My full facial routine for sun damage and fine lines

Growing up on the New South Wales coast, I treated the sun like a permanent accessory. Between weekend surf checks, cricket matches on concrete wickets, and that classic Aussie rite of passage of falling asleep on Manly Beach with zinc smeared across my nose, my skin absorbed more UV than I would like to add up. By my late twenties, the fine lines around my eyes had a permanent squint to them, and a scatter of brown spots had settled across my cheekbones. That is when I stopped thinking of skincare as a treat and started treating it like a routine for repair.

The shift was less about buying the most expensive jars and more about building a sequence of small, repeatable steps. I started paying attention to what actually changed my skin and what just sat on the surface. Antioxidants in the morning, broad spectrum SPF every couple of hours, and a calmer evening routine that respected the way Australian seasons swing from wet heat to dry cold. Over the past few years, I have fine-tuned each layer, swapped retinol for softer alternatives through the worst of summer, and added in-clinic work where it counts.

In the morning, I cleanse, layer a vitamin C serum, moisturise, and finish with a generous amount of sunscreen. In the evening, I double cleanse, apply a treatment serum, and seal everything in with a nourishing moisturiser. Twice a week I exfoliate, and once or twice a year I sit down with a skin therapist for a course of treatments that pushes the routine further. None of these steps on their own feel dramatic, but stacked over months, the change in texture, tone, and softness has been hard to ignore. This is the full picture of what I do, why I do it, and the small adjustments that matter when you live under a harsh sun.

The goal here is not perfection. The goal is a routine you can actually keep through a Brisbane summer, a Melbourne winter, or a work week that runs from desk to school pickup without time for a ten-step ritual. If a step does not earn its place, I cut it. Everything below has earned its place.

Morning cleanse and the antioxidant step that changed everything

The first decision every morning is the cleanser. I keep it simple and gentle because my barrier has been through enough. A cream or low-foam formula that lifts the overnight build-up of skincare without stripping the skin is what I reach for. If I have worn makeup or a heavier SPF the day before, I start with an oil-based cleanse and follow with a water-based one. The double cleanse sounds excessive, but it is the single biggest reason my vitamin C serum actually absorbs instead of sitting on top of last night's residue.

The vitamin C step is the one I credit with the most visible change in my sun damage. I look for a stable form, usually ascorbic acid or a derivative like sodium ascorbyl phosphate, paired with ferulic acid and vitamin E. That combination has the strongest evidence for brightening discolouration and supporting collagen against the breakdown caused by UV exposure. Within a few weeks of being consistent, the brown patches across my cheeks started to soften, and my overall tone looked less tired.

After the serum has had a minute to settle, I layer a hyaluronic acid hydration step, then a moisturiser that suits the season. In the warmer months, a lighter gel-cream works well for the humidity you get along the east coast. In winter, I switch to something richer because the dry air in places like Adelaide or Canberra pulls moisture straight out of the skin. None of this is glamorous, but it is the foundation that makes every other product work harder.

Sunscreen is the non-negotiable in my Australian routine

If I could only keep one step, it would be SPF. Australia has some of the highest UV indexes in the world, and the Slip Slop Slap campaign drilled that into me as a kid for a reason. UV damage is responsible for the majority of visible ageing, and no serum, no matter how expensive, can undo a day spent unprotected. I treat sunscreen as my daily insurance policy.

I look for a broad spectrum formula rated SPF 50 or higher that feels weightless enough to wear under makeup. Over the years I have cycled through plenty of options, including the Cancer Council face cream that sits in every Australian bathroom, the mineral-leaning Invisible Zinc, and the more recent Ultra Violette formulations that come in colours and finishes you actually want to wear. The right one is the one you will reapply, because the bottle on your vanity does nothing if it only gets used once in the morning.

Reapplication is where most people fall short, including me on busy days. UV radiation in Sydney and Brisbane peaks well before lunch and stays punishing through the afternoon, so I aim to top up every two hours when I am outdoors. On office days, I keep a misting SPF in my bag and reapply over makeup with a soft sponge. I also extend the coverage down my neck and across my chest, because the decolletage shows age faster than the face and is the first place I notice new crepey texture if I have skipped it.

