Esente Skincare

Short answer: A simple observation you can make at home: cleanse gently, apply nothing, and wait an hour. If your whole face feels tight, you are probably on the drier side. If it is shiny everywhere, probably oily. If the nose and forehead shine and the cheeks feel normal or tight, probably combination. If it just feels like your face, probably what is usually called normal. It is a useful starting point rather than a definitive test, because what you see is also shaped by the cleanser you used, the room you are in, what you put on your skin yesterday and how your skin is doing this week. Two things people get wrong: dehydrated is not the same as dry, and your skin type is not fixed for life. It can change with age, season and hormones, and the routine can change with it.

Here is how to read the result, and what to do with it.

The one-hour observation

Wash your face with a gentle cleanser, pat it dry, and put nothing on it. Go and do something else for an hour. Then look and touch. Bear in mind that what you see is influenced by the cleanser, the air around you, whatever you used on your skin recently and the state your skin is in that day, so repeat it on a couple of ordinary days rather than trusting one reading.

Tight, maybe a little flaky, no shine anywhere: likely on the dry side. Your skin is probably making less oil than it would like.

Shiny across the whole face, feels slick: likely oily.

Shiny down the middle, nose and forehead and chin, but the cheeks feel normal or tight: likely combination. A very common result.

Comfortable, not shiny, not tight: what is usually called normal. Enjoy it.

That is the basic type, and it is mostly about oil. It is shaped by your genes, your age and your circumstances, and it is one useful input into choosing products, though not the only one.

Dry versus dehydrated

This is the distinction that matters most and gets confused most.

Dry skin is short of oil. It is a type. It tends to be fine-pored, tight after washing, and prone to flaking. Many people with dry skin find richer textures more comfortable.

Dehydrated skin is short of water. It is a condition, and any type can have it, including oily. Dehydrated skin feels tight but can still be shiny, looks dull, and shows fine lines that seem to appear overnight and soften after a good moisturizer.

“Dry lacks oil, dehydrated lacks water” is a useful shorthand, but the reality is more involved than replacing oil or pouring water back in. Skin dryness, hydration and barrier function are connected, and a routine that supports all three, gentle cleansing, a toner or antioxidant mist as a distinct step after cleansing, hydrating ingredients and a moisturizer to help hold water at the surface, tends to do more than any single product.

Oily-but-dehydrated is common, and harsh cleansing makes it more likely. The skin makes oil and is still short of water. Treating it as simply oily, with more stripping, makes it worse. Why Your Cleanser Matters explains how that happens, and Hyaluronic Acid Is Not a Moisturizer explains the water side.

Sensitive is a different question

“Sensitive” describes how skin reacts, and it is not determined by how much oil the skin makes. Sensitivity can occur alongside dry, oily, combination or otherwise balanced skin: stinging with new products, flushing easily, reacting to fragrance. If that is you, the rule is fewer ingredients, less fragrance, and a patch test for anything new. Persistent redness or reactions are worth a dermatologist’s opinion, because some conditions look like sensitivity and need proper diagnosis.

Why your skin type changes

Age. Oil production and skin characteristics can change as the years pass, and for many people skin becomes drier with age. That is a tendency, not a timetable: oily skin does not predictably turn into combination and then dry, and individual responses vary. The routine that suited you at 30 may not suit you at 55. How to Choose a Moisturizer for Mature Skin is about that shift.

Hormones. The years around menopause can change oil production and water-holding, sometimes quickly, and the effect differs from person to person. Menopause and Skin: What Changes goes into it.

Season and climate. Dry winter air and indoor heating can pull water out of skin; humid summers can make skin feel oilier. Many people prefer a richer cream in January than in July.

Your routine. Harsh cleansers, over-exfoliating and skipping moisturizer can make any type look drier and more reactive than it is. Sometimes the “type” you are seeing is the routine, not the skin.

The practical point: repeat the one-hour observation when the seasons change, when your routine changes, and any time your skin starts behaving differently. Let what your skin is doing now, not the label on last year’s jar, guide what you use.

What to do with the result

Skin type is a starting point for choosing products, not a rulebook. Cream versus gel, foaming versus non-foaming, rich versus light: none of these is assigned to a skin type. What suits you depends on the complete formulation, your own skin and the product’s directions. With that said, here is where many people start.

Dry: a gentle cleanser, toner or mist, a hydrating serum, a moisturizer your skin finds comfortable, which for many drier skins is a richer one, and sunscreen. Many people with dry skin prefer to avoid hot water.

Oily: a gentle cleanser, toner or mist, a serum, a moisturizer your skin finds comfortable, which for many oilier skins is a lighter one, and sunscreen. Do not skip the moisturizer; stripped skin is irritated skin, whatever its type.

Combination: a similar routine, with the option of a richer moisturizer on the cheeks if they want it. It is fine to use two moisturizers.

Normal: whatever keeps it comfortable. Sunscreen still.

Dehydrated, any type: support hydration and the barrier together. Gentle cleansing, then a toner or antioxidant mist as a distinct step after cleansing, a hydrating serum, and a moisturizer to help hold water at the surface. How quickly skin feels more comfortable varies from person to person.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. Victoria draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. In the Esenté routine, whatever the skin type, a toner or antioxidant spray follows every cleanse.

Esenté’s range is built to cover a range of skin needs: from the Citrisal Purifying Cleanser to the Orchid Reviving Cleanser, a non-foaming cleanser, and from the Hyaluronic Hydration Creme to the Recovery Crème. Esenté products are developed collaboratively by our management team and our professional formulation and manufacturing partners, and are manufactured exclusively in the USA.

