Published: August 30, 2025
It’s no secret that regular exercise is a must if you want to keep yourself healthy. It does the world of good for your skin too, boosting circulation to better feed your skin cells and give your skin a radiant glow.
However, if you don’t care for your skin in the right way once you’re done working out, you’ll only undo all of that hard work. So, read on as CBGärdN talks through what your post-workout skincare routine should and shouldn’t involve!
Immediately Cleanse (or Double Cleanse) Your Skin
Once you start working out, it doesn’t take long for sweat and oil to accumulate on your skin. They’re soon joined by dirt and bacteria (that gym equipment isn’t as clean as you’d hope!), creating the perfect recipe for clogged pores and acne breakouts. The chances of this heighten once that combination of impurities dries on your skin, which is why the first step of your post-workout skincare routine should be to thoroughly cleanse your skin.
If your workout has been particularly intense, you may even want to double cleanse. This involves cleansing your skin twice. The first cleanse is done with an oil-based cleanser. This tackles oil-based impurities, like sebum and SPF. Once this cleanser has been washed off, it’s followed by a water-based cleanser to clear away water-based impurities, such as sweat and dirt. This technique provides a more complete and meticulous cleanse – exactly what your skin needs post-workout.
…But Skip the Harsh Cleansers
People often reach for their most aggressive cleanser after working out. After all, surely strength is needed in order to remove all of that sweat, oil, and more?
Surprisingly to many, no. In fact, using harsh cleansers after exercising can have a detrimental effect on your skin. With your skin barrier being more vulnerable immediately after a workout, any cleansers containing overly powerful surfactants will only harm your skin.
Instead, it’s far more beneficial to opt for gentler formulas, especially if you’re double cleansing. We would recommend adding a sulfate-free foaming cleanser to your post-workout skincare routine, just like the CBGärdN CB Silk Facial Foaming Purifier. Foaming cleansers are known for being extremely effective at lifting sebum, sweat, dirt, and more. With this formula being infused with a blend of peptides, it will also work to hydrate your skin and leave your vulnerable skin barrier feeling stronger, faster.
Calm and Cool Your Complexion With a Mask
If you have some time to spare while carrying out your post-workout skincare routine, one great way to pamper your skin is with a hydrating face mask. With the skin often feeling hot and irritable after exercising, a face mask is the perfect way to leave it feeling calm, relaxed, and nurtured.
It’s also worth noting that any masks that you do apply post-workout are likely to be more effective than usual. Your pores dilate when you’re exercising so that sweat can easily escape. This makes it easier for skincare products, including the high concentration of ingredients found in face masks, to penetrate the skin. Keep in mind that once your body cools down, your pore openings constrict once again. This is yet another reason why you should start your skincare routine as soon as possible after working out.
…But Skip the Exfoliating Formulas
As we mentioned earlier, your skin barrier is more vulnerable immediately after working out. This is why exfoliation isn’t a part of this post-workout skincare routine, and is also why you should skip any masks that have an exfoliating effect on the skin.
Instead, hydration is what you want to prioritize, along with formulas that have a soothing effect on the complexion, which is where the CB BioLeaf Hydrating Facial & Eye Mask really shines. These hydrogel sheet masks feel ultra-refreshing when placed on the skin. They immediately impart a cooling sensation, and soon after that, you’ll start to feel its hydrating blend of ingredients sink into your skin.
The HydroCollagen Lift Mask from our Collagen Cooling Set would also be a great choice. This entire skincare set has been designed to have a cooling and hydrating effect on the complexion, making it the perfect go-to post-workout.
Tone to Hydrate and Refresh
Just like when it comes to using a face mask, a toner is an optional part of a post-workout skincare routine. It’s not absolutely essential, yet making some time for one could make a huge difference to your skin.
How? Toners are primarily designed to rebalance the pH level of the skin’s surface. It’s often thrown out of whack after cleansing, especially if you’ve been exercising before that. Sweat contains certain metabolites that make the skin’s surface more alkaline, when it should be slightly acidic. While this will return to normal after a while, cleansing your skin can slow this down, which is why a toner can be useful. After all, the more balanced your skin pH is, the more receptive your skin will be to the rest of your skincare routine.
