Most recently updated 1/12/21

Toner, serum, face oil: Where do we begin? The average skincare routine consists of a few key elements, tailored to your specific needs, in order to keep your skin healthy and radiant. By all means, it’s a good thing! But depending on how many steps you choose to incorporate based on your concerns and lifestyle, it could become a little tricky to know how best to layer them.

And that’s a big deal: Layering your skincare correctly maximizes the benefits you ultimately reap. Whether you’re working with a few staples or trying something new, the right order ensures that each product serves its unique, intended purpose. It doesn’t have to be hard. If anything, once you know this general rule, you can’t really go wrong:

Cleanse first, and then go from the products with the thinnest to thickest consistency for the most benefit. 

With that in mind, let’s take a walkthrough of the average morning skincare routine to get a look at the why and the how of layering skincare products properly.

Step 1) Cleanse

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: Cleanse your skin. It’s essential to create a clean slate: Through a thorough cleansing, your other skincare products are able to properly interact with your skin and consequently offer better results. And even though your skin may seem clean enough in the morning, that might not actually be the case. Oil and debris can accumulate overnight, while any stubborn makeup residue left from the day before can keep products from penetrating well.

Step 2) Tone

Toners are super-thin, water-based products primarily designed to prep your skin, whether by clarifying or hydrating. While they once had a reputation for being harsh and drying — blame old-school formulas with very high concentrations of alcohol — that’s no longer the case. 

These days, toners (and their more moisturizing cousins, essences) even deliver active ingredients, such as pore-clearing witch hazel and antioxidants — which you’ll then lock in next by using your serum. Spray it on or pat it on with a reusable bamboo round.

Step 3) Apply your serum

Serums deliver high concentrations of active ingredients to target particular skin issues more specifically than other steps in your routine. They may be water- or oil-based, and are thicker than toners but thinner than moisturizers.

Because you can select serums according to your unique skin goals, there are a lot of options out there. For example, peptide serums with hyaluronic acid can help target fine lines and vitamin C serums help provide antioxidant protection from pollution and UVA/UVB rays.

Take our intelligent, 3-minute beauty assessment and we’ll make a recommendation just for you.

Step 4) Moisturize

Moisturizers are thicker formulas, ranging from gel-like to cream, that are designed to help your skin look and feel plump. Infused with humectants and emollients — ideally a blend of the two — they can help reduce the appearance of fine lines, flakiness, and dull skin. Make the most of it in your application: Rather than rub and pull at your skin, pat your moisturizer onto your face, neck, and decolletage after your serum is absorbed. 

If you want to give your skin extra protection and lock that essential moisture, you might want to replace moisturizer with a facial oil. (We’re fans of this one in particular.) This is especially important if you live in a harsh climate with super-cold winters, for example. Oils can be emollient (meaning they fill in gaps between cells in your skin barrier), occlusive (creating a film over skin to trap moisture), or both, so it’s best to make this your last step in your skincare to seal the deal — before your sunscreen, of course.

Step 5) Remember your clean SPF

UV exposure is one of the top causes of premature aging — in fact, it’s responsible for roughly 80% of the signs of skin damage [1]. So, a great clean SPF goes a long way. You might have already gotten SPF in your moisturizer or makeup, but it’s usually not enough — so even so, put on a clean, non-toxic facial sunscreen that’s both reef-safe and mineral-based. Since it’s the first line of defense against damage, it’s best saved for last in your morning routine.

Morning Optional: Apply eye cream

A nourishing eye cream is a definite yes at night, when it has time to penetrate into your skin and really do its magic. But if you’d like to add an eye cream during the day too, make sure to choose one with a light texture and apply it directly after your moisturizer. This way, you can give an extra boost of moisture or brightness around the eye area and apply concealer and eye makeup immediately afterwards. (Interested in how to prep your skin for smooth, long-lasting makeup, based on your skin type? Read more here.)

Questions? Comments? Recommendations about skincare application? Share below and we’ll make sure to get you the information you’re looking for. 

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References

[1] UV exposure is responsible for roughly 80% of the signs of skin damage: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3790843/