An anti-ageing routine: retinol in steps, an antioxidant and sun protection, on two budgets

The anti-ageing product with the most evidence is not the dearest: it is sunscreen, every day. Then comes retinol, in steps and with consistency, and in third place an antioxidant in the morning. This page is the anti-ageing routine our tool builds with the shop’s products in two budgets, and it also says where what a cream can do comes to an end.

The only long-term randomised trial of a cosmetic against ageing measured 24% less skin ageing with daily sunscreen. No serum has a trial like that. That is why the order of this routine is what it is.

This page is one of the eight outputs of the skincare routine tool, which builds it from your answers in your browser. It sits inside the dermocosmetics guide, where the legal framework of what a cream can do is set out, and the general rule of order — lightest to densest, sunscreen last — is in what order to apply your skincare.

How this routine was built

The routine on this page was not written by a copywriter: it was calculated by the same engine the skincare routine tool uses, and it has been reviewed product by product by the two plastic surgeons who sign it. It works in four layers, in order of authority:

1. What the signatories set for each product — for which skin, in which range, at which step — with their wording on record.
2. The safety rules, read off the ingredients list (INCI), never off the advertising: whether a product contains a retinoid or an exfoliating acid is decided by its composition.
3. Each manufacturer’s official literature — the AllSkin Med brochure, the ZO Skin Health portfolio, the SkinCeuticals and mesoestetic data sheets — which sets the skin type, the timing and the method of use, and the current scientific evidence: published trials and reviews that say what each active really does, how long it takes to show and who it was measured in. When a product’s advertising and the literature disagree, the literature governs.
4. A heuristic that only makes a suggestion where none of the above applies, and it is shown as a suggestion.

The two ranges are set by price within each step, mixing brands: a €52 cleanser is expensive and a €52 serum is cheap. Neither range is made to look cheaper by leaving a step empty: if a product is missing for your skin, one is taken from the other range and we say so.

The routine step by step: mid range and high end

For combination skin with wrinkles and texture as the priority, not pregnant, no surgery planned and for someone starting out with actives. Each product links to its page in the shop.

The essentials — cleansing, moisturising and sun protection, plus the treatment if your priority calls for it — come to €278 in the mid range and €460 in the high end; with every optional item, €524 and €973. The optional ones genuinely are: the routine works without them.

The engine’s notes on this routine:

• First cleanse, high end: The first step of the double cleanse (at night): it removes SPF and make-up; then the cleanser.
• Exfoliation, mid range: The physical exfoliant goes in the morning, after the cleanser and before the toner or the pads: that is the brand’s own protocol, and there is no need to repeat it at night. If the skin gets irritated, the exfoliant is the first thing to space out. With your skin type, 4 days a week.
• Exfoliation, high end: The physical exfoliant goes in the morning, after the cleanser and before the toner or the pads: that is the brand’s own protocol, and there is no need to repeat it at night. If the skin gets irritated, the exfoliant is the first thing to space out. With your skin type, 4 days a week.
• Antioxidant, mid range: Your moisturiser already contains antioxidants: this vitamin C is not essential, especially on oily skin. It goes on before the moisturiser.
• Antioxidant, high end: Your moisturiser already contains antioxidants: this vitamin C is not essential, especially on oily skin. It goes on before the moisturiser.
• The nights without retinol, mid range: For the nights the retinol rests: never the same night.
• The nights without retinol, high end: For the nights the retinol rests: never the same night.
• Sun protection, mid range: If you want it to even out your tone, Mineral Colour SPF50+ Beige (€48) gives coverage and more protection against visible light. There are two shades: Beige for a light skin tone and Bronze for darker skin.
• Sun protection, high end: If you want it to even out your tone, Smart Tone SPF 50 (€79) gives coverage and more protection against visible light.

What the tool flags for this profile:

• First retinoid: two nights a week for 2-4 weeks, then alternate nights. What decides the result is consistency, not concentration.

According to your skin type

The priority sets the treatment; the skin type changes the base. This is how the mid range works out for each skin:

Each skin type also has its own routine page, with both ranges in full: dry, combination, oily and sensitive skin. And if your priority is a different one: pigmentation, spots and pores and redness.

What you do not need (and why)

• A 1% retinol to start with. The high step is for someone who has spent months tolerating the low one; starting at the top only guarantees irritation and giving up.
• Two antioxidants. One vitamin C in the morning is enough; and if your moisturiser contains antioxidants, not even that.
• Changing retinol every two months looking for “the good one”. The review of trials against tretinoin shows that the difference between two good products is smaller than the difference between using one for six months and dropping it after three weeks.

When the routine is not enough

A well-used retinol improves texture and fine wrinkles. It does not lift an eyelid, fill a furrow or restore lost volume: those are other tools. When you want more result, the next step is in the clinic and we link to it below, with the same honesty with which we say what the cream does.

