One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is how to build a skincare routine with our products. In this post, I’m going to provide you with some basic skincare routines to choose from on a daily basis (based on your skin's needs).
It’s important to note that we don’t believe your skincare routine and steps have to or should stay the same every AM and every PM. Your skin doesn't always need the same things - one week it may feel extra dry because you haven’t been drinking enough water or you've traveling a lot. Another week, your skin might look and feel extra dull from not getting enough sleep. It’s totally normal for your skin to NOT stay the same consistently. As such, your skincare routine should be flexible.
Skincare should be personalized to everyone’s specific needs. While this post and I am always here for you to provide guidance, our hope is that you’ll learn how your skin works with each of our products and eventually create your own routine.
That being said, we do believe in 6 basic skincare steps at cocokind:
- CLEANSING
- TONING
- TREATING (OPTIONAL)
- BOOSTING
- MOISTURIZING
- SUNSCREEN
So let’s dive into the options in our line for each one of these steps.
CLEANSING
There are two methods in which I use our cleansing oil:
- Pump onto a cotton pad, swipe all over face. You can even add 2-3 sprays of our rosewater toner to help improve spreadability. (I use this method to remove makeup if I'm wearing it…no other cleanser is necessary after removing your makeup with this oil)
- Massage oil directly into skin for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then rinse off with warm water or a soft, damp cloth (I use this method mostly in the morning)
Another great cleansing option is our oil to milk cleanser. This cleanser is perfect for people who are new to oils or who want an oil cleanse that washes off easily with water. You can massage it into dry skin to cleanse and remove makeup. As you add water, it'll turn into a milk that you can wash off.
You can also try adding a little water before massaging it into your face. Whatever works best for you!
I use this around 3x a week to keep my skin feeling smooth and to keep dead skin cells from clogging my pores. It's super gentle, so it won't cause micro-tears or irritation.
TONING
Toning acts as a second cleansing step, and helps remove residual dirt and makeup. It also prepares my skin for the next steps in my routine.
But the most important thing that toning does is balance the pH levels of skin, which means that it helps “normalize” dry skin, oily skin, and anything in between. Having a balanced pH is absolutely crucial to having healthy skin, which is why I NEVER skip this step!
Our rosewater is the perfect gentle toner to use post-cleansing, to set makeup, or any time that your skin needs an instant refresh. Made with pure rose hydrosol, this toner helps to clean, balance, and hydrate the skin.
Two options for how to use this toner:
- Spray onto a cotton pad, swipe over face (I use this method 90% of the time)
- Spray directly onto face (I do this mostly to set my makeup or when I need a midday refresh)
Our raspberry vinegar toner was designed specifically for oily or acne-prone skin, since it's great for removing excess oil! It has a slightly more acidic pH of ~3.5, which helps to lower high pH levels in the skin and reduce excess sebum.
Simply spray this toner on a cotton pad and gently dab all over oily areas (or your entire face!) 1-2x per day.
TREATING
Since I am usually in a rush in the morning, I almost always save my masks and treatments for my PM routine. However, it’s totally ok to do this in the morning if you have time!
I use the chlorophyll mask at least twice a week. It’s a good week when I’ve done it 3-4x! Our formula is clean and gentle enough to use as often as you’d like.
Your face should be completely clean and makeup-free when you use this mask, so that your skin can soak up all of its goodness without interference. And it's great because you can customize it to your specific skincare needs.
Here are some things to keep in mind when using it:
- Thinness/thickness - the amount of water you add to your chlorophyll mask will determine how thin and diluted or thick and concentrated it is. If you add more water, it’ll be thinner and if you add less water, it'll be thicker. If my skin is feeling dry, I always choose to add more water so the mask is thinner, and won't feel as tight on my skin.You can also just apply a thicker mixture to certain areas of your face (like wherever you just had a breakout) and a thinner mixture to the rest of your face.
- Water, rosewater, or something else entirely - the chlorophyll mask is meant to be a “just-add-water” mask. However, I love creating other mixtures by adding in non-water options. Sometimes, I’ll add in coconut milk if I’ve been traveling and my skin feels dry (coconut milk has incredible moisturizing and softening properties). Other options? Avocado, yogurt, rosewater toner (duh), our cleansing oil, our facial repair serum - the list goes on. You can totally get creative with our chlorophyll mask. Sometimes, I’ll add in a pump of our cleansing oil AND a few spritzes of our rosewater toner.
