Morning Skin Care Routine in 8 Steps + How to Make it Clean

Make your Morning Skin Care Routine Clean

When looking at your morning skin care routine, I first suggest that you make sure the products you are using or interested in using are clean. Surprisingly, there are a lot of toxins found in products that we put on our faces every day. Switching to a clean skin care routine is not only better for your skin, but also for your overall health. 

When looking at products, this is what you do NOT want in your products:

• Parabens (cause a hormone imbalance that can lead to infertility, linked to breast cancer)
• Sulfates (causes skin irritations and allergic reactions)
• BHT (carcinogens, cause liver damage, and hormone disruptor)
• Phthalates (endocrine disruptor, has lead to birth defects)
• Fragrance (allows companies to not disclose what is in this ingredient)
• Lead (for obvious reasons and is found in a lot of lip products)
• Polyethylene glycol (alters the skin’s natural moisture levels)

If you are pregnant or prone to skin cancer, avoid using Retinol and Vitamin A as they may damage DNA and can speed skin tumor growths. I personally do not use a retinoid cream. I have tried one before by a clean skin care company, but it would irritate my skin too much, as I live in a sunny state and retinol and sun do not mix. In addition, I had cancer myself and skin cancer runs on both sides of my family which has led me away from these products. Though I have not tried it, there is a natural alternative called Bakuchoil, that does not irritate your skin in the same way. If you love your retinols, I highly suggest looking into this natural alternative when you restock. 

Order to your morning skin care routine

There are many ways to put skin care on in the morning and many steps that can be skipped in between to customize the routine to your liking. I will walk you through my go to steps below and let you know which I do daily and which steps I do when I want to spend more time on my skin care. At the end of this post, I list which products I use on a daily basis and also a full list of different brands I have tried and trust over the years. First, let’s dive into my morning skin care routine!

Morning skin care steps:

1. Face Wash
2. Toner
3. Serum
4. Moisturizer
5. Eye Cream
6. Face Oil
7. SPF 
8. Lip Balm

Step #1: Wash your face

I always start the morning by washing my face. Sometimes it is as simple as running water over my face with my hands. Other times, I use a gentle cleanser most mornings. Right now my go to is Summer Fridays Amino cleanser, but I have also used different cleansers in the past from BioClarity to acne cleansers. It is always good to wash away what is on your face from the night before and to have a clean base to build upon. After washing my face I pat it dry with a towel to be ready for my next step. 

Step #2: Toner

I have always been hit or miss on toners. I tried a Kiehl’s toner a few years ago and didn’t like the way I had to apply it. Using cotton pads to apply toner just took too long and I didn’t feel like I got any benefit from using it. Then, I started to use a Kopari spray-on toner and that made using a toner way more accessible, but I still didn’t use it religiously. The Indie Lee CO-Q10 toner helped me get into toner because it sprays on. My go-to daily toners are a hydration toner and anti-aging toner from OSEA Malibu. Toners have many uses for different skin types and needs, so find one that works best for you! 

Step #3: Serum

Serum is easily my favorite skin care step and I use serum morning and night. Serum is where all of the goodies for your face are. Moreover, you can actually layer on two different serums at one time, doubling the benefits. Because of this, you could use three to four serums on your face per day! I use the Summer Fridays Vitamin C Serum daily morning and night. It has changed my complexion and I have used it religiously for over a year. I love the way it applies to my face and when it dries, my skin feels weightless, as if nothing is on it. When I decide to use a second serum I use a Hyaluronic Sea Serum for extra hydration. Just remember to let the serum dry between applications!

Step #4: Moisturizer

Everyone needs moisturizer, as it is what keeps your skin hydrated and plump. I have normal skin so I usually do not look into moisturizer products by skin type often, but if you have oily or dry skin, make sure you are getting a moisturizer that caters to your skin type. Moisturizer is a step that I do morning and night and sometimes add a little extra during the day if it is a dry season outside.

