How to build a skincare routine for your skin type and concerns

Building a skincare routine sounds simple enough. Work out your skin type, choose a few products and you're done. Except, of course, our skin rarely makes things quite that straightforward! In reality, you can have oily skin and still be dehydrated! Have dry skin and get breakouts. Or sensitive skin that’s beginning to show fine lines and pigmentation. And as our skin changes with age, hormones, seasons and everything else life throws at it, you may find you're dealing with not one or two but several concerns at once! So how do you build a skincare routine when you're trying to address more than one concern?  It starts with understanding the difference between your skin type and your skin concerns. Your skin type should help shape the foundations of your routine, while your individual concerns determine the targeted ingredients and treatments you add along the way. So, whether you're starting from scratch or wondering if your current line-up is really right for your skin, keep reading as we show you how to build a skincare routine that makes sense for your skin.   What's the difference between your skin type and your skin concerns? Building a skincare routine isn't just about knowing which product goes first. It's about choosing products that suit both your skin type and what you're actually trying to improve. Your skin type describes the general characteristics of your skin (for example, dry, oily, combination or normal), while your skin concerns are the specific things you'd like to address, such as dehydration, pigmentation, breakouts, sensitivity or visible signs of ageing. And this is where it can get a little confusing because the two aren't necessarily linked. You can have naturally oily skin but still experience dehydration. Dry skin can be sensitive or prone to breakouts. And pigmentation, fine lines and loss of firmness can occur across pretty much every skin type. Your skin type also tends to provide the more consistent starting point for your routine, while your concerns can change over time. Hormones, climate, stress, lifestyle, age and even overdoing your skincare can all affect what your skin needs at any given time. So rather than trying to find one product range labelled for your type of skin and only using those products, think of your routine in two parts, build the basics around your skin type, then personalise it according to your concerns.   Start with your skin type Your skin type can help guide the everyday products that form the foundation of your routine, particularly your cleanser and moisturiser! If you have dry skin, look for gentle cleansers and nourishing moisturisers that help replenish moisture and support the skin barrier. For oily skin, lightweight, non-greasy hydration is key. And yes, oily skin still needs moisturiser! Trying to strip away every trace of oil can leave skin feeling uncomfortable and may do more harm than good. Combination skin usually needs a little balance. A lightweight routine may work well overall, while oilier or drier areas can be treated slightly differently where needed. If you have normal skin, gentle cleansing, good hydration and daily sun protection provide a solid foundation, with targeted products added according to your concerns. And while sensitivity can occur alongside any skin type, if your skin is easily irritated or reactive, keeping your core routine gentle and supporting your skin barrier should come before introducing lots of active ingredients. One common source of confusion is dryness versus dehydration. They may sound similar, but they're not the same thing. Our guide to dry vs dehydrated skin explains how to tell which you're dealing with.   Now target your skin concerns Once your foundations are sorted, think about what you'd actually like your skincare to improve. This is where targeted serums, treatments and active ingredients come in. If dehydration is an issue, ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and glycerin can help attract and hold water in the skin. Try: VIE Collection Mesoforce NMF Moisture Boosting Serum. It’s been carefully designed for dehydrated and moisture-depleted skin! And it’s a beautifully lightweight but deeply nourishing serum that combines sodium hyaluronate, panthenol and natural moisturising factors to deliver intensive hydration while helping support the skin barrier! For pigmentation and uneven skin tone, look for targeted brightening ingredients such as vitamin C and niacinamide, alongside daily broad-spectrum SPF. Try: Phytomer latest breakthrough launch! Pigment 2D High Correction Dark Spot Serum. This targeted serum combines niacinamide with marine-derived brightening ingredients to help effectively reduce the appearance of dark spots and promote a clearer, more even-looking complexion! If fine lines, firmness and other visible signs of ageing are your priorities, ingredients such as retinol, collagen, elastin, peptides and antioxidants can be incorporated according to your skin's needs and tolerance.  Not sure which product to choose? We've rounded up our top-rated beauty buys for ageing skin, including some of our favourites (and yours!) from across the Beauty Collective brands. For breakouts and congestion, salicylic acid can be particularly useful for helping to clear clogged pores, but don't fall into the trap of stripping your skin in an attempt to dry out breakouts. There are gentler ways to tackle blemishes too, including one ingredient we constantly rave about! Discover why we’re loving propolis for breakouts. And if sensitivity or redness suddenly becomes the main concern, sometimes adding another active isn't the answer. Simplifying your routine and concentrating on soothing, hydrating and barrier-supporting products may be exactly what your skin needs. Try: Phytomer Minecel Fix Clear Cream. Think of this as your skin’s "stabilizer." If your barrier feels shaky, prone to blemishes or reactive, this deeply hydrating, barrier-boosting cream is the answer!  