The three products most skin actually needs

Walk into any pharmacy and you will find forty steps for a routine that needs three: a cleanser that respects the barrier, a treatment chosen for your actual concern, and sunscreen worn like a habit, not an occasion.

Every additional product is a variable, and every variable makes your skin harder to read. When a routine is short, we can tell what is working. When it is long, nobody can — including the person selling it.

The third product is the one most often skipped and least negotiable. Sunscreen is not a summer product; it is the quiet foundation every other result stands on.