Some toners provide additional benefits, too. Again, hydration is something that should be prioritized, along with ingredients that have soothing properties.
…But Skip Any Astringent Toners
When choosing a toner for your post-workout skincare routine, steer clear of astringent formulas. These toners may seem like a great solution for drying up excess oil, but they’ll only end up drying out your skin barrier too. As we mentioned above, hydration is what you need, and astringent toners provide the opposite.
If this means that you’re in the market for a new toner, check out CBGärdN’s CB Facial Toner. Sodium hyaluronate sits near the top of the ingredient list. This ingredient is the salt form of hyaluronic acid, meaning that it has a smaller molecular size that can easily penetrate the skin, providing the sensation of deep moisture. Our toner has also been infused with niacinamide, aka vitamin B3. Not only does this ingredient leave the skin barrier feeling stronger, but it will also diminish the look of redness and inflammation.
Give Your Skin Extra Hydration With a Serum
As you know, your body loses a lot of water when you exercise, and a large amount of this comes from your skin. As a result, it’s not just you who feels thirsty once you’re done working out – your skin will be gasping for some moisture too. The longer it goes without receiving any, the more likely it is to increase oil production in an attempt to keep its low moisture reserves locked in, which will only leave your skin looking greasy.
This is why the next step in your post-workout skincare routine should be to quench your parched skin with a hydrating serum. Look for a lightweight formula that contains a few humectants. These moisture-binding ingredients provide near instant hydration, which is why we’ve incorporated several of them in the CB Replenishing Serum. From sodium hyaluronate to peptides, this serum will give your skin a plumper finish that enhances your post-workout glow.
…But Skip Any Products With Powerful Actives
With your post-workout skin being more susceptible to irritation and inflammation, this isn’t the time to be applying potent active ingredients to your skin. Save those for later – once your skin has had some time to recuperate from the exercise.
If you’d still like to give your skin a few extra beneficial ingredients at the serum stage of your skincare routine, consider a product like the CB Illuminating Vita C Serum. It’s packed with antioxidants, but features gentle versions of the more potent ingredients so as not to irritate the skin. Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, for instance, is an effective form of vitamin C but doesn’t irritate the skin in the way that high concentrations of ascorbic acid can.
Moisturize and Reapply Your SPF
If you’ve been working out in the evening and the sun has gone down by the time you’ve finished your skincare routine, then you won’t need to worry about SPF. Focus on moisturizing your skin, which not only keeps your skin barrier feeling supported by also improves moisture retention. With a moisturizer forming a film over the surface of your skin, moisture, including the hydrating ingredients you’ve just applied, won’t be able to evaporate away quite so quickly.
If you’ve been working out during the day, then you’ll need to reapply your SPF too. Bring both steps of your skincare routine together with a multitasking product like the CB Multi-Active Moisturizer With SPF 30. Acting as both a moisturizer and a sunscreen, this lightweight formula will leave your skin feeling silky soft and fully protected.
…But Skip the Heavy, Pore-Clogging Formulas
Wondering if your skin needs a thicker moisturizer post-workout? If your skin is severely dry, then this is likely so. However, for everyone else, a thick moisturizer will only affect the way in which your skin cools down. Keep your skincare routine, including your choice of moisturizer, as light as possible after exercising.
If your skin is particularly greasy and inflamed, you may want to go the extra mile and opt for a gel moisturizer. These can have even more of a cooling effect on the skin.
Either way, boost your skin’s moisture levels even further, without clogging your pores, by applying your moisturizer to damp skin. This will lock in all of those water molecules lingering on your skin’s surface, giving your skin cells access to an even greater amount of moisture.
Create the Perfect Post-Workout Skincare Routine With CBGärdN
There’s no denying the many benefits that working out can bring to your skin. However, if you want to maintain your post-workout glow, it’s important to have a solid skincare routine to turn to. The steps above will set you on the right path, ensuring that you give your skin all that it needs so that it can fully reap the rewards of your active lifestyle!
Click here to add more CBGärdN bestsellers to your skincare routine.