Why Skin Needs Recovery After Treatments

Skincare treatments, like exfoliation, chemical peels, and professional procedures work by interacting with the skin’s outermost layer. While the ultimate goal is smoother, more even looking skin, these treatments can disrupt your skin barrier for a short period of time.

The skin barrier is your first line of defense against environmental stressors and helps your skin retain moisture. When your skin barrier is compromised, it’s more prone to moisture loss and irritation. This is why post-treatment skin can experience issues like dryness, visible redness, tightness, or sensitivity.

To help your skin recover after a treatment, your skincare regimen should help reinforce the skin barrier and restore moisture balance.

An effective post-treatment skincare regimen shifts from active correction to recovery and support. Take a break from exfoliating or brightening treatments to focus on the following:

Gentle cleansing: A gentle cleanser helps remove dirt and impurities without stripping the skin and further disrupting the skin barrier.

Hydration: Hydration helps restore natural moisture balance and reinforce the skin barrier, improving the skin’s ability to retain water.

Barrier support: Hydrating, soothing ingredients can ease discomfort and help strengthen the skin barrier.

What To Avoid During Recovery

During the recovery period, it’s important to avoid strong ingredients such as acids or retinoids. While your skin barrier is compromised, these ingredients can worsen existing redness, irritation, dryness or sensitivity, and cause further damage. Because acids and retinoids promote skin renewal, they interfere with barrier repair and may prolong your recovery time.

This simple, 3-step regimen can help soothe irritation and return your skin to a balanced state.

Prep: Gentle Cleansing

Start with a gentle, non-stripping cleanser that removes buildup while maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier.

The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming Cleanser is formulated for the most delicate skin and clinically proven to be suitable for babies. This cleansing gel removes dirt and impurities while maintaining the skin barrier and improving suppleness over time.

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser dissolves makeup, dirt, and impurities while supporting the skin barrier through hydration. Formulated with moisturizing, plant-derived squalane, this cleanser leaves skin feeling soft, smooth, and hydrated.

The Ordinary Glycolipid Cream Cleanser is a non-drying, non-stripping cleanser that effectively removes makeup like foundation, eyeliner, and mascara. It’s formulated with a plant-derived glycolipid cleansing agent that respects skin barrier and helps maintain hydration.

Treat: Soothing, Hydrating Serums

Follow with hydrating, barrier-supportive serums that help ease signs of irritation, restore moisture, and strengthen the skin barrier.

The Ordinary Multi-Active Delivery Essence instantly nourishes, hydrates, and promotes softer-feeling skin. The lightweight skincare essence strengthens the skin barrier after one application and helps the skin stay hydrated all day.

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 is our original hydrating serum. It contains 4 types of hyaluronic acid to help the skin retain moisture and vitamin B5 to support the formation of essential skin barrier components, like ceramides and fatty acids.

The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum is a multi-active solution specifically formulated to address damaged skin barrier concerns. It provides an immediate boost in hydration to soothe discomfort and visibly reduce signs of redness, and helps strengthen the skin barrier.

Seal: Lock In Moisture

Finish with a moisturizer that replenishes skin and supports the skin barrier.

Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA mimics the composition of the skin’s natural hydration system, immediately replenishing lost moisture and strengthening the skin barrier over time. This cream formula keeps the outer layer of your skin protected and well-hydrated, without feeling greasy.

Natural Moisturizing Factors + PhytoCeramides is our richest formula and especially suited to dry skin. It provides immediate and lasting hydration and helps strengthen the skin barrier. This formulation contains nearly four times the level of moisturizing emollients, and twice as many hydrating humectants than our Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA formula.

Rice Lipids + Ectoin Microemulsion is an ultra-lightweight blend of oil and water-based ingredients, including rice lipids, jojoba oil, ectoin, and Natural Moisturizing Factors. It delivers 24 hours of soothing hydration, helps reduce visible skin redness and repair the skin barrier. Its serum-like texture offers heavyweight hydration with a barely-there feel.

Don’t Forget SPF

Exposure to UV radiation can also damage the skin barrier. Protect your recovering skin with broad-spectrum sunscreen. Apply sunscreen as the final step in your AM routine and re-apply as directed throughout the day,

You can gradually return to your regular skincare routine once all signs of redness, dryness or flaking, tightness, and sensitivity have resolved. As a general rule of thumb, only start reintroducing formulations once:

• Your skin no longer reacts to gentle cleansers, serums, or moisturizers.

• All visible signs of dryness are completely gone.

• Your skin no longer feels uncomfortably tight or dry.

• Your skin tone has returned to its baseline, with no signs of irritation-induced redness.

Don't rush to use all your old products immediately. Re-build your routine one formulation at a time, waiting a few days in between each product to see how your skin reacts.

After skincare treatments, a simple supportive routine can help the skin recover. Prioritizing gentle cleansing, hydration and barrier repair skincare, can help heal irritated skin and restore its natural balance. To recover effectively, maintain your post-treatment routine until your skin barrier is no longer compromised.

Create a personalized skin recovery routine in just 2 minutes with our Regimen Builder.