A basic tenet of healthy cleansing is double cleansing. Start by removing oil-based makeup, sunscreen, and excess sebum with an oil cleanser. (Don’t be afraid — remember, oil balances oil!) Just massage the oil onto dry skin, then wet your hands and massage some more to emulsify the oil and cleanse away the day!

For dark spots, keeping your skin cleansed but not stripped is vital. Using a cleanser that has brightening ingredients will help with the age spots.

An essence, serum, or ampoule is where you typically get the highest concentration of skin treating ingredients, and it’s considered an indispensable step for really effecting change in your skin. For dark spots, we like brightening and melanin-fighting ingredients like niacinamide, vitamin C and galactomyces.

A good moisturizer not only softens your skin and provides a protective barrier, it can help treat a number of skin issues with the right formulation. For dark spots, look for ingredients with niacinamide and vitamin C to fight melanin overproduction.

No skincare routine is complete without a good sunscreen with at least an SPF of 30 (but preferably higher) that also protects from UVA and UVB rays. This is especially true if you’re looking to prevent dark spots. Korean sunscreens are some of the best in the world — they offer light textures and no white cast, so you’ll actually want to wear sunscreen!