Best Way to Hydrate Skin and Layer Skincare
For 30 Somethings
Your skin is more than just a surface—it’s a living, breathing ecosystem. A delicate, responsive landscape influenced by your environment, emotions, hormones, and diet—but most of all, shaped by the rituals you keep. If your skin has ever felt inflamed, bumpy, tight, or somehow both dry and oily at once, you’re not alone. That’s your skin speaking up, asking for balance.
As we move through life, our skin evolves with us. What supported your skin in your 20s may not serve you in your 30s. It’s always worth revisiting your routine with each new decade. By the time we reach our 30s, the headwinds of our earlier years—late nights, stress, pollution—start to leave subtle imprints on our skin.
This is when skincare becomes more than cosmetic; it becomes a foundation to strengthen, repair, and revitalise skin. So let’s explore what it really means to hydrate your skin, and how to layer your skincare in a way that leaves you not just glowing, but grounded—deeply in tune with your skin’s evolving needs.
Hydration & Lipids is Skin Health
Water-based skincare tends to dominate the market, while oil-based formulations are often misunderstood or unfairly criticised. Yet, oil-based skincare delivers something essential—lipids that are crucial for maintaining a strong, healthy skin barrier. While hydration is vital, it’s only one part of the equation. Lipids play an equally important role in keeping your skin resilient, nourished, and protected. If your skin feels tight, reactive, or persistently unbalanced, it might be a sign that it’s time to introduce lipid-based products into your routine. Your skin may just be craving that extra layer of nourishment.
Redness
Skin redness often signals inflammation— triggered by irritation, barrier damage, allergies, or over-exfoliation, causing blood vessels to dilate visibly.
Flaking
Flaking skin can result from lipid imbalance or dehydration—both compromise the barrier, leading to dryness, rough texture, and visible shedding.
Breakouts
Breakouts aren’t always caused by bacteria—often, they stem from an impaired barrier, triggering inflammation, oil imbalance, and reactive skin congestion.
Sensitivity
Sensitive skin often signals a compromised barrier—time to switch to a gentler routine. Healthy skin should feel calm, strong, and resilient.
Hydration vs Lipids
Skin Hydration
Hydration refers to the water content within the skin. Water is vital for healthy skin function—it keeps skin cells plump, enzymes active, and barrier processes working optimally.
When your skin is well-hydrated, it appears smooth, radiant, and resilient. But when hydration is lacking, skin becomes tight, reactive, and dull—and paradoxically, may even overproduce oil to compensate, leading to congestion and breakouts. That’s why humectants like glycerin and hyaluronic acid are so essential; they attract water and boost the skin’s internal hydration levels. But hydration is only half the picture, lipids are the other half.
Skin Lipids
While hydration quenches the skin, lipids are what hold everything together. The outermost layer of our skin—often called the skin barrier—is structured like a brick wall: skin cells are the bricks, and lipids form the mortar that holds them in place. This lipid matrix is made up of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids, and it's essential for sealing in hydration and shielding the skin from irritants, pollutants, and pathogens.
But our skin barrier faces daily headwinds—pollution, UV, over-cleansing, stress—all of which deplete these natural lipids. Replenishing them through skincare is essential for restoring barrier integrity and long-term skin health.
The ideal
Skincare Routine
A solid skincare foundation follows a rhythm: Gentle cleansing to remove impurties, hydrating to replenish water, moisturising to restore lipid matrix, and regular exfoliation to renew the surface. Each step plays a role in supporting the skin’s natural function. While not strictly essential, a Vitamin C serum is a powerful addition. It protects against cellular damage caused by environmental stressors like UV and pollution—known as free radicals—and plays a vital role in evening skin tone. By helping to prevent pigmentation before it forms, Vitamin C becomes less about correction and more about prevention, keeping your complexion radiant, balanced, and fortified over time.
Gel Cleanser
Non-Stripping Cleanser
Most people don’t realise just how critical the first step is. Your cleanser can either strip your skin’s barrier or set it up for success. And unfortunately, many foaming or gel cleansers do the former.
Our Gel Cleanser is intentionally designed to respect the skin. It’s infused with 10% humectants—a rare find in cleansing. That means instead of pulling water out of your skin, it draws hydration in, while still washing away the day’s debris, sunscreen, pollution, and excess oil.
Perfect Toner
Balance, Hydration & Calming
A good toner is like misting your skin in the morning sunlight. It’s refreshing, balancing, and prepares your skin to drink in everything that comes after.
Our Perfect Toner is more than just water. It’s infused with calming and hydrating actives that restore your pH after cleansing—important for those with reactive or acne-prone skin—and preps your skin for maximum absorption of your skincare.