Our spot treatment uses ginger, tea tree, and turmeric to help decongest pores and reduce the appearance of uneven tone. Leave it on anywhere between 20 minutes to overnight. If you do choose to use it overnight, just make sure to prep accordingly! It won't stain your skin, but it will stain fabric, which is why I usually lay a towel over my pillow before falling asleep.
Our turmeric tonic is our turmeric stick's invisible sister product - they have similar benefits, but there's a time and place for each of them. While our turmeric stick makes a great intensive mask treatment while you're at home or using the chlorophyll mask, the turmeric tonic is great for spot treating during the day, under makeup, or overnight without fear of staining your sheets.
Both of these treatments help visibly reduce the appearance of blemishes and dark spots. However, when using the stick, you're more likely to notice visible brightening, and when using the tonic you'll notice the size of blemishes diminishing more quickly.
Made in partnership with Jeannette Ogden of @shutthekaleup, this creamy clay mask purifies skin and leaves it softer, smoother, and more radiant. Our calming formula uses antioxidant blue sea kale to promote a youthful glow, glacial oceanic clay to reduce excess sebum, and cucumber seed powder to soothe and gently exfoliate.
This mask is the clean, gentle, plant-derived retinol alternative you've been waiting for! Our formula helps soften the appearance of dark spots, uneven tone, fine lines, and premature wrinkles, while also locking in hydration and reducing visible signs of fatigue. I'd recommend using this product 2-3x per week to start and then ramping up to 3-4x as your skin adapts to it. If your skin is really loving it, you can even use it every night!
This product, along with its sister product, texture smoothing cream, centers around skin-loving celery seed extract, which helps reduce the look of pores by supporting and firming the structures that hold them tight! Roll this concentrate onto targeted areas with enlarged pores or uneven texture - you'll see results immediately, and greater cumulative results over time.
This plant-powered eye cream uses Persian silk tree, hibiscus flower acids, and oat extract to reduce the look of fine lines, dark circles, puffiness, and sagging. This product comes with a hygienic metal applicator tip (which can be removed for easy recycling) that immediately cools and soothes the skin as you use it.
BOOSTING
The right products can work as “boosters” in your routine, supporting your other products and bringing your skin to a whole new level of clear, bright, and glowing. Here are a few of my favorites.
glow essence with sea grape caviar
This is the new hero of my skincare routine! You can read all about the way essences work here but the short version is this: essences sink deeper into your skin than most oils or moisturizers can and also improve the absorption of any products you follow up with.
In *essence*, a spritz or two of our glow essence with sea grape caviar can help you really get the most out of your skincare products.
Morning and night, I use one or two spritzes on clean, toned skin before following up with a moisturizer. I always feel a definite difference in how soft, supple, and moisturized my skin feels when I use the essence vs. when I don't!
vitamin c serum with sea grape caviar
Our serum's star ingredient is sodium ascorbyl phosphate, one of the most gentle forms of vitamin C. Basically, it allows your skin to enjoy the brightening benefits of vitamin C with less risk of sensitivity or irritation.
Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant, which means it protects the skin against oxidative stress caused by UV rays, pollution, and the like. And the best part? Unlike other vitamin C products, ours is gentle enough to use day AND night.
MOISTURIZING
I truly believe that moisturizing is the most important part of any skincare routine! We have five options for our moisturizers: facial repair oil, chia facial oil, watermelon hemp oil, matcha face moisturizer, and golden elixir. Here’s why and when I use each one.
AM:
All of our AM moisturizer options absorb into your skin super quickly, which is why I love using them in the morning. But that's just me - read on to see which moisturizer sounds like it'll best address your skin and moisture concerns.
Our first-ever cream moisturizer! Our texture smoothing cream offers lightweight yet nourishing hydration with a luxurious, silky feel. It uses celery seed to help reduce the appearance of uneven texture and rough patches, ginseng to rejuvenate and balance skin, and tskubaki seed oil to smooth the look of fine lines and wrinkles and protect against oxidative stress.
