Vivant line uses active ingredients that bring visible changes to the skin. The formulas are multi-tiered, so you can graduate from one level to the next as your skin progresses. In the first few weeks with a new product, you will notice some acclimation (mild flaking or slight redness). These are the signs of accelerated cell turnover—dead cells being brought to the surface and sloughed off to reveal fresh, healthy, vibrant skin. Once you stop seeing the signs of acclimation, it means your skin has become accustomed to the product, and you are in maintenance mode. Your skin is still benefitting and, if you are comfortable with the results you are getting, you can stay at this level to maintain your results. But if you want to push your results farther, it’s time to move up.
If you like where you are but feel like you could use a little boost, you can stay at your current serum level but move up to a stronger toner. That can give you a boost without initiating the signs of acclimation that the higher-level serum formula would bring.
Recommended: Exfol-A
Tip #13: Don’t forget about your neck and décolletage.
The skin on your neck and décolletage is thinner and more delicate than your face, making it more prone to wrinkles and sagging. It’s also an area that gets a lot of exposure to age-accelerating elements like UV, so it should not be ignored.
Keep in mind that some of the products you use on your face may be too strong for these sensitive areas. Use gentle, nourishing products, and always sunscreen!
Recommended: Marine Skin Nourishment Cream
Tip #14: Be consistent.
Using all the right products won’t bring the results you want if you don’t use them consistently. Whether your skincare issue is acne, discoloration, or aging, daily maintenance is required if you want to keep your skin in peak condition. A four-step regimen includes a cleanser, toner, serum, and SPF. Using all four steps consistently will maximize the benefits because each step enhances the next.
Rule of thumb: your morning routine is about protecting your skin; your nighttime routine is about repairing it.
Recommended: A complimentary 15-minute virtual consultation with one of our skincare experts to help strategize your routine
Tip #15: Eye cream is essential.
The skin around the eyes is more delicate than the rest of the face, making it vulnerable to environmental stressors. And because there is less collagen, the eye area is the first place that signs of aging show up. Daily eye cream is essential to defend against damage and keep the fragile skin around the eyes hydrated, plumped, and smooth.
Recommended: Wink Eye Rejuvenation Cream
Tip #16: Boost your booster.
For nourishing the skin, detoxing, and lifting dull, dead cells, a mask brings instant gratification while supporting long-term tone and texture enhancement. You can give your weekly booster session a supercharged performance enhancement with one simple trick. Just apply your favorite corrective serum under the mask.
Recommended: BP 10% Gel Medication + Sulfur Clay Mask
Tip #17: Every regimen needs a vitamin C serum.
In addition to being the co-factor in collagen synthesis, vitamin C suppresses excess melanin and protects against photodamage, making it an essential ingredient for bright, firm, healthy skin. Vitamin C’s photoprotective effects are magnified when paired with vitamin E. This synergistic combo anchors Vivant’s Pure C + E serum for maximum repair and damage control. Make it a morning ritual for resilience and radiance.
Recommended: Pure C + E
Tip #18: Prioritize peptides.
Peptides are not a luxury skincare ingredient; they are the core of cellular health.
These cell-signaling agents encourage the skin to produce more collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid, the pillars of a healthy skin structure. Peptides reduce the appearance of fine lines, calm redness, and extend the life of injectables. They are the closest you can get to Botox in a bottle.
Recommended: Rejuv Rx Peptide Concentrate
Tip #19: Invest in at least one high-performance serum.
Serums are formulated to be maximally potent with highly concentrated ingredients that target specific concerns like acne, aging, or discoloration. In short, they are the workhorses of your skincare stable, capable of taking on and transforming all your trouble spots. For clearing acne, fighting the signs of aging, or promoting and maintaining firm, bright, glowing skin, Vitamin A is top of the list.
Recommended: Derm-A-Gel
Tip #20: Don’t spot treat.
Spot treating is the whack-a-mole of skincare. When you spot treat only the individual lesion, you allow bacteria in the surrounding skin to continue growing and spreading. A complete cell turnover cycle takes thirty days, which means pimples are forming under the surface long before you see them. To clear your skin and prevent future breakouts, use your skin care product all over your face.
Recommended: BP 10% Gel Medication
Tip #21: Get regular professional treatments.
No matter how dedicated you are to your skincare regimen, professional treatments can bring added benefit with professional-grade products, specialized equipment, and skilled techniques that aren’t available for your homecare. Your aesthetician can evaluate your skin condition, spot underlying issues, make appropriate recommendations, and perform targeted treatments, giving you higher-level results tailored to your specific needs.
A monthly facial is ideal, but if time or budget is an issue, try to get in at least three to four times a year. Peels are best done in a series to see the full benefit.
Recommended: Vivant ProPeel
Tip #22: Go to bed.
Sleep is the body’s natural repair cycle and one of the best things you can do to protect skin from premature aging. During this nightly downtime, cells go into regeneration mode, tissue is strengthened, and cortisol, the stress hormone responsible for inflammation, decreases. At the same time, increased flow of nutrients and oxygen to the skin helps remove toxins and promote a brighter complexion. Take advantage of your body’s reparative sleep mode by using nourishing skincare as part of your nighttime routine.
Recommended: Allantoin Sedating & Hydrating Lotion
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