In her Highland Park, Dallas, home, the facialist Joanna Czech has an arsenal of skin-care products for every need: vegetal placenta serums for lightening dark spots, green algae face masks to decongest pores — to name a few. “But the most important regime is your evening one,” she says emphatically. “Your skin absorbs a higher level of nutrients while your body is resting.” Czech is not alone in her devotion to nighttime rituals. Indeed, many facialists reserve their most potent, effective elixirs for their after-hours routines.
Cleanse and Cleanse Again
As a first step, skin-care experts agree that cleansing and toning should never be skipped (or rushed) at night. Danuta Mieloch, the facialist and founder of Rescue Spa, swears by a double-cleanse with Biologique Recherche’s Lait U ($33) using a muslin cloth to remove any last traces of makeup. Crystal Greene, a facialist at CAP Beauty, prefers to “keeps things simple” at night, and balances her acne-prone complexion with a few sweeps of In Fiore’s Treate ($70). For toner, both Mieloch and Czech use Biologique Recherche P50, which “exfoliates, hydrates and balances the pH of the skin,” Mieloch says. Czech then whips out her Environ Gold Roll-CIT ($298), a microneedling tool studded with tiny needles that puncture the skin, a (slightly painful) practice that she says stimulates collagen and helps topical ingredients absorb better. If you’re trying this at home, roll the device over your face multiple times but only do one to two passes on delicate skin around the eyes.
Personalize Your Serum
Next, according to all of the facialists we polled: an overnight serum. These concentrated liquids contain the highest doses of nutrients, and facialists often combine them to create customized, targeted tinctures. Currently, Czech favors a medley of Dr. Barbara Sturm’s firming Super Anti-Aging Serum ($350), mixed with the brand’s anti-inflammatory Calming Serum ($250), and a drop of Environ’s C-Quence Serum 1 ($137), which Czech says improves “cellular turnover, skin tone, hydration,” and keeps your complexion “youthful and healthy looking.” Britta Plug, a facialist with Mama Medicine in New York City, is so into nighttime serums that she makes her own: blending together hydrating jojoba, toning frankincense and purifying lavender oils. She works in this brew using facial gua sha — a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves gliding a flat crystal over the meridians of your face with gentle pressure to stimulate circulation and release blockages (the result, Plug says, is “a serious glow that lasts”).
The Manhattan facialist Negin Niknejad, meanwhile, applies “multiple, light layers” of her vitamin-E-rich Rejuvenating Facial Oil ($65) in the colder months, pressing it in with a kansa, a domed bronze-and-wood tool used in ayurvedic practices, to “draw out acidity in the skin and body,” she explains.
Moisturize Generously
Lastly, moisturize — and moisturize some more — since the body’s natural hydration levels dip at night. Czech is a fan of Swiss brand Meder’s Hydra-Fill Mask ($90 per pack), a sheet mask saturated with plumping hyaluronic acid. She heats the pouch (by running it under warm water) and once the sheet is on her face, glides over it with chilled Cryro-Sticks($114) from Biologique Recherche — the combination of hot and cold increases absorption and brings down inflammation. Finish with a rich cream; Mieloch is partial to MBR Cream Extraordinary ($369), spiked with ultra-hydrating lanolin and light-reflective gold particles to subtly conceal any imperfections.
To lull yourself into a deep sleep, so you can reap all the restorative benefits that occur overnight — from skin-cell turnover to DNA repair — Greene recommends using incense. She burns earthy cypress sticks for a bit of “stillness and joy” before bed, and then lets her body do the rest.
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