If the one-hour observation leaves you unsure, the Ask Victoria page exists to answer exactly that question.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Sometimes. Price on its own tells you almost nothing about whether a product will work on your skin. What it can tell you, if you look closely, is what the money went on: formulation expertise, the quality and sourcing of the ingredients, stability work, manufacturing standards, packaging, testing, the brand, and the shop it sits in. Many of those contribute to whether the finished product is good and reliable; some do not. The trick is to stop asking “is it expensive?” and start asking “what am I paying for, and what does the brand tell me about it?”

This is a fair look at a question everyone asks and few brands answer plainly.

Why price is such a poor guide

A skincare product’s price is the sum of many things: the ingredients and their quality and sourcing, the expertise that went into formulating them together, the work of keeping the formula stable, the standards it was manufactured to, the packaging, whether and how the finished product was tested, the cost of developing it, and the costs of bringing it to you.

Most of those contribute to the quality and reliability of what ends up on your skin, but from the price alone you cannot tell which ones dominate. A high price does not by itself mean a strong formula, and a low one does not by itself mean a thin one.

That is not a cynical point; it is how pricing works in any category. The answer is to look past the number.

“Clinical grade” and “medical grade” are positioning

You will see these words on expensive products constantly. In the United States, “clinical grade” and “medical grade” are not FDA-defined or FDA-certified cosmetic categories. There is no regulatory test a product passes to earn either label. What the words can describe is a brand’s formulation philosophy or positioning, which is a fair use of them as long as you know that is what they are. Esenté uses the phrase “clinical grade” for its own range and says plainly that it describes the brand’s approach rather than a regulatory certification. What Medical Grade Skincare Actually Means is the long version, and “Cosmeceutical”: A Word With No Legal Meaning covers a related term.

That does not make the words meaningless. It means they are a statement of approach rather than a certification, and the product still has to be judged on what the brand tells you about it.

What a price can legitimately pay for

Formulation. A finished product is more than a list of ingredients. Concentration can matter for certain ingredients, but so do the design of the formula, the quality of the raw materials, how stable the product is over its life, how the ingredients are delivered into the skin, whether they are compatible with one another, and how the complete formula performs. Many brands, Esenté among them, treat the concentrations in their proprietary formulations as confidential. Where a formulation is disclosed to a regulator, that is a separate matter from publishing it to consumers and competitors, and the absence of a percentage on the box is not a sign that something is missing.

Stability and packaging. Some ingredients, like vitamin C and retinol, break down in light, air and heat. Packaging that helps protect them costs more than a clear plastic bottle. Light and air are different problems. Esenté’s Elite line ships in Miron violet glass, which the manufacturer describes as filtering the wavelengths that drive degradation; that addresses light. Airless packaging addresses air exposure by limiting how much reaches the formula each time it is dispensed. A product may use one, the other or both. Does Retinol Expire? shows why this matters.

Ingredient quality. Two ingredients with the same name on a label can differ in purity and in how they were made. Esenté, for example, uses chirally corrected ingredients where appropriate, which raises the cost of the raw material. Where a chiral designator is printed on a label it is meaningful; where it is absent, the label alone does not tell you either way, which is why what a brand publishes about its ingredients matters.

Testing. Cosmetic claims do not need pre-market approval, but a brand is still expected to have a reasonable basis for any performance claim it makes. Look at what a brand says about how its finished formula was tested, not just about the ingredients in it. Dermatologist-Tested vs Clinically Proven decodes the phrases.

Fragrance and feel. Expensive products often feel and smell luxurious. That is a genuine pleasure and a reasonable thing to pay for, as long as you know that is what you are paying for. Fragrance adds nothing to how a product performs and can irritate some skin. Esenté does not use perfume in its products. Some Esenté formulations do have a scent, which may come from the ingredients themselves or from fragrance added as part of the formulation, and any scent can bother some sensitive skin.

What price cannot buy

No amount of money makes a cream do what an injection or a procedure does. Cosmetic topical skincare, at any price, can improve the appearance of fine lines, texture, tone and firmness. It should not be expected to reproduce the structural effects of injections, surgery or professional procedures. A product that promises otherwise is promising more than a topical product can do, whatever it costs.

Some useful questions to ask

You cannot fully assess a formulation from a label or a website, and no checklist replaces trying a product on your own skin. But before you buy, these five questions of the brand’s own website and label will tell you something:

1. Does the brand provide useful information about the formula, its key ingredients, its intended benefits and how to use it?
2. Is the packaging designed to help protect the formula?
3. Does it say anything about how the finished product was tested?
4. Is fragrance low on the list or absent?
5. Are the claims about appearance, or about things a cream cannot do?

These are considerations, not a scorecard. A product that answers them well has told you something worth knowing. A product that answers some of them less fully is not necessarily inferior; the absence of a published concentration or a testing summary does not by itself establish that. How to Read a Skincare Ingredient List helps with the first question.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance, and Esenté’s whole argument, across its range, is that a product should be judged on what the brand tells you about it and on how it performs on your skin. Esenté products are developed collaboratively by our management team and our professional formulation and manufacturing partners, and are manufactured exclusively in the USA.

If you want help deciding whether a particular product is the right spend for your skin, the Ask Victoria page is there to answer that.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Dark spots and uneven tone, which dermatologists group under the word hyperpigmentation, have many possible causes. Three of the most common on adult skin are sun spots, marks left behind by a blemish, and melasma. Hyperpigmentation can also follow other UV exposure including tanning beds, inflammation, injury or surgical scarring, and it can be influenced by hormones, medications, skin conditions and your individual skin type and tone. Sun makes most kinds darker, so sunscreen is the first step for nearly all of them. Beyond that, gentle exfoliation and a few well-studied ingredients can improve the appearance of spots over time. Nothing works in days, and anything that promises to is overselling. This article is about the common cosmetic forms; it is not a way to diagnose your own skin, and any spot that changes shape or color, or any pattern you are unsure about, belongs with a dermatologist.

