Published: February 15, 2025
While some skincare trends leave dermatologists cringing in despair, others, like skin cycling, are strongly backed by the experts. This is one trend that the pros have been recommending for years, and the fact that it has now earned itself viral status means that this practice has finally become mainstream.
So, what exactly is skin cycling and is it something that you should be doing? Keep reading as Avinichi explains!
What is Skin Cycling?
Skin cycling is a skincare regimen that involves rotating the use of certain products/ingredients over the course of four nights. The first night is all about exfoliation, the second night brings in retinoids, and the third and fourth nights focus on allowing the skin to recover from those more powerful products. On the fifth night, you start the cycle from the beginning again.
The main purpose behind alternating products in this way is to give your skin a couple of ‘rest days’ in between those active ingredients. Why would you need to do this? Keep reading!
The Benefits of Skin Cycling
Skin cycling offers up a number of intriguing benefits, with the main one being that it helps to preserve the integrity of the skin’s natural protective barrier. Adding powerful active ingredients to your skincare routine is all well and good, but it can often take a while for the skin to grow accustomed to these ingredients. Go all out with your initial use of them and your skin barrier will take a beating. This will leave your skin feeling inflamed and sensitive while exacerbating any skin concerns that you’re currently dealing with.
Going down the skin cycling route means that you’re far less likely to experience side effects from your exfoliator and retinoids. The two recovery nights are focused on keeping that barrier feeling strengthened and supported. This, in turn, will mean that you’ll see much better results from your entire skincare routine.
Creating a Skin Cycling Routine
So, how do you go about creating a skin cycling routine?
The first step, no matter which night of the cycle you’re on, will always be to cleanse your skin. Ideally, pick a cleanser that’s suitable for your skin type. If you aren’t sure about this, mousse cleansers tend to be well-received by all. They create a moisturizing lather that’s powerful enough to remove excess grease on oily skin yet gentle enough not to irritate dry or sensitive skin. The Avinichi Noni Mousse Cleanser does this particularly well, thanks to its coconut-derived cleansing agents that have a natural conditioning effect, along with its wide range of antioxidants.
On the other hand, if you need something a little more powerful for excessively oily skin, the Noni Clarifying Lather Purifier will have your back! It’s a foaming cleanser that will quickly de-grease your complexion while giving it a gorgeous glow.
Once you’re done cleansing, the next step of your routine would depend on which night of your skin cycling regimen you’re on…
Night One: Exfoliation
On the first night of your cycle, your cleanser should be followed up with an exfoliator. Exfoliation is essential if you want healthy-looking skin, yet many make the easy mistake of over-exfoliating. Skin cycling, which sees your exfoliator being used just once every four days, greatly reduces this risk, allowing you to reap all of the benefits of exfoliation without any of the downsides.
While physical exfoliators certainly have their place, skin cycling usually involves using a chemical exfoliant. These tend to be gentler than super-abrasive scrubs and, so long as you pick the right acid, can be used on all skin types.
How do you pick the right acid? If you’re new to chemical exfoliation, start off with a gentle alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA), like the mandelic acid found in the Noni Polishing Peel from Avinichi. Compared to other AHAs, mandelic acid has a larger molecular size. This means that it won’t delve quite as deeply into your skin, making it much more tolerable. This exfoliator is also packed with vitamins and other antioxidants that your skin will absolutely love!
Once you’re done exfoliating, keep things simple by slathering your skin with a moisturizer. The Avinichi Noni Night Repair Cream is the perfect follow-on from exfoliation. It’s loaded with hydrating and moisturizing ingredients that will leave your skin feeling restored and rejuvenated.
Night Two: Retinoids
On the second night of your skin cycling regimen, a retinoid, usually in the form of a serum, should be applied to your skin once you’re done cleansing. Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives that can do so much for your complexion. They’re among the most-studied skincare ingredients out there, with multiple studies backing up how retinoids can do everything from reducing the appearance of skin aging to lightening the look of hyperpigmentation.
Where things get a little tricky is when it comes to choosing a retinoid. There are several options available – some, like tretinoin, require a prescription while others, like retinol and retinyl palmitate, can be found in over-the-counter skincare products. What’s the difference between them all? Mainly, potency. While they’ll all bring about similar results, the more potent retinoids do this faster.
