If you’ve ever wondered why your skin glows right after a facial but slowly drifts back to “meh” a few weeks later, here’s the secret: what you do between facials matters just as much as the treatment itself.
Think of it as the 80/20 rule: 20% of your skin’s progress happens in the treatment room, but 80% is what you do every single day at home. We may touch your skin 12 times a year (if you’re super consistent with monthly facials). You touch your skin morning and night. That’s over 730 touches a year. That means your daily habits are the real game-changer.
The right at-home skincare routine doesn’t just “maintain” your results, it multiplies them. Here’s how to keep your glow going strong between facials.
Morning Routine: Set the Stage for the Day
Morning is all about prep and protection. You’re getting your skin ready to face the day, and the products you use now fuel how well your skin handles stressors like sun, pollution, and even makeup.
Step 1: Get Your Skin Ready (Cleanse + Exfoliate + Tone)
Before you layer on antioxidants and hydration, your skin needs a clean, fresh canvas. Taking time on this step ensures every product that follows can actually do its job.
- Cleanse (for a full 60 seconds)
Choose a cleanser that fits your skin:- Soothe + Lather — calming, nourishing cleanse for sensitive or dry skin.
- Clarify + Resolve — gentle but powerful for acne-prone or congested skin.
Another favorite: iS Clinical Cleansing Complex — loved for all skin types, especially if you want something universal and gentle.
- Exfoliate (a few times a week)
Buff away dead skin and open pathways for serums. Honey Skincare Lab Scrub + Polish is a microderm-inspired polish that smooths without over-stripping. - Tone
Balance, refine, and refresh with Honey Skincare Lab Detox Pads, which also prep skin to better absorb active serums.
This “getting ready” trio sets the stage for real results — think of it as clearing the clutter so your next steps can dive deep and feed the skin where it needs it most.
Step 2: Feed Your Skin with Antioxidants
Think of antioxidants as food for your skin. Start every morning with Vitamin C:
- For acne-prone skin: iS Clinical Pro-Heal helps calm inflammation while brightening and protecting.
- For anti-aging and overall skin health: Super Nutrient, our powerhouse Vitamin C serum, delivers serious antioxidant protection and glow.
Step 3: Hydrate with HA
Layer a hyaluronic acid serum to plump and keep moisture locked in. Peptide Drops deliver both hydration and skin-strengthening peptides.
Step 4: Moisturize
Seal it all in with a lightweight, soothing moisturizer. Honey Dew is perfect for hydration that feels light but lasts all day.
Step 5: Sunscreen — Always
This is non-negotiable. SPF is your best anti-aging product. Our Sun Shade protects without feeling greasy, so it’s easy to make it a daily habit.
Evening Routine: Repair + Renewal
Nighttime is when your skin gets to rest and repair — so your PM routine should support cell turnover and renewal.
1. Cleanse Again
Gently remove SPF, makeup, and the day’s buildup.
2. Treatment (Retinol or Weekly Peel)
This is the step that does the real heavy lifting for transformation, but it’s also the one that requires the most care and customization. Treatments like retinol or resurfacing peels stimulate cell turnover, boost collagen, and target discoloration, acne, or fine lines.
- Retinol: The gold standard for long-term skin renewal. We usually recommend cycling it in — start every 3 nights, then every other night, and build up to nightly use if your skin can tolerate it. If you’re correcting (pigment, acne, texture), you may build toward more frequent use. If you’re maintaining results, every other night may be just right.
- Stronger: Ready Set Glow Cream for advanced correction.
- Gentler: Reverse It for first-timers or sensitive skin.
- Acne-prone: Clear It Up.
- Other favorites: Alastin Retinols, ZO Obagi Wrinkle + Texture Repair.
- Peels: A weekly or biweekly peel can sometimes be swapped in for retinol but never both at the same time. This is where recovery time matters: give your skin a few days to heal after a peel before layering in retinol again.
Pro tip: Think of this as your “treatment lane.” Pick one, go steady, and let your skin recover. More isn’t better, smarter is.
And don’t worry, you’ll never have to guess what’s right for you. During your facial or consultation, our providers will recommend whether you should be using retinol, a peel, or a mix of both over time, and we’ll coach you on the best schedule for your skin.
3. Pair Retinol with Brighteners
Skin brighteners work twice as well when paired with retinol. Alone, they’re weaker; together, they can seriously transform pigmentation, PIH, or melasma. Try our Ready Set Glow Serum for natural but powerful brightening.
4. Eye Cream
The eye area deserves special attention. Eye Defy is one of the best we’ve found — packed with retinol, growth factors, and peptides to target fine lines, puffiness, and dark circles.
5. Add Growth Factors or Peptides
If you’re using retinol nightly or investing in corrective treatments, your skin is working hard to renew itself. Support that process with a growth factor or peptide treatment; it’s like giving your skin the recovery tools it needs to build stronger, healthier cells.
Some of our favorites include:
- Peptide Drops — lightweight hydration with peptides to strengthen and soothe.
- Youth Capsule — packed with growth factors, antioxidants, and retinoids for serious age-defying power.
- Dream Cream — a restorative night cream that combines growth factors with nourishing hydration.
Why Consistency is Everything
Facials are like personal training for your skin, but your products at home are the healthy meals that make the results stick. You can’t out-train a bad diet, and you can’t out-facial bad habits at home.
Think about it: if you’re touching your skin morning and night, that’s over 730 touches a year. Compare that to about 12 times we see you in the studio and it’s clear why your home care carries the biggest impact.
Consistency with medical-grade products makes your treatments work harder, last longer, and deliver visible transformation.
The Honey Philosophy on At-Home Care
At Honey, we believe skin health comes first. That’s why we actually require all corrective treatment clients to pre-treat their skin for at least 8 weeks before we do anything like lasers, microneedling, or stronger peels.
Corrective treatments work by creating controlled damage to stimulate repair. If your skin isn’t healthy to begin with, the risk is higher and the payoff is smaller. Pre-treating gets your skin barrier strong, builds collagen early, and ensures you get safer, more effective results when it’s time for correction.
But our philosophy goes beyond just prepping.
- We always educate during facials, so you leave knowing why we chose certain products and how to use them at home.
- If there’s an underlying issue (like acne, melasma, or scarring) that needs more than skincare alone, we’ll recommend the right corrective treatments — whether that’s microneedling, lasers, or another advanced option.
- We empower clients with knowledge, so you feel confident taking care of your skin between visits.
That’s the Honey difference: we don’t just want you to glow after your appointment — we want you to understand your skin and feel in control of its long-term health.
Your Daily Habits + Our Treatments = Lasting Results
Facials give your skin a boost, but your habits at home are what keep the results going. With the right morning and evening routine, you can stretch the benefits of every facial and set yourself up for real, long-term change.
Ready to personalize your skincare routine and maximize your facials? Book a consultation at Honey Skincare Studio and let’s build your perfect glow strategy together.
Written with care by Lindsay Wolf, Master Aesthetician — obsessed with proving that medical-grade products + daily habits = unstoppable glow, because the real magic happens between facials.