Here is how the three common kinds differ, what helps the look of each, and what to expect.

Three common kinds of dark spot

These are three of the most common forms, not a complete list, and they can overlap. If you are not sure which you are looking at, a dermatologist can tell you; guessing from an article is not a substitute.

Sun spots. Flat, tan-to-brown, usually on the face, chest, shoulders and backs of the hands, the places that have had the most sun over the years. They are the most common kind on mature skin, and they are what most people mean by “age spots.” They are less about age than about sun, accumulated over time.

Marks left by inflammation. After a blemish, a scratch, an injury, a procedure or any irritation, the skin can leave a flat brown or reddish mark that outlasts the original problem by weeks or months. These are more common and last longer on deeper skin tones. Picking makes them worse. Breakouts After 40 covers one common cause.

Melasma. Larger, symmetrical patches, often across the cheeks, forehead or upper lip. Melasma has more than one cause: hormonal influences can contribute, and exposure to UV and visible light is also important. It is a chronic pigmentary condition that tends to come back, and it often benefits from a dermatologist’s evaluation; skincare and diligent sun protection can be part of managing it. If your pattern looks like this, see a dermatologist before spending on products.

One more category matters: any spot that is new, growing, changing color, irregular in shape, or itching or bleeding should be seen by a doctor. This article is about cosmetic appearance, and that kind of spot is not a cosmetic question.

Step one, always: sunscreen

Most common kinds of dark spot are made darker by ultraviolet light. That means the first and cheapest step is the same for nearly all of them: broad-spectrum sunscreen, SPF 30 or higher, every morning, on the face, neck, chest and hands. Without it, whatever else you do is working against the sun. Do You Need Sunscreen Every Day? makes the full case.

What can improve the appearance of spots

These are the ingredients with real evidence, and honest expectations for each.

Niacinamide. In a 12-week study, a 5% niacinamide cream applied to one side of the face reduced the appearance of hyperpigmented spots compared with the plain cream on the other side, and was well tolerated by the people in that study. How well any niacinamide product is tolerated depends on its formulation and your own skin. Niacinamide: The Percentage That Matters goes into it.

Retinoids. Prescription tretinoin cream at 0.05% carries an FDA-approved use, as an addition to a full skin-care and sun-avoidance program, for the mitigation of mottled facial hyperpigmentation, and its label states it does not repair sun damage or reverse photoaging. Over-the-counter retinol is a gentler cousin; it is a cosmetic ingredient rather than the drug, and its own evidence is for the appearance of tone and texture over months. How to Choose a Retinol Serum explains the difference.

Vitamin C. An antioxidant widely used for the appearance of brightness and evenness. Its evidence for tone is modest, and the formula matters more than the percentage. Buying a Vitamin C Serum That Still Works explains why.

Gentle exfoliation. Speeding up the shedding of surface cells can help marks near the surface fade sooner and make tone look more even. An appropriately formulated exfoliating product may help; which one, and how often, depends on the formulation and on your own tolerance. What a Lactic Acid Peel Actually Does covers one commonly used option.

Time. Marks left by blemishes fade on their own over months, faster with sunscreen and gentle care. Sun spots rarely fade on their own, but their appearance can be improved with steady use of the ingredients above, and keeping the sun off stops new ones being added.

What to expect

Improvement in the appearance of spots usually takes consistent care over months rather than weeks, and the timeline varies a great deal with the cause, how deep the pigment sits, the approach you are using and your own skin. Products that promise results in days are either exfoliating the surface, which changes how light reflects and can look like brightening, or promising something they cannot deliver.

Deeper skin tones need particular care. The same ingredients work, but anything that irritates the skin can itself leave a mark, so gentle and gradual is the rule.

When to see a professional

If the pattern looks like melasma, if spots are not improving after several months of steady care, or if any spot has changed, see a dermatologist. Prescription treatments and in-office procedures exist that no over-the-counter product matches, and they are performed by licensed practitioners in a setting that is separate from anything sold for home use.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance, and daily sun protection is a standing part of the Esenté approach.

Esenté’s range includes the Bio-Vitale Lightening Serum, the Fade-Away Lightening Serum and the Even Tone Set, each developed collaboratively by our management team and our professional formulation and manufacturing partners, and are manufactured exclusively in the USA.

If you are unsure which kind of spot you are looking at, the Ask Victoria page is a good first step, and a dermatologist is the right second one.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Breakouts in your forties and fifties are common, more common in women than in men, and often different from teenage acne. They may appear along the jaw and chin, may come and go with hormonal shifts, and often sit on skin that is also getting drier. That last part matters: the harsh, drying products that worked at 16 tend to make things worse at 46. Gentle cleansing, products that suit your skin, and patience do more. Persistent or painful acne is a medical condition and belongs with a dermatologist.

Here is what is going on, and how to care for skin that is somehow dry and breaking out at the same time.

How common it is

More common than people admit. In a survey of just over a thousand adults, about a quarter of women aged 40 to 49 reported having acne, and about one in seven women aged 50 and over. Men reported it far less at every adult age. The survey relied on people’s own descriptions rather than a doctor’s exam, so treat the exact numbers loosely; the pattern is clear enough. If you are breaking out at 45, you have plenty of company.

Why it happens

Adult acne has more than one cause, and for most people it is a mix.

Hormones. In the years around perimenopause and menopause, the balance between estrogen and androgens shifts. Androgens drive oil production, and when their relative influence rises, skin that has been calm for decades can start to break out, often along the lower face. Hormonal change can be an important contributor to new breakouts in midlife, and it is one reason they often come and go, but it is rarely the whole story.

