Break the cycle: How stress weakens your skin barrier

Now that you know how stress can affect skin, it’s important to follow a skincare routine tailored to your skin type and specific skin concerns. Clinique’s day and night regimens of cleansers, serums, sunscreens, and moisturizers are designed for hydrated, healthy-looking skin. Here, we'll take you through a stress-free routine for morning and night.

1. Cleanse. A gentle yet effective cleanser is necessary to remove the oil and other impurities that formed on your skin overnight. Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser With Probiotic Technology helps do just this without aggravating your skin. You might also consider the velvety-soft foam formula of our Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam, or opt for the quick-rinsing All About Clean™ Liquid Facial Soap Extra-Mild.

How to use: Use morning and night. Lather product between hands with warm water and apply over face and neck. Rinse and gently pat dry.

2. Apply serum. Stressed-out, dry skin is often dull, dehydrated skin, so reach for a serum for more radiant-looking skin and also to help quench its thirst. Moisture Surge™ Active Glow Serum is both hydrating and proven safe for sensitive skin.

How to use: Apply morning and night after cleansing. Use fingertips to spread over face and neck, avoiding the eyes. Make sure you wear SPF while using the product.

3. Moisturize. Give your skin a boost of hydration with Moisture Surge™ 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator. With hyaluronic acid and aloe bioferment, your skin will feel soothed with hydration in just three seconds and look more radiant. The results are impressive: In one week of use, 98% of women say their skin feels more resilient, while 95% report that their skin feels healthier.^*

How to use: Apply morning and night after cleansing as a regular moisturizer. For a dewy highlighter, apply over makeup. As a face mask, apply a generous layer to skin, then tissue off after five minutes.

If redness is an issue, try our Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream. Suitable for all skin types and for skin with rosacea, it helps visibly soothe skin, combatting redness and blotchiness.

How to use: After cleansing skin, apply over face and neck, avoiding eye area.

To help hydrate and reduce the look of puffiness, use your ring finger to apply and massage in a bit of All About Eyes™ Eye Cream with Vitamin C around the eye area.

4. Protect. Your skin needs daily sun protection and broad spectrum protection is a must. If you have sensitive skin, look for an SPF formula that’s suitable for sensitive skin, like Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base Broad Spectrum SPF 15. The oil-free face primer is a blend of physical (mineral) sunscreens and is free of fragrances, parabens, phthalates, oil, gluten, chemical sunscreens, sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium laureth sulfate. It has a sheer green tint that helps neutralize redness and prep skin for makeup.

How to use: Apply to face before sun exposure on its own or as a makeup primer.

1. Cleanse. The aptly named Take The Day Off™ Cleansing Balm does more than just remove makeup, although it does that exceedingly well, even for the long-wearing waterproof mascara. It also helps gently remove SPF and pollutants from your skin so your cleanser can get to work. Go ahead and use it to take off your eye makeup and mascara; it conditions lashes and brows.

How to use: Massage balm over your skin, even your eyes. Rinse well with warm water, then pat dry. Proceed with your favorite Clinique cleanser.

2. Apply serum. Reach for Moisture Surge™ Active Glow Serum, starting with 3 drops, adding more if preferred.

3. Moisturize. Apply Moisture Surge™ 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator or Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream; don't forget about a bit of All About Eyes™ Eye Cream with Vitamin C, too.

4. Restore. Your skin barrier is naturally weaker at night, so make the most of your sleeping hours with a creamy, oil-free hydrating face mask like Moisture Surge™ Overnight Mask. This rich formula sinks in to help soothe and replenish dehydrated skin. You’ll wake up with smoother, plumper, more radiant skin.

How to use: Apply to face and throat all over, avoiding eye area.

Although it's impossible to erase everything that’s stressing you out in life, it is possible to rejuvenate the look of your skin with the right routine. Clinique’s skincare products can help when life gets under your skin.

^* Consumer testing on 110 women after using the product for 1 week.