- Skin cycling is a TikTok trend that's remained popular for months.
- It's a 4-day skincare routine that includes two "recovery days."
After "living in survival mode for over 10 years" from an "extremely high-stress" career and a high-conflict custody battle involving her stepsons, Caitlin Gibson started having panic attacks and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2021. From then on, the 34-year-old has been trying to take better care of herself for the past two years.
"I had to start to heal and really work on improving myself," she told Insider. "It really spurred me into all things self-improvement."
Part of that self-care journey involved nailing down a skincare routine that Gibson, who has ADHD, could keep up with. "I got into a Korean skincare routine that I did for about a year, but it wasn't consistent," she said, describing how she could keep up with the steps for a day or two before missing entire weeks. While she bought and experimented with different products, she found the regimens added to her burnout.
Then, in late 2022, she first discovered a new skincare trend on TikTok: Skin cycling.
Though it sounds complicated, it's actually a pared-down process — and one that professionals have been recommending for years, Dr. Annie Chiu, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of The Derm Institute, previously told Insider.
For Gibson, the four-day structure of the routine was so much easier to stick to than anything else. The first day is for exfoliation, the next day is for retinol application, then two days of "recovery" to allow your skin to properly tolerate these treatments, before starting again.
She began skin cycling in December and has kept up the routine longer than any other ones she's tried, noting that she's already seen a big improvement: "My skin is so much smoother, my skin tone is evening out and becoming less red, and my pores also seem smaller and more minimized."
Here's what her routine looks like:
Day 1: Exfoliation
After cleansing her face, Gibson uses a chemical exfoliant — The Ordinary's Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution — to remove dead skin cells without physically sloughing them off with a facial scrub. She lets the exfoliant air dry before putting on moisturizer.
Chiu also recommended using gentle exfoliants to avoid "accidentally over-exfoliating and damaging skin."
Day 2: Applying retinol
Gibson cleanses her face as always, but this time applies The Ordinary's Retinol 1% in Squalane.
Skin cycling is especially great for retinol use, which dermatologists suggest starting out with using every other day to build tolerance and avoid causing redness or flaky skin.
Days 3-4: Recovery
The recovery stage of skin cycling is all about hydrating the skin. Post-cleansing, Gibson switches between several different serums: The Body Shop's Drops of Light, Valjean Lab's Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin B5, The Ordinary's Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, and The Ordinary's Buffet.
She decides which products to use based on what she feels her skin needs that day. "If it's cold and my skin is a little dry, I would use the hyaluronic acid or the niacinamide," she said. "I also don't use the same serum back between day 3 and 4, that way I feel like I am getting the benefits of multiple products."
Chiu also highlighted the importance of products that go beyond standard moisturizers and provide extra moisture, "to repair and improve the skin barrier" during the recovery stage.
Moisturization after every step
No skin cycling step is complete without moisturizer, and Gibson caps off each one with an extra hydrating product like Belif's The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb or Glow Recipe's Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask.
The takeaway
Skin cycling is a popular skincare trend both among dermatologists and TikTok users, partly for its approachability.
"I like that skin cycling gives me the option to customize my routine based on what I feel my skin needs that day," said Gibson, who at the same time appreciates its simplicity. "I have tried many different skincare routines in the past, but I am going to stick with this one, as I have never seen such an immediate difference like I have with skin cycling."