Products. Skin gets drier with age, so people reach for richer creams. Some products, including some creams, hair products, makeup and sunscreens, can contribute to blocked pores, and that depends on the complete formulation rather than on how rich or light it feels. A breakout that started when you changed a product is a clue.

Over-cleansing. This is the trap. Breakouts make people scrub harder and reach for stripping cleansers. Aggressive scrubbing and stripping cleansers can worsen irritation and make an acne-prone routine harder to tolerate, which is the opposite of what you want. Why Your Cleanser Matters explains the mechanism.

Stress, sleep and the rest. These are real contributors and hard to measure. They are worth noticing without turning them into a project.

What is different about adult breakouts

Teenage acne is often oily skin plus blocked pores across the forehead, nose and cheeks. Adult breakouts may be deeper, slower bumps, and in adult women they often involve the jawline and chin, on skin that is not especially oily. That pattern is common but not universal. Either way, the old playbook of drying everything out usually does not fit.

Adult skin is also slower to recover. A blemish that would have faded in days at 20 can leave a dark mark that lingers for weeks at 50. That is why gentle handling, no picking, and daily sunscreen matter more now than they did then: sun darkens those marks. Dark Spots and Uneven Skin Tone covers the aftermath.

What helps

Cleanse gently, and no more than the skin needs. A mild, non-stripping cleanser in the evening, and a warm-water rinse or a gentle cleanse in the morning. No scrubbing.

Choose products formulated for blemish-prone skin. Texture alone does not tell you whether a product will block pores; that depends on the complete formulation. “Non-comedogenic” on a label has no official standard, so it is a hint rather than a guarantee. Judge a product by how your skin responds to it over a few weeks, and let that, rather than how rich or light it feels, decide.

Keep exfoliation gentle and occasional. A mild acid or an enzyme product, used as its directions say, can help keep the surface clear. Daily scrubbing does not. Enzyme Peel vs Chemical Peel helps you choose.

Do not pick. Picking is how a two-day blemish becomes a two-month mark.

Wear sunscreen. Every morning. It helps keep marks from darkening and it protects skin that is already irritated.

Look at what changed. New hair product, new pillow fabric softener, new moisturizer, new medication. Breakouts often have a start date.

Give it time. Keep to a consistent routine and avoid changing products every week. Skin responds to steadiness, and frequent switching makes it impossible to tell what is helping.

When to see a dermatologist

Acne is a medical condition. If breakouts are painful, deep, scarring, spreading, or persistent despite gentle, consistent care, see a dermatologist. Prescription options exist that no over-the-counter product can match, and midlife acne in particular sometimes has causes a doctor should rule out. This article is about caring for skin that breaks out; it is not a substitute for that appointment.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. In the Esenté routine, a toner or antioxidant spray follows every cleanse, whatever the skin type.

For blemish-prone skin, the Esenté range includes the Citrisal Purifying Cleanser, the Bio-Facil Acne Fluide and the Blemish Control Crème. Each is developed collaboratively by our management team and our professional formulation and manufacturing partners, and are manufactured exclusively in the USA.

If you are not sure which textures suit skin that is both dry and breaking out, the Ask Victoria page is there for that question.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Yes, on the days you will be in daylight, which for most people is every day. The sun’s UVA rays, the ones most linked to visible aging, are there year-round, come through clouds, and can pass through some window glass. A broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher, applied every morning to the face, neck, chest and hands, is a daily habit that has been shown, in a multi-year randomized trial, to slow measurable skin aging. It is also the least glamorous product in your routine, which is why so many people skip it.

Here is why it matters, what the label words mean, and how to make it a habit you keep.

The one study to remember

In Queensland, Australia, researchers followed 903 adults for four and a half years. Half were asked to apply broad-spectrum SPF 15 or higher sunscreen every day; the other half used it whenever they felt like it. At the end, the daily-sunscreen group showed no detectable increase in skin aging, measured on the back of the hand, and 24% less skin aging overall than the discretionary group.

That is a randomized trial, in real people, over years. Few skincare habits have been tested that carefully. It is the reason dermatologists sound like a broken record about sunscreen: it has been shown to work in exactly the kind of study most skincare never gets.

Why “every day” and not “sunny days”

There are two kinds of ultraviolet light that reach you. UVB is the burning kind. It is strongest in summer and in the middle of the day, and it is what SPF numbers measure. UVA is the aging kind. It is present all year, at fairly steady levels from morning to evening, and it passes through clouds and, depending on the type of glass, through windows.

That last point catches people out, and it is worth being precise about it. How much UVA gets through glass varies a great deal with the glass. A study of 29 cars found that laminated windshields blocked about 96% of UVA, while side windows, which are usually not laminated, blocked only about 71% on average, and some far less. So a long daily drive with the sun on your side window, or hours spent close to a sun-exposed window, is a legitimate consideration. Simply being indoors in a well-lit room is not the same thing, and does not by itself mean meaningful UVA exposure. The left side of the face and the left arm in countries that drive on the right are a pattern dermatologists have documented for exactly this reason.

Winter, cloud and indoors all reduce UVB. They reduce UVA less. That is why the answer is “every day you will be in daylight” rather than “when it is sunny.”

What the words on the label mean

Sunscreen in the United States is regulated as an over-the-counter drug, so the words on the label are controlled. A few are worth knowing.

SPF measures protection against sunburn, which is mostly a UVB effect. SPF 30 or higher is the usual recommendation.

Broad Spectrum means the product has passed a test for UVA protection as well. This is the word to look for. A sunscreen without it is protecting you against sunburn but not necessarily against the rays that age skin.

“Helps prevent sunburn” is a claim every compliant sunscreen may make. Only a Broad Spectrum sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher may also say that, used as directed with other sun protection measures, it decreases the risk of skin cancer and early skin aging caused by the sun. That wording is set by regulation, and it is the honest ceiling on what any sunscreen can promise.

