A soft, smooth, and even texture is one of the hallmarks of healthy skin, but the road to achieving it can sometimes be—no pun intended—a bumpy one. While it’s perfectly normal for skin to have texture, a coarse or uneven complexion can be frustrating, especially when it refuses to go away. Fortunately, it’s nothing that an effective skincare routine can’t fix. If you want to make sure your skin looks and feels its best, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we list our top tried-and-tested tips on how to improve skin texture so you can be on your way to rocking that silky-smooth skin of your dreams.
What is Skin Texture?
Skin texture is the general term used to describe the condition of your skin’s surface and how it feels to the touch. Healthy skin is smooth, supple, and soft, which means it gets enough moisture and hydration, has balanced sebum production, and has steady cell regeneration. However, several factors can alter the skin’s texture over time and cause it to feel dry, rough, and bumpy. This is referred to as textured skin.
What Causes Textured Skin?
- Sun damage: UV radiation is the number one culprit in premature skin aging. It wreaks havoc on both the surface and deeper layers of the skin, breaking down collagen and causing DNA mutations in skin cells.
- Environmental stressors: It’s not just the sun that your skin takes a daily beating from. Pollution, dirt, and smoke all contribute to free radical damage and oxidative stress that negatively impact your skin.
- Aging: Our skin texture undergoes a natural transformation as it ages. As elastin and collagen production slows down, the skin begins to lose firmness and moisture. At the same time, fine lines and wrinkles become more noticeable.
- Dryness: The lack of proper moisture and hydration weakens the skin’s natural barrier, making it more prone to irritation, sensitivity, acne, and other skin conditions that lead to textured skin.
- Dead skin cells: When old skin cells build up on the skin’s surface, they cause your skin to look dry, dull, and uneven.
- Lifestyle: The health of your skin’s microbiome is affected by certain lifestyle choices, such as smoking, lack of sleep, alcohol, and diet, which can accelerate skin aging and raise the risk of inflammation.
- Acne: Breakouts, especially the persistent kind, can leave the skin with pronounced scarring, bumps, and indentations.
- Genetics: Skin conditions can often be attributed to genetics, which means there’s a good chance you’ll inherit the same skin struggles your parents or grandparents had.
- Skin conditions : Chronic skin conditions can make skin look and feel patchy, scaly, thick, rough, and bumpy.
How to Improve Your Skin Texture
1. Cleanse
Every skincare routine starts with a good cleansing to wash away all the day’s dirt, dust, and product residue and prevent them from building up on the skin’s surface. Ideal for blemished or aging skin, an enzyme cleanser like Osmosis +Beauty Purify Enzyme Cleanser—featuring kiwi, kumquat, pineapple, and papaya—can rid your skin of impurities while delivering gentle exfoliation to reveal a more radiant-looking skin.
Beauty Insider Tip: Massage one pump of this rich cleanser onto damp skin and rinse thoroughly.
2. Exfoliate Regularly
Thorough and gentle exfoliation is key in ridding your skin of dead skin cells, promoting cell regeneration, unclogging pores, and refining scars, dark spots, and blemishes. Try the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel, a two-step exfoliating system that delivers instant and long-term anti-aging benefits. Infused with AHAs, antioxidant vitamins, and green tea, it visibly refines the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, uneven texture, and pores.
Beauty Insider Tip: The step 1 pad features a potent blend of exfoliating AHAs and BHAs to renew and exfoliate the skin’s surface layer, while the step 2 pad is infused with retinol and resveratrol to deliver maximum anti-aging benefits.
3. Refine Enlarged Pores
Large and visible pores can be a hotbed of acne-causing bacteria. The solution? Gentle exfoliating pads like the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads with Glycolic and Lactic Acids. Designed for daily use and works for all skin types, including sensitive skin, it features high-performing AHAs that smooth and even out texture irregularities and shrink enlarged pores while prepping the skin for your other skincare products and makeup.
Beauty Insider Tip: These exfoliating pads can be used once or twice daily, morning and/or night. To use, wipe the pad across clean and dry skin and follow with a moisturizer (and SPF during the day).
4. Boost Moisture and Hydration
Dry and textured skin needs all the hydration it can get, and there’s no better way to quench parched skin than a deeply hydrating serum that can fill in the dents and cracks left by dead skin cells. Your best bet? The PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Serum. Best for all skin types, including sensitive skin, it’s infused with ceramides, niacinamide, and a hyaluronic acid complex to deliver long-lasting hydration down to the skin’s deepest layers. It plumps fine lines and wrinkles, improves moisture retention, and fortifies the skin’s natural barrier.
Beauty Insider Tip: Use this serum day and night to get the most out of its 24-hour hydration boost.
