Why Carrie Underwood ditched this key skin-care product

Moisturizer tends to be the headliner in most everyone’s beauty routine. When you pare down the 10-step regimen, you’re usually left with the basics, which are to keep skin hydrated and to protect the barrier. So the fact that superstar Carrie Underwood 86ed this skin essential from her regimen is saying something.

Especially this time of the year, you don’t necessarily need all the barrier-repairing ingredients typically found in moisturizers. During the winter, when temps are frigid and radiators leach moisture out of the air, your skin can lose water, leading to a parched, comprised complexion. Moisturizers help seal water into your skin with occlusive agents and barrier-repairing ingredients such as ceramides.

In summer temps, however, humidity is often high, so opting for a similarly occlusive, yet lightweight, ingredient like an oil can be key. That’s exactly what Underwood raved about to me at a recent event for her activewear line Calia. I asked her the secret to her amazing glow, and she confessed to quitting her moisturizer.

“I always thought that oils would clog my pores and they don’t.”

“I’ve switched from using moisturizers more into using oils. Just because I feel like they get absorbed into your skin so much better. I always thought that oils would clog my pores and they don’t,” Underwood tells me. Depending on the issue that you’re trying to treat, oils can work double duty, at once functioning as a hydrator as well as treatment for a wide-ranging array of skin woes from acne to redness to cell turnover.

The problem at hand, of course, is that the liquid gold tends to cost a pricey penny, but don’t worry—Carrie’s got your back. She swears by two skin savers: a Decleor skin serum and a coconut oil—which she says she loves using just as much as any higher-end serum. But before you go slathering coconut oil all over your face—you may want to check that it works with your skin type (because it isn’t great for everyone). As for your moisturizer? Pack it up with your fall wardrobe and for now at least, embrace the oil.

If you want a sneak-peak into Carrie’s workout routine, check out this ab workout from her trainer. And these are her favorite vegan protein bars.