“Water resistant (40 minutes)” or “(80 minutes)” are the only permitted water-resistance claims and they mean the product was tested for that long in water. “Waterproof” and “sunblock” are not allowed on labels, because no sunscreen is either.

How much, and how often

The label directions are the same on every sunscreen for a reason: apply liberally 15 minutes before sun exposure, and reapply at least every two hours, and after swimming or sweating. The SPF number assumes a generous application, more than many people use. For the face and neck, a generous layer that takes a moment to rub in is closer to right than a thin film that vanishes at once.

On a day spent mostly indoors, most of the benefit comes from the morning application. On a day outside, reapplying is what keeps the protection real.

Making it a habit

Put it last in your morning routine, after moisturizer and before makeup, and keep it where you will see it. Choose a texture you like, because the best sunscreen is the one you will actually wear. If you use retinol, exfoliating acids or any other product whose directions emphasize sun protection, daily broad-spectrum sunscreen is a particularly important part of that routine. And remember the neck, the chest and the backs of the hands, which age visibly precisely because they get sun and get forgotten. Does Your Body Need a Skincare Routine Too? covers the rest of the body.

What sunscreen cannot do

Its primary role is preventing additional UV damage; it is not a treatment for sun damage that is already established. It cannot replace shade, clothing and a hat. And it does not make other skincare unnecessary. What it does is help keep the account from getting worse, every day, which over years is the difference the Queensland study measured.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance, and daily sun protection is a standing part of the Esenté approach to caring for skin at any age.

Esenté treats sun protection as part of a complete routine rather than an afterthought; its formulations are developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. For questions about fitting sunscreen into your own routine, the Ask Victoria page is open.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Not everyone needs two, but the idea behind them is sound. During the day, skin needs protection and a texture that sits well under sunscreen and makeup. At night, measured water loss tends to be higher and skin is not in the sun, so many people use a richer cream then, and it is when ingredients such as retinol are generally used. Day creams are commonly lighter and night creams commonly richer, but that is a convention rather than a rule; the right texture depends on the formulation, your skin and the product’s directions. If you only want one moisturizer, choose one your skin is comfortable with around the clock and add sunscreen in the morning. If your skin feels dry by morning or greasy by noon, two creams may suit you better than one.

That is the decision. Here is what sits behind it.

What changes between day and night

Your skin is not doing the same thing at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. A study that measured skin every two hours around the clock found a daily rhythm in how much water evaporates through the skin: it is higher in the evening and at night than in the morning. That is one argument for a richer product at night, when measured water loss is higher and there is more time for a cream to sit undisturbed.

During the day, the priorities flip. The sun is up, so protection comes first. You may be wearing makeup, so the cream underneath needs to be light and quick to settle. And you are moving, sweating and touching your face, so a heavy cream tends to slide.

What a day cream is for

A day cream is commonly a lighter moisturizer built to sit under sunscreen, or in some cases to contain sunscreen itself. It typically hydrates without shine, settles fast, and often includes antioxidants, which is a sensible thing to have on skin that is about to spend the day in light and air.

If your day cream has an SPF number on it, it is regulated as a sunscreen and should be applied the way a sunscreen is: generously, and reapplied when you are outdoors. A thin layer of any SPF product gives less protection than the number suggests; apply it as generously as the directions say. If it does not have SPF, a separate broad-spectrum sunscreen goes on top. Do You Need Sunscreen Every Day? makes the case.

What a night cream is for

A night cream is commonly richer. It often has more of the smoothing and sealing ingredients that slow water loss, which is useful in the hours when measured water loss tends to be highest. It is not fighting makeup or shine, so it can afford to be heavier, though how rich it should be depends on the formulation, your skin and the product’s directions. Night is also when certain ingredients are generally used.

Retinol is the obvious one. It is generally used at night; follow the directions for your own product, and wear broad-spectrum sunscreen during the day. Many exfoliating acids are also used in the evening. A night cream applied over them adds comfort. How to Choose a Retinol Serum explains the timing.

Do you need two?

Two jars are not always necessary. The two situations are real: protection and a texture that works under sunscreen by day, and an undisturbed stretch of hours by night. Whether that calls for two products, and how light or rich each should be, depends on your skin and on the formulations you are using.

One cream is probably enough if your skin is comfortable all day and all night with the same product, and you are happy adding sunscreen in the morning.

Two creams make sense if your skin feels dry or tight by morning on your day cream, or your night cream is too heavy under makeup, or you use retinol or acids at night and want something richer over them.

Mature skin, which tends to make less oil and lose water more easily, often falls into the second group. How to Choose a Moisturizer for Mature Skin goes into the texture question.

How to use them

Morning: rinse or cleanse, toner or antioxidant spray, any serum, day cream, sunscreen. Evening: cleanse, toner or antioxidant spray, any serum or treatment, night cream. Esenté’s recommended routine is to apply moisturizer following the toner or antioxidant mist, while the skin is still slightly damp. That is Esenté’s approach rather than a rule about how moisturizer works; follow the directions on your own products. Skincare Order and Product Storage lays out the full sequence, and What Does Toner Actually Do? explains the toner step.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. In the Esenté routine, a toner or antioxidant spray follows every cleanse, morning and night. Victoria draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

Esenté makes the pair: the Hydra Day Crème and the Hydra-Plus Night Crème, along with the Night Renewal Set. Both are developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. Esenté recommends a clean cosmetic spatula for any cream taken from a jar. If you are deciding whether one cream or two suits your skin, the Ask Victoria page is the place to ask.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: A good eye product does real, modest things: it hydrates the thin skin around the eyes, softens the look of fine lines, and can make puffiness look less obvious for a while. It cannot correct every cause of dark circles, lift the eyelid or erase crow’s feet. The case for a dedicated eye product is that the skin there is particularly thin, has fewer oil glands than many other parts of the face, and sits next to your eyes, so it wants a formula made specifically for that area. Judge one by what it is made of, not by the size of the jar.