You can use this moisturizer on its own, or pat an oil on top of it to seal in extra moisture.
This lightweight dry oil offers nutritious hydration anywhere you need it - face, body, hair, or in your beard as a beard oil. You can even add a few drops to your bathwater for a winter-scented boost. Our formula uses watermelon seed oil to support elasticity and hemp seed oil to prevent moisture loss in the skin - it also absorbs almost instantly, which makes it ideal to apply before running out the door in the morning!
Our golden elixir is our second most lightweight oil. It has an extremely unique and balanced omega-3 and omega-6 composition; it's also rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and E, which help nourish and rejuvenate your skin.
The chia oil is my favorite moisturizer for when my skin is feeling dull or thin. Chia is one of the richest sources of omega-3s of all plants, providing deep but not overwhelming moisture. It helps soothe and de-puff, increase suppleness, and protect your skin against environmental aggressors.I love using this oil to help improve my skin's texture and tone, while also reducing visible redness. This nourishing blend of organic rosehip, coconut, and avocado oils helps promote softer, smoother, more supple skin.
PM (or AM and PM for dry skin):
The matcha face moisturizer is a deep, deep hydrator. It’s thicker than most facial oils, so I use it at night, when my skin has time to really drink it in. Because it's so thick, if I’m in the middle of a breakout, I'll usually reach for the golden elixir or chia oil for lighter weight hydration.
If you have dry skin, you might like the matcha face for both AM and PM. Since I have combination skin, I like switching it up between our moisturizers.
Other notes about our moisturizers:
-I love mixing a few sprays of our rosewater toner into our facial oils. I’ll put a few drops of our chia oil or repair oil into my palm, spray the toner in my palm 1-2 times, then mix the two and massage it into my skin. Adding rosewater to your facial oil really helps improve spreadability and absorption . You can even try mixing our rosewater into our matcha face moisturizer (in your palm) too!
-If you've never used oils before, I would recommend trying them at night first and then slowly incorporating them into your AM routine as your skin adjusts.
SUNSCREEN
Sunscreen is absolutely essential to having healthy, happy skin! When used as directed, sunscreen can protect against sunburn, skin damage, and even premature signs of aging in the skin.
I recommend choosing a sunscreen that protects against blue light and pollution as well as UV rays, and wearing it everyday, regardless of if you're indoors or outdoors.
Even if you're indoors all day, UVA rays can penetrate glass and damage skin, while digital screens and indoor light sources expose your skin to blue light. You can read more about how blue light affects your skin here.
daily SPF facial sunscreen lotion
Our clean mineral sunscreen uses non-nano zinc oxide, blue phytoplankton, and microalgae to protect skin against the effects of UVA rays, UVB rays, blue light, and pollution. We recommend using this every day, whether you're inside, outside, or both!
After moisturizing but before applying any makeup, apply a pea-sized amount to your forehead, nose, chin, and each cheek and gently massage in.
OTHER TREATMENTS
mymatcha all-over moisture stick
If you follow us on Instagram, you know I use this like 13095130 times per day. Morning and night, after I put on moisturizer, I apply it to the delicate skin under my eyes and on my lips to hydrate and nourish. In the middle of the day, I'll reapply it under my eyes, sometimes even over my makeup. Sometimes makeup comes off onto the stick, so I just wipe that right off – no biggie. I’ll just blend the matcha and the makeup under my eyes together by patting it in.
We like to call this the "better-for-you balm"! Most all-purpose balms center around petrolatum, which is incredibly unsustainable, or lanolin, which is derived from sheep's wool and often, not cruelty-free. Our balm uses a vegan beeswax alternative to offer water-resistant hydration anywhere you need it - hands lips, feet, cuticles, or any other stubborn dry spots. And best of all, 5% of every online purchase of this product gets donated to One Tree Planted, a nonprofit that (you guessed it) plants a tree for every dollar raised!
macabeet tinted moisture stick
This stick is perfect for a burst of hydration and a touch of natural-looking color. You can use it on your cheeks, lips, or both! If I’m wearing makeup, I’ll put this on right over it.
In the AM, this is usually my first “makeup” step after I’m done with my skincare routine. It doesn’t really matter what stage of your routine you're at when you put this on. I even use it at night, after cleansing and moisturizing, because the natural oils are super nourishing for your brow hairs.
