I’m sharing what I’ve learned about the steps of a beauty routine and why it’s important to apply your skincare products in the right order. It seems overwhelming at first, but it’s really quite simple: cleanse, prep, treat, protect. Learn how to get the best deal on your skincare order at the end of this post!
Why It’s Important To Put Skincare On in the Correct Order
Many people who don’t have a skincare regimen admit they are overwhelmed by all the steps. I definitely was! It’s the main reason I never bought a regimen myself. Analysis paralysis.
Most of us know to start with cleanser, but what’s the order of toner, serum, face oil, sunscreen, moisturizers, and makeup? Should your sunscreen go on first or last? By using a regimen vs. just random products or skipping some steps, you’ll see a more noticeable difference in your skin since the products are designed to work together.
I think this was my biggest mistake prior to switching to a regimen. I was mixing samples in all kinds of different combinations from different brands so nothing was working synergistically. Remember that skin is alive, so you might vary your routine slightly or there could be times when steps swap or your skin responds in a non-traditional way, but here are general recommendations for a basic routine.
How to Apply Skincare Products in the Right Order
You can follow these steps with any regimen from any brand you choose. Most collections will follow the same format of cleanse – prep – treat – protect. You can see my whole skincare routine on this page. It seems like a lot of products when you line them all up, but it only takes me about a minute or two from start to finish, morning and night. And I know I’m covering all of my bases. The average woman uses at least 16 beauty products in her routine! So make sure what you do choose is safe and high performing.
Step 1: Cleanse
Wash your face to remove and rinse away makeup, excess oil, dirt, and environmental toxins that accumulate during the day. If you’re using a cleansing oil or balm, that can sometimes double as a makeup remover. Or if you prefer use a makeup remover first and then cleanse second. If you love beauty, you might hop on the double cleanse trend and start with a balm or oil and follow with a targeted foaming, cream, or gel cleanser. Squeaky clean!
What I use: Purifying Cleansing Gel (day) and F78 Arbequina Oil Cleanser (night)
How to use cleansing balm: Rub it on without water and wipe it off with a warm washcloth or makeup eraser.
Step 2: Prep
This is a step that many people leave out!If you’re trying to save money on your routine, you probably want to try to get by with the least amount of products. But if you’re going to spend money on serum, treatments, and moisturizer, you want those to be doing their very best job! Toners and essences prep skin to receive the nutrients in the treat step to follow by balancing pH and preparing open pores for serum. I have always loved the feeling of toner application. I have very dry skin that feels super tight when I first get out of the shower. In fact, I panic if I have to wash my face and don’t have anything to put on right after (like a quick rinse at the pool). Even though toner’s role isn’t necessarily to add moisture, I find it really quenches my skin’s thirst and helps with overall hydration.
What I use: F67 Corrective Facial Tonic
How To Use: Pat it onto skin after cleansing and move to to serum before it dries.
Step 3: Treat
This is where things can get a bit wishy-washy because there are so many options in this step! Most people use a serum, which is a super-concentrated dose of nutrients designed to target a specific concern like hydration, acne spot treatments, or anti aging. Products like acne treatments, salicylic acid, vitamin C serums, and retinol fit into this category. This is where I used to get overwhelmed because my concerns were always “all of the above!” A lot of serums are multipurpose, so unless you have a specific need I wouldn’t let yourself get too overwhelmed.
If you do have more than one targeted treatment, it’s best to use one at a time instead of layering them all on at once.
To get the best bang for your buck, do not cause a traffic jam in there of competing products! Surface area is limited. Some products can even cause others to be less effective. You want your treatment step to penetrate as deep into pores as possible, which is why you should use it after cleansing and toner and before moisturizer, which may inhibit absorption with its thickness. For more on serums and elixirs, check out this post.
What I use: F83 HT + Vitamin C Serum and F59 Corrective Face Serum
(AM) and F87 Corrective Kahai Elixir
How To Use: After cleansing and toning, apply 1-2 pumps to face and neck. Allow to dry slightly before added moisturizer.
Step 4: Protect
After you’ve opened pores and cleansed them, prepped them with toner, added nutrition with serum, you want to seal that barrier shut and protect your skin from all the environmental toxins you might come across. Start with eye cream dotted around the eye area and follow with moisturizer. A natural sunscreen (zinc based) should go on last because the zinc is a physical blocker of sun’s rays.
What I use: F42 Corrective Face Cream
(AM) and F74 Regeneration Intense Face Cream (PM) plus F09 Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream
How to use: apply liberally to face.
