How often should you switch up your skincare routine?

A skincare routine is important to keep your skin happy and healthy, but the volume of products and information on the topic can make it difficult to know where to start.

There are thousands of skincare products on the market, as well as an abundance of information online, so it can be overwhelming trying to find out what really is good for your skin.

Ridah Syed, senior medical aesthetician at Skinfluencer London, has worked with Ripe to outline what saviour ingredients you should be using and how often you should be switching up your products.

Which skincare ingredients are worth the investment?

"Retinol. This is seen as the gold standard in anti-ageing skincare. This wonder active has many benefits including stimulating the cells to make collagen and promote cellular turnover, which removes the dead layer of skin cells from the skin's surface," Ridah explains, adding that you should "start off with a lower percentage" otherwise it could irritate your skin.

"Hyaluronic Acid. This is a humectant which means it binds 1000x water to itself and if you follow this with a ceramide moisturiser, you will lock in the moisture to the skin... Vitamin C. Serums containing Vitamin C help to brighten the skin."

Can you try new products regularly?

It can be tempting to try out new products, particularly ones that are advertised on social media, but it is important to introduce them to your skin slowly and mindfully.

"If you are using harsh products, you can irritate the skin and compromise its barrier function," Ridah warns. "It is therefore always a good idea to introduce new actives slowly into your skincare routine, so your skin has a chance to get used to them and build up a tolerance."

What should everyone know about combining skincare ingredients?

When building up a skincare routine, you should try to remember that less is often more and be mindful of which ingredients work well together.

"It is vital to ensure that the different active ingredients have been combined and formulated in such a way that they complement each other's activity," the expert recommends. "This way they can work in unison to deliver optimum results, with the mechanisms of how they work not counteracting each other.

"This way they can work in unison to deliver optimum results, with the mechanisms of how they work not counteracting each other."