Halo Vitamin C Serum
Protects From Cellular Damage
If there’s one step we recommend not skipping in the morning, it’s our Halo Vitamin C Serum. Packed with potent antioxidants like 5% Kakadu Plum Cellular Extract and 5% Vitamin C Phosphate, this serum not only brightens skin and fades pigmentation, but also protects against daily environmental stressors—pollution, UV, stress, and more.
Why it’s perfect for young adults is because it prevents early pigmentation, Boosts collagen production, Improves uneven tone and boosts glow.
Green Envy AHA Serum
Gentle Exfoliation & Skin Renewal
At night, we recommend gently exfoliating your skin with our Green Envy AHA Serum.
It gently exfoliates with alpha hydroxy acids, removing dead skin cells that can clog pores and create dullness or texture issues. Unlike harsh scrubs, this serum works on a cellular level—revealing radiant, refined skin underneath.
Those with sensitive skin we recommend 1–3x per week, those with oily skin can tolerate more regular use.
Face Hydrator
Lightweight Hydration
Finding the best way to hydrate skin means using a moisturiser that both nourishes and hydrates.
Our Daily Face Hydrator is a lipid-based but featherlight moisturiser. It’s perfect for youthful skin, combination types, or anyone craving comfort without the weight.
This formula is infused with botanical oils—rich in fatty acids, ceramides, cholesterol, vitamins, and antioxidants—to support barrier repair and leave your skin plump, smooth, and supple. It's that “my skin but better” finish—without any greasiness.
Morning Routine
If you use other serums apply these products after toning.
Cleanse
Step 1
Start your routine with a gentle cleanser to sweep away dirt, excess oil, and makeup without disrupting your skin’s balance. Dispense a small amount of cleansing gel into your palms, activate it with a touch of water, and massage onto damp skin in circular motions. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Vitamin C
Step 2
Formulated with a pH of 6.5, our Vitamin C serum is best applied before toning. Dispense a few drops into your palms, then gently press and smooth over clean skin. Allow a few moments for the serum to fully absorb before moving on to the next step in your routine.
Toner
Step 3
Formulated to rebalance the skin to its optimal pH of 5.0, this toning fluid preps your skin for everything that follows. Dispense a few pumps into your palms, then gently press and sweep across freshly cleansed skin. Follow immediately with your next skincare steps to lock in hydration and enhance absorption.
Moisturisers
Step 4
Take a small amount of our face cream and eye cream onto your fingertips. Gently massage into the face and neck using soft, upward strokes, allowing the products to melt into the skin and nourish deeply.
Evening Routine
If you use other serums apply these products after toning.
Cleanse
Step 1
Start your routine with a gentle cleanser to sweep away dirt, excess oil, and makeup without disrupting your skin’s balance. Dispense a small amount of cleansing gel into your palms, activate it with a touch of water, and massage onto damp skin in circular motions. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
AHA Serum
Step 2
Use every other day. Formulated with a pH of 3.5, our AHA serum is best applied before toning. Dispense a few drops into your palms, then gently press and smooth over clean skin. Allow a few moments for the serum to fully absorb before moving on to the next step in your routine.
Toner
Step 3
Formulated to rebalance the skin to its optimal pH of 5.0, this toning fluid preps your skin for everything that follows. Dispense a few pumps into your palms, then gently press and sweep across freshly cleansed skin. Follow immediately with your next skincare steps to lock in hydration and enhance absorption.
Moisturisers
Step 4
Take a small amount of our face cream onto your fingertips. Gently massage into the face and neck using soft, upward strokes, allowing the products to melt into the skin and nourish deeply.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.
Do I really need a toner?
Toner helps balance the skins pH back to its healthy pH level which is between 4.5 - 5.5. Toners also boosts penetration of your actives—but it’s optional. If your cleanser is already balanced (like ours), you can skip it. But for dehydrated or inflamed skin, toner offers noticeable comfort.
2.
I thought you apply the AHA & Vitamin C Serums after the toner?
Most people are taught to apply all serums after toner—but there’s one important nuance often overlooked. AHA serums are formulated at a lower pH (typically between 3–4), and some Vitamin C serums also fall within that acidic range, while others can be much higher (up to pH 10). These pH levels are crucial to how effectively the actives perform. Since healthy skin sits around pH 4.5–5.5, it often makes more sense to apply your AHA or Vitamin C serums before toner. The toner can then help gently bring your skin back into balance before you continue with the rest of your routine.
3.
Why is there a mis-conception about oil-based skincare?
We hear this all the time—and honestly, it’s a bit of a myth. Water-based skincare is essential for hydration, yes. But hydration is only one piece of the skin puzzle. Our skin barrier is built on a lipid matrix made of ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol. While ceramides and cholesterol can be made synthetically, botanical oils—like rosehip, jojoba, and others—are natural sources of fatty acids and come packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that help moisturise, nourish, and repair. Oil-based products don’t just add richness—they complement water-based hydration to support a stronger, more resilient skin barrier.