The benefits of skinimalism: why fewer products lead to healthier skin

It was only a few years ago that the “shelfie” photo—displaying one’s immense personal inventory of skincare products neatly lined up on cabinet shelves—was seen as a beauty badge of honor on social media, the perception being that the more detailed your product regimen, the better your skin would look.

But as the popularity of extensive multi-step skincare rose, so did the number of people who reported experiencing more skin sensitivity, breakouts, allergic reactions and dryness. Skin pros attribute these reactions to product overload and bombarding the skin with too many ingredients, so now the shelfie has been nudged out in favor of skinimalism, the catchy nickname for minimalist skincare. This term refers to using as few products as possible to gently nourish and maintain the skin, rather than attacking concerns with lots of harsh ingredients.

Paring back to just a few products doesn’t mean downgrading to basic, single-ingredient formulas though. Minimalist skincare is about choosing multipurpose products with the right mix of highly effective ingredients at optimal concentrations to help promote healthy skin. This is the philosophy behind Retrouvé’s streamlined, synergistic system, and it’s why our unique formulations help restore your skin to its glowiest, happiest state. 

How can you become a skincare minimalist? Just follow these principles and learn why we believe it is the best approach to caring for your skin at any age.

1. Listen to your skin. We've gotten into the habit of taking our product recommendations from influencers and social media, but skincare is not one size fits all. While everyone’s skin, regardless of age or gender, has the same core needs, what’s helpful for one person’s complexion may trigger breakouts or other adverse reactions in someone else. So pay attention to what your skin is telling you by how it feels, then create a personalized regimen based on advice from trusted, knowledgeable skin authorities. At Retrouvé, our products are formulated for all ages and genders, and our experts, who are available through our concierge service and complimentary virtual consultations, can help guide you to the products best suited for the current condition of your skin.

2. Streamline with synergistic formulas. If 10 people are talking at the same time, all you hear is noise, right? Well, your skin feels the same way when it's overwhelmed with too many products and ingredients—it can only process so much before it gets confused and agitated. Instead of helping troubled skin become healthier, overzealous product use can introduce new issues like irritation, breakouts, and dryness. You may be using multiple products that do the same thing, or layering ingredients that shouldn't be applied at the same time. By dialing back to fewer products that are designed to work together, you’re ensuring that your skin receives an effective, balanced, non-irritating blend of ingredients that support healthy skin function. For each Retrouvé formula, we carefully select and combine ingredients that are clinically shown to work synergistically to enhance each other's benefits, meaning they’re able to do more for the skin when together in one product than if they were in separate formulations.

3. Avoid the unnecessary. Ingredients that make skincare look and smell fancy, like artificial fragrances and colors (which we don’t use at Retrouvé—the pleasing aromas of our products are the natural scents of the ingredients) and preservatives that extend shelf life can not only irritate skin—they can also dilute a formula’s potency, meaning you have to use more of the product to get the effect you want. Same goes for formulas that contain a lot of water which, quite literally, waters down the efficacy. 

But one of the main culprits for products losing their potency is air. Each time active ingredients are exposed to air, they oxidize more and become less effective, to the point where a jar of moisturizer that you opened a month ago and have been dipping your fingers into daily probably has almost no benefit left. And because formulas that will be exposed to air typically contain a good amount of preservatives to prevent bacteria growth, the product may still look and feel just as fresh as it did on day one, so you can’t even tell that it’s no longer as effective.

At Retrouvé, our triple airless protection system allows us to make highly concentrated, active skincare without preservatives and with little to no water. The triple-tier protection starts with the manufacturing of each formula under an airtight vacuum seal, so at no point in the creation process is air getting into the product. Each formulation then goes directly into an airless bag within the bottle, and a mechanism inside the pump blocks any air from entering the bottle each time you pump out the product. 

This completely airless system preserves the product so your skin receives full-potency ingredients down to the very last drop. And because the formulas are so concentrated, you only need a small amount with each use (the bottles are designed to release the right dose so you don’t overdo it), so one bottle will last you twice or even three times as long as conventional skincare.   

4. Simplify to restore ideal skin function. Our skin is designed to take care of itself, so when we try to fight aging with an arsenal of harsh ingredients, we throw off its natural system that protects, balances, and restores. Instead, you want to support the skin with the vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, and actives it needs to operate at peak level. As our cofounder Jami Heidegger likes to say, “Aging begins at birth,” so the earlier in life that we adopt this approach, the better our skin will look as we get older. Research indicates that chronic skin inflammation can speed up visible skin aging, so an extensive regimen that leaves your complexion flushed and tingling could be causing more harm than good. A pared back routine with multitasking products allows your skin to get the most out of what you’re using, because it’s not busy trying to calm reactions to overlapping or conflicting ingredients. 

No matter what your age, embracing a minimalist skincare regimen will bring out your best skin and keep it vibrant, balanced, and radiant for years to come.