I'll be frank: "Skin cycling" is a hype. It is also a campaign with a purpose of promoting the product line of the dermatologist who came up with it. Notice that the term "Skin Cycling" is trademarked.
(Don't get me started on the analogy between muscle training and skincare. Skin isn't a muscle. It doesn't benefit from the "high-intensity"- "recover" cycle. Muscles grow stronger after getting mirco-tears from exercise. Skin doesn't get better or more resilient if we disrupt the skin barrier on one day, and let it recover on the second. We should avoid disrupting the barrier in the first place).
It does not mean that the method is all bad though. There is just no more to it than "Take care of your skin barrier. Don't over-exfoliate. Avoid irritation from strong actives". If the idea of the cycle helps you to keep a consistent routine and avoid irritation, it's great!
What worries me is that the method makes you feel like "the exfoliation day" is a must. In reality, there is a trade-off between using a retinoid and exfoliation. The more often you use retinol, the less you need to exfoliate. And, the more often you exfoliate, the less tolerance to a retinoid you'll have. Many people do not need to exfoliate at all when they are using a daily retinoid. Retinoids speed up the cell turnover anyway. If you are choosing between an exfoliation day or a more regular retinoid application, go for the retinoid.
If you choose to exfoliate, it's not a bad idea to skip the retinoid on that day. But don't exfoliate if your skin feels irritated from a retinoid.
The rest days are not a must either. You can use your retinoid product daily without an issue (after the "retinoid-initiation" period where you use it only a couple times a week increasing the frequency slowly). Still, if your skin feels sensitive, rest days are a great idea. But then definitely skip the exfoliation.
Also, avoid going "all-in" on your retinoid & exfoliation days. Do not choose a higher concentration of the actives just because you are planning a rest period afterwards.
And remember that, beyond avoiding over-exfoliation, there are 3 important parts to keeping your skin barrier strong and healthy:
- gentle and not too frequent cleansing
- avoiding unnecessary irritants in skincare (in your AM, PM routine, and on the "rest days" if you follow the cycling method)
- daily moisturization with a product with humectants & emollients / occlusives.
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