The At-Home Ritual: What I Recommend Between Treatments

By Dra. Letícia Boos

The most beautiful skin I see in my practice rarely belongs to the person with the most products. It belongs to the person with the most consistent ones.

Professional treatments create change. What you do at home — quietly, daily, without ceremony — is what preserves it. After years of caring for faces, both in dentistry and in aesthetics, I've learned that a ritual of four or five well-chosen products will outperform a shelf of twenty impulse purchases every time.

Here is the structure I recommend to nearly every client, along with the products I trust.

Morning

A gentle, non-stripping cleanser. Your skin barrier is your most valuable asset. If your face feels "squeaky clean" after washing, your cleanser is too harsh.
My pick: CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser
The indulgent choice: Tatcha The Rice Wash — a silky Japanese cream cleanser with rice powder and ceramides, for those who want their ritual to feel like a ceremony

An antioxidant serum. Vitamin C, applied in the morning, helps defend the skin against the environmental stress it will face all day — something we take seriously here in Miami.
The gold standard: SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
A beautiful place to start: TruSkin Vitamin C Serum
(If your skin doesn't get along with vitamin C — it happens — a retinal at night can take over the collagen work. See the evening step below.)

Sunscreen. Every day. No exceptions. This is the single most effective anti-aging product that exists, and the one most often skipped. If you invest in only one item from this page, let it be this one.
My everyday pick: Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 50 — invisible, weightless, and beautiful under makeup
The dermatology-office classic: EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46
For light coverage with a tint: ISDIN Eryfotona Ageless SPF 50 — a mineral formula with a universal tint that evens skin tone while it protects

Evening

The same gentle cleanser — twice, if you wear makeup or sunscreen (which should be everyone).

A treatment step. For most clients, this means a retinoid a few nights per week, introduced slowly. It supports the collagen work we do in the treatment room.
My pick: Differin Gel (adapalene 0.1%)
The modern retinal option: celimax The Vita A Retinal Shot Booster (0.1% retinal) — faster-acting than retinol, night use only
For sensitive beginners: CeraVe Skin Renewing Retinol Serum

A restorative moisturizer. Nighttime is when the skin repairs itself. Give it what it needs to do that work well.
My pick: Eucerin Hyaluron-Filler
An accessible classic: CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
For retinoid nights: La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5

A personal trick I love. On retinoid nights, apply your treatment first and let it dry completely — then seal everything in with a thin layer of Cicaplast Balm B5 on top. The balm calms and protects the skin barrier while the retinoid does its work. Waiting for the treatment to dry takes patience... or a little portable fan, which is what I use. Mine lives on my vanity and I wouldn't give it up.
The one I use: JISULIFE handheld fan

A note on restraint

You may notice what's missing from this list: exfoliating acids used daily, ten-step routines, whatever appeared on your feed this week. That's intentional. Skin responds to consistency and patience, not novelty. When clients follow a treatment plan with me, I often ask them to remove products before we add anything.

If you're unsure whether a product belongs in your routine — or whether your skin is ready for a retinoid — this is exactly the kind of question I answer during a consultation.

Your ritual should feel effortless. That's how you know it will last.

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Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products I would use myself or suggest to my own clients.