It packs 58% fermented Minecel Water (a mineral powerhouse that works at the cellular level to hydrate, repair, and revive tired or post-treatment skin.) As your routine's final "lock-in" step, it seals actives in place while building a breathable protective barrier for lasting comfort. Peptides and adenosine smooth lines and boost bounce, niacinamide evens tone, and calming extracts like Centella soothe redness. Ceramides plus vitamin E shield against stressors, plumping skin for that youthful look. It really is the perfect multitasker for sensitive, mature, or recovering skin, especially after microneedling or lasers.    What if you have more than one skin concern? Chances are you probably do! But that doesn't mean you need a different serum for every concern or a bathroom shelf overflowing with active ingredients! Instead, decide what your biggest priorities are and look for products that can address more than one concern where possible. A well-formulated vitamin C serum, for example, may support brightness and antioxidant protection, while a hydrating serum can help dehydration while also plumping the appearance of fine lines. It's also a good idea to introduce stronger actives gradually rather than starting a retinol, exfoliating acid and new vitamin C serum all in the same week. Not only can too much potentially irritate your skin, you'll have no idea which product is responsible if something doesn't agree with you! Your routine can also change as your skin does. What works beautifully in winter may feel too rich in summer, while hormonal changes, stress or simply getting older can alter what your skin needs.   So, how do you put it all together? This is where it becomes much simpler. Your everyday routine might look something like: Morning: Cleanser > targeted serum or treatment > moisturiser > SPF (don’t forget your SPF!) Evening: Cleanser > targeted serum or treatment > moisturiser (and if your skin really needs it that extra boost you can add an oil here too.) Then personalise it. Have dry skin & pigmentation? Choose your cleanser and moisturiser to keep dry skin comfortable, then add a targeted serum to address pigmentation. Oily & dehydrated? Keep your basic products lightweight, but add a hydrating serum to replenish the water your skin is lacking. Sensitive & ageing? Start with a gentle, barrier-supporting cleanser and moisturiser and introduce targeted anti-ageing ingredients carefully rather than throwing everything at your skin at once! You can then add extras such as eye treatments, exfoliants, masks or facial oils where they make sense for you.   Build your routine around your skin The best skincare routine isn't necessarily the one with the most steps. It's the one where every product has a reason for being there. Start with your skin type to get the foundations right, then choose targeted products according to the concerns you'd actually like to improve. And remember, those needs aren't set in stone. Your skin changes, so your skincare can too. Ultimately, a few well-chosen products that work together will always make more sense than a complicated routine full of products you're not quite sure why you're using!

You’ve been told to invest in an eye cream, but you aren’t quite sure why you should fork out the extra dollars. After all, do you really need to use a separate cream for your eyes? Will your moisturiser not suffice? The short answer? Not necessarily. If all you are looking for is a little hydration around your eyes, then some gentle facial moisturisers can be perfectly suitable. But if you want to target something more specific (think dark circles, puffiness, fine lines, dryness or crepey-looking skin) that's when a dedicated eye treatment can really earn its place in your skincare routine! So, is your moisturiser enough or would your eyes benefit from something more targeted? Keep reading as we explain the difference, what to look for and how to choose the right option for your eyes.  Can you use your face moisturiser around your eyes? Yes, but it depends on the moisturiser! Not every facial moisturiser is designed to be applied so close to the eyes. The skin here is thinner and more delicate than much of the rest of your face, which can make it more prone to dryness and irritation. It's also constantly moving every time we smile, squint and blink, which is one of the reasons fine lines can become noticeable here relatively early! Your facial moisturiser may also contain active ingredients or fragrance that the rest of your face tolerates perfectly well, but your eye area doesn't. The easiest rule? Check the directions on your moisturiser. If it says to avoid the eye area, avoid it. And if it causes stinging, watering or irritation, that's a pretty good indication it doesn't belong there! Which ingredients are suitable around your eyes (and what should you avoid)? If you're using a facial moisturiser around your eyes, gentle hydrating and skin-supporting ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, ceramides, peptides and squalane can all be useful. But remember, it's the overall formulation that matters. A moisturiser isn't automatically suitable for your eyes simply because it contains hyaluronic acid or peptides. It's also