My evening routine and why I rotate retinol out in summer

Evenings are when I focus on repair. I start with an oil cleanse to dissolve sunscreen and makeup, then follow with the same low-foam formula I use in the morning. On the days my skin feels congested, I use a gentle exfoliant with lactic or mandelic acid rather than something harsher. Strong acids every night wrecked my barrier a few years ago, and I have no intention of going back.

The treatment serum I reach for depends on the season. Through the cooler months, I use a retinaldehyde or low-strength retinol to support cell turnover and soften the look of fine lines. As soon as the temperature climbs and the sun exposure ramps up, I switch to gentler options. I wrote about why I made that switch in more detail in why I stopped using retinol in the summer and what I use instead, but the short version is that retinol plus high UV is a recipe for irritation, peeling, and pigmentation that undoes all the work the rest of the routine is trying to do.

In place of retinol, I rotate through bakuchiol, peptide-rich serums, and a niacinamide treatment that helps with both lines and uneven tone. These ingredients keep my skin active without making it photosensitive. I seal everything with a ceramide moisturiser, and on nights when I want an occlusive layer, I press a few drops of a facial oil over the top. The morning after, my skin feels plump, calm, and ready for another day of sun defence.

The in-clinic treatments I lean on for stubborn lines

No home routine replaces professional work entirely. Twice a year I book a course of microneedling with radiofrequency, the treatment some clinics in Sydney and Melbourne offer under the Vivace-style technology. The combination of controlled injury and heat stimulates collagen in a way no topical serum can match, and over a series of sessions, the fine lines around my mouth and eyes look noticeably softer. I pair these deeper treatments with an Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial about a week later to flood the skin with hydration and antioxidants while it is in recovery mode. The cooling, pressurised infusion calms redness and leaves my barrier in much better shape than if I had skipped the soothing step.

Between professional sessions, I keep an at-home routine that mimics some of the benefits. Gentle at-home dermarolling once a month, careful sanitation aside, supports product absorption, though I treat it as a small boost rather than a substitute for the real thing. I also keep my skincare stored correctly because heat and sunlight break down active ingredients faster than anything else. A friend sent me a guide on storing cosmetics properly that changed the way I think about my bathroom shelf, especially during the Australian summer when temperatures indoors can hit the high twenties without air conditioning.

The biggest lesson from in-clinic work has been patience. Results from collagen-stimulating treatments build slowly over three to six months, and the at-home routine is what carries the skin between appointments. The two work best as a pair.

Daily habits that quietly fight photoaging

Skincare products only tell half the story. The other half is the small daily exposure I do not always see, and this is where smartphone wrinkles started to make sense to me. Looking down at a screen for hours each day creases the skin under the chin and across the chest in the same position over and over. Over time, those creases can settle into permanent lines, the same way sleep creases can become etched into the skin. I now hold my phone at eye level when I am scrolling, and I have added a small pillow under my tablet at night to keep my neck neutral.

Blue light is the other quiet contributor I pay more attention to now. I work in front of a screen most of the day, and while the science is still catching up, I prefer to layer an antioxidant serum in the routine as a form of insurance. Diet plays a supporting part too. I keep my fridge stocked with berries, leafy greens, and oily fish through the week, and I have finally accepted that my skin looks dull when I have not drunk enough water. Sleep is the strongest overnight treatment I can give my skin, and I aim for consistency rather than perfection.

I borrow a lot of these habits from how I approach getting dressed in the morning. There is a good rundown of small style and beauty habits over at stilettos and sequins that I return to when I feel like my routine has gone stale. The crossover between looking after your skin and looking after how you present yourself turns out to be closer than I expected, and the small choices repeated over months are what shift the long-term outcome either way.

The single step worth treating as non-negotiable is broad spectrum sunscreen, applied generously and topped up throughout the day, because nothing else in the routine matters if the skin is being damaged faster than it can repair.