I have designed elaborate evening routines for myself the way other people plan elaborate holidays: with great optimism and no follow-through. What finally stuck was almost embarrassingly small.
The whole ritual
Cleanse with warm water and a soft cloth. One pump of a barrier-friendly moisturiser, pressed in rather than rubbed. Thirty seconds of gentle pressure along the jaw and brow — less massage, more punctuation mark on the day.
Five minutes, every night, beats forty minutes twice a month. Your skin keeps score of the average, not the highlights.