worth being a little more careful with stronger actives. High-strength retinol, exfoliating acids and heavily fragranced formulas may irritate the delicate eye area, particularly if the product wasn't formulated to be used there. That doesn't mean ingredients such as retinol are off limits around your eyes though. Far from it! If fine lines and visible signs of ageing are a concern, retinol can be useful, but look for an eye treatment specifically formulated for this delicate area rather than taking your usual facial retinol right up to your eyes! Try Pevonia’s Evolutive Eye Cream. It’s formulated with hyaluronic acid and retinyl palmitate (which is a gentler, more stable vitamin A derivative) so perfect for the delicate, yet ageing eye area! It not only deeply hydrates, brightens and firms the skin, it also actively reduces fine lines and crepiness! So, what does an eye cream actually do differently? Eye creams, gels and serums are specifically formulated for the delicate eye area and, importantly, can target concerns your everyday facial moisturiser may not address. The key is choosing one according to your needs. Rather than simply reaching for an eye cream labelled ‘anti-ageing’, think about what you'd actually like to improve. Is it dryness? Puffiness? Dark circles? Fine lines? Or perhaps a combination of a few? If dryness and dehydration are your main concerns, an eye treatment rich in hyaluronic acid and other nourishing ingredients including squalane, shea butter and vitamin e, can help replenish moisture and plump the appearance of fine dehydration lines. Want to know more? Here are 6 Reasons Why You Should Use Hyaluronic Acid Under Your Eyes For fine lines, loss of firmness and crepey-looking skin, look for targeted ingredients such as peptides, antioxidants, collagen-supporting ingredients and eye-friendly forms of vitamin A to help smooth and improve the appearance of ageing skin. Here are our expert approved eyes creams for ageing eyes, if you’re not sure where to start. If it's puffiness and tired looking eyes you’re looking to improve, ingredients such as caffeine, Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 and targeted botanical extracts like Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, can help refresh the eye area and improve the appearance of tired, puffy eyes. And then there are dark circles. These are a little more complicated because they can have several different causes, including genetics, pigmentation, visible blood vessels and hollowness beneath the eyes. Lack of sleep certainly doesn't help either! For the best recommendations on how to treat your under eyes bags, dark circles and puffiness, click here. So, do you really need an eye cream? If your moisturiser is gentle, suitable for use around the eyes and all you're looking for is a little extra hydration, it may be perfectly adequate. But if there's something specific you'd like to improve, whether that's puffiness, dark circles, fine lines, dryness or crepey-looking skin, that's when a targeted eye treatment really comes into its own. Rather than expecting your everyday moisturiser to do everything, you can choose a formula specifically designed for the delicate eye area and the concerns you actually want to address. And if you're going to add another step to your skincare routine, we think that's a pretty good reason to do it!

Your favourite cleanser is from one skincare brand, the serum your friend raved about (and you recently bought) is from another, and then there's your trusty moisturiser you've been using for years from yet another! But have you ever wondered whether you'd actually get better results if everything in your routine came from the same brand? Or is mixing and matching products from different brands perfectly fine? Skincare ranges are often designed to be used together, so does mixing things up mean you're missing out on something? Or is it simply a case of choosing the products that work best for your skin, regardless of the name on the bottle? There's certainly no rule that says your entire skincare routine needs to come from one brand. But there can be benefits to using products from the same range, and a few important things to consider when combining them with other products. So, does a perfectly matching bathroom shelf really equal better skin? Keep reading as we look at when it makes sense to stick with one range and when choosing from different brands might actually work better for you.   Do skincare products work better when they're from the same brand? A cleanser, serum and moisturiser don't automatically become more effective because they share the same logo. What matters more is whether the products are right for your skin and whether their ingredients and formulations work well together. That said, there can be advantages to using products that have been developed as part of the same collection for a very good reason! Skincare brands will often create collections around a particular skin type or concern, with complementary formulations designed to form a complete routine. That can make choosing your products much easier, particularly if you're trying to address something specific such as sensitivity, dehydration, pigmentation or signs of ageing. So rather than thinking one brand = better, it can be more useful to think about whether a particular collection makes sense for your skin.   