Karen Are you confused about the order to apply your skincare products? You might be thinking that applying them in the wrong order can reduce the effectiveness of your skincare products. The more products you have in your routine, the less straightforward it gets with how to use them effectively. Below is a general but handy guide with examples to help you figure out the order of applications of your products.
Step 1: Categorize all your skincare products.
Sorting your products into categories can help you to determine the right order of products to use in the morning and at night. If you have many skincare products, some of them might be redundant to be incorporated into your routine at the same time.
- Face Washing Products: Makeup removing balms, cleansing oils, Micellar Waters, Foaming/gel/cream cleansers
- Toners and Essences
- Serums, Ampoules, Active ingredients, exfoliants
- Topical skin medications
- Moisturizers: Lotion, cream, face oils
- Sunscreens
- Masks: Sheet masks, clay masks, cream masks, sleeping masks
Step 2: Figure out your routine
Depending on your skincare concerns, you may have multiple products from each category. However, your skin would only be able to absorb a certain amount of products each time. This is why many skin experts go with the “less is more” approach for skincare. Therefore, we recommend for each routine, you only use 1 product from each category to maximize the effectiveness of each product. Here are sample routines with orders of application.
Daily AM Basic Routine
Foaming/gel/cream cleanser -> toner/essence -> serum -> moisturizer -> sunscreen
Daily PM Basic Routine (with make-up removal)
Make-up removal (balm, micellar water, wipes etc.) -> foaming/gel/cream cleanser -> toner/essence -> serum -> moisturizer -> face oil
PM Once-Per-Week At-Home Hydration Facial
Foaming/gel/cream cleanser -> AHA leave-on/wash off exfoliant -> toner/essence -> hydrating face mask -> moisturizer (optional) -> face oil (optional)
PM Every-two-weeks Deep Cleanse Facial
Foaming/gel/cream cleanser -> BHA leave-on exfoliant -> clay mask -> toner/essence -> moisturizer -> face oil (optional)
