Skin cycling: A change in traditional skincare ideals

Less is truly the essence of appropriate. The pandemic sure brought a shift to the primordial regulations, even in beauty routines that drove us to go maximalist to serve our skin, with skin cycling being a solid example of that.
Believed to be introduced by New York-based dermatologist Dr Whitney Bowe, the trend had garnered billions of views on TikTok. Bowe was concerned about the skin experiment practice of using multiple skin products onto the skin during the COVID-19 lockdown, calling it 'layers after layers.' Endorsed by celebrity aestheticians like Amy Peterson, skin cycling, appearing to be a substantial regime during COVID-19, was a note to become further aware of skincare.
Extended time to stay indoors and personal life stress worked as catalysts to lead people to apply active ingredients like acids, retinol, or vitamin C more than usual. The agile additives resulted in more harm to the skin, like burning, irritation, and dehydration than good.
Skincare should be as simple as possible to put the skin in its best interests. Thus came the approach of skin cycling. At the heart of the routine remains the rule of taking days off from applying powerful ingredients to revitalise the skin. Keeping at rest sounds familiar to us all - when nothing goes right, take a step back. As it turns out, the layering of our bodies is no different, too.
So, how do we figure out that we are not caring for our skin appropriately? The layer of our bodies is delicate to irritants, and the most common mistake we make while taking care of it is making contact with products at inappropriate intensification. Even if we apply natural ingredients like turmeric paste onto our skin, we should do so pragmatically, on specific days, by bearing a little bit of the product to savour the best result.
What makes the process of skin cycling so trustworthy? The anecdotal shreds of evidence claim that powerful substances such as exfoliants, retinoids, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acids that help remove dead skin cells from the epidermis and increase collagen production in the hypodermis - are highly likely to result in skin inflammation and skin damage if overused.
The question remains to go the immaculate way to choose a skin tactic, even if it's as trending as skin cycling. Sensitive skin (prone to itching or irritation) needs to be less aggressive and gradually increase the frequency of use of active ingredients. Acne-prone or wrinkle-prone skin needs enough active ingredients to preserve healthiness. Thus, skin cycling may result in more effectiveness. The balance between skin pampering schedules is also a factor for consideration.
Our skin gets a barrier naturally made up of a complex chemical mixture of proteins, lipids, and other substances that protect the skin from direct contact with the environment. It functions as an automatic moisturiser and keeps irritants at bay. The barrier regulates the skin temperature, too. The risk of using active skin stuff is that they make the skin more vulnerable to dehydration, as they ruin the natural layer that shelters it.
A week-and-time-based approach to the skin makes it a bit habituated to produce hyaluronic acid. Cell turnover, a natural process that sheds off dead skin cells and brings in new ones, is complemented by skin cycling effectively as the skin acts more independently.
The best way to start with the process is to select the active ingredients (retinoids, acids, vitamins, niacinamide and more) that are substantial for one's skin. The next step is to divide the ingredients proportionately to use on specific days of the week (for example, vitamin and niacinamide on Saturday, hyaluronic acid on Tuesday) and rest for the next 2-3 days before reapplying to other active ingredients. The routine will work best if it gets readjusted according to the skin's requirements. If the skin is more dehydrated, choose more hyaluronic acid cycling. If the skin is prone to acne, go for retinoid and essential acid-based cycling.

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