Eye creams are an argued-about category. Here is the plain, fair version.

Why the eye area is different

The skin around your eyes is particularly thin. It has fewer oil glands than many other areas of the face, which can contribute to dryness. It moves thousands of times a day as you blink, squint and smile. And it sits directly against the eye itself, which means anything you put there can migrate into it.

Those four facts explain most of what an eye product is for. Thin skin shows lines early and shows dryness fast. Fewer oil glands means it often benefits from moisture supplied from outside. Constant movement means the fine lines there are partly a record of expression, which no cream removes. And proximity to the eye means the formula should be gentler and less fragranced than the average face cream, with a texture that stays where you put it.

What an eye product can do

Hydrate. This is the main job and the one that shows fastest. Well-hydrated skin around the eyes looks smoother and the fine dry lines look less obvious, and hydration tends to be the first thing you notice.

Soften the look of fine lines. Over weeks, hydrating and smoothing ingredients, and in some products peptides or gentle retinoids, can improve the appearance of fine lines. The lines that come from expression will still be there when you smile. The ones that come from dryness can look noticeably better.

Reduce the look of puffiness, for a while. Cooling and lightly tightening ingredients can make morning puffiness look less obvious. The effect is temporary, and it is not the same as fixing whatever caused the fluid to gather.

What it cannot do

Fix every cause of dark circles. Under-eye darkness has several causes: thin skin showing blood vessels beneath it, pigment, dryness that makes the area look crepey and shadowed, and the shadow cast by the shape of the socket. A topical product can help with some of those. Hydration can improve the look of dryness-related darkness, and certain ingredients may improve the appearance of pigmentation over time. What no cream can do is correct every cause or change the anatomy underneath, so the result depends on why your circles are there.

Lift a drooping lid or tighten sagging. That is tissue that has moved. A cream is a cosmetic product. It can improve the appearance of firmness and smoothness; it cannot reposition anything.

Erase crow’s feet. These are expression lines. A cream can soften how they look when your face is at rest. It cannot remove them.

Anyone promising more than this is promising more than a topical product can deliver.

Do you need a separate product, or will face cream do?

Here is the fair answer. Some eye creams share many of their ingredients with a face cream. A gentle, fragrance-free face moisturizer will hydrate the eye area to a degree, provided it is light enough not to migrate into your eyes.

The case for a dedicated eye product is that it is specifically formulated for use around the eye area: often lower in fragrance and other potential irritants, often tested for use near the eyes, and often in a texture that stays put. That does not mean it is inert. Eye products may well contain active ingredients of their own, including peptides, retinoids or brightening ingredients; the difference is that they are formulated with the eye area in mind. It also gives you a reason to actually put something there, which many people forget to do with their face cream.

So: a dedicated eye product is not the only way to care for the area, and there are good reasons to use one. The product should be judged on its formula, not on the words “eye cream” on the label.

How to use one

Use a small amount. Tap it on with a light fingertip along the bone of the eye socket rather than right up to the lash line. Do not rub or drag; the skin here does not need the workout. Apply after serums and before your moisturizer or sunscreen, and let it settle before makeup. If you take it from a jar, use a clean spatula rather than a finger.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

The eye area gets its own attention in the Esenté range: the Eye Contour Complex, the Defining Eye Serum, the Defining Eye Silk, the DNA Eye Repair Gel, and sets such as the Perfect Eyes Set and the Youthful Eyes Set. Each is developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. Esenté recommends a clean cosmetic spatula for any product taken from a jar. If you are choosing between a gel and a cream for your own eye area, the Ask Victoria page is there to help.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: A cleanser is on your face for thirty seconds, so it is easy to assume it cannot matter much. It does, because it is a product that can undo the work of all the others. A cleanser that is too harsh leaves skin tight, dull and reactive. The right cleanser removes what needs removing and leaves the skin’s own protection in place. That is not about price. It is about the formula, and how you use it.

Here is how to tell a good one from a harsh one, and how to use it so it helps rather than hurts.

What a cleanser is supposed to do

Two things. Remove what does not belong on your skin: sunscreen, makeup, the day’s oil and grime. And leave behind what does: the thin layer of natural oils and the mildly acidic surface that keeps skin comfortable and helps it hold water.

A harsh cleanser does the first job too well and the second not at all. It strips everything, including the layer you wanted to keep. Skin feels squeaky and tight, which many people learned to read as “clean.” It is closer to “stripped.”

The squeaky-clean myth

Healthy skin normally has a mildly acidic surface. Traditional soaps and some alkaline cleansers can sit around pH 9 to 10, and a cleanser can significantly influence the skin’s surface pH, particularly when the cleanser itself is alkaline. That does not mean your skin takes on the pH of the bar; it means an alkaline wash can shift the surface away from its mildly acidic state for a time. Research comparing skin at its natural acidity with skin sitting at a higher pH has found the acidic state measures better on barrier and moisture.

That is why the tight, squeaky feeling after washing is a warning rather than a reward. A cleanser that cleanses without unnecessarily disrupting the skin’s mildly acidic environment leaves the skin closer to where it wants to be.

Esenté treats cleansing and toning as separate but complementary steps. The cleanser’s job is to cleanse without unnecessarily disrupting that mildly acidic surface. Victoria then considers a toner or an appropriate antioxidant mist after cleansing an important part of Esenté’s routine, to help the skin restore and maintain that balance. That is Esenté’s professional approach; Esenté does not measure a client’s skin pH or guarantee a particular reading. What Does Toner Actually Do? covers the toner side.

