How many products do you really need in your bathroom?
L'équipe YUJAKey takeaways
- Four to six products are enough for a complete morning and evening routine.
- Each product needs a distinct role: cleanse, target, hydrate, protect.
- Sun protection is the step that weighs most on visible skin ageing.
An overflowing bathroom shelf isn't necessarily a sign of well-cared-for skin. It's often the opposite: the more bottles you have, the harder it is to know what really works. So, how many products do you really need?
The most common number
For a complete daily routine, morning and evening, four to six products are enough in the vast majority of cases: a cleanser, a targeted treatment, a moisturizer, sunscreen during the day, and possibly a second targeted treatment in the evening (retinol or exfoliant, alternating, not used together daily). Beyond this foundation, each additional product must be justified by a specific need, not by a desire to do more.
What each step should really provide
A cleanser removes impurities without stripping the skin. A targeted treatment addresses a specific concern: hydration, blemishes, dark spots, or restoring radiance. A cream seals in this hydration and protects the skin barrier. Sunscreen limits damage that, in the long term, matters more than everything else combined. If a product does not fulfill any of these distinct roles, it is probably redundant.
The most common redundancies
Two vitamin C serums from different brands, a day cream and a night cream with nearly identical formulas, or even three products each containing hyaluronic acid at similar concentrations: these are the most common redundancies, often purchased at different times without comparing the ingredients.
How to audit your current routine
The exercise is simple: line up all the products you have used in the past month, note the supposed role of each, and identify any overlaps. A product you haven't opened in several weeks, or whose reason for being purchased you no longer really know, is a good candidate to remove without regret.
The beauty budget when you simplify
Reducing the number of products often allows you to invest more in each of them, rather than spreading a limited budget across ten products whose individual effectiveness remains uncertain. A budget focused on four or five well-chosen products generally produces better results than an extensive collection of mediocre products.
Which product to choose
The essential base, in three products:
- Cleanser: the Birch Juice Moisturising Cleanser by Round Lab, which cleanses without tightness.
- Cream: the 147 Barrier Cream by Dr Althea, to seal in hydration.
- Sun protection: the Relief Sun SPF50+ by Beauty of Joseon.
The question to ask is never "what am I missing", but "what in what I already have is really useless".
Read also: Skinimalism: the minimalist routine that really changes your skin · Over-exfoliation: the telltale signs
Sources
- Flament F et al. Effect of the sun on visible clinical signs of aging in Caucasian skin. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol, 2013. doi:10.2147/CCID.S44686
- Ananthapadmanabhan KP et al. Cleansing without compromise: the impact of cleansers on the skin barrier and the technology of mild cleansing. Dermatol Ther, 2004. doi:10.1111/j.1396-0296.2004.04S1002.x
