My niece has been getting heavily into skincare. As long as we’re being honest, most of a typical “skincare routine” is placebo, and some of it is actively counter-productive. I know a few women who have a laissez-faire approach to skincare, and their results are almost as good. I believe that the routine is more about the ritual, and psychic need to try to gain some measure of control in a crazy society, than results.