5. Go for a Chemical Peel
Your body’s natural cycles and processes slow down as you age, and that includes shedding off old skin cells to make room for new growth. This can lead to a dull-looking complexion, clogged pores, and uneven skin texture. One way to prevent this is with an in-office chemical peel treatment. Alternatively, you can try an at-home peel to achieve your desired results. Opt for a gentle chemical exfoliator like the Caudalie Vinoperfect Glycolic Peel Mask, formulated with glycolic acid and natural AHAs, which visibly reduces the look of dark spots, refines skin texture, and supports natural cell renewal.
Beauty Insider Tip: For best results, apply this at-home exfoliating facial twice a week on dry skin and leave for 10 minutes before washing off.
6. Tackle Existing Blemishes
Preventing textured skin is one thing, but addressing existing blemishes and maintaining clear skin is another. Professional help (and a ton of patience) may be needed if your concern involves old scars, deep discoloration, and pesky bumps. For everything else, you can try a targeted product that can smooth texture and refine pigmentation like SENTÉ Crysteamine HSA. Infused with heavy-hitting actives, this treatment works hard to combat and improve the appearance of dark spots, hyperpigmentation, and uneven texture, leaving you with a softer, more radiant skin tone in as little as eight weeks.
Beauty Insider Tip: To use, apply the product on completely dry skin and leave it on for 15 minutes before thoroughly washing off with a mild cleanser. If you have sensitive skin or are a new user, start with every other day application until your skin has fully adjusted.
7. Address Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Your skin can have a textured appearance when fine lines and wrinkles begin to form. And while these are all natural and part of the aging process, that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to make them less noticeable and look a few years younger. And for that, you’ll need Medik8 Liquid Peptides Serum. With its innovative take on modern peptide technology, this lightweight, crystal-clear serum fights off signs of skin aging, smooths skin texture, and leaves you with a supple, even complexion.
Beauty Insider Tip: With its unique liquid peptides blend, this serum perfectly complements vitamin C application in the morning and retinoid use at night.
8. Try Retinol
This skincare MVP does more than just blur fine lines and wrinkles. Retinol, together with the rest of the retinoids family, receives major props for boosting collagen production and cell turnover, resulting in improved skin tone and texture, brighter complexion, and less noticeable fine lines and wrinkles. An absolute cult-fave, Sunday Riley A+ High-Dose Retinoid Serum packs a powerful punch with its highly concentrated blend of retinol esters, coenzymeQ10, and botanical extracts, zapping away signs of aging, free radical damage from UV exposure, and uneven tone and texture.
Beauty Insider Tip: New to retinoids or have sensitive skin? Make sure to layer a nourishing moisturizer before applying this serum to ease any risks of irritation.
9. Add Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a multitasking must-have in your morning routine because it protects your complexion from sun and environmental damage while restoring skin that’s dealing with pigmentation, uneven texture, and scarring. And if you want the hands-down best vitamin C serum in the game, SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic is for you. With its supercharged blend of vitamins C, E, and ferulic acid, it delivers unmatched antioxidant protection against UV and pollution while targeting fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots and discoloration, and sagging skin.
Beauty Insider Tip: Vitamin C can cause sensitivity when exposed to the sun, so make sure to apply sunscreen (at least SPF 30) after use in the morning.
10. Focus on the Eye Area
The skin under your eyes is extra delicate and more prone to dryness, giving your skin an uneven feel. To combat this, opt for an eye treatment that can nourish your skin and address common under-eye concerns like dark circles, puffiness, and sagging. Powered by a patented tri-enzyme technology, lactic acid, and probiotics, Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing Pads is an all-in-one formula that rejuvenates, smooths, and revitalizes the eye area, giving you a more youthful, smoother, and wide-awake gaze.
Beauty Insider Tip: These cream-infused pads can also be applied on the eyelids to lift and firm skin. They work well under makeup, thanks to their lightweight and non-greasy texture.
11. Soothe Symptoms of Acne and Other Skin Conditions
When skin conditions like acne, rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis flare up on the reg, the aftermath becomes more and more difficult to address. Nipping the symptoms in the bud is key to making sure none of the blemishes left behind becomes a permanent fixture in your skin. Infused with 15 percent time-released l-ascorbic acid, olive leaf extract, and growth factors, the iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advance+ offers fast relief and protection from itching, irritation, and discomfort caused by rosacea, cystic acne, and scarring.
Beauty Insider Tip: Formulated for sensitive skin, this serum can be used daily to ease inflammation and redness and promote smoother skin.
12. Wear Sunscreen
Sunscreen is an absolutely non-negotiable part of daytime skincare, and even more so when you want to prevent textured skin or stop existing concerns from getting worse. For the best SPF for daily wear, you can’t go wrong with EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46. Dubbed by legions of fans as the holy grail of sun protection, it delivers complete UVA/UVB defense while being gentle enough for sensitive and acne-prone skin.