Foaming, cream, gel, oil, balm

The format tells you something, but less than the complete formulation does.

Foaming cleansers rely on surfactants that make lather. Some are gentle, some are not; the foam itself does not tell you which. They are often chosen for oilier skin, though a well-formulated foaming cleanser can be comfortable on other skin types too.

Cream and milk cleansers are non-foaming and clean with a mix of gentle emulsifiers and moisturizing ingredients. They are often chosen for drier, more sensitive or mature skin.

Gel cleansers sit between the two in feel: usually lighter than a cream, and gentle or not depending on what is in them.

Cleansing balms and oils dissolve makeup and sunscreen well and are often used as a first step before a second, lighter cleanse.

There is no single right format, and no format is automatically mild or harsh. Suitability depends on the complete formulation and on your own skin. The right cleanser for you is usually the one that leaves your face comfortable rather than tight.

How you wash matters as much as what you use

Rubbing irritates skin. The general dermatology advice is to wash with light pressure and lukewarm water, then pat dry, rather than scrubbing. A cleanser needs seconds of gentle contact, not a workout.

Esenté’s preference is to cleanse with an aesthetic facial sponge or a gauze pad rather than fingertips or a scrubbing brush. That is Esenté’s approach; independent testing has not shown that a cleansing brush harms the skin more than hand washing, so treat the tool as a preference and the light pressure as the point.

Morning and evening are not the same

In the evening, the sunscreen, makeup and the day’s build-up come off, so that cleanse is worth doing properly.

Morning is different. If the evening cleanse was thorough, there is little on the skin by morning beyond a night’s worth of natural oil. Victoria’s recommended approach for most skin is a warm-water rinse in the morning rather than a second full cleanse, followed by a toner or antioxidant mist, with a morning cleanser kept for oilier skin. That is Esenté’s recommended routine rather than a universal rule. General dermatology guidance is to wash morning and night, and individual needs vary; anyone whose skin feels tight after a water rinse may simply prefer a gentle cleanser in the morning too.

Signs your cleanser is wrong for you

• Your skin feels tight or squeaky after washing.
• It stings, especially around the nose and eyes.
• Your skin looks dull or flaky even though you moisturize.
• Redness or irritation that settles down when you switch to something gentler.

Any of these is a reason to try a milder formula before you change anything else in your routine.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. Victoria draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

Esenté’s cleansers cover the range of skin types: the Orchid Reviving Cleanser, a non-foaming cleanser; the Marine Plus Cleanser; the Citrisal Purifying Cleanser; the Very Berry Exfoliating Cleanser; and the Eye-Onizer Gentle Makeup Remover for the eye area. Each is developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. Esenté also offers Professional Facial Sponges for the sponge-or-gauze approach described above. If you are not sure which cleanser suits your skin, the Ask Victoria page is the place to ask.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: A modern toner is a light, water-based liquid you apply after cleansing and before everything else. It is its own step, not part of the cleanse. It leaves a layer of water on the skin so the products that follow go onto slightly damp skin, it adds whatever hydrating or soothing ingredients it is built with, and, in Esenté’s approach, it helps support the skin’s naturally mildly acidic surface after cleansing. Whether you need one depends on your routine. In Esenté’s routine, a toner or antioxidant mist follows every cleanse, and Victoria would not leave it out of her own.

Toner has a confusing history, which is why so many people are unsure what it is for. Here is the plain version.

The two kinds of toner

The old kind was an astringent: mostly alcohol, designed to strip oil and make skin feel tight and “clean.” That is the toner many people remember from their teens, and it is the reason toner has a reputation for being harsh. Astringents still exist and still suit some oily skin, but they are a small corner of the category now.

The new kind is closer to a very light serum. It is water-based, usually alcohol-free, and built around hydrating and soothing ingredients: glycerin, plant extracts, sometimes hyaluronic acid or mild exfoliating acids. It is applied after cleansing to leave the skin damp and comfortable. This is what most people mean by toner today, and it is what this article is about.

An antioxidant mist or facial spray is a related idea in a spray bottle: water plus hydrating and, often, antioxidant ingredients, misted on rather than wiped on. The two overlap in what they do, but the intended function of any toner or mist depends on its formulation, so read the product rather than assuming one is simply the other in a different bottle. A mist is easier to reapply during the day.

What a toner does

It is a step of its own. Cleansing and toning are separate steps. The cleanser’s job is to cleanse. The toner’s job begins once that is done: it prepares the skin for what comes next.

It puts water on the skin. A toner leaves the skin slightly damp at the moment the next product goes on. Many serums and moisturizers are applied to damp skin for that reason, though how any product should be applied is a question for its own directions. Hyaluronic Acid Is Not a Moisturizer explains why application matters so much for one ingredient in particular.

It adds whatever it is built to add. Hydration, soothing extracts, antioxidants, or a mild acid for gentle daily exfoliation. A toner is a delivery format; what it delivers depends on the bottle.

Toner and the skin’s pH

Healthy skin normally has a mildly acidic surface, and a range of roughly pH 4.7 to 5.5 is often described as typical, though skin varies from person to person and there is no single number that is right for everyone. Cleansing, particularly with soap or an alkaline cleanser, can shift the surface away from that mildly acidic state for a time.

Victoria’s view, and Esenté’s, is that a toner or an appropriate antioxidant mist after cleansing is an important step in helping the skin restore and maintain that mildly acidic balance, which is why it sits in the Esenté routine after every cleanse and why she would not leave it out of her own. That is a statement of Esenté’s professional skincare approach, not a claim that Esenté measures anyone’s skin pH or guarantees a particular reading. A cleanser that respects the skin’s mildly acidic surface in the first place is the other half of the same approach; Why Your Cleanser Matters covers that.