The next step in the clinic for this priority, which the tool also names: Morpheus8 package · 3 sessions, Sculptra biostimulation package · 3 sessions, INDIBA facial package · 6 sessions of 45 min. It is prescribed in the consulting room, with the skin in front of us.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best anti-ageing product?

If “best” means “with the most evidence”, daily sunscreen. Then retinol. No other category has a long-term randomised trial behind it. What a good serum can do is in what retinol does.

At what age should you start with retinol?

There is no age: there is an indication. When fine wrinkles and texture start to bother you, and always on the lowest step. Before 25, the tool leaves it as optional unless wrinkles are the priority.

Retinol or vitamin C?

They do different things and go at different times: vitamin C in the morning as an antioxidant, retinol at night as a treatment. If you have to pick one, retinol is the one with evidence on wrinkles.

How long before it shows?

Texture, 4-12 weeks. Fine wrinkles, about 24. And it is maintained while it is used: it is not a course, it is a habit.

Can I use retinol if I am going to have surgery?

The evidence does not require stopping it for the sake of healing; what matters is not arriving with your skin mid-retinisation. When to stop is decided by your surgeon. It is in skincare before and after surgery.

And in pregnancy?

The tool recommends nothing and refers you to the medical team. It is the signatories’ decision.

Sources

• Kafi R, Kwak HS, Schumacher WE, et al. Improvement of naturally aged skin with vitamin A (retinol). Archives of Dermatology, 2007;143(5):606-612. PMID 17515510. — Randomised, double-blind, arm-against-arm trial with 0.4% retinol up to three times a week for 24 weeks in 36 people with a mean age of 87: significant improvement in fine wrinkles against the vehicle (−1.64 against −0.08). ⚠️ A very elderly population and arm skin, not facial: it is cited for what it demonstrates — that topical retinol induces measurable changes — and with its small print.
• Pinnell SR, Yang H, Omar M, et al. Topical L-ascorbic acid: percutaneous absorption studies. Dermatologic Surgery, 2001;27(2):137-142. PMID 11207686. — L-ascorbic acid only penetrates when formulated at a pH below 3.5, and absorption peaks at 20%; above that it does not increase. It is why a vitamin C is chosen by its form, its pH and its packaging, not by the number on the bottle, and why the anhydrous ones go on in a different order.
• Hung VC, Lee JY, Zitelli JA, Hebda PA. Topical tretinoin and epithelial wound healing. Archives of Dermatology, 1989;125(1):65-69. PMID 2462851. — On a partial-thickness wound, tretinoin applied before the wound accelerated re-epithelialisation; applied on the open wound it delayed it. It is the tool’s rule: no retinoids or acids on broken skin, and no obligation to stop them “for the healing” before an operation.
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/996 amending Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 as regards the use of vitamin A, alpha-arbutin, arbutin and certain substances with potential endocrine-disrupting properties. EUR-Lex. — Annex III, entry 376: a cap of 0.05% retinol equivalent in body lotion and 0.3% in other products, with a compulsory warning; applicable to placing on the market from 1-11-2025 and to making available from 1-05-2027. Verified against the EUR-Lex text on 08-09-2026 (and previously by the team on 27-08-2026); the detail is on the page about the European retinol cap.
• Hughes MCB, Williams GM, Baker P, Green AC. Sunscreen and prevention of skin aging: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2013;158(11):781-790. PMID 23732711. — A 4.5-year randomised trial in 903 adults: skin ageing measured by microtopography was 24% lower in the daily sunscreen group than in the discretionary-use group. It is the only long-term randomised trial supporting a cosmetic against ageing, and that is why sun protection is the step no routine from this tool leaves out.
• Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on cosmetic products. Consolidated text on EUR-Lex. — Article 2.1(a): a cosmetic is for “cleaning, perfuming, changing the appearance, protecting, keeping in good condition or correcting body odours”. No therapeutic action: that is why, when what you describe is a disease, the tool says so and refers you to a doctor — with severe acne it also stays on the safe base. Article 19.1(g): the ingredients list runs in decreasing order of weight above 1%, which is what makes an INCI readable.
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 laying down common criteria for the justification of claims used in relation to cosmetic products. EUR-Lex. — Six criteria: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision-making. It is the yardstick this tool measures what it says about each product against: what the manufacturer declares, with its source, and nothing more.

Book your consultation

If your skin or your situation does not quite fit this page — you have surgery planned, a recent scar, more than one thing worrying you — the skincare routine tool builds the routine from your answers in a minute, in your browser, without asking you for any details. And if you have questions or want to fine-tune it, write to us: the medical team will go through it with you, free and with no obligation.

Clinical confirmation by the surgeon

Dr Enrique Salmerón González

Specialist in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery
Registration no. 46/4624077

Dr Elena García Vilariño

Specialist in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery
Registration no. 46/4624503