What Skincare Products Do I Need?

A daily skincare ritual can not only be beneficial for your skin, but also your mind. Self care via a consistent skincare routine can increase one’s overall mood and happiness, as established routines can help maintain order and predictability in your life. But with the countless offerings on the market, how do you know what skincare products to use? Keep reading to uncover the most effective and vital products to build the best skincare routine for your specific needs.

The Basics: What Skincare Products Do I Need?

At Tatcha, we aim to bridge the gap between timeless practices and modern ingredients. And that combination is abundantly present in our simple and straightforward skincare routine for women of every age. Don’t let the word ‘ritual’ intimidate you: a daily skincare practice can be completed with just a few steps. All you need is to purify, polish, plump, nourish, and protect for your happiest, healthiest-looking skin.

Purify

Arguably, the most important step in your skincare ritual is cleansing. This vital step is not just rushing through the purification process, but actually taking the time to carefully and thoroughly cleanse for cleaner, healthier-looking skin. The trick to transforming the mundane cleanse into a mindfulness ritual is to embrace the Japanese concept of kiyome, which translates to purification. This belief can act as not only a physical cleanse, but also an emotional one, allowing the cleansing process to be an act of letting go. Take a page out of founder Vicky Tsai’s book, Pure Skin, by visualizing distractions, negative thoughts, and self-doubt melting away as you cleanse.

Polish

Exfoliating or polishing is the process of removing dead skin cells from the surface of your skin using a chemical or physical exfoliant. Chemical exfoliants are acids that dissolve the bonds that hold dead skin cells together and the most common forms are AHA, BHA, and PHA. Physical exfoliants, or exfoliating scrubs, mechanically buff off dead skin cells. They often contain, as the name suggests, physical ingredients, like rice bran, to buff skin.

While exfoliation may seem like a modern technique, geishas have been using komenuka, known as Japanese rice bran, to polish the skin for centuries. This is a crucial step in your daily routine because it removes dead skin cells and impurities, while also helping the rest of your products achieve their maximum potential.

Plump

When simplifying or building a routine, utilizing products that have multiple uses is helpful. One of the most multi-use arsenals in your skincare ritual is an essence. A classic Japanese skincare ritual has long featured these “beauty waters”, known for their ability to soften and brighten the complexion. The humble liquid can resurface, soften, plump, and boost the effects of skincare in a single step. To utilize, simply splash a palmful of essence into your hand after cleansing and gently press it into the skin.

Nourish

Seal in hydration with an effective moisturizer. A moisturizer is not a one-size-fits-all product, notes the American Academy of Dermatology. They suggest a moisturizer can come in several different formats, including lotions, gels, thick creams, or ointments. Whether it be a richly hydrating cream or a light, gel-based moisturizer, your ideal product should, on the most basic level, accomplish two major goals: prevent water from leaving the skin and deliver an optimal level of moisture for your healthiest-looking complexion, says the AAD.

Protect

Don’t skip the sunscreen! While it might be tempting to consider an SPF simply just a summer must-have, sun protection is a year-round necessity. Even on cloudy or frosty winter days, the sun can damage your skin, notes the AAD. Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher every single day. It is a necessary—and should be an instinctive—step of your daily skincare routine, says the AAD.

Best Skincare Products

Still wondering what skincare products you should use? Here are a few of our favorite options to round out your ideal daily routine.

Purifying

It’s helpful to separate your morning and evening purification processes. In the morning, you may simply need a splash of water (ideally for dry skin types) or a quick cleanse with a gentle face wash. For the evening, a more thorough cleanse is ideal. Lean into the art of the double cleanse, which is helpful to not only remove makeup, surface debris, and sunscreen, but also unclog pores and prep skin for the following steps.

Try: Consider The Indigo Cleansing Balm, our newest cleanser that features a fragrance-free, buttery-soft balm texture that melts away makeup while improving the skin barrier for stronger skin. Or perfect your Kyoto Cleanse with the delightfully nourishing Camellia Cleansing Oil to remove makeup and follow it with either the bestselling Rice Wash or The Deep Cleanse.

