I Broke Up With My 20-Step Skincare Routine, And Here’s What I Learned

After moving house during lockdown and having a serious bathroom clearout, Bethany Fulton thought her skincare stash was under control. However, she and her partner are now in the process of renovating their bathroom, so their storage space has been reduced to what Bethany can cram onto my bedside table – which was already overflowing with books, makeup and jewellery. Needless to say, Bethany needed to have a rethink. Here’s what happened when she broke up with her 20 step skincare routine.

As someone who writes about beauty for a living, it was inevitable that I would have a fair few beauty products. I wish I could show you how much I had before moving, but I’m honestly too ashamed to share – I will say that I had well over 100 products.

Here’s my pile before my clear out. It consisted of:

• Three cleansers 
• Two masks 
• Four moisturisers 
• Two face oils 
• Two exfoliators
• Three tubes of my Skin + Me Daily Doser (two empty, one new)
• Four serums
• One gua sha
• Random box of eye masks
• One body oil
• One body lotion
• One SPF
• One lip balm

I got rid of anything that was expired, anything that I didn’t really like using and anything that wasn’t appropriate for my skin type. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of skincare products, but it’s only in the last year that I’ve started to think more critically about what I put on my face. After some fairly soul destroying culling of my collection, this is what was left.

• One cleanser
• One face oil
• One SPF
• One Skin + Me Daily Doser
• Two moisturisers
• One lip balm
• One body oil
• One gua sha

My skin is dry, acne-prone and sensitive, which is a tricky combination. I realised that, actually, when I look at this giant pile of skincare, I don’t use most of it. It’s either too scented and makes my skin itch or develop a rash, I don’t like the feel of it, or it’s just not something I need. The Mij eye masks for example, which I’m sure are perfectly good, just don’t address any need of mine. Puffy or tired eyes aren’t a major concern, and I’m much more focused on dryness and acne. 

My Skin + Me Daily Doser also replaces a lot of steps that were previously within my routine. I’m on month five with Skin + Me, and the mild irritation from Tretinoin has pretty much stopped now as my skin has adjusted. It serves as my treatment step 99% of the time. I do like to top up my exfoliation occasionally (did you spot the teeny tiny tube of Kate Somerville’s Exfolikate where all the writing had rubbed off?) but this is only every three weeks. I just need a little extra oomph to get rid of my flaky forehead!

I also love a facial oil massage when I’m super stressed out. Ten minutes in the bathroom with my gua sha and a facial oil is a sure-fire to force me to de-stress and slow my mind. I chose my Neighbourhood Botanicals oil over the Beauty Pie one because it smells incredible, and I will always choose to support a smaller business. 

I also chose my body oil over body lotion, even though the body oil is substantially more expensive. Applying an oil after a hot bath or shower is the ultimate luxury for me, and the strong scent of the body lotion also occasionally aggravated my eczema on the backs of my knees.

As for why I still have two moisturisers in my routine, it’s simple. One is for morning, and one is for evening. I love the Dr Jart Ceramidin moisturiser because it sinks into my skin beautifully, but in the evening, I like to use something a bit more heavy duty. The Vichy moisturiser feels a bit heavy on the skin, which I don’t love, but it’s also wonderfully rich and never aggravates my skin, even on my most sensitive days. 

As for what I really learnt from this process, it’s that I’m a hoarder even when I’m trying not to be. I hate throwing away products I don’t like and will still try and use them, and I even tend to hang on to empty packaging. 

From now on, I’m going to have a one-in, one-out policy. Running low on a cleanser? Great, buy a new one! And if it doesn’t work for my skin, I’ll pass it on to a friend. While I do feel like there are now some gaps missing from my routine in the form of a moisturising face mask for long Sunday baths (turns out my Glossier Moon Mask was extremely out of date, which explains a lot), I do think I’m happy with my pared back routine. I don’t need lots of steps, and when I try and hold myself to a complicated routine I inevitably give up on it. I just don’t have the time!

A minimal skincare routine that works for me is all I need, and I really don’t need to try everything that comes to market. Perhaps it’s time I stop scrolling through Cult Beauty on my lunch break…