Is Skin Cycling the Secret to Waking Up With Glowing Skin?

A TikTok trend that’s beauty editor approved.

If you’re on TikTok, you would be pretty familiar with the term “skin cycling” by now, and if you’re not, you could have a light browse through the literal billions of videos on the topic to get you up to speed – or read a quick explainer on the gloss etc ‘gram.

Like a lot of BeautyTok trends, skin cycling is not new but, in true TikTok style, it’s been given a cuter and catchier name. And so now people are wanting to actually jump on it.

As someone who has been a beauty editor for a few thousand years (and now at the helm of gloss etc), I approach TikTok trends with caution – and I’m not afraid to take down some of the viral TT products – but skin cycling is one that both me and all my dermatologist and skin specialist mates can actually get behind.

What is skin cycling?

Just like a good pre-sleep wind down routine, skin cycling is something you slot into your nighttime ritual. It refers to your skincare routine over a four day “schedule”. The idea is that you alternate “work” days, where you use active ingredients (acids, retinols) that can be more irritating on the skin, with “rest” days, where you use less aggressive ingredients (like hyaluronic acid or niacinamide) that focus on repair and hydration so that your skin – and your poor, overworked skin barrier – can recoup. Rinse and repeat every four days.

Is skin cycling good for your skin?

The reason dermatologists like it is because, well, they kind of invented it – or at least one of them, Dr Whitney Bowe, coined the term. It’s literally what every skincare specialist (and, ahem, every beauty editor) will advise you to do when you’re starting active skincare (especially vitamin A, aka retinols) and the reason is twofold: we love establishing good skin habits (almost as much as we love good sleep habits) and, if this has you sticking to a routine, YES! Do it!

But more importantly, it helps us and our skin to be more chill. Hear me out: skincare is a long game, and ingredients take time (weeks! months even) to work on your skin, so you’re not going to see results straight away. Because of that, and because we’re naturally really impatient, we tend to go a little crazy on the actives, thinking our skin can tolerate it and wanting faster results. Error. This is when stuff goes wrong with irritation, redness and messed-up skin barriers that need to be repaired for weeks before product (literally any product) can be used on them again. So by cycling skincare products, you are introducing them slowly at a rate your skin should be able to tolerate, meaning there’s less likelihood of irritation. Think of it as a built-in speed bump for your skin, so you can slow down before it’s too late.

What products should you be cycling?

Obviously you want to give it a go, right? Tbh, if you’re using retinol you’re probably doing it already (but now, with a fun name!). If you’re not, here’s what a skin cycling four day cycle might look like:

Exfoliation night: Choose your acid! We favour chemical exfoliation over manual (with granules) because it tends to be gentler with better payoff.

Retinol night: The reason you hear so much about retinol/vitamin A is because it’s one of the most researched ingredients in the world and widely regarded as the gold standard skincare ingredient (it exfoliates, regulates, targets fine lines etc etc). But! It can also be super irritating, so you need to go slow (hence the, uh, cycling part).

Recovery night: Hydration, hydration hydration! Give your skin a long cool drink with a serum that’s nourishing and repairing, one that features ingredients like hyaluronic acid (here’s three we recently tried) vitamin B5 (panthenol), niacinamide or glycerin.

Recovery night: Double down on the above!

Is skin cycling the secret to your best skin ever?

Sorry to get all beauty editor here, but I have one quick caveat: skin cycling IS amazing, but if you have sensitive, sensitised or compromised skin, then active ingredients in general may be too much for you to tolerate, so you’ll need to chat to your skincare professional first.

OK, now I’ll take my serious pants off. For everyone else – go forth and skin cycle! It’s literally one of the best ways to get the most out of your skincare routine, and to actually have a skincare routine with very little downside. It’s dermatologist approved! It’s beauty ed approved! Will it have you waking up with infant skin? Well, that will depend on the products you chose and the quality of the formulations, but if you stick with it and have the patience, it will pay off. Trust the process – your skin will be better for it.

About the author

Sarah Tarca is a former magazine editor (Marie Claire, Girlfriend, Cosmopolitan), beauty journalist and co-founder of gloss etc, a weekly newsletter about all things beauty.

Her skills involve applying lipstick without a mirror, bullying people to wear sunscreen and procrastinating washing her hair – which is ironic given her kids think she works in a hair salon.

Catch her bylines in the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Body and Soul or serving up honest reviews about all thing beauty each Thursday in gloss etc (you can sign up here – it’s free).