When using products from the same collection makes sense If you have a particular skin concern you want to focus on, this is where using several products from the same collection can work really well. Pevonia's RS2 Collection, for example, has been created specifically for sensitive, redness-prone skin. So rather than choosing a cleanser for sensitive skin from one range, a serum for redness from another and then trying to find a moisturiser to work alongside them, you can build your routine using products that have all been developed specifically to target that concern. The same applies if ageing is your main concern. Pevonia's Power Repair Collection offers a complete range of products for mature skin, while the Micro-Retinol Collection is ideal if you're looking for a more intensive approach to smoothing, resurfacing and improving the visible signs of ageing. Of course, that doesn't mean you need to use every product in the collection! You might love the cleanser, serum and moisturiser but prefer an eye cream or mask from another brand. It's simply about finding the combination of products that works best for your skin!   Why mixing skincare brands can work just as well Sometimes the best routine for your skin won't come neatly packaged within one brand and that's perfectly OK! You may love the way your Pevonia cleanser leaves your skin feeling, find that a Phytomer moisturiser gives you exactly the hydration you need and prefer a targeted VIE Collection serum for a particular concern (I'm testament to this!). So why give up a product that works brilliantly for your skin simply because the label doesn't match the bottle next to it? Mixing brands also allows you to build a much more personalised routine. Your skin may be dry and experiencing pigmentation, for example, or sensitive but also showing signs of ageing. One collection won't necessarily address everything you want it to. This is where introducing more targeted products, such as serums or masks, can really help tailor your routine to what your skin actually needs. Sometimes one carefully chosen product is all your routine is missing.   What actually matters when mixing skincare brands? It's less about “can I use brand A with brand B?” and more about whether the actual products and ingredients you're using work well together! There are a few things worth keeping in mind: Active ingredients. You need to be careful about layering several high-strength actives simply because they're in different products. Retinoids, exfoliating acids and other intensive ingredients can all be fantastic for your skin, but using too many at once can quickly lead to irritation! Duplication. It's surprisingly easy to double up without realising it! If your cleanser contains exfoliating acids and you're following it with an exfoliating toner and then an active serum, your skin may be getting far more than you intended. Different brands don't necessarily mean different ingredients. Your skin type and concerns. This should always come first. Choose products because they address what your skin needs, rather than because they're trending or your friend swears by them (yes, even that serum we mentioned earlier!). Texture and layering. Products still need to be applied in the right order, regardless of which brand they're from. As a general rule, lighter, water-based products such as serums go on before richer creams and oils, with SPF always the final step in your morning routine. How your skin responds. If you're adding something new, particularly an active product, introduce it gradually rather than changing three or four things at once. If your skin suddenly becomes irritated or congested, it'll be much easier to work out which product might be responsible. Ultimately, what's inside the bottles matters far more than whether the bottles match!  Can you mix natural and cosmeceutical skincare? Absolutely! This is another area where you might think you need to choose one or the other, but you really don't! You may love natural, botanical and marine-based skincare for your everyday cleanser and moisturiser but want something more targeted when it comes to treating a particular skin concern. For example, you could build the nourishing foundation of your routine around Pevonia's botanical and marine formulations, then introduce a targeted VIE Collection or Medicalia product when you want to address concerns such as pigmentation, skin texture or more advanced signs of ageing. The same principles apply, though. Don't focus purely on whether something is labelled natural, cosmeceutical or dermaceutical. Look at the actual formulation, the active ingredients you're already using and how the products work together. And if you're introducing something more intensive, particularly retinol or exfoliating acids, take it slowly. Avoid adding several strong actives at once and give your skin time to adjust.   One brand or several, what's best for your skin? There really is no prize for having a perfectly matching bathroom shelf! If you love the simplicity of using a complete collection that's been developed for your particular skin type or concern, there are definite benefits to building your routine that way. You know the products have been created to work well together and are all focused on addressing the same skin concerns. But if your perfect cleanser comes from one brand, your favourite serum from another and the moisturiser your skin loves is from somewhere else, there's absolutely no reason to change them simply to make your routine match. In fact, choosing products from different brands can sometimes help you create a routine that's much more tailored to your individual skin’s needs! Ultimately, your skincare routine doesn't need to match. It needs to make sense. Choose products that work well together and address your individual skin concerns, regardless of the name on the bottle.