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If you’re looking for a way to simplify your minimalist skincare routine even further, try a skincare diet!


We all lead busy lives these days, and a simplified skincare routine can help you reclaim precious time. It can also help reduce the dryness and irritation that comes with prolonged exposure to many of the chemicals found in modern cosmetics.

But even what you might consider a minimalist skincare routine with fewer products can still consist of eight, 10, 12, or even more steps.

That’s why you need a skincare diet — and, no, we’re not talking about what you eat.

In this article, our experts explain the skincare diet and discuss how it can help you achieve healthy, glowing skin in less time and with fewer harmful chemicals.

What Is A Skincare Diet?

What you eat plays an important role in how your skin looks and feels, but that isn’t the skincare diet we’re talking about here. Instead, we’re talking about the practice of reducing your skincare routine down to the bare bones.

And by “bare bones,” we mean three fundamental products. That’s right, three products are all you really need for smooth, healthy skin!

A (Very!) Minimalist Skincare Routine

1) Face Wash

Washing your face with a gentle cleanser is the first step in every good skincare routine — be it a minimalist skincare routine or not.

 Babo Botanicals Sensitive Skin Fragrance Free Hydra Therapy Face & Body Wash for minimalist skincare routine

We recommend Babo Botanicals Sensitive Skin Fragrance Free Hydra Therapy Face & Body Wash because it’s a gentle, plant-based cleanser designed to soothe, protect, and moisturize.

Plus, our body wash is free of gluten, soy, dairy, and fragrance, so it won’t irritate your skin while you’re trying to keep it clean and healthy!

2) Moisturizer

The next, and sometimes final, step in the skincare diet is applying a moisturizer to your newly cleansed skin.
Babo Botanicals Miracle Moisturizing Face Cream for minimalist skincare routine
We recommend Babo Botanicals Miracle Moisturizing Face Cream. This new and improved formula contains the perfect blend of active botanicals to keep your skin plump, healthy, and radiant without the need for other products.

3) Sunscreen

If you leave the house for work or school, be sure to apply a layer of sunscreen to your face before heading out the door.


We recommend Babo Botanicals Daily Sheer Facial Sunscreen SPF 40.

This specially formulated broad-spectrum, sheer sunscreen is perfect for those with extra sensitive skin and can even be worn under your makeup for more protection.

That’s the skincare diet in a nutshell. Just two or three products to protect and heal your skin all day long!

Origins Of The Skincare Diet

The skincare diet has actually been around for a long time, but it only recently gained exposure — and grew in popularity — thanks, in large part, to K-Pop (a music genre created in South Korea).

Several years ago, dermatologists there began advising patients to cut back their 10-or-more-step daily routines to the very basics.

Many of these patients were suffering from sensitivity and redness brought on by repeated exposure to the wide array of chemicals found in their cosmetics.

woman worried about her skincare diet
From there, the skincare diet was born and spread by word of mouth throughout South Korea. And just so you know, “skincare diet” is a literal translation of the Korean name for the practice.

As we mentioned, the skincare diet has been around for a long time — it’s really nothing new. Dermatologists around the world have been giving the same advice to patients experiencing irritation and redness because of their extensive daily routine for decades.

Why has it exploded in popularity now?

Because K-Pop stars have begun simplifying their routines with the help of the skincare diet and sharing their experiences on social media.

In reality, then, the practice of reducing the number of products you use on your skin isn’t a new concept. It’s a rediscovery of a practice that has been around for many years.

So whether you’ve known about the skincare diet all along or you’re just hearing about it for the first time, it’s a useful tool in the journey toward healthy skin!

Benefits Of The Skincare Diet

woman with a good skincare diet

1) Eliminates Exposure To Irritating Chemicals

Even though skincare products are designed to be safe, they still contain chemicals that can cause irritation — either from repeated application, layering product on top of product, or because you have sensitive skin.

For example, applying a retinol moisturizer on top of a product that contains potent antioxidants (i.e., vitamin C and salicylic acid) can cause irritation in even the healthiest skin.

Implementing the skincare diet as part of a minimalist skincare routine eliminates exposure to these chemicals.

2) Reduces Redness And Damage In Your Skin

With repeated and prolonged exposure to the combination of chemicals you get in your skincare products, redness and damage are often inevitable.

That redness and damage may only rear its ugly head for a week every month as your skin goes through its natural cycles. But you can reduce those splotchy days to zero (or pretty close!) by simplifying your daily routine down to the basics.

3) Helps You Reclaim Your Time

Working your way through a 10-step — or even a 7-step — skincare routine every morning and night takes a lot of time!

Even an hour here and an hour there can be better spent catching up on your sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, or relaxing with friends or family.

A minimalist skincare routine with the skincare diet at its core only takes a few minutes to complete. And when we say a few, we’re talking 10 at the most, depending on how much makeup you wear.

If you’ve already removed your makeup, the two or three steps involved may only take five minutes to complete.

That’s a far cry from an hour or more that some spend to work their way through multiple steps and multiple products!

4) Reveals What Works And What Doesn’t

Woman with a minimalist skincare routine

By implementing the skincare diet into your minimalist skincare routine — either all the time or periodically throughout the year — you have the opportunity to find out what products work best for your skin.

It’s also a great opportunity to find out what doesn’t work!

Whether it’s a specific brand, a specific product (e.g., toner, rejuvenator, etc.), or a specific chemical, simplifying your routine and then adding products back in slowly helps you identify what’s best for your skin.

5) Gives Your Skin A Break

Another benefit of the skincare diet is that it gives your skin a break and allows it to heal and rejuvenate.

A good analogy for this is physical exercise. When you work out — be it cardio or weight training — your muscles break down. Then, when you rest, your muscles heal and grow stronger.

If you don’t give your body the rest it needs to recuperate, you can start to feel rundown and even ill in some instances — the exact things you were exercising to prevent!

The same holds true for your skin. An elaborate skincare routine is like strenuous exercise all the time without rest.

Eventually, your skin is going to become red and irritated — the equivalent of feeling physically rundown and ill from too much exercise.

With a skincare diet, you give your skin the rest it needs to regain balance and restore its beauty!

6) Allows Your Skin To Grow Stronger On Its Own

If you’re constantly using a wide variety of products in an attempt to achieve healthy, youthful skin, you’re preventing your skin from growing stronger on its own.

It’s like using crutches to help you walk after a broken leg. The crutches help you get around, but if you don’t put weight on the leg eventually, it’s going to become weak and won’t be able to do the job it was designed to do.

The same is true of skincare products. If you’re relying on products to keep you looking your best, you’re not giving your skin the opportunity to function the way it was supposed to.

7) Saves Money

Another, often overlooked, benefit of the skincare diet is that you’ll save money. If you only have to buy two or three products as opposed to 10 or more, the savings add up quickly.

You can use the money you saved from buying a lot of lower-quality products to buy a few high-quality products that will be truly amazing for your skin!

A True Minimalist Skincare Routine

Woman with minimalist skincare routine

Give the skincare diet a try and take your minimalist skincare routine to the next level!

With Babo Botanicals face wash, moisturizer, and sunscreen, you’ll enjoy healthier skin and won’t have to spend an hour or more every day to make it happen.

For more skincare and beauty tips and to check out our plant-based products, visit BaboBotanicals.com today.