Evening Skincare Routine for Mature Skin

There is no better feeling than washing your face at the end of the day and going through your skincare routine. It’s one of my favorite ways to relax and wind down for the evening. 

As we get older, it can be difficult to figure out what products to incorporate into your evening skincare routine that keep it both simple and replenishing. Mature skin needs extra support for elasticity, suppleness, and for keeping your moisture barrier intact. Today, I’m diving into my current basic evening skincare routine for mature skin that includes products I love!

Evening Skincare Routine for Mature Skin

Cleansing Balm

After a full day of wearing makeup and/or being exposed to the elements, a cleansing balm will be more effective at removing your makeup and deeply cleansing your pores than using a single cleanser. When using a cleansing balm or oil, I apply it directly to my dry skin and massage into my skin for 30 to 60 seconds to remove the day’s dirt, impurities, and makeup. Then I rinse with water. 

However, all cleansing balms and oils are not created equally. Some leave behind a film or residue which I’m not a fan of. My long-time favorite is the Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm from Farmacy. It removes all of my makeup (even waterproof products), rinses easily, and doesn’t leave behind any residue. 

Cleanser

Once I’ve rinsed my cleansing balm off, I cleanse my face with my regular cleanser. It’s important to massage any cleanser into your skin for 40 to 60 seconds. This will effectively remove any residue and impurities, and will leave your skin brighter and your pores clearer. 

One of my favorite all-time cleansers is Tatcha the Rice Wash. It’s great for my combination skin and is a staple, holy grail product in my skincare routine because it’s effective and never strips my skin. I’m always rotating it into my routine, even if I’m testing other cleansers. 

Essence

Since I double cleanse at night, I find using a traditional toner isn’t really necessary. Instead, I go straight in and use my beloved Glow Recipe Cloudberry Essence Toner after I finish cleansing. It has a watery gel consistency that absorbs well into my skin and is lightweight and hydrating. This essence is very concentrated and acts as an essence, toner, and serum booster all in one. It is also formulated with both vitamin C and E, which help brighten, smooth textured skin, and target hyperpigmentation while giving your skin necessary hydration. Plus it has properties that allow products you apply after it to absorb into your skin more readily.

Peptide Serum

Next I apply a peptide serum.

Peptides should be a fixture in your skincare routine because they can truly make a difference with fine lines and wrinkles, firmness, plumpness, and elasticity. Peptides are amino acids that penetrate our skin to repair and rebuild damaged cells. You can learn more about these in depth in this video! 

I love this peptide serum from Glow Recipe. It’s extremely lightweight and hydrating and is a staple in both my morning and evening skincare routine.

Retinoid

3-4 days a week, after I apply my peptide serum, I apply my retinoid. For about a year, I’ve been using the Crystal Retinal from Medik8. 

If you are not familiar with retinal, the order of strength from weakness to strongest is retinol, retinal, and then prescription tretinoin. If you have sensitive skin or you want to see results without the hassle of peeling and dryness from prescription tretinoin, retinal is a great middle ground. Plus, you can get it over-the-counter. My sensitive skin with rosacea tolerates this product really well.  I saw brighter, clearer skin in just a few weeks and have been seeing continued results since.

The texture of Medik8 Crystal Retinal from is like a light, whipped lotion. I apply a couple of pumps over my face and neck, massaging it in until it’s absorbed, which doesn’t take much time at all. I love that you can progress with the different strengths to choose from too!

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Exfoliator

As we get older, our skin cell turnover slows down more rapidly. So regular exfoliation is more important than ever to keep our skin looking bright and healthy. On nights I don’t use a retinoid, I use some type of chemical exfoliation product. Lately on these nights, I use either Dermelect Self-Esteem Beauty Sleep Serum or Watermelon Glow AHA Night Treatment from Glow Recipe. 

The Dermelect Self-Esteem Beauty Sleep Serum is formulated with salicylic acid and glycolic acid to help clear out your pores and reduce inflammation, as well as support your cell turnover, which helps smooth and refine the tester of our skin. It also has ascorbic acid in it, which is a form of vitamin C so when you use the serum, you’re also targeting hyperpigmentation resulting in a brighter skin tone. As someone who experiences rosacea, I don’t get any flare ups from this product, even though it is a highly concentrated serum.

The Watermelon Glow AHA Night Treatment has a 2.5% pH-balanced AHA complex that helps exfoliate the skin while minimizing irritation. It’s supposed to be as powerful as 10% glycolic acid to exfoliate while maintaining your skin barrier. It also has 7 weights of hyaluronic acid and niacinamide and quinoa peptide, making it gentle at the same time. It is a mask-type night treatment product you apply at the end of your skincare routine.

Moisturizer

Finally, it’s time to moisturize. One of my staple, holy grail moisturizers is Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Firming Moisturizer. I love how creamy, lightweight, and nourishing it is. In addition to moisturizing my skin, it also has some really fantastic anti-aging ingredients, giving me more than just hydration. 

Eye Serum

Once I’ve moisturized my face, I apply my eye cream, which is currently either Crystal Retinal Ceramide Eye Serum from Medik8 or Revive Eye Serum from Beauty of Joseon. The Medik8 eye serum is a really refreshing product with retinal; it actually treats effectively and doesn’t dry my under eye area. I also recently discovered  the Beauty of Joseon serum which is formulated with 10% ginseng extract and 2% retinal.  It’s a nice hydrating serum that, helps with fine lines and wrinkles and helps improve skin elasticity.

Brow Serum

Once I’m finished moisturizing, I swipe on my brow serum to help fill in my sparse brows. I recently switched to Nulastin Brow Shape Altering Serum from this brow serum that I was previously using. I kept hearing good things about Nulastin, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t really expecting much from it but I was pleasantly surprised! 

The brand says to expect results within six weeks and I started seeing significant results around the fifth or sixth week of using it. It’s formulated with a proprietary blend of signal proteins and peptides to support all stages of the natural brow cycle, as well as anchoring and binding brow follicles. 

Lip Balm

My final step in my skincare routine is applying lip balm. For years Drunk Elephant Lippe Balm has been a staple for me. I also love the Plum Plump Hyaluronic Acid Lip Gloss Balm from Glow Recipe. Both are packed with nutrients to hydrate your lips and protect against moisture loss.

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