Final Step: SPF
For my daily sunscreen, I use a Tinted Moisturizer which has zinc-based SPF.
Oliveda Skin Quiz: Get a free product
If you’re still unsure of what to buy or want even more personalized recommendations, the Oliveda Skincare Quiz called OliveBrain might help. It uses AI technology to determine a custom regimen for products that will work for your skin. Another cool thing about Oliveda is that when you take the Oliveda Skincare Quiz and buy two of the recommended products, you get a free full-size product as a gift. You don’t have to buy anything right away, especially if what you want is out of stock. Just save your quiz link and you can use it at a later date. You may also enjoy:
Melanie says
Thank you for this helpful step!! One question I always have – after doing a full nighttime routine and then doing nothing but going to sleep, is it necessary to have to cleanse again in the morning? I still feel some hydration from the night before and would prefer to skip right to the toner!
Kath Younger says
I think it’s up to you and how you feel! You can just splash with water or go to makeup. There’s no hard rule on this. I do think if you’re going to apply a bunch of products (toner, serum, day cream) you might want to cleanse first just so your pores open up and the nutrients will get in if they’re sealed with your night cream. But I also think you can just skip skincare altogether until you’re ready for a shower. I usually skip doing my AM routine until my shower, which is often around noon.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Thanks for the guide! I love the packaging of the products too! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Maria says
Thanks for the tips! I’m always so confused about how to use different products. I really enjoy the (fewer) Beautycounter products that I own, but I can’t help but be skeptical of the need for so many. Especially when my husband literally just washes his face in the shower with plain water and goes about his day…and his skin looks totally fine!! 🙂 I feel like as women we are kind of conditioned to feel like a “regimen” is necessary. Curious for your thoughts on this!
Kath Younger says
I definitely don’t think all the products are necessary to be happy or beautiful. You could wash head to toe with Dr. Bronners or a natural soap and feel content! I do think that my skin feels the best when I use products that moisturize and cleanse in a way that leaves it feeling hydrated, so feel is important to me. And I do think a lot of women want to put their best face forward (which is fine!) and giving skin everything it needs will help that. It’s kind of like how you could survive on a diet of only oatmeal 3x a day and not be hungry or starve, but would your body be at optimal nutrition?
Tracy says
Do you use BC cleansing balm any more? (I believe you used to). Do you prefer the cleansing oil? Why?
Kath Younger says
I do prefer the cleansing oil now because it activates and rinses off with water. I have heard that the balm can actually block the other steps – kind of like if you used your moisturizer last – if you don’t rinse it off. I think if you do use the balm as a makeup remover you’d want to either leave it on and go to bed if that’s your only step OR double cleanse with a water-based cleanser if you’re going to follow with serum, overnight peel, or any other treatment step. So I save my balm for times when I’m doing a more simple routine. It’s actually great for travel!
Tracy says
Interesting. That makes so much sense. Thanks!
Sam says
My big question is how long am I supposed to wait in between products? Can I apply right after one another?
Thanks!
Kath Younger says
That is a good question! In general you don’t need to wait a set amount of time. The amount of time it takes to replace the lid, put the product back down, get the lid off the other, and squirt it out should be the 30 seconds or so you need. The exception is acidic exfoliants -like the Overnight Resurfacing Peel – that could cause the products that follow to pill. I have experienced this when I use the peel and top with night cream. I usually floss and brush after the peel and that’s enough time to wait so that it’s all dry when I’m ready for night and eye creams.
Alice Mecklenburg says
Kath, thanks so much for these tips and suggesting a better way to conceptualize a skincare routine. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard the cleanser, toner, serum,.. etc step by step, and I still struggle to get it right! Thinking about it in terms of what it does rather than what it ‘is’ makes it more logical. Also, great point about harsh exfoliating scrubs. I used these for many years to make my skin ‘smoother’ without realizing that it could actually contribute to other problems.
By the way, which set do you recommend for someone who has infrequent breakouts (approx once a month) but not particularly oily skin otherwise?
Thanks!
Natasha says
Thanks for sharing this! Establishing the correct order for skincare products can indeed be daunting, but your breakdown simplifies the process beautifully. I appreciate the emphasis on using products that work synergistically to achieve optimal results.
Organikaon says
Great article on the correct skincare product order! I’ve always wondered about the best way to apply my products. This guide is incredibly helpful. Thanks for sharing!