Beauty Insider Tip: This SPF is everything you want in your sunscreen—plus, much more. It’s infused with lactic acid and sodium hyaluronate to aid your skin in refining pores and boosting hydration.
13. Consider LED Light Therapy
In-office treatments like laser therapy can be an effective way to deal with stubborn texture concerns, like old acne scars, hyperpigmentation, and deep lines. But if you prefer a gentler approach, then LED light therapy is for you. The best part is that LED light therapy can be done right at home with the help of skincare devices like The Light Salon Boost LED Mask. Created with medical device directives in mind, this portable mask delivers the same clinically proven wavelengths provided by professional salon machines. Each 10-minute treatment uses multiple red light and infrared wavelengths to smooth tone and texture, fade dark spots and discoloration, and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
Beauty Insider Tip: For best results, use the device three to five times a week for a minimum of four weeks.
14. Try Skin Cycling
Skin Cycling is the viral skincare trend created by world-renowned dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe to address the most common skin concerns, including signs of aging and uneven texture. The routine focuses on the importance of strengthening the skin barrier and allowing the skin to recover in between loading up with workhorse actives like retinol and exfoliants. Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty Skin Cycling Program – Exfoliate + Firm + Hydrate + Barrier Recovery is a streamlined and comprehensive skincare system that gives you everything you need to start your skin cycling journey.
Beauty Insider Tip: Skin Cycling is highly customizable, so you can easily tweak the routine to suit your skin’s needs and concerns.
FAQs
Is textured skin normal?
Despite what camera filters would have you believe, having skin texture is as normal as having skin itself. Aiming for clear and healthy skin doesn’t mean having a complexion that’s completely devoid of texture—not only is that unrealistic, it’s also impossible. The skin undergoes a lot of changes due to its natural cycles, the aging process, and other environmental factors, and with that comes obvious differences in texture from time to time. That said, textured skin—the stubborn and noticeable kind—can take your skin’s radiance and youthfulness down a few notches. The good news is that there are plenty of effective ways to get rid of bumps, large pores, and rough patches.
Are there different types of skin texture?
- Acne Scarring: In its wake, acne leaves your skin with discoloration and scars that can take plenty of TLC and time to fade, leaving the skin with a noticeable uneven texture and a trail of depressed scars or raised bumps.
- Congested Skin: A sure sign that your skin is congested is the appearance of blackheads, whiteheads, and tiny bumps under the skin’s surface. Congestion occurs when dead skin cells, dirt, product residue, sweat, and excess sebum build up and clog your pores, leaving you with a rough, dull, and uneven complexion.
- Enlarged Pores: Large pores can leave your skin looking rough and bumpy and lead to other skin conditions like acne. It can be caused by overactive sebum glands or by too much sun exposure that leads to sagging and stretching of the edges of pores.
- Fine Lines and Wrinkles: The skin develops grooves, lines, and wrinkles over time. These can be caused by the natural aging process and repeated facial expressions (like laughing, squinting, or frowning), but some other factors—like UV damage, environmental stress, lifestyle habits, and inadequate skincare—can accelerate the process.
- Rough Patches: Dryness and dehydration make skin look flaky, rough, or patchy and weaken the skin’s natural barrier. Those with dry skin types are more susceptible to having a rough skin texture, but even those with normal skin can develop the condition when you factor in aging, lack of proper moisture and hydration, chronic skin conditions, and changes in weather.
- Irritated Skin: Rash and irritation can occur when skin is exposed to harsh skincare ingredients or after using a new skincare product. Sensitivities and allergic reactions to ingredients can lead to redness, flaking or peeling, rough patches, breakouts, and inflammation.
- Milia: Although it’s more common in babies, milia can occur in people of any age or skin type. These tiny white bumps are keratin-filled cysts that form when dead skin cells build up and sit on the surface, causing new skin to grow on top and trap them underneath.
- Skin Inflammation: Skin that’s coping with inflammatory conditions, like rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis, can appear rough, scaly, cracked, and bumpy. Some of these conditions can also cause pores to become larger and make skin feel thicker and coarse.
The Bottom Line
Skin is never meant to be completely without texture, and having a clear and healthy complexion simply means having skin that’s smooth, soft, and even to the touch. When skin becomes textured, whether because of aging, acne and other inflammatory conditions, or environmental stress, it can turn rough, bumpy, thick, or scaly and develop dark spots and discoloration. Fortunately, this can all be prevented and addressed with a well-rounded skincare routine and targeted treatments that can restore its natural radiance, health, and youthful appearance.
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