I Asked ChatGPT to Create a Skincare Routine for Me. Here’s What Happened.

From selfie scans to smart routine builders, AI is changing how we take care of our skin. I got a personalized, AI-powered routine to find out if it’s worth the hype.

We’re living in the age of AI, and it’s coming for all our jobs.

From apps that can analyze your skin through a selfie, to AI dermatologists promising custom routines, AI is taking over the skincare world in a big way right now. Even OG brands like Neutrogena and The Inkey List are jumping on the bandwagon. And look, I get it. Building a perfect skincare routine can sometimes feel like a guessing game. Then AI comes along and claims it can help us play the game smarter, of course it’s going to have our collective interest piqued.

But, as anyone who’s tried to use AI for research will know, factual accuracy isn’t exactly its strong suit. So, I wanted to put it to the test myself. I knew I didn’t want to use a branded tool, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to spend money on one of those apps with the scammy as hell Instagram ads. So, I turned to my good (and free) friend ChatGPT to see what it could do. The results were, well, mixed. Let’s get into it.

Starting With the Right Prompt

If you know anything at all about AI, you know that your results are only as good as your prompt. And boy, did I prompt.

I gave ChatGPT everything I thought was important—right from my age, my ethnicity, skin type, skin concerns, even down to the city I currently live in to take into account environmental factors like weather and pollution levels. I also told it the kinds of textures I like in my products, and asked it to look into fungal acne safe products because I prefer their non-clogging properties.

I thought about uploading a photo, since so many of these apps seem to be image or video based, but I decided to see the text based results before resorting to any visual aids. Once I believed my prompt had covered all the bases, it was time for my personalised routine.

My Morning Routine, According to ChatGPT

Let’s start with the positives. Right off the bat, I have to give ChatGPT props for creating a pretty skinimalist and budget-friendly routine. I hadn’t added either of these considerations in my prompt, and yet it kept the routine overall pretty simple and targeted, which I definitely appreciate.

The steps themselves—gentle cleanser, followed by a brightening/antioxidant serum, optional hydrating step, and sunscreen—are good building blocks (although I myself would never make hydration optional).

Where I think it falls short is in the product recommendations.

For the gentle cleanse, it recommends a cleanser from Wishtrend that was discontinued a year ago. I know ChatGPT’s data isn’t always up-to-date, but even then, there are so many popular gentle cleansers out there, I was scratching my head trying to understand this recommendation.

For the brightening step, while I haven’t tried the Melano CC Vitamin C Essence myself, I have heard good things about it, so I’ll give that a pass.

The hydrating step is the first real piece of misinformation. It recommends the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Aqua Gel Cream as a fungal acne safe hydrating cream, which it most certainly is not (it contains olive oil, for crying out loud!). So this is a huge miss for me, especially when fantastic fungal acne hydrators like the Purito Oat-In Calming Gel Cream exist.

And then finally, I’ll give another pass to the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen, which is a decent recommendation as well. More plus points for pointing out that sunscreen is non-negotiable.

My Night Time Routine, According to ChatGPT

My night time routine followed a similar pattern. I love that the recommendations are simple, budget-friendly and the steps themselves make a lot of sense.

They also went beyond Asian beauty brands for the product recommendations this time, which was definitely something I was wondering about with the morning routine. But did it make a difference?

Alas, the product recommendations were still a pretty mixed bag.

Plus points for recommending a double cleanse, then minus points right away for recommending the Manyo cleansing oil as a fungal acne safe first cleanse. While this isn’t a bad cleansing oil, no oil or balm cleanser is truly FA safe, so a micellar water would have been a much better recommendation.

The treatment steps were both actually pretty good recommendations (although why you can’t layer tranexamic acid with a retinoid is a bit of a mystery). Both the Geek and Gorgeous retinal and Naturium tranexamic acid serum are products I’ve tried before and seen decent results from, so big score for ChatGPT on these.

But just when things were looking up, it ends the routine with the underwhelming Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel. And look, this isn’t a bad moisturizer, it’s actually pretty hydrating, but it’s not going to be the “barrier-friendly” step it’s being touted as. I wish ChatGPT had recommended something with ceramides, or centella, like the Dr.G R.E.D Blemish Clear Soothing Cream, or the Dr. Althea 345 Relief Cream.

Bonus ChatGPT Advice

Unprompted, ChatGPT also decided to give me some “optional but useful” additional steps. Again, these are a little mixed. Considering it already prescribed a nightly retinal, I’m not sure why it thinks I need an additional exfoliant, however gentle.

I do enjoy an occasional hydrating sheet mask though, so I’m not mad at that suggestion.

Final Thoughts: Was I Impressed by AI’s Recommendations?

I came into this exercise with the lowest of expectations, ready to eviscerate ChatGPT’s recommendations. But I have to say that it wasn’t as terrible as I’d expected. On the plus side:

✅ It gave me a customized routine that answered my concerns

✅ The routine was both minimalist and budget-friendly

✅ It made sensible recommendations like an antioxidant for brightening, and marking sunscreen as a non-negotiable

On the other hand, would I ever use this routine wholesale? Nope, there were just too many issues for that. My biggest being:

❌ The product recommendations felt random, without any explanation of key ingredients or why they were chosen

❌ Information is out-of-date, with a discontinued cleanser being recommended

❌ Some of the information was factually inaccurate, with a couple of products being recommended as fungal-acne safe, when they were in fact not

Overall, I look at AI tools just like I look at any other online influencer. I don’t see any harm in using their recommendations as a starting point if you’re really confused about what your skin needs. But in the end, nothing is going to replace the research—and trial and error—you’ll need to do to make sure these recommendations actually work for your skin.

Have you used AI to build a skincare routine? Let me know how it went. I’d love to hear if my experience was unique, or if you felt the same.

About The Skinimalist

Hi, I’m Mal, a 30-something recovering skincare addict, and this is my blog. A space where I attempt to de-influence you from chasing trends and buying more skincare products you may not need.

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