What toner does not do

It does not shrink pores. No cosmetic product changes the size of your pores in any lasting way; what changes is how they look. An astringent can make pores look tighter for a short while by drying the skin around them.

It does not replace a serum or a moisturizer. It is the step before them.

Do you need one?

It depends on your routine. If your skin feels tight after cleansing, or if you like the feel of a prepared, damp face before the next step, a toner earns its place. If you already apply your serum and moisturizer to damp skin straight after a gentle cleanse, you are part of the way there, and a toner adds the hydrating or soothing ingredients it is built with.

Esenté’s position is clear and it is worth stating plainly as Esenté’s approach rather than a universal rule: a toner or antioxidant mist follows every cleanse, morning and night. In the morning, the Esenté routine for most skin is a warm-water rinse rather than a full cleanse, followed by the toner or spray, so the skin is damp for whatever comes next. Individual needs vary, and someone whose skin feels tight after a water rinse may prefer a gentle cleanser instead. Skincare Order and Product Storage shows where the toner sits in the full sequence.

How to choose one

Judge the whole formulation against what your skin needs, rather than by any single ingredient. Read what the product says it is for: hydrating, soothing, gently exfoliating, or astringent. Look for hydrating ingredients such as glycerin if your skin runs dry, and skip strong fragrance if your skin is easily irritated. Alcohol is one ingredient among many; a small amount in a well-built formula is a different thing from an old-style astringent, so let the product’s purpose and your own skin decide. Then decide between a pad and a mist by preference: the pad wipes, the mist is quicker and can be used over makeup during the day.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. Toner is one of the steps Esenté treats as standing in its routine: after every cleanse, a toner or antioxidant mist goes on before anything else, as a distinct step that helps support the skin’s naturally mildly acidic surface. Victoria draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

Esenté offers this step in more than one form: the Octet Herbal Toner, the Mineral Plus Toner, the Hydro-Derm Infusion, and the Hydro-Mist Emulsion Antioxidant Spray for those who prefer a mist. Each is developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. Not sure whether a toner or a spray fits your routine? The Ask Victoria page is for that.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Yes, and a much simpler one than your face. Oil-gland distribution varies a lot across the body, and many areas, such as the shins, forearms and hands, have fewer than the face and tend to dry out more easily. Most body skin needs three things: a gentle wash rather than a harsh soap, a moisturizer applied while the skin is still damp from the shower, and sunscreen on whatever the sun reaches. Add gentle exfoliation now and then, and that is the whole routine.

People spend a fortune on their face and then scrub their body with a bar of soap and forget about it. Here is why that is backwards, and what to do instead.

Why body skin is different

Oil glands are not spread evenly. The face, scalp, chest and upper back have a dense supply, which is why those areas can get shiny. Many other areas, including the shins, forearms and hands, have far fewer, so they make less of their own oil and tend to dry out faster. Shins and forearms are the classic trouble spots: itchy, flaky, ashy-looking in winter.

Body skin is also thicker than facial skin in most places, and it spends much of its time covered by clothing that rubs against it. So it needs less in the way of active ingredients and more in the way of basic care: keep it clean without stripping it, keep it moisturized, keep it protected.

Step one: wash gently

A traditional bar soap is alkaline and can leave skin feeling tight and squeaky. That squeak is the sound of your skin’s natural oils going down the drain. A gentle body wash or a mild cleansing bar leaves more of them in place.

Water temperature matters too. Long, very hot showers feel wonderful and are hard on dry skin. Warm rather than hot, and shorter rather than longer, makes a noticeable difference in winter.

Step two: moisturize while damp

This is the habit worth keeping if you keep only one. Pat yourself half-dry after the shower and apply moisturizer while the skin is still slightly damp. It helps hold in the water that is already there. Moisturizer still does its job on dry skin; applying it to damp skin is a simple way to get a little more from it.

Many people prefer a lighter texture in summer and a richer one in winter, and a richer cream or butter-based product on shins, elbows, heels and hands; let how your skin feels decide. The same three-part logic that applies to a face moisturizer applies here: something to attract water, something to smooth, something to seal. How to Choose a Moisturizer for Mature Skin explains those three jobs.

Step three: sunscreen where the sun reaches

Arms, the backs of hands, the chest and the neck get years of sun, and they show it. Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen on the parts of your body that are exposed has strong evidence behind it: in a four-and-a-half-year randomized trial in Queensland, Australia, adults assigned to daily broad-spectrum SPF 15 or higher sunscreen showed 24% less measurable skin aging on the back of the hand than adults who used it as they pleased. Do You Need Sunscreen Every Day? explains why. The neck and chest in particular deserve the same care as the face; Crepey Skin on the Neck and Décolleté goes into that.

Step four: exfoliate, gently, sometimes

Dead cells build up on the body just as they do on the face. There are several ways to help them along, and they are alternatives, not a set to combine: a body polish with fine particles, or a dry body brush used lightly before the shower, or a pair of exfoliating gloves. Pick one. Gentle is the word: the aim is smoother skin, not red skin. Follow the directions for the product or tool you are using, both for pressure and for how often, and always moisturize afterward.

What to skip

You do not need a different product for every limb, and you do not need to exfoliate daily. Body skin asks for consistency more than complexity.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

Esenté’s body range includes the Cellaris Body Crème, a rich body crème; the Shea Butter Ultra Rich Hydra Crème; the Shea Butter Exfoliating Body Polish; and two tools, a Body Brush and Exfoliating Massage Gloves. Each is developed collaboratively by Victoria Nash with Esenté’s professional formulation and manufacturing partners, with Victoria providing product direction, ingredient research, professional-use feedback and performance requirements. If you are not sure whether your skin wants a lotion or a crème, the Ask Victoria page is open.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.