With November’s arrival, autumn is in full swing, and winter is just around the corner. This means it’s time to switch up your skincare routine to prevent the freezing temperatures and bitter winds from dehydrating your skin. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised when we saw people singing the praises of “skin flooding” on our social media feeds.

Not every skincare bandwagon is worth jumping on— remember at-home microneedling?— but occasionally, something like skin flooding starts generating buzz that even dermatologists approve of. It’s an ultra-hydrating technique that’s perfect for the time of year notorious for leaving our skin looking dull, dry, and flaky.

We’ll teach you the ins and outs of skin flooding— including a sample routine using only clinically-tested, medical-grade products— so you can keep your complexion radiant all season.

What Is Skin Flooding?

The premise behind skin flooding is layering on moisture-rich products to maximize hydration. You apply a series of specific actives in succession so that each layer can penetrate your skin before adding the next one, creating a “flood” of moisture that you lock in to last all day.

Those active ingredients include hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, humectants that can bind to water molecules and deliver them directly to your skin’s surface. In the summer, when the air is more humid, humectant ingredients draw moisture from the environment. Alternatively, when the air is too dry to attract moisture, humectants will pull moisture up from the deeper layers of the dermis to help keep the natural barrier on the epidermis from becoming dehydrated.

However, exclusively using humectants is not enough because even the dermis can become moisture-depleted, worsening dryness and irritation. So, the last step of skin flooding is using a thick, rich moisturizer with emollients and occlusives o prevent further water loss.

AST’s Recommended Skin Flooding Routine

Now that you’re familiar with skin flooding, let’s put it into practice! We’ve rounded up four of our favorite products from brands Dr. Briden trusts for their proven results and skin-loving ingredients.

Cleanse With CeraVe Foaming Cleanser

As always, any good skincare routine starts with a clean canvas. CeraVe Foaming Cleanser is ultra-gentle and formulated with ceramides to help restore and strengthen your skin’s natural barrier. It will leave your skin feeling refreshed, removing dirt, oil, and makeup without overstripping the protective skin oils.

As a bonus, it also has niacinamide to calm any irritation or inflammation.

Apply Revision Skincare® Hydrating Serum for Hyaluronic Acid

Next is Revision Skincare® Hydrating Serum, which you’ll want to apply while your skin is damp from cleansing. It’s rich in two different forms of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance in your body that keeps your connective tissues, cartilage, and skin flexible by retaining moisture. It’s incredibly effective as a humectant, holding up to 1000 times its weight in water. When applied topically, it does an excellent job of bringing moisture into your skin and holding onto it throughout your day.

We use hyaluronic acid before niacinamide for precisely that reason. We want it to immediately pull moisture into your skin, creating a well-hydrated base that is more receptive to the next serum’s beneficial ingredients.

Layer on Neostrata® Illuminating Serum for Niacinamide

Once you’ve given your skin a much-needed quench, it’s time for Neostrata® Illuminating Serum. This product contains several potent actives to bolster your skin’s protective barrier and help rejuvenate your complexion to banish dullness and dark spots.

First is the niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3. It’s truly a powerhouse of skin benefits, almost to the extent that it’s easier to list the things it can’t do! But let’s briefly go over all the wonderful ways that niacinamide keeps your complexion healthy and radiant:

  • Stimulates the skin matrix to produce more ceramides and fatty acids, the lipids that lock in hydration and keep environmental irritants out.
  • Reduces transepidermal water loss by stopping moisture from evaporating from your skin.
  • Encourages keratin and elastin production to keep your skin firm and reduce age-related sagging.
  • It has anti-inflammatory properties to soothe irritation, reduce redness, and support skin barrier repair.
  • Regulates sebum production to boost natural oils for dry skin and reduce them for oily skin.

Along with the niacinamide is Neostrata’s NeoGlucosamine, a gentle exfoliant encouraging dry, dead, dull skin cells to slough away to make room for fresh, new ones. It also has a pigment-reducing peptide that works synergistically with licorice extract, vitamin C, and alpine plant extracts to inhibit melanin production. 

Applying Neostrata® Illuminating Serum after hyaluronic acid allows the niacinamide and other brightening actives to penetrate your skin better, leaving your skin feeling plumper, more supple, and exquisitely radiant. 

Lock the Hydration in With SkinCeuticals® Triple Lipid 2:4:2

SkinCeuticals® Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 is the perfect finishing touch to complete your skin flooding routine with a scientifically balanced ratio of lipids that includes 2% pure ceramides, 4% natural cholesterol, and 2% fatty acids. 

These skin nutrients deplete as we age, leaving our complexion more vulnerable to moisture loss. When the three lipids form an occlusive layer on your skin’s surface, they seal in the moisture you introduced in the previous steps because they’re hydrophobic, repelling water away from your skin’s surface and preventing it from evaporating. 

Stock Up on Skin-Loving Products in Time for Fall!

November is the perfect time to invest in your skin flooding regimen at AST because we’re offering a FREE SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 (0.5 oz.) with any $175 SkinCeuticals purchase or with a $150 Revision Skincare purchase receive a free travel size Revision Skincare C+ Correcting Complex 30% for correction and protection.

Shop in-store to claim your deal and chat with our experts on the best cleansers, serums, moisturizers, and more to support your specific dermatological concerns.