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My skin is currently more reactive, more breakout prone, with redness and that slightly tired look – welcome to spring! If that sounds familiar, I’ll walk you through my current skincare routine, telling you what I changed and why so you can adapt your own skin.

 

 

Don’t worry, this is not a 12 step routine and you don’t need to copy it. What matters more than the products is the decisions behind them, so I will focus on the principles. Because spring is one of the seasons where your skin is often a little confused. You still need to fight acne or signs of premature aging, but after that long winter your barrier isn’t as resilient as you might think.

 

 

 

Morning skincare routine for Spring 2026

My mornings start with a quick 4 minute routine with my ZIIP Halo (399 €, full review here). If you have been following my routines for a while, you know that I do it year round, but in spring I see an extra benefit: As someone that struggles with seasonal allergies – not bad, but enough that it is a nuisance – I am extra puffy in the mornings. The swiping motion you do really helps with that, meaning that after the 4 minutes I reckognize my face in the mirror a little better.

The conductive gel used means it is necessary to quickly cleanse afterwards, and here I reach for The Inkey List Hydrating Cream-to-Milk Cleanser (180 ml for 15 €, full review here). It is not my favorite cleanser, but absolutely not stripping, which is my main focus during this time of year. I bike to work year round and the mornings are still cold and windy, so not upsetting my skin with a harsh cleanser is a must.

Now exfoliation, something I do in the mornings. The exfoliation step is when things can get tricky in these transition times, as my skin is now more reactive than usual, yet still very much prone to congestion, something that is hard to balance. My basic recommendation if you face the same problem  would be to stick to a gentler exfoliating option and go in targeted with stronger ones only where needed. For me, that means 4 days a week I use the Geek and Gorgeous Calm Down Liquid Exfoliant (100 ml for 28 €, full review coming soon). It is a PHA toner with a low percentage of Salicylic Acid, in which the PHA boosts hydration and maybe gives a little surface exfoliation while the Salicylic Acid helps against congestion. (More info: The benefits of Polyhydroxyacids in skincare explained)

As it isn’t enough to keep my skin congestion free on its own, I need to supplement it 3 times a week with the Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (118 ml for 39 €, full review here). That is applied mainly around the t-tone and around the jaw line, which are the areas I am most prone to breakouts.

Paula’s Choice is a returning favorite here, as is the next one, my Vitamin C of choice, the Geek and Gorgeous C-Glow Serum (30 ml for 12,35 €, full review here). I don’t want to bore you with repeating its many benefits (lightweight texture, stable for 3 months plus and very affordable), but I think an antioxidant serum is a good choice year round. Which one you pick depends on what is available to you and what your skin tolerates – maybe a Vitamin C derivative is the better choice than L-Ascorbic Acid for you.

The eye cream I am using right now is the One Skin OS-01 Eye Topical Supplement (20 ml for 114 €, full review here). If you remember my review, that might surprise you a little as I was pretty clear there that it was not worth the money for me. So why does it still feature here? Because – claims and price aside – it is a really nice product with a lovely texture and the right amount of hydration. Would I buy it? No, absolutely not, I think it is way too expensive. But will I toss it or let it go to waste? Again no, I don’t like to waste products that are perfectly fine and work for me and my skin.

Another one that I use despite what I said in my initial review is The Inkey List Symbright Moisturizer (50 ml, no longer available, full review here). I didn’t like the texture when I first tried it. It isn’t greasy, just something that you can feel after you applied it on the skin, and back then I was very much into skincare that worked, but left my skin feeling as if I hadn’t applied anything to it – preferences of someone that struggled with oily skin for most of their life. Well, preferences (and skin oiliness levels) change. I bike to work, and with the mornings still being cold and windy, I now like the protective feel it leaves on the skin that gets me through the cold part, but disappears until the weather gets warmer around midday. But, referring to the name that hints at brightening the skin, I don’t think it has brightening properties that exceed your regular moisturizer (More info: The ten best ingredients to target hyperpigmentation)

And as always the last step in my morning routine is sunscreen. I have two that I alternate between, and right now it is the SKIN1004 Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF 50 (50 ml for 15 €, full review here), My love for it is well documented on here already – natural finish, lightweight, hydrating – so I won’t go into detail. But using a sunscreen, no matter which one, is something I recommend year round. Now in spring, when the skin is pale and the sun already surprisingly strong, protection is very important yet often overlooked.

 

 

Evening skincare routine for Spring 2026

My evening skincare is actually two different routines. Or rather 1.5 different routines as the start stays the same, but then it changes depending on whether it is a Tretinoin or a non-Tretinoin night. I have been using Tretinoin for my adult acne for more than ten years now, but never managed to use it daily. And you really don’t have to to see results, neither for acne nor for aging. Every skin is different, so don’t let yourself be pressured into thinking if you don’t use it daily, you can just as well not use it at all.

This is how it always starts: I cleanse using the Geek and Gorgeous Mighty Melt Cleansing Balm (98 ml for 11.85 €, full review here). Despite being very affordable, it feels like a much more expensive balm and gets rid of my (not waterproof – waterproof needs extra work) mascara and liner with ease. Really a treat at a drugstore price point.

