Imagine waking up at 5 AM while your partner sleeps until 6:30. Though you both leave for work at roughly the same time, you have to get up earlier to account for showering and your daily skincare routine. Skincare alone takes about 30 minutes on a good day. It can take 45 minutes on those days you have to exfoliate. If this sounds normal to you, your skincare routine is too complicated.

We Americans have a bad habit of diving into obsessive behavior without thinking about what we are doing. If one skincare product is good, two must be better. If deep cleansing is good before going to bed, it must also be good as part of the morning routine.

Preconceived Notions and Myths

It turns out that a lot of our preconceived notions about skincare are just not accurate. Moreover, far too many of us believe the myth that there is a single, formulaic skincare routine that works for everyone. It is not true. Poethique, a company that specializes in all-natural and organic skincare products, explains that skincare is unique to the individual.

Poethique says that skincare should not be complicated. It certainly doesn’t have to be. Daily cleansing and moisturizing, combined with regular exfoliation, will do the trick for most people. We should not be spending a half-hour every day standing in front of the mirror while applying half-a -dozen or more skincare products.

More Harm Than Good

Complicated skincare is not just a time management thing. Believe it or not, it can also be quite harmful to the skin. How so? By forcing the skin to endure a lot more ‘care’ then it is designed to handle. Too much skincare can actually be a bad thing.

For example, did you know that too much exfoliation can lead to acne, rashes, and other unsightly skin conditions? Even a modest exfoliation schedule can be harmful if a person is too aggressive. The more often and aggressively you exfoliate, the more skin you are taking off your face. Exfoliation is about dead skin cells and debris; it is not about removing healthy, living skin.

Another good example is overly aggressive cleansing designed to purge the skin of its natural oil. This is a temptation common among people with oily skin. But guess what? Your skin produces sebum because the oil is essential to lubrication and holding in moisture. The more you try to get rid of the oil, the more harm you are doing to your skin.

Signs of Complicated Skincare

So, is your skincare routine too complicated? Only you can say for sure, but there are a couple of key signs you can look for. Take a couple of days and honestly assess what it is you are doing. If you notice any of the following, there is a good chance your skincare routine is more complicated than it should be:

• Your routine takes more than 10 minutes
• Your skin is inexplicably irritated
• Your skincare products expire before you use them completely
• Your collection of skincare products continues to grow
• You get anxious over finding the right skincare products
• The thought of missing your routine makes you anxious.

Keeping skincare simple is a matter of finding a good cleanser, exfoliate and moisturizer, and then using them according to manufacturer instructions. There is no need to go overboard with a dozen or more products that all seem to compete for your attention.

Skincare doesn’t have to be complicated. If your routine has you spending too much time and money on skincare, it might be time to dial things back.