If you’re anything like us, you can spend hours walking around beauty and skincare shops trying the latest and greatest products promising to clear acne, brighten dark spots, or smooth fine lines or wrinkles. While it’s fun to experiment, it’s frustrating to invest in a product that does nothing for your skin concerns. So, imagine a product tailor-made for your skincare goals suddenly at your fingertips. Pretty amazing, huh? Well, good news: custom skincare exists, and it can help you to get your best skin yet. 

What exactly is custom skincare?

Custom skincare products are products designed—yep, you guessed it!—for you. Whether you’re looking to tackle breakouts, reduce the appearance of fine lines, or both, licensed professionals use one-on-one consultations, mobile apps, and online quizzes to choose the best ingredients for your unique skin type. 

Curology is a custom skincare brand that pairs you with a licensed dermatology provider who accompanies you throughout your skincare journey, checking in on your progress, answering your medical questions, and updating your formula, if needed. Skincare is more than choosing a moisturizer, after all. 

It’s a win-win situation

Customized skincare helps save you the time and energy it can take to go through all the trial and error of testing different products. Because it’s formulated with your unique skin concerns in mind, it’s designed to work well with your skin type and your biggest priorities, like fighting acne, preventing early signs of aging, reducing hyperpigmentation, and more.

With customized skincare, you can get to know your products in your routine and how they benefit your skin. That way, you can take advantage of the active ingredients that really work for you. And when your custom formula is used alongside other products, like cleansers or moisturizers, they work well together to suit your skin.

What are the benefits of custom skincare?

Customized skincare routines make taking care of your skin more inclusive. Base formulas are gender neutral and designed for specific skin types, as are the additional custom ingredients that focus on your specific skin concerns. And, as your skin changes, so does your formula, with the help of your in-house dermatology provider. Your skincare routine should grow with you—and that shouldn’t come with any unnecessary confusion.

Besides the obvious—it’s made for you!—here a just a few other benefits of custom skincare: 

• Saves money. There’s no trial by fire. You’re working with a licensed medical professional to formulate products designed to work for you, so you have an expert on your side to help you find skincare that holds up to its promises. 

• Saves time. You take the guesswork out of skincare. After taking a short quiz to determine your unique skin’s specific needs and uploading photos, all you have to do is check the mail for delivery. The pros do the rest. 

• Changes when you do. As you age, so does your skin. Curology’s pros can help you navigate your evolving skincare concerns. 

• It’s more affordable than you might think. Affordable custom skincare memberships start at less than $20 per month, which is perfect for someone just getting their feet wet in the world of skincare. At Curology, we believe quality skincare should be accessible!  

However innovative a custom formula may be (and they are), it's important to remember that there's no such thing as a magic bottle to get you flawless skin. Skincare is a journey—but that’s why Curology is here to help! 

Personalized skincare: Those guessing days are over

Anyone can make a skincare line. But if you’re looking to take an active role in your skin’s health, you’ll get that with professional personalized skincare. Instead of mass-produced formulas for “normal,” “oily,” or “dry” skin types, you can get one custom Curology formula for your skin, without all the unnecessary extras. 

Dermatology products are often full of ingredients your skin doesn’t need because they aim to treat all the possibilities that fall under a generalized skin type or condition. The best personalized skincare includes all the good stuff, which helps avoid breakouts and sensitivity issues—without any unnecessary extras. So, if you’re looking for an anti-aging cream that also targets adult acne, that’s exactly what you’ll get. And that personalized formula will be very different from purchasing an over-the-counter acne cream and anti-aging serum. The ingredients you need are blended into one easy-to-use formula.

Skincare is important for your skin’s health and protects against acne, aging, and other skin concerns. Although we like keeping things simple (and we’ll get to that in a bit), here’s a comprehensive skincare routine that covers all your bases and then some. 

In the morning 

1. Cleanser is step one. Use a gentle cleanser that suits your skin type to wash your face. 

2. Exfoliation is next. Exfoliation is optional, but if you choose to, you can exfoliate after you wash your face. The purpose of exfoliation is to remove dead skin cells to give your skin a clean, fresh appearance. At Curology, we recommend a konjac sponge. It’s gentle enough to use a few times a week.

3. Toner is another optional step. Toners are used to calm your skin and prepare it for moisturizing products like serums, lotions, and creams. Just watch for toners that use alcohol (specifically alcohol denat) as their star ingredient. Alcohol can dry out your skin and cause irritation. 

4. Serums use specific ingredients to help with a variety of concerns including reducing hyperpigmentation, signs of aging, and improving skin tone. Different serums are formulated to address these concerns, but they’re also optional.  

5. Eye creams can help reduce puffiness, hydrate, and protect the sensitive skin around your eyes. It’s also optional (seeing a pattern here?). 

6. Moisturizer is a must in your skincare lineup (unless your skin is extra oily - in which case it’s optional). Choose a moisturizer formulated for your specific skin—oily, dry, or combination. 

7. Sunscreen SPF 30+ is your body armor and defender against harmful UV rays. It is always the last step in your morning skincare routine. Apply at least 15 minutes before leaving the house and every two hours throughout the day. If you wear makeup, lather up first, then apply makeup. Let your sunscreen soak in for a few minutes before applying makeup.

At night

The same goes for when it’s time to call it a day, save for the SPF. Depending on what you choose, your nightly seven-step process could go in this order: 

1. Cleanse

2. Exfoliant and/or toner (optional)

3. Serum (optional)

4. Eye cream (optional)

5. Face mask (optional)

6. Treatment (using your personalized prescription formula)

7. Moisturize

Caring for your skin is simple

At Curology, we believe the best custom skincare routine is easy skincare that can be done in three easy steps. In the morning, cleanse, moisturize, and apply sunscreen. In the evening, cleanse, treat using your personalized prescription formula, and moisturize.

At Curology, we do things differently

We’re big believers in customized skincare, and we’re much more than just another brand. Curology offers full-service skincare, with expert guidance from licensed dermatology providers who accompany you throughout your skincare journey, a customized skincare routine, and products to match. We take the time to listen to you so we can understand the uniqueness of your skin and provide a personalized solution.

Get your personalized skincare routine with Curology

Get your personalized skincare routine with Curology

Start your skin quiz

Interested? It’s easy to get started. Take a short quiz and upload some selfies, and if Curology is right for you, we’ll pair you with one of our in-house licensed providers who will put together your personalized prescription formula with three active ingredients selected for you. Get started today with your 30-day trial for just $4.95 + shipping and handling.*

* Subject to consultation. Subscription is required. Results may vary.

Written by

Curology Team

Medically reviewed by

Kristen Jokela, NP-C