Polishing

Chemical and physical exfoliants both have distinct positives. Chemical exfoliants are wonderful for almost all skin types, as long as you stick to low-percentage AHA, BHA, or PHA products when first incorporating them into your routine. Physical scrubs with gentle ingredients, like rice bran, can be wonderfully effective and give you more control over how deep of an exfoliation you’d like to achieve. Whether you prefer a chemical or physical exfoliant, we’ve got you covered.

Try: If you prefer a liquid exfoliant, try The Texture Tonic. The AHA-powered formula is ideal for even sensitive skin and is gentle enough to be used daily. It’s specifically formulated to reduce excess oil and sebum, while also improving skin’s moisture levels. The formula has niacinamide and Japanese mugwort to reduce the look of discoloration, while also calming visible redness and irritation.

If you’re more of a physical exfoliator fan, Tatcha’s game-changing Rice Polish is a must-have. The Japanese exfoliant transforms into a creamy, cloud-like foam with just a few drops of water. Finely ground rice bran and papaya enzymes promote natural skin turnover, while the amino acid-based formula provides effective cleansing without stripping the skin of essential moisture or breaking the skin’s barrier function. There are also three other Rice Polish formats, from Calm to Gentle to Deep, allowing you to find the formula that’s best for your skin.

Plumping

The top layer of your skin is made up of dead skin cells that protect the delicate skin beneath, but this layer can prevent active ingredients from sinking into the layers where they are needed most. This is where an essence steps in. The simple, yet transformative, formula floods the skin with hydration and amplifies the performance of any treatment that follows. The most important job of the essence and its primary function is to make the skin ready for whatever treatment follows.

Try: If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting one of Tatcha’s most cherished products, allow us to introduce you to The Essence. This simple yet transformative formula is 100 percent Hadasei-3, a proprietary fermented complex of the very superfoods core to the Japanese diet: rice, algae, and green tea. This potent formula boosts the effects of skincare, resurfaces, and hydrates for primed, plump, petal-soft skin at any age. In studies, panelists demonstrated a 621+ percent improvement in skin moisturization immediately* and 100 percent of panelists demonstrated an improvement in skin glow and radiance after just one week of use.**

*based on an instrumentation study conducted on 30 panelists in 2022

**based on an expert-grading study on 30 panelists in October 2021

Nourishing

A nourishing moisturizer is always beneficial to your complexion, whether your skin tends to be more dry or oily. After plumping skin with The Essence, apply a moisturizer to support the protective barrier of your skin.

Try: At Tatcha, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to nutrient-rich moisturizers. As luxurious as they are effective, each unique face moisturizer delivers the optimal level of moisture for any skin type, helping you achieve your healthiest-looking complexion yet.

Consider The Silk Cream, a rich yet weightless gel-cream moisturizer enriched with silk extract for softer, smoother, and firmer-looking skin. Or grab the award-winning Water Cream, ideal for oily complexions, which balances the skin, decongest pores, and minimizes oil production. For dry skin, try The Dewy Skin Cream, which plumps, hydrates, and strengthens the skin’s barrier. For a richer cream, grab the Ageless Enriching Renewal Cream for an intensely hydrating and nourishing treatment. Sensitive skin? Slather on the innovative Indigo Overnight Repair, which visibly calms irritation, strengthens the skin’s barrier, and balances the microbiome overnight.

Or not sure which formula is right for you? Consider Tatcha’s newly updated formula, The Indigo Calming Cream. The rich, fragrance-free moisturizer delivers therapeutic soothing relief from redness and itchiness with long-lasting hydration.

Protecting

Skincare is moot if you aren’t using sunscreen daily. Not only does it help fight premature aging, but it, most importantly, protects from cancer-causing rays. Protect yourself with an FDA-approved formula that is broad-spectrum and a sun protection factor of at least 30+.

Try: The Silk Sunscreen, a silky, lightweight, and sheer SPF that offers 50+ coverage (with 10 percent zinc oxide) and is packed with skin-benefitting ingredients that hydrate, soothe, and reduce redness. If you prefer a matte finish, consider the Silken Pore Perfecting SPF 35 Sunscreen, which has both mineral and chemical protection that not only protects the skin, but also helps tighten the appearance of pores, smooth skin texture, and calm visible irritation.