I have tried many different moisturizers and keep a few on daily rotation to change it up. My current go to’s are the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream and Summer Friday’s Jet Lag Mask applied thinly for a moisturizer. Cureology’s moisturizer helped a lot when I was having breakouts as their gel-based moisturizer is super lightweight and didn’t feel like it clogged my pores. I have also been trying some of the Drunk Elephant moisturizing products and have enjoyed adding them to my rotation a couple of times per week.

Step #5. Eye Cream

If you haven’t heard it before, the skin around your eyes is more fragile which lends itself to seeing early signs of aging. Using an eye cream to add extra hydration will help reduce wrinkles, fine lines and dark puffy circles. On busy days my eye cream consists of an extra layer of my Summer Friday’s Jet Lag Mask under my eyes. I always feel that adding extra hydration under my eyes helps them to depuff and makes me look more alive. On days I am putting on my entire skincare routine, I use an under eye cream by Youth to the People.

Each eye cream targets something specific, so look for products with peptides or hyaluronic acid if you want to moisturize and de-puff, or a product with caffeine if you want your eyes to look more awake. Good products for under eye firming are the Black Tea Firming and De-Puffing Eye Cream by Fresh and OSEA’s Firming Eye Cream. Always make sure to cover about an inch under your eye while focusing on the centimeter right under your eye and to the outer corners of your eye. When I have leftover eye cream on my finger I rub it into the middle of my forehead in hopes it will hold off wrinkles in that area even though there is no evidence of this.

Step #6. Face Oil

With working from home, I have begun to use face oils more in my morning routine, when I used to only use them at night. This is because they usually leave my face looking oily, but if no one sees me, then I don’t mind! Instead of covering my entire face with the oil, I use a small amount on the places that one would usually add highlight, my cheeks up past the outsides of my eyes and a little on my forehead. My go-to face oil is Biossance’s Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil, as it is great for adding moisture, brightening, and firming the skin.

Step #7. SPF

Sunscreen! This is such an important step for everyone’s skin care routine. It took me a long time to understand the importance of sunscreen on my face daily because for so long I wanted to be tan. The results of not wearing sunscreen are wrinkles, sun spots and skin cancer. This is reason enough to wear spf daily, but then my biggest issue was finding a clean sunscreen that didn’t feel tacky like sunscreen does.

I have tried many many products and it wasn’t until Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen that I felt like I could actually wear sunscreen every day. This sunscreen glides on and distributes evenly and within seconds, you can’t even feel it on your skin anymore. Every time I am on a girls trip I try to get all of my friends to try it as I know as soon as they do they will be fans for life. Another thing to note is that there are moisturizers that have SPF in them. If this is the case for your moisturizer, then feel free to skip this step.

Step #8. Lip Balm

The easily forgotten skincare step! Our lips often get neglected as the previous 7 steps were all about our faces but not including our lips. Over our lifetimes our lips can change color and fall victim to many of the same things our face does such as dryness, sun spots, and wrinkles. To help combat this, apply a lip balm or mask daily to moisturize and firm your lips. Bonus points if you have a spf lip balm to wear when you are outside for long hours such as at the pool or beach. I wasn’t much of a lip balm wearer outside of the winter months until one of my favorite brands, Summer Fridays released their Lip Butter Balm. It is what dreams are made of from the vanilla smell, to the hydration, to how glossy your lips look with it on. 

Where to go from here?

When looking into different clean skin care companies, look at the values of the company and make sure they align with yours. There are many clean skin care companies out there and I have listed out a few below that we have tried and liked in the past. Everyone’s skin is different and a product I love might not be the best fit for you, especially since I have a normal/combination complexion. If you have an oily or dry complexion, make sure you are choosing products that are good for your skin type and do not exacerbate any of the problems you already have. I hope you enjoy your new morning skin care routine!

Other skin care brands we recommend:

• 100% Pure
• Mineral Fusion
• OSEA
• True Botanicals
• Indie Lee
• Juice Beauty
• The Honest Company
• Versed 
• Farmacy

Cara Armstrong

Hi, my name is Cara! My personal journey with cancer and weight loss has led me to developing a passion for helping others with nutrition, fitness, and self care.