Are YOU following the ‘golden minute’ during your skincare routine?

Settling down at night and doing your skincare routine before bed can feel luxuriously indulgent and relaxing — but it turns out that you may not have as much time on your hands as you think.

Renée Rouleau, a celebrity esthetician and founder of her namesake skin care brand, has exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com an imperative tip that you must be following if you want to get the most out of your products. 

Throughout her career, Rouleau, who is based in Austin, Texas, has provided her services and skincare expertise to Hollywood hotshots like Demi Lovato, Lili Reinhart and Keke Palmer. 

One of the top tips she advises her clients to use is following her ‘Golden Minute’ rule, with the name referring to ‘the 60-second window of time after you finish cleansing your face,’ Rouleau explained to DailyMail.com.

‘During this period, your skin is particularly vulnerable to moisture loss through a process called transepidermal water loss, leaving it open to dehydrated skin and a damaged moisture barrier.’

‘You have about 60 seconds after cleansing before this moisture loss starts to occur, hence, the Golden Minute,’ she added.

In order to make sure that all of your products are working to their full potential, Rouleau advised skincare lovers to follow the rule. 

‘My rule is simple: once you’ve cleansed, apply the rest of your skincare products within 60 seconds, starting with an alcohol-free toner,’ Rouleau told DailyMail.com. 

‘It may seem like a small thing, but by avoiding unnecessary moisture loss, you’ll prevent dehydration and keep your skin healthier overall.’

‘A healthy barrier is the key to healthy skin, so this is another way to ensure you keep it moisturized and balanced,’ she added.

So, instead of taking your sweet time to apply your creams, oils and serums after washing your face, it’s better to slather it all on in under one minute, according to Rouleau.

The tip comes after Rouleau revealed some of the worst ‘skin sins’ that you can commit when caring for your complexion.

One offense included drinking alcohol, which she detailed in a June 2019 blog post.

Not only can drinking cause your skin to have early signs of aging, redness and pimples, but it can even emphasize any fine lines and wrinkles.

She also advised to never have a cocktail after getting a facial, as the treatment often hydrates the skin, and it would be less-than-ideal to immediately reverse those effects.

Another common ‘skin sin’ Rouleau revealed was layering too many exfoliating products on top of one another. 

In the blog post, she detailed an experience she once had with a client at her office, who came in looking like she had been sunburned — but really, she had just put too many exfoliants on.

‘When I asked about her skin redness and if she had been in the sun, she said no,’ Rouleau detailed. ‘In fact, she hadn’t even noticed her skin was red at all. She was just so used to it looking this way.

‘Come to find out, she was layering acid products by using both an acid toner followed by an acid serum every single night which was resulting in an ongoing acidic burn.’

Last year, the celebrity skincare expert also revealed the mistakes people made when applying elaborate costume makeup for Halloween.

For those who have acne-prone skin, Rouleau recommended using a two-step, at-home facial in order to prevent clogging and buildup.

‘If you have acne-prone skin, consistency is key — because inflammatory pimples start out as clogged pores too tiny to even see,’ she told DailyMail.com at the time.

She recommended starting out with her SLMD Acne System, which contains a combination of acne-ridding ingredients like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and retinol.