However, don’t immediately assume that the more powerful retinoids are better. Some retinoids are notorious for causing side effects, including irritation and sensitivities. Skin cycling helps to prevent this but if you’re new to retinoids, these ingredients can still take your skin by surprise at first and trigger an unwanted reaction.
There are a couple of ways to get around this. The first is to start off with a gentle retinoid. Rather than going for retinol, which is one of the most common OTC vitamin A derivatives, try retinyl palmitate instead. You’ll find it in several Avinichi skincare products, including the Hydrating Multifruit C-Serum.
Another option is to moisturize before applying your retinoid, instead of after. This provides a buffer between your skin and the retinoid, lowering its potency. You could also save yourself a step by opting for a moisturizer that contains a gentle retinoid, like the Mulberr-E Moisture Infusion Cream from Avinichi’s Phyto Thermal Collection.
Nights Three and Four: Recovery and Hydration
Once again, on both nights three and four, your skincare routine should begin with a cleanse. After this, you would then apply products that focus on hydrating the skin and keeping the skin barrier feeling fortified. These two nights will give your skin some time to recover from the previous two nights. While it’s great to stimulate your skin cells with certain ingredients/products, rest days are a must too!
What sort of products should you be using on nights three and four?
Avinichi’s Hydrating Antioxidant Serum from the Phyto Thermal Collection would be a good choice. This gentle formula contains a number of hydrating and barrier-loving ingredients, including sodium hyaluronate and three different peptides. Reishi mushroom extract can be found in this formula too, with this botanical loved for how it soothes the feeling of inflammation.
The Spirulina Cooling Moisturizer from the Avinichi Spirulina Collection would also be a good fit for these recovery nights. It has a minimal ingredient list, which reduces the chances of irritation. One of its star ingredients is panthenol, which is also known as vitamin B5. Studies show that it’s an excellent ingredient for repairing the feel of the skin barrier. The other ingredients in this moisturizer, from spirulina powder to sweet almond oil, contribute to this too.
Adjusting Your Skin Cycling Routine
The skin cycling routine detailed above is a great one to start with. However, as time goes on, you may want to make a few adjustments…
People with sensitive skin may find that two rest days aren’t enough. If this is the case, consider extending your skin cycling routine, adding in as many rest days as your skin needs. You may also want to insert an extra rest day between nights one and two.
On the other hand, some may find that their skin soon grows accustomed to the more powerful actives in their routine, or that exfoliating once every four days isn’t enough. If this happens, then you may want to shorten your skin cycling routine by cutting out one of the rest days.
What About Daytime Skincare?
Skin cycling routines are usually carried out in the evenings, so what does this mean for your daytime regimen?
Ideally, you should keep this gentle. Your daytime routine should be all about safeguarding your complexion from environmental damage so that your nighttime routine can then focus on bringing about improvements.
So, in the mornings, as always, start with a cleanser. You may then want to follow this up with a hydrating toner, like the Avinichi Noni Pore Purifying Toner. Just about every environmental aggressor that comes into contact with your skin, from UV rays to pollution, causes inflammation. However, this toner, which features ingredients that calm the feeling of inflammation, will safeguard your appearance against that.
If you want to apply a serum, pick a gentle formula, like the Radiant Renew Serum Capsules. It doesn’t contain any skin-stimulating ingredients. Instead, it focuses on increasing hydration to give the skin a radiant glow.
A good day moisturizer is crucial too. Look for a formula that’s light enough not to leave your skin feeling greasy but hydrating enough to provide enough moisture to last your skin all day. The Avinichi Noni Morning Glow does this exceptionally well!
The final step should be a sunscreen. Go with a minimum of SPF 30 and apply this liberally to your skin, reapplying it every few hours throughout the day.
Should You Give Skin Cycling a Try?
If you’re already at the stage where you’re using retinoids daily and your skin is tolerating this without any problems, you may not find skin cycling to be useful. However, for everyone else, it’s definitely worth a try. Skin cycling is a very effective way to introduce powerful actives to your routine without upsetting your skin or compromising your skin barrier, which is why dermatologists wholeheartedly support it. Start with the basic skin cycling routine that we’ve explained above before making any necessary adjustments to perfectly tailor your routine to your skin’s needs.
Click here to enhance your skin cycling routine with more bestselling products from Avinichi.