Cassie’s Personal Skincare Recipe For Dewdrop Skin

Cassie would be the first to say great skin doesn't happen overnight – but with years of experience, a consistent routine, and a genuine love for skincare, she's learned what works (and what really doesn't). We can't pretend like there's one magic product or treatment for great skin, but we can let you in on her at-home regimen! However, like any good food blogger, we buried the recipe at the end! ;)

Though Cassie has been an aesthetician for over 15 years now, one of the main reasons she got into the business was her interest in skin from an early age, which looked a lot different than today's adolescent TikTok craze of junk food skincare at Sephora. She stuck to the basics and focused on a thorough cleanse, gentle tone, moisturizer, SPF, and a little mask here and there. She would even gently work on extracting her own acne lesions. Please don't get any ideas, she didn't have a Skin MPLS! Most of all, Cassie has always prioritized consistency and quality ingredients over trends and flashy products.

Part of her career is rooted in trying new skincare products, which she will always do – but her skin season right now is relying on what's tried and true while keeping it consistent and getting after it twice a day with active and effective ingredients! The approach is simple, but for some reason, not so obvious. On top of the foundational skin steps (cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and SPF), it's just three serums, twice a day, every day. 

So even though Cassie has used Rejux Rx, Exfol-A, and Pure C&E as staples in her routine for over a decade, she is now enjoying stacking these products differently to deliberately push her skin more in her current decade of life. No surprise here, the three serums are all by Vivant Skincare (AKA the gold standard of active ingredients). Vivant products may take your skin some time to acclimate to, but when you do acclimate, it's incredible how little product you need to change your skin. The results are even tone, glassy skin, and minimized texture and pores.

Sometimes, people get too caught up in days and nights with their skin. While it's not wrong to live by this idea of nourishing in the morning and exfoliating at night, your skin doesn't necessarily know what time it is. Skincare rules can be helpful, but they can't help but be one-size-fits-all. You can actually treat your unique concerns with ingredients specific to you, and voila, you have created a beautiful skin recipe! Cassie's recipe (oops, we mean "regimen") will give you a great base to expand from, or you might want to steal it full-on!

Why those three? 

Rejux Rx is packed with peptides that are collagen builders for the skin. They are becoming the quintessential staple for healthy aging and more of a household name. For those who pay extra attention to their skin, Rejuv Rx will leave you tighter, brighter, and plumper, plus reduce the redness in your skin (and it works for acne scars). If you don't see visible changes in the skin, you are still preventing damage from occurring. Remember, it is easier to prevent than to treat, and if you don't see the value in avoiding skin concerns down the line, you're not fully invested in your skincare journey!

Exfol-A and its sisters, Derm-A-Renew, Derm-A-Gel, and Exfol-A Forte, are the best retinoids we have encountered in the market. Skin MPLS works hard to try all products and gather intel, even on topicals from the dermatologist. We've seen it all and haven't found a better retinoid than Exfol-A. It can be spicy, but almost everyone can acclimate if they try hard enough. For those of you already acclimated, we encourage you to see what using it twice a day might do for you. Worried about sun sensitivity? We appreciate that, but rest assured, if you are wearing SPF and avoiding significant sun exposure, you will be just fine using it in the mornings. Of course, days you know you will be outside are the exception, and your regimen will change with that in mind, or if your skin is asking you for a short break.

Pure C&E Vitamin C is an ingredient everyone knows, but do you really know what it actually does? It protects your skin, but it also brightens and creates a pretty, smooth canvas. Vitamin E is underrated. It's a staple vitamin to protect your skin's barrier. A strong skin barrier is one of the first steps in healthy skin. Skincare without a healthy skin barrier would be like baking cookies without an oven; you might enjoy some raw dough, but you'll never get a cookie.

Despite these three serums being active, your skin can likely handle them twice a day with a bit of experience and know-how. It will require some tolerance build-up, and we know Cassie is, in fact, a master chef. If a lot of this is confusing for you, here are the takeaways.

Layer any serum you have twice a day. Stop cycling. Using a serum 1-2x per week is not the way to dewdrop skin. If you think your serum is too active, then try twice a day every other day. Always have a barrier-loving cleanser, like Green Tea Cleanser, handy and a supportive moisturizer, like Dual Barrier (for those acne-prone) and Bio Cell (for those not acne-prone). You can always lean on Aquaphor, as needed, to recover if you've taken it too far too soon. We especially recommend Vivant serums to layer because they are stable and skin-loving. 

Three serums are the perfect amount. Listen, one serum is a noble effort, and for the minimalists out there, it might be enough. On the other hand, watching influencers layer and sell serum after serum is a little much. If you love layering ten serums, don't let us stop you; but, if you aren't loving the skin it gives you, then oftentimes pairing down is a great option. If anyone else remembers School House Rock, three is a magic number. 

Good Ingredients = Good Skin. This recipe gives you everything. It gives your skin peptides, vitamins A, B, C, and E, retinoids, glycolic and lactic acid, plus a few more. Learning science teaches you how to care for your skin. Some people focus on pretty products, packages, and buzzwords, but if you know about ingredients that create healthy skin, you will achieve more results. It's just like cooking, where once you pick up on the basics, much of it is intuitive from there. 

There is no shortage of chefs and skincare experts out there who all do things a little differently. Here is just us paying homage to one of the best, Cassie at Skin MPLS. If loving your skin is also your hobby, consider giving this recipe a try!

Cassie’s Daily Skin Recipe

Serves: Glowing, balanced skin
Prep Time: 5–7 minutes
Frequency: Twice daily (AM + PM)

Ingredients:

Cleanser

Toner

4–7 drops Rejuv Rx Serum

4–7 drops Exfol-A SerExfol-A Serumm

4–7 drops Pure C&E Serum

Eye Treatment Product

Moisturizer

SPF (AM only)

Instructions:

1. Cleanse: Select the cleanser appropriate for your skin, perform a gentle but thorough two-minute cleanse. Then rinse and pat the skin dry. 

2. Tone: Dispense toner onto top half of a toning pad, swipe across the face fairly firmly to lift away dead skin cells, oil, makeup, etc. and deliver toner to the skin.

3. Apply Rejuv Rx (or another peptide serum): Use dropper pipette to dispense 4–7 drops directly onto the face and neck without touching the dropper to your skin. Gently massage into the skin. Wait a beat before applying the next serum.

4. Layer on Exfol-A (or another exfoliating serum): Use dropper pipette to dispense 4–7 drops directly onto the face and neck without touching the dropper to your skin. Gently massage into the skin. Wait a beat before applying the next serum. *Skip this step if your skin needs a break.

5. Layer on Pure C&E (or another antioxidant serum): Use dropper pipette to dispense 4–7 drops directly onto the face and neck without touching the dropper to your skin. Gently massage into the skin. Wait a beat before applying the next serum.
6. Eye Treatment: Select the eye product appropriate for your under eye area and dispense a small amount and gently work in under eye and below brow bone. 

7. Moisture and Protect: Apply a nourishing moisturizer and, in the AMs, finish with SPF.