Skincare Routine for Combination Skin

My skin type? Combination! That means I experience both bouts of dryness and oiliness on my face. Learning how to deal with my combination skin has taught me the right products to repurchase month after month to treat both of these skin issues. Part of living with combination skin involves making sure my skin stays extremely hydrated all day long.

My Skincare Routine for Combination Skin

Back in my younger days, I dealt with my own personal struggles of acne and breakouts, too. Finally putting together an evening skincare routine that works to hydrate my skin and stop breakouts from forming impacts my well-being, too. As someone who experienced emotional trauma from the result of frequent acne breakouts, I’m glad I can feel better about myself by incorporating products into my skincare routine to control my acne.

What Is Combination Skin?

If you notice that parts of your T-Zone are oily while other parts of your face are dry, then you most likely have what’s known as combination skin. The T-zone includes your forehead, nose, and chin regions of your face.

Oil-producing glands are more concentrated in the T-Zone areas. Having an oily T-Zone will typically mean the forehead, nose, and chin are also shinier than the rest of your face. The cheeks and skin found around the eyes will be drier than the T-Zone. It’s not uncommon to experience dry patches along the jawline, cheeks, and hairline when you have combination skin.

Evening Skincare Routine for Combination Skin Products I Love

CLEANSER

The first step in the right direction to combat combination skin starts with a nice gentle cleanser. A new clean beauty brand introduced to me recently is Youth to The People.

Youth To The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser, $36

I first cleansed my face using the YTP cleanser after receiving a small sample of it from a Sephora purchase earlier this year. I finished the entire bottle within a week, proving how much I ended up using it over and over again in the shower.

During the Sephora VIB sale, I decided to spend some money to upgrade the tiny cleanser and order the standard 8 oz glass bottle. A glass bottle = how chic and eco-friendly AF is that?! What’s nice about this specific cleanser are the potent ingredients to tackle all of your major skin concerns such as fine lines, illness, dryness, and uneven texture without using compromising chemicals to do so.

At night, I’ll add 2 pumps of product into my hand and add some water to create a lather. Once my lather mixture takes form, I begin gently rubbing the product into my skin to wash away impurities, dirt, and oil build-up. One major plus to using this cleanser over others? The YTP Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser contains Green Tea, an anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory ingredient that keeps skin clear.

TONER

After cleansing the skin, it’s important to follow up on your evening routine with a toner. Toners are powerful products to balance the skin and make sure your face feels clean and ready for more serums to come. The toner I’m about to discuss from Pixi fits a cheap budget, too. Pixi released a new milk line featuring products containing a dose of oat milk to soothe and hydrate the skin. One of their products that impressed me the most when I received the milky collection in the mail helps calm and balance skin.

Pixi Milky Tonic Facial Treatment, $14.99

The Pixi Milky Tonic Facial Treatment ($14.99) works great for combination and sensitive skin types. The soothing ingredients list and the alcohol-free formula won’t break you out. Apply a quarter-sized amount of the toner to a cotton pad after cleansing the skin at night. Use upward strokes to coat the skin in this vicious formula suited for even driest skin types to feel replenished.

EYE CREAM

Don’t forget to apply some eye cream around your eyes at night! Eye cream will help visibly smooth, brighten, and hydrate the delicate eye area. Once hitting your 20s it’s super key to apply eye cream on a nightly basis to prevent signs of aging.

First Aid Beauty 5 in 1 Eye Cream, $32.00

Our eyes and undereye areas are delicate and often need extra protection from eye cream and other moisturizing products. One of the best eye creams I can recommend from First Aid Beauty delivers five benefits inside one single product.

step-by-step skincare routine for combination skin

SHOP MY COMBINATION SKINCARE ROUTINE PRODUCTS

TREATMENT

After mentioning an affordable facial toner, we have to switch gears and unfortunately switch up our price points. A key product in my combination skincare journey requires a treatment to fight fine lines and improve my skin’s overall texture. Adding something called retinol into my nightly skincare routine slowly made its way into my lifestyle this past year!

Drunk Elephant’s A-Passioni™ Retinol Cream

Thanks to Drunk Elephant, I found the right retinol product to deliver concentrated vegan retinol (a powerful ingredient in the skincare world). Incorporating a retinol cream into any skincare routine helps reduce inflammation, brings balance to the skin, and defends against environmental stressors. Of course, this all-mightly skincare ingredient comes with a hefty price tag. Harper’s Bazaar even named Drunk Elephant’s A-Passioni™ Retinol Cream their number one favorite! This retinol cream is worth the money. 

FACE MASK

Once you nail a routine with a cleanser, toner, treatment, and eye cream, it’s time to consider adding in a face mask. Who else absolutely loves relaxing and taking the extra 30 minutes at night to put on a face mask? Me, me, me! Face masks are one of my go-to ways to unwind and treat my skin to some extra love. From clay face masks to charcoal masks, I am constantly testing out new face masks and brands on my combo skin.

KORRES Pomegranate Triple-Dose Resurfacing Mask, $39.00

Triple-Dose Exfoliants: AHAs, BHAs, and pomegranate enzymes work together to exfoliate the skin and remove dead skin cells after 15 minutes. This unique KORRES face mask does the best job at exfoliating my skin when I use it weekly. My skincare routine would seriously miss this face mask if it were to disappear tomorrow. Once I apply this face mask, I let the product go to work while it steams up on my face in the shower. After about 15 minutes

MOISTURIZER

A final yet significant step in a skincare routine for combination skin comprises of creamy moisturizer. Especially after exfoliating, moisturizers should follow. Some of my favorite moisturizers are from Drunk Elephant because of the electrolyte cocktail of ingredients to hydrate and plump all skin types overnight.

F-Balm™ Electrolyte Waterfacial Mask, $52

If you have combination skin, you’ll want to treat yourself to a layer of creamy moisturizer at the end of the night. Moisturizer has so many benefits and it’s important to find the perfect one that’s not too oily and not too thick! One of my top recommendations from Drunk Elephant will leave your face feeling supple and hydrated overnight.

The F-Balm™ Electrolyte Waterfacial Mask, $52 from Drunk Elephant has a 4-Electrolyte Blend: Antioxidant-rich and powerful humectant ingredients (coconut water, sodium PCA, magnesium PCA, and prickly pear extract), electrolytes are vital to helping maintain hydration levels in the skin, improving barrier strength and lipid content, calming redness, and protecting against environmental dehydration. Wake up the following morning to plump and hydrated skin. I especially enjoy this formula for its lightweight texture, too.

Do you have combination skin, too?

Let me know some of the skincare products you use at night.