If you want to get the most out of your skincare products you need to be careful about how you apply them. The order in which you apply each individual item may not seem important to you, but it can actually have a major impact on the results that you end up seeing. If you put the wrong products on in the wrong combination, you might end up with subpar results, or you could even end up damaging your skin.
But don’t be worried! We’re here to let you know the right order you should apply the most common skincare products in. If you follow our instructions, you’ll make the most out of every product you put on your face.
1. Cleanser
Think of yourself as an artist and your body as the surface you’re going to paint your masterpiece on. You wouldn’t want to try and paint a masterpiece on a dirty piece of canvas, so take the same approach with your skin and start by cleaning up with some cleanser. Once you’ve gotten rid of dirt, oil, and any product that might have been left over from the night before you’ll be ready to get off on the right foot with your new round of skincare products.
2. Toner Comes
While not everyone uses toner, it’s worth knowing that it should be applied after cleanser and before anything else. Toner helps to prepare your skin for the steps that are to come by helping to extract oil from underneath the skin. If you have skin issues like acne, it can be helpful to find a toner that is designed to address your issue. As with every step in this guide we’re not saying that you have to use this product, we’re just explaining the order that you should use them in if you decide to use them.
3. Active Serums and Creams
After cleaning up your skin and preparing it as well as possible, it’s time to get to work actively dealing with the spots and blemishes in your skin. This is the phase where you start to use products that don’t just clean up your skin but help to heal and beautify it. These products actively go into your skin and target issues you’re dealing with, if you don’t take the time to clean your skin before this step, then the creams and serums won’t be able to achieve their optimum effects.
4. Under-Eye Treatments
The skin around your eyes is especially sensitive, so it’s worth moving from general creams to eye creams. You have to be especially gentle when applying eye creams so that you heal the skin without accidentally overstimulating it. Your eyes are the crown-jewels of your face, make sure that you give them the concentration and care that they deserve. You’ll be glad you did!
5.Facial Moisturizers
The second to last phase of your skincare routine should be sealing in the moisture of your skin to prevent it from drying out and cracking. You can do this by carefully applying a quality moisturizer. Facial oils are another type of product that can be used in this phase, but you should know that you need to be careful about oils if you want to avoid potential issues like breakouts. If you want to play things safe, it’s best to just stick with your basic moisturizers.
6. Sunscreen
If you’re interested in protecting your skin for both beauty and health reasons, then you should absolutely end your skincare routine by applying some quality sunscreen. Applying it last allows you to get a nice and even coat all over your skin so that every inch of it gets the protection you need. If you apply it too soon, you can end up moving it around too much, concentrating it in some areas and ending up with too little in others. By ending with this step, you can ensure that your skin gets the best protection possible.
Building Up
So there you have it, the rough strokes of how you should handle your daily skincare regime. If you are used to applying your products in a different order, then it might feel awkward to work like this at first, but if you work at it eventually, it will become second nature. Also, if you have any products that don’t fall under this category then just remember the order you are working in: cleaning, penetrating under the skin, and sealing the skin.
As long as you understand what the product does, then you should be able to roughly figure out which phase of the process it fits within.