As much as I love the Law of Attraction, my crystals, and positive thinking, I haven’t quite willed clear skin into existence yet. I’ll stand in the mirror telling my skin it’s beautiful and clear and strong all night, and I’ll still wake up with those same zits on my face. While there are tons of products on the market that promise rejuvenated skin—we’re looking at you, retinol—those results can take weeks to months to even notice, so what are you to do if you want better skin, like tomorrow? When I’ve got a date, a special occasion, or an important meeting and want to look my best, there are a few secrets I’ve followed to get my skin in tip-top shape (er, the best shape it could be) in just eight short hours. Follow these skincare tips to get better skin overnight: 

1. Wash your face

It really is that simple. If you’re not washing your face before you’re going to sleep, that might be the culprit of your skin issues. Make sure that you’re washing your face every night before bed, even if you didn’t wear makeup that day. If you really want to wake up with bright, clear, smooth skin, you can try double cleansing, which is when you use an oil or balm cleanser first to remove makeup and follow that with a gel or milky cleanser (depending on your skin type—gel is great for oily and combination skin, while milky cleansers are a better choice for normal and dry skin). 

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2. Steam your face

To start your at-home spa night right, steam your face for up to 15 minutes, whether it’s with a facial steamer or by boiling some water and standing over the pot (less glamorous but highly cost-effective). The hot steam will soften your skin, making all of the products and treatments you do afterward penetrate deeper into the skin. 

3. Avoid picking

Although it might seem counterintuitive, if you want to wake up to better skin, don’t pick at it. Fight the urge to pop any pimples (a spot treatment is a great physical blocker for this). Popping your zits only causes more inflammation and redness to the skin’s surface, so you could wake up with more acne or that pimple looking even worse than before. Instead, leave it be and know these other tips will help that zit much more than putting your fingers all over it. 

4. Exfoliate

An exfoliator is basically like getting a facial from the comfort of your bathroom. It removes dead skin and reveals a brighter, smoother complexion in just one step. An easy way to exfoliate at home is to opt for a peel pad, like the editor-favorite Colleen Rothschild Glycolic Acid Peel Pads, but opting for physical exfoliation can help remove dead skin cells, too. Celebrity esthetician Joanna Vargas swears by using both modes of exfoliation in her book Glow From Within. 

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5. Treat with ice

Contrary to your face steam, ice has benefits for your skin, too. Ice can instantly reduce swelling and inflammation (AKA why you used an ice pack when you scraped your knee as a kid), so it can bring down puffiness and redness. This can help reduce the appearance of active acne and overall make your face look more glowy and well-rested. Plus, we can’t deny it feels so good. 

The easiest way to do this is with an ice roller or cryo sticks, but you can also wrap a few ice cubes in paper towels to rub over your face in a pinch. 

6. Drink a glass of water

Before bed, make sure you’re getting a last-ditch effort of hydration to your skin by drinking a full glass of water. On the days I drink more water, I immediately notice it in my skin the next day. My skin looks bouncier and firmer, and my usual morning puffiness is drastically reduced. In the days leading up to a special event, I put a lot of focus on drinking as much water as I can to nourish and hydrate my skin from the inside out, but it works just as well overnight. 

7. Use a thick moisturizer

Regardless of your skin type, using a thick moisturizer as your last step will lock in all of the good skincare ingredients you used before with a final layer of hydration. Moisturizer keeps your skin bouncy. Plus, hydrated skin just looks better—there’s no getting around it. 

Obviously, “thick” is subjective based on your skin type. If you tend to have oily skin, you’ll likely want to opt for something lighter with a gel-like consistency, while a dry skin type can handle something occlusive and ointment-like.

Colleen Rothschild

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8. Use a spot treatment

If you have areas on your face you want to pay special attention to, use a spot treatment to help zap it overnight. Salicylic acid spot treatments will clear out your pores in a gentle way, while sulfur and benzoyl peroxide are a bit stronger and can reduce the appearance of acne in a few short hours. If you have a pimple that has come to a head, putting a pimple patch on will help to dry it out overnight.

We often think of spot treatments for acne, but you can spot-treat most skin issues. If you have dry patches, you can focus extra moisturizer on those areas, like the skin on the eyelids or the back of your cheeks. I also love spot-treating any creases or fine lines by focusing extra moisturizer in those areas. 

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9. Get a full night’s rest

If you don’t want to wake up with tired, irritated, puffy skin, there really is one thing you can do to fix it: actually get some Zs. Waking up rested and rejuvenated is enough to make you feel fantastic, so it’s not a surprise your skin would follow suit. Use your calming essential oils, brew your favorite tea, and head to bed just a bit earlier tonight. Your morning self will thank you. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maddie Galassi, Senior Fashion & Beauty Editor

Madeline Galassi is the Fashion & Beauty Editor at The Everygirl, where she oversees the fashion and beauty categories of the site. She brainstorms, writes, and edits stories across a broad range of topics including trend reports, product reviews, celebrity style, and more. She’s always keeping a pulse on the latest trends to create timely, exciting content for our readers.

 This post contains a sponsored inclusion from Colleen Rothschild but all of the opinions within are those of The Everygirl editorial board.