I use a squirt of this on a cotton pad to take my eye makeup off at night. Since it's formulated with grapeseed oil, a natural astringent, it also helps firm up the skin around the eyes while it removes makeup.
So, now that we’ve talked about all of our different products, here are some skincare routine options that you can follow. I’ve provided many different options for the AM and PM because I change my routine up all the time, depending on how my skin is feeling!
SKINCARE ROUTINE OPTIONS
| Various AM Options | ||||
| 1) rinse face with water | 1) oil to milk cleanser | 1) cleansing oil massaged onto face, removed with a damp cotton pad | 1) sea moss exfoliator | 1) rinse face with water |
| 2) rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) rosewater toner, spritzed directly onto face | 2) raspberry vinegar toner on a cotton pad | 2) rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) rosewater toner on cotton pad |
| 3) turmeric tonic | 3) glow essence with sea grape caviar | 3) glow essence with sea grape caviar | 3) turmeric tonic | 3) glow essence with sea grape caviar |
| 4) pore refining concentrate | 4) vitamin c serum with sea grape caviar | 4) vitamin c serum with sea grape caviar | 4) glow essence with sea grape caviar | 4) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips |
| 5) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips | 5) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips | 5) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips | 5) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips | 5) matcha face moisturizer |
| 6) texture smoothing cream | 6) chia oil, golden elixir, watermelon hemp, or facial repair | 6) pore refining concentrate and texture smoothing cream | 6) chia oil, golden elixir, watermelon hemp, or facial repair | 6) daily SPF |
| 7) daily SPF | 7) daily SPF | 7) daily SPF | 7) daily SPF | *matcha face in the AM is great for persistently dry skin or mature skin. |
And for the night…
| Various PM Options | ||||
| 1) take makeup off with cleansing oil on a cotton pad | 1) remove makeup and cleanse with oil to milk cleanser | 1) remove makeup and cleanse with oil to milk cleanser | 1) take makeup off with cleansing oil on cotton pad | 1) remove makeup and cleanse with oil to milk cleanser |
| 2) rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) sea moss exfoliator | 2) turmeric stick and chlorophyll mask | 2) turmeric spot treatment | 2) spritz rosewater directly onto face |
| 3) turmeric tonic | 3) raspberry vinegar toner on cotton pad | 3) rinse off chlorophyll mask with water and use toner on a cotton pad to remove turmeric | 3) remove turmeric with rosewater on a cotton pad and then spritz all over face | 3) glow essence with sea grape caviar |
| 4) glow essence with sea grape caviar | 4) glow essence with sea grape caviar | 4) raspberry vinegar toner on cotton pad | 4) glow essence | 4) revitalizing eye cream |
| 5) revitalizing eye cream | 5) vitamin c serum with sea grape caviar | 5) revitalizing eye cream | 5) revitalizing eye cream | 5) pore refining concentrate |
| 6) matcha face moisturizer | 6) revitalizing eye cream, mymatcha on lips | 6) pore refining concentrate + texture smoothing cream | 6) pore refining concentrate and texture smoothing cream | 6) resurfacing sleep mask |
| 7) mymatcha on lips | 7) chia oil, golden elixir or facial repair | 7) mymatcha on lips | 7) mymatcha on lips | 7) mymatcha on lips |
| *This is my “staple” night time routine | *You can exfoliate morning or night! I do it 3x a week at least. | *I apply the chlorophyll mask anywhere between 2-4x a week. |
*I use the turmeric spot treatment on specific breakouts or scars. | *None of our products don’t work with each other because of specific ingredients or anything. Feel free to mix and match! |
It’s important to note that these are only options! You don’t have to follow all of these steps - you can add in other products, or choose not to use all the products I do. These are just my recommendations and they are FLEXIBLE.
Our skin is ever-changing and requires a constant and new evaluation for what it requires that day or that morning. The above are simply routines that work for me (and many of our customers who have provided feedback).
I hope you’ve found this post helpful. If you have more questions, of course my team and I are always around on Instagram DMs or at info@cocokind.com!
Thank you so much for reading!
-Priscilla