Walk down any skincare aisle and count the steps implied by the shelf: cleanser, toner, essence, serum, eye cream, moisturiser, SPF, and then a rotating cast of treatments depending on the week. Somewhere along the way, an eight-to-twelve step routine became the assumed baseline for taking your skin seriously.
The evidence doesn’t actually ask for that much.
What a real dermatologist consensus says
In 2025, a panel of cosmetic dermatologists published a formal consensus — a Delphi study, a structured process for reaching expert agreement — on which skincare ingredients have genuine evidence behind them for specific concerns. They agreed on 23: things like retinoids, mineral sunscreen, niacinamide, vitamin C, azelaic acid, salicylic acid. This was structured expert agreement informed by the available research, rather than a trial testing a complete routine. The strength of evidence varies by ingredient and concern.
That’s a useful list to have, not a shopping list to complete. The point is choosing an ingredient for a concern you actually have, rather than treating every recommended ingredient as another step.
Read the research team’s explanation of the consensus.
The one step worth never skipping
If the whole routine got reduced to a single thing, it would be sunscreen, and it isn’t close.
UV exposure contributes to premature skin ageing. In a randomised Australian trial, the daily-sunscreen group had less progression of measured skin ageing over four and a half years than the group using it at their discretion. Sunscreen also forms part of skin-cancer prevention, alongside shade and protective clothing.
That gives sunscreen a different role from a serum bought for a particular cosmetic concern: it is protection as well as skincare.
Where a retinoid can earn its place
Retinoids — the umbrella term covering everything from gentle over-the-counter retinol to prescription tretinoin — have real evidence behind them too. A systematic review of seven randomised trials found benefits from topical tretinoin for signs of sun damage, including wrinkles and uneven pigmentation.
The distinction worth knowing: retinol and tretinoin are not the same strength, even though they work the same way. Retinol is converted in the skin via retinal (retinaldehyde) to retinoic acid; tretinoin is retinoic acid already. Retinal is also available in cosmetic products. Percentages across these different ingredients are not directly comparable, and the formulation matters too. That’s not a reason to avoid retinol — it’s a reason not to expect prescription-strength results from an over-the-counter product, and not to layer it on daily from the start. Most dermatological guidance suggests starting low and slow, a couple of nights a week, building up as skin tolerates it.
Avoid retinoids during pregnancy. If your skin is persistently red, sore or inflamed, get advice before adding an active. Introduce one new product at a time; irritation is a reason to ease back, not proof that it is working. The American Academy of Dermatology explains who retinoids may suit.
The middle ground: useful for particular concerns
Niacinamide and vitamin C both made the consensus list too, with genuine evidence for redness and pigmentation. They’re worth having if you want them. They’re not, on the evidence, doing as much heavy lifting as sunscreen or a well-used retinoid — which matters if you’re deciding what actually earns a place in a shorter routine rather than what’s simply pleasant to use.
What the rest of the shelf is actually selling
Beyond the basics, judge the promise being made. An ingredient can help with hydration without having good evidence that it reverses wrinkles. Evidence for an ingredient also does not automatically prove that every finished product containing it delivers the same result. Many ingredients reach a shelf, and a routine, well before there’s real evidence behind the specific promise on the label.
Exosomes are the current example. They’re tiny particles released by cells, and they’re now appearing in serums with regenerative promises. The science is genuinely interesting. But reviews of the research highlight varied methods and a shortage of high-quality randomised trials. Results from a particular preparation or a treatment combined with a procedure cannot simply be transferred to any serum sold for use at home. Promising science isn’t the same as a proven serum.
Worth knowing too: the language is shifting from “anti-ageing” towards “longevity” and “resilience.” That’s a marketing shift, not necessarily a scientific one. A claim dressed in longevity language still needs to clear the same evidence bar as any other claim — the softer, more aspirational framing doesn’t lower it.
What this actually means for the shelf
Start with cleansing, moisturising and sun protection. A treatment is an addition for a particular concern, not an admission ticket to a proper routine.
Morning: cleanse gently if needed, moisturise if your skin needs it, then apply sunscreen before makeup. Choose SPF 30 or higher with good UVA protection; the NHS recommends at least four-star UVA protection. A moisturising sunscreen may cover two jobs if it suits your skin and you apply enough.
Evening: remove makeup and sunscreen with a gentle cleanser, then moisturise. A second cleanse is useful if the first leaves product behind, rather than a compulsory extra step. If you use a retinoid, start on a couple of evenings a week and follow its instructions.
When outdoors, reapply sunscreen regularly, generally every two hours and after swimming or sweating. Sunscreen complements shade and clothing. NHS sun-protection guidance.
You do not need separate toner, eye cream and serum steps just to make the routine complete. Before buying another product, check whether something you already use contains the ingredient you are looking for.
Everything else is optional, not failing. If a step is genuinely enjoyable and affordable, there’s no evidence-based reason to give it up. The only thing worth dropping is the assumption that more steps are automatically doing more work.
It is the same principle behind small healthy habits: choose a few useful things you can repeat, rather than building a routine that asks too much of an ordinary day.
A few product examples
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For anyone who wants concrete examples, here are options for the steps discussed above, including the moisturiser and retinal in my own routine:
- La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 Invisible Fluid SPF50+, 50ml — a sunscreen option for the morning protection step. Follow the application and reapplication instructions on the bottle.
- The INKEY List Bio-Active Moisturiser, 50ml — my moisturiser. This is the moisturising step discussed above; you do not need this particular brand if you already have one that suits your skin.
- Medik8 Crystal Retinal 1 — the retinal product in my evening routine. This is an optional treatment step. Select Crystal Retinal 1 on the listing and follow the product’s introduction instructions.
These are examples, rather than a complete shopping list. If you already have products that suit your skin, you do not need to replace them. The research on an ingredient does not establish that a particular brand is better than another.
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