You’ve curated a daily skincare routine you love, from selecting an everyday cleanser to a weekly face mask to a broad-spectrum sunscreen, but did you know the skincare order in which they are applied impacts the optimal efficacy of your skincare routine? This is called skincare layering.
Read on to discover the best skincare steps and how to layer skincare for radiant, healthy-looking skin.
Skincare routine order
Starting with the most lightweight formulas and building up to the densest allows every glorious active ingredient to better absorb into the skin.
An effective skincare regimen is split into 2 sections: (1) the preparation stage, where skin is thoroughly cleansed to ensure optimum absorption of active ingredients, and (2) the treatment stage to hydrate, nourish and protect. Here’s how to layer your skincare correctly.
Step 1: Cleanser
Every good skincare routine begins with a proper cleanse. Using a gentle cleanser is the foundation for healthy skin, helping to remove the daily build-up of sebum, pollution and impurities without upsetting the natural pH levels of the skin.
Step 2: Exfoliator
Offering intense renewal for when the skin needs an extra-deep clean, exfoliators should be used in a basic skincare routine once or twice a week to refresh dull, congested skin. Physical scrubs ‘slough away’ dead skin cells, while chemical formulations dissolve them.
Step 3: Toner
For the best skincare routine, and to ensure skin is prepped, balanced and perfectly purified, apply a toner to cleansed skin. With a consistency similar to water, a toner helps to balance the skin barrier’s pH after cleansing and remove unnecessary minerals that may be found in tap water.
Step 4: Face mask
One of the best skincare steps to add to your routine, ELEMIS Face masks are available in various textures, including clay, cream and gel masks. Each delivers unique skincare benefits to help maintain a clear, radiant and nourished-looking complexion. Apply once or twice a week depending on skin concerns and type.
Step 5: Serum
An essential in every morning skincare routine, the purpose of a serum is to absorb into the skin’s deeper layers to deliver a potent hit of active ingredients and target primary skin concerns - be it ageing, pollution, blemishes, or irritation.
Your choice of ELEMIS serum may change from day to night, or even throughout the month to meet the unique needs of your skin.
Step 6: Eye cream
The next step in skincare layering, is eye cream. As the skin under the eyes is more delicate than the rest of the face, an eye cream is an efficient way to deliver hydration and anti-ageing benefits in concentrations that avoid irritating the fragile area. To avoid premature ageing, gently tap the product into the skin, following the orbital bone.
Step 7: Moisturiser
The densest product in the skincare routine, ELEMIS moisturiser helps to lock in active ingredients from other skincare products and protect the skin barrier. As the skin loses the most moisture at night, night-time moisturisers typically have richer textures than your day creams.
Step 8: Sunscreen
SPF is available in many different lightweight forms and textures and sits nicely under makeup.
Should you apply sunscreen or moisturiser first? If your daytime moisturiser contains broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection SPF 30 or higher, this step is already covered. If not, apply sunscreen after your day cream has fully absorbed and at least 15 minutes before sun exposure.