I’ve always thrived on routine and found comfort in having every minute of my day planned. For a long time, I believed my strict routine was the secret to staying motivated and productive; I even credited it for allowing me to make time for self-care and wellness practices. But as I added step after step to my routine with each new wellness trend that flooded my social media feeds, eventually the weight of it began depleting me instead of supporting me like it once did. I pushed myself to exhaustion—forcing myself to work out when I needed rest and beating myself up when I skipped small rituals like dry brushing or journaling because I was too burned out. That’s when I realized my routine wasn’t serving me anymore. At what point does self-improvement turn into self-sabotage? Keep reading to find out. Plus, how I stepped back from my rigid schedule and what I learned in the process.

“At what point does self-improvement turn into self-sabotage?”

How I realized that my routine was doing more harm than good

Wellness often starts with the intention of striving to be your best self. I always thought there was no such thing as caring for myself too much. I didn’t see the little voice in my head pleading with me to slow down as a sign my body needed rest; I thought it was the devil on my shoulder, testing my discipline and dedication. So, I continued to obsessively complete everything on my wellness to-do list every night, even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.

While these habits were meant to add value to my life, even something as simple as ignoring my watch’s reminder to stand every hour felt like a personal failure. The ever-evolving benchmarks of “healthy” seemed to be slipping farther away. And when I didn’t hit every one of them, I felt like I was neglecting both my body and mind. My solution was to double down on my routine. I would get anxious about making plans that kept me “behind schedule,” worrying about missing the wellness rituals I should be doing. Would I remember to use my mouth tape after having a few glasses of wine while dining out? Will I have the energy to do my lymphatic drainage massage after getting home late from my friend’s house? Rather than being a fun break from monotony, spontaneity became a source of stress lurking around every corner. Ironically, I actually thought this mindset was healthy—that my rigid adherence to these practices meant I was truly dedicated to putting myself first.

The conversation that led me to take a step back was surprisingly simple. I was venting to my mom about how exhausted I felt and how my to-do list before bed still included working out, making a protein-packed dinner, and walking to hit 10,000 steps. In true mom fashion, she responded with a nugget of wisdom: “What if you just didn’t do all that?” It sounded so easy, but I hadn’t even considered what would happen if I let myself skip my routine for one night or cut out some of my rituals. When I finally did, I realized it wasn’t a big deal. Nothing catastrophic happened when I didn’t dry brush, and not closing the rings on my Apple Watch wasn’t a life-or-death situation. This small shift was the wake-up call my wellness routine needed.

How I ditched my wellness routine

Adjusting my once strenuous wellness routine for the better wasn’t as complicated as it might seem. Once I realized I needed to step back, I took a few days for a full reset. I didn’t work out, cook anything from scratch, or meditate—I just focused on whatever felt good in the moment. After a few days of pure rest, I listened to what my body genuinely missed and only reintroduced those practices. I craved movement, so I signed up for a workout class. After a weekend of pasta and frozen pizza, I felt like I needed some veggies and protein to feel energized again. I now try to approach each day by tuning into my body and responding to its needs. I don’t look ahead to the week or let my subconscious convince me I must do any wellness practice. Instead, I build my routine day by day.

That said, I can’t say I’ve ditched routine altogether. Just because I had a wellness epiphany doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned time as a concept; I still need to be at work at a certain time, and if I want enough sleep, I have to schedule my day to some extent. However, I try to view my time within those mandatory commitments as flexible rather than having to stick to a specific plan (deadlines aside, of course). We’re always told the importance of having a consistent routine and how structure leads to productivity. But I encourage you to step back periodically and ask yourself, Is your routine serving you or working against you?

“I encourage you to step back periodically and ask yourself, Is your routine serving you or working against you?“

What happened when I became flexible with my routine

I’m more in tune with my body than when on a set schedule

When I was deep into my routine obsession, I followed my schedule more than I ever listened to my body. When my body’s needs didn’t align with the regimen, like wanting to sleep when I had a workout class scheduled, it felt like it was somehow betraying my mind. Now, my body is in the driver’s seat. I’ve learned to tune into what it needs rather than following a list of tasks I “have to” or “should” do.

I experienced less wellness-induced guilt

Guilt used to be one of the biggest motivators in my wellness routine. Every time I skipped a part of it, I felt like I was failing my body and putting my health in danger, but by pushing myself too far, I was actually doing just that. I had lost sight of why I prioritized wellness in the first place: to feel good. Now that my mindset has shifted, I no longer feel guilty for allowing myself to rest.

I realized not every day needs to look the same

I used to believe the only way to honor my body was by completing every wellness ritual daily. Otherwise, it showed a lack of commitment to my health. I’ve accepted that what works one day might not work the next, and what I need today will likely look different than what I need tomorrow and other days, and that’s not only OK but normal. I take things one day at a time, allowing more flexibility in my daily life.

I finally accepted that rest is self-care too

I’ve heard people say that rest is self-care a countless number of times, but I don’t think I truly believed it until now. In my defense, I’m a product of a generation raised on the importance of productivity. I was conditioned to measure a day’s worth by its output. However, my current mindset allows me to see that when I need to rest and spend an evening on the couch watching TV (call it bed rotting), it’s just as worthwhile and essential as a jam-packed day checking off tasks, if not more.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauren Blue, Lifestyle Staff Writer

As a Lifestyle Staff Writer for The Everygirl, Lauren’s articles span the topics of home decor, delicious recipes, hobbies, travel itineraries—and everything in between. When she isn’t testing the latest TikTok trend, she can be found scouring Instagram for beautiful homes to feature on the site.

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