Alicia Keys' Nighttime Skincare Routine Reviewed by a Top Dermatologist

Welcome to your skin check-in with Life & Style’s resident health and beauty expert, Dr. Will Kirby, a celebrity dermatologist and Chief Medical Officer of LaserAway. Every week, he’ll be spilling his candid thoughts and professional advice on all things skin, beauty and wellness as it relates to you — and your favorite stars.

Alicia Keys dropped her “Get Unready With Me” YouTube video and I’m excited to see how she keeps her skin glowing! She starts off by discussing how important her personal time is to her and addresses hydration by emphasizing the need to drink water. I also love that she uses a glass jar and a metal straw. As a dermatologist, I can absolutely cosign this concept and agree that adequate hydration is an imperative part of a good skincare routine.

Then, Alicia switched gears and lights a candle. This, in my opinion, is an awful idea … I hate candles. They suck vital oxygen out of a room, fill it with artificial smells and deposit smoke and soot all around. Candles might help you relax, but they won’t help your skin! She then lights something on fire — it looks like a Jenga stick. Again, I’m against lighting things on fire.

It’s finally time for Alicia’s skincare routine and … she forgot the face wipes! Ugh. So, she moves on to a face wash. If you are a regular reader of my column then you already know that face wash is a category where I feel like you can save money. I recommend gentle, reasonably-priced face washes because a wash isn’t in contact with your face for very long. If you want a stronger product on the professional-grade side, try Skin Better Science Enzyme Cleaner, if you want a very gentle product, try Cetaphil, and if you want an everyday cleanser, try Come Clean.

Alicia switches gears to a toner, but it’s in a spray form and that confuses me, as toners are rarely sprayed. I’m unclear about the brand or the mechanism of action. Her spray seems to be more for well-being, as opposed to actual skincare. Alicia then says that she likes putting her fingers on her face and I love that she is using the soft pads of her third and fourth fingers. Moreover, I love that she is going in an upward motion — I call this “the happy anchor.” Using the fingertips in this motion a great way to apply products and avoids tugging your delicate facial skin down.

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It’s time for an anti-acne product. She references a “fart smell” that can be associated with some sulfur-based blemish treatments. I’m actually on-board with her thought processes here. For significant acne issues that aren’t responding to over-the-counter products, I’d politely suggest that anyone make an appointment with a dermatologist, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t agree that some sulfur acne treatments can make a big difference. Good for Alicia for finding one she likes!

Body lotion is what Alicia applies next. Then, it’s time for another spray, followed by some oil that “helps with intuition.” She pulls out a box with “petals, sticks to light and quartz.” How any of this actually helps improve your skin is completely beyond me. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I cosigned any of these concepts. Alicia really seems to be blending things she likes with things that help your skin, but there is a wide chasm between these two concepts.

While Alicia is doing a phenomenal job with self-care, I remain unconvinced that Alicia Keys is taking a lot of steps to help her skin. She has entirely too many fragrances and chemicals in her routine. I’d love to see a future video from her specifically dedicated to just skincare. That said, she’s gorgeous, this video was unbelievably entertaining, she certainly knows how to wind down and her voice is absolutely mesmerizing.