Then – the next treat – I use the Currentbody LED Face and Neck Mask Series 2 (759,99 € for both in a set, full review here). My goals is 5 nights a week, which I usually manage, but never at the cost of sleep – sleep is more important than LED! Am I completely sold on the actual benefits of these masks for at home use? Not really. But I find using it to be very relaxing and easy, so I can easily stick to regular use. And even if it just the relaxation that lowers my stress and so indirectly contributes to better looking skin, I’ll take that.

After using the mask, I do another quick cleanse with the Skintegra Melt Milk (200 ml for 18,50 €, full review here). Is cleansing twice absolutely necessary? Again, I don’t think so, but sometimes I feel my face is a little less clean after being so close to the mask that I figure it is a good idea (obviously it doesn’t replace wiping down your masks regularly!) The cleanser is unique in texture, it starts as a gel, turns into a milk when you add water and rinses perfectly clean, so great for people looking for something outside the regular textures.

Here is where things change depending on whether I use Tretinoin or not:

On non-Tretinoin nights, I use the Abib Jericho Rose PHA Toner Skin Booster (200 ml for 15 €, full review coming soon) that I am currently testing. It contains Polyhydroxyaxcids as well as Bakuchiol, but I use it as soothing and hydrating step and wouldn’t classify it as „active“. I briefly touched on PHAs during my morning routine, I see them as hydration more than as exfoliants, and I really don’t consider Bakuchiol a true retinoid alternative either (More info: The benefits of Bakuchiol in skincare explained). Toner, just like eye creams, are heavily discussed online regarding their necessity in a skincare routine, but I vote for a relaxed approach here: If you enjoy using either of them, then do. And if you don’t, then skip them. I very much enjoy toner in general (and this one with its lovely richness in particular), so it features here.

Next step is a peptide serum, the Geek and Gorgeous Power Peptides (30 ml for 15,35 €, full review here). They aren’t my favorite peptide serum of all times (I shared another one in my holy grail skincare video here), but again they are affordable, easy to access and I had about a third of them left.

Before I proceed, know that I received a huge Abib PR package a few months back, which is why so many of their products feature in this routine. To really test them, I need to use them regularly and alongside my regular routine so I can confidently tell you how to use them in your routine. And if during that process they work for me, they are used up – I might have more skincare than the average person, but I still can‘t stand wasting stuff. So even if I wouldn‘t repurchase, I will usually end up finishing the product. If something absolutely won‘t work for my skin, it gets tossed of course.

The Abib Collagen Eye Cream (30 ml for 20 €, full review coming soon) though is one that I tested, liked a lot during the colder months as it is rich without being greasy, so would work both in the mornings underneath my makeup and at night. With seasonal allergies, my eyes are more watery than usual and that watering and rubbing can cause dry and irritated patches underneath. That cream was rich enough to prevent that. The reason it probably won‘t get repurchased though is that I prefer using one that contains a retinoid at night – at 47 I need to bring out the big guns to keep the undereyes looking firmish.

Last step is a rather thick moisturizer, again from Abib, the Abib Jericho Rose Cream (30 ml for 12 €, full review coming soon). I used it a lot during the cold as it is rich and keeps my skin feeling protected, but has no trace of greasiness. While I have come to terms that my skin isn’t as oily as it was in my youth and now needs richer textures, the thought of even a trace of slick on my face still drives me nuts. No slugging or basking or however you want to call it over here! Is that only me or is that something all of us matured ex-oily people share?

What is different if I use Tretinoin?

I use a different toner, this time the La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 Spray (100 ml for 18 €, full review here) spritzed all over, mainly it is heavy in soothing ingredients like Panthenol and also contains Niacinamide, something I like to have in my routine as it seems to help tolerate strong retinoids. At the moment I don’t use an additional serum. I want to keep my routine as simple as possible, as every extra step increases the risk of irritation, so I move straight on to eye cream, the Abib Collagen Eye Cream again.

As moisturizer I reach for the Dr Sam’s Flawless Moisturizer Intense (50 ml for 43 €, full review here). I apply my moisturizer, usually a thick and plain one, before I apply Tretinoin, a technique that is called buffering which helps me tolerate the Tretinoin as it slows down absorption, again reducing the irritation potential (More info: How to use Tretinoin with minimal irritation) It feels a smidgen thicker than the Abib one, and has no plant extracts, so it is my current choice here. While it claims to help boost NAD+ I want to stress that I don’t specifically use it for that purpose. I don’t really look for NAD+ boosting in my skincare in general and even if I did, I wouldn’t use this one specifically for that – I explain why in the dedicated review lined above. And if you want to know why I don’t look for NAD+ boosting skincare, I explain it here.

Last step is Tretinoin, a pea sized amount applied to the face in dots and then spread out, I leave the middle part bare of product first and only take whatever is left around mouth and nose because that is where I get irritated the easiest.

Please keep in mind: This is what works for me after 10+ years of using Tret – if you are just starting out, keep it much simpler! Especially now in spring with its temperamental weather and your skin being still stressed from winter.

Now I’d be interested to know: Which changes have you made to transition your skincare? And what is the weather like on your side? Here the cold seemed to drag on forever, and then it suddenly turned really hot over night.

 

 

Shop my spring morning and evening skincare routine here

 

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