Pre-Workout Skin Care: A 3-Step Guide To Caring For Your Skin Before Your Next Sweat Sesh

Think you don’t need to care for your skin before a sweaty workout? Think again! Working out with dirt, debris, or even makeup on your complexion can wreak havoc on your skin—and nobody has time for that. Speaking of not having time, many of us hardly have time to make it to a yoga class after work, let alone care for our skin. Which is why we’ve devised a super simple, 3-step guide to pre-workout skin care. Find out how to care for your skin before your next sweat sesh, ahead.

Before you get your workout on, you’ll want to make sure that you start with a fresh, clean complexion—regardless of whether you have makeup on or not. One of our favorite ways to cleanse our complexion while on-the-go (or, in a hurry to workout) is with Micellar water. Made with micelle technology—small, round cleaning molecules suspended in water that work together to attract and gently remove impurities on the skin’s surface—micellar water can cleanse your skin (and some can even remove makeup) without any additional rinsing. All you have to do is simply soak a cotton ball with the water, sweep it across your face a few times, and voilá!

One of our favorite multitasking micellar waters to use before a sweaty workout is Garnier’s Micellar Cleansing Water All-In-1 Waterproof. The all-in-one bi-phase micellar water can not only lift away pore-clogging dirt and debris from the surface of your skin, it can work to remove stubborn, waterproof makeup, too! Learn more about why we love this drugstore micellar water, here.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water All-In-1 Waterproof, $8.99 MSRP

One of our favorite—read: must-try—ways to refresh before a workout is with a little facial mist. We love facial mist because not only can it provide our skin with a boost of hydration, it can quickly nourish our complexions with beneficial ingredients, too!

If you’re new to the facial mist game, we recommend giving Kiehl’s Cactus Flower & Tibetan Ginseng Hydrating Mist a try. Not only does this refreshing spray smell amazing, it can boost hydration, improve the overall texture of your skin, and leave the skin feeling soft, smooth, and refreshed. What’s more? You can purchase a travel-size bottle (2.5 fl. oz. to be exact) to keep in your gym bag for pre and post-workout refreshing.

Kiehl’s Cactus Flower & Tibetan Ginseng Hydrating Mist, $17-27 MSRP

Like any skin care routine, the last step in your pre-workout skin care routine should be to moisturize (unless of course you plan to exercise outdoors. In that case, follow our bonus step, below). Moisturizing the complexion can help lock in some of that hydration you received from your hydrating facial mist and leave your skin feeling soft, soothed, and ultra hydrated.

When it comes to pre-workout moisturizers, we like to stick with something that is lightweight and absorbs quickly, such as Vichy’s Aqualia Thermal Mineral Water Gel. Formulated with the brand’s exclusive Mineralizing Thermal Water, this mineral-rich moisturizer can boost the skin’s moisture barrier function and leave it feeling soft, soothed, and hydrated.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Mineral Water Gel, $31 (MSRP) 

If you plan on getting your fitness on outdoors, plan on applying (and reapplying) sunscreen to all exposed areas of your body. Sunscreen protection is one of the most—if not, THE most—important step in any and all skin care routines, and forgetting to apply the skin protector before working out could result in some serious consequences.

Since we know how annoying—read: time-consuming—finding the right sunscreen for working out can be, we’ve gone ahead and done the research for you. And one of our top picks for workout-approved broad-spectrum sunscreen is La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios 45 Face and Anthelios 45 Body. Ultra lightweight in texture, oil-free, and water resistant for up to 40 minutes, both sunscreens can provide the skin with fast-absorbing protection with a matte-finish.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios 45 Face, $29.99 MSRP

La Roche-Posay Anthelios 45 Body, $36.99 MSRP