Here we are, wondering about yet another TikTok trend and if it works. Gen-Z has had us try our fair share of internet trends, but Skin Cycling may have some good advice behind it. What is Skin Cycling, and how will it improve your skin? The concept derives from using active ingredients (exfoliants and retinols) on certain days, followed by rest days. Cycles can be anywhere from 4-6 days, the most common being four days. Adopting this concept into your regimen can be helpful because it keeps the barrier of your skin healthy and happy.

Advanced Dermatology has been suggesting something like Skin Cycling for years called CORE4. Exfoliant + Growth Factor + Antioxidant + Sunscreen = CORE4. The only difference is "Cycling" does not include Sunscreen since this is needed every morning. How can you do this at home? Let me suggest some CORE4 products that are suitable for Cycling!

Night 1 and 2: Exfoliation/Repair = Retinol/ Antioxidant—SkinMedica® Retinol Complex 0.5 ($80, 1 oz), Avène RetrinAL Advanced Correcting Serum ($78, 1 oz) or skinfo® Vital Tea Regenerate Serum ($82, 1 oz) Followed by an antioxidant—skinfo® Brightening Vitamin C Serum ($108, 1 oz), Epionce® Renewal Facial Lotion ($102, 1.7 oz), or Skinceuticals® C E Ferulic ($169, 1 oz).

Night 3 and 4: Growth/ Repair = Growth Factor/ Antioxidant—DefenAge® 8-in-1 BioSerum ($165/$198, 1 oz/1.5 oz), skinfo® Tri-Nourish Restorative Nighttime Bio-Therapy ($86, 2 oz), or Neocutis® Bio Serum Firm ($275, 1 oz) followed by DefenAge® 24/7 Barrier Repair Cream ($95, 1.5 fl oz), Epionce® Renewal Facial Lotion ($102, 1.7 oz) or skinfo® Brightening Vitamin C Serum ($108, 1 oz).

This process may seem complicated, so another form of skin cycling is to use your Retinol every other night and the growth factor every other night. This routine protects your skin from over-exfoliation.

Another method of skin cycling is alternating new product introduction. Sometimes people complain about their skincare plateau ineffectiveness. You can reach a peak at 6 weeks of using it twice a day or once a day for 12 weeks.

Let's say you had your eye on two different expensive growth strategies, and you can't decide between them (or you don't want to buy both.) Let's consider that you want to try DefenAge® 8-in-1 BioSerum ($165/$198 1 oz/1.5 oz) but are using Neocutis® Bio Serum Firm ($275, 1 oz). So then use the Neocutis® Bio Serum Firm every other night and introduce DefenAge® Serum every other night. You are using both but cutting the usage in half so you can afford both because they each last twice as long. Another method is to stop the Neocutis® and use DefenAge® twice a day for 6 weeks, then do them every other night. But with this method, you will wash out of the effects of the Neocutis® by the 6th week.

It isn't clear whether skin cycling is beneficial as there haven't been any considerable scientific tests. We try to make everything work in 1 day with the CORE4, plus it seems easier to be doing the same thing every day. Our lives are very complicated already! But if this idea interests you, stop by skinfo® so we can help pinpoint how you can safely cycle your skin!