How To Layer Skincare Ingredients?

With all the new trends, products, and buzzwords every week, one forgets that skincare isn’t about using one-off products. It is supposed to be a set, consistent, layered practice. Finding the right products, understanding the order of skincare, and then layering it is crucial for getting visible results. Here’s all you need to know about layering skin products and why it’s crucial to get it right.

Keynotes:

• Layering skincare in the right order, from cleanser to SPF, is essential to ensure each product gets absorbed effectively and delivers maximum benefits.
• The general rule for face care routine order is to apply products from thinnest to thickest texture and water-based before oil-based.
• Skipping steps or not following the correct order in your skincare can lead to pilling, irritation, poor absorption, or even barrier damage.
• Always layer your skin actives with caution, give time between layers, and consult a dermatologist for stronger ingredients.

Basically, your skin acts like a barrier; it protects you from the impurities and pathogens of the outside world while controlling what gets absorbed. This is why all products don’t simply pass through your skin.

This is why, when it comes to using active ingredients for skincare, layering them makes a difference. Factors like their molecular size, compatibility with one another, lipophilicity (tendency to dissolve fats and oils), and their vehicle formulation (whether they are formulated into creams, gels, serums, lotions, etc) dictate how well the products sink into your skin and what effect they have on the products to come. Typically, if you apply heavy, creamy, or oily products first, they can block lighter ones from getting in. So, dive into learning the order of applying skincare.

When it comes to layering skincare, it’s crucial to follow a few rules of thumb, such as:

• Thin to Thick

  The basics of layering skincare are all about moving from thin, viscous products to thicker consistency products. Lightweight and serum-like products sink in faster and settle into your skin. Then the thicker ones come in to lock in the benefits of serums while rejuvenating your skin’s barrier. Typically, products that use ingredients larger than 500 daltons (a measurement for the molecular size) usually can’t pass through your skin.

• Water-Based Before Oil-Based Products

  While deciding your order of skincare, remember that water and oil don’t mix. If you use oil-based products and creams first, water-based serums may not get through. Using water-based products on oil-based products can also lead to pilling, where your products clump together and don’t get absorbed evenly.

• Allow Products to Sink

  Wait for products to settle into your skin while following a face care routine order. This lets your products do their job without pilling or weighing down on your skin. Try to take a beat for a few seconds after layering on one product.

With the basics all cleared out, it’s time to learn how to layer skincare. With only five simple products, you can seal in your AM and PM order of skincare.

Layering Skincare in Mornings - Cleanser > Toner > Serum > Moisturizer > SPF

Step 1: Cleanser

Using a gentle cleanser or cleansing gel helps you get rid of excessive sebum or oils that may have accumulated on your skin overnight. Try to use a gentle, pH-balanced cleanser that uses ingredients to cut through oils, like salicylic acid. Beginning your regimen with cleansing helps you unclog pores, prevents acne, and removes excessive oils so your water-based products can sink into your skin.

We Recommend: DermoPurifyer Triple Effect Cleansing Gel

Step 2: Toner

A lot of people may assume that toners are optional when it comes to layering skincare. However, including them in your face care routine order is crucial. Very often, cleansers use soaps, detergents, or surfactants that may throw your skin’s pH off balance. A toner’s function is to bring it back to balance, remove residual impurities, and moisturise your skin at the same time. Toners with gentle exfoliants like lactic acid help you soothe the skin while preparing it for the products to come.

We Recommend: DermoPurifyer Toner - Face Toner for Oily Skin

Step 3: Serum

While C-T-M (Cleansing - Toning - Moisturizing) helps you keep your skin balanced, a serum helps you get targeted outcomes. A serum helps you target skin concerns like pigmentation, dullness, aging, and acne to give you clearer, more radiant skin. With a gentle, water-like texture, serums rapidly sink into cleansed skin. Look for serums with Thiamidol for brightness, hyaluronic acid for hydration, and licochalcone A as an antioxidant.

We Recommend:
DermoPurifyer Triple Effect Serum for Oily Skin
Anti-Pigment Skin Illuminating Serum for Dullness and Dark Spots
Anti-Pigment Dual Serum for Aging and Pigmented Skin

Step 4: Moisturiser

Moisturisers are thicker and creamier with humectants, emollients, and barrier-repairing ingredients like ceramides. A moisturizer also helps you seal in all the products you've already applied, locking in your face care routine order.

We Recommend: Anti-Pigment Day Care SPF30

Step 5: Sunscreen

Now that you know how to layer skincare, it’s time to seal it with sun protection. As the last step of your skin regimen, a sunblock keeps the benefits of your routine protected and keeps you shielded from damaging UVA and UVB rays, preventing dark spots, photoaging, and tanning. However, your regimen doesn’t end here. It’s crucial to reapply sunscreen every few hours to keep the protection going.

We Recommend:
Sun Face Hydro Protect Ultra-Light Fluid SPF50+ for Dry and Hypersensitive Skin
Sun Face Pigment Control Fluid SPF50+ for Hyperpigmented Skin
Sun Face Oil Control Gel-Cream SPF50+ for Oily, Acne-Proof Skin

Layering Skincare at Night - Cleanser > Toner > Serum > Eye Cream> Night Cream

Step 1: Cleansing
After a long day outdoors, layering your PM skincare is crucial for winding down and getting to bed with clean skin. Start with removing your makeup with micellar water and move on to using a cleansing gel to remove pollutants, impurities, and any oiliness.

Step 2: Toner
Keeping your skin’s pH balanced is crucial for maintaining its barrier strength. Use a toner after cleansing to remove any residual makeup, impurities, and dirt while moisturizing your skin at the same time.

Step 3: Serum
Use a complementary serum or your AM skin care serum once again. Layering skin serums at night helps your skin regenerate and repair overnight, giving you a bright, radiant complexion in the mornings.

Step 4: Under-Eye Cream
Dark circles are persistent and tough to get rid of. This is why under-eye gels, serums, and creams with actives like Thiamidol help you fade the pigmentation and get an even skin tone.

We Recommend: Anti-Pigment Dark Circle Eye Cream

Step 5: Night Cream
Following a consistent sleep schedule and maintaining your circadian rhythm is crucial for your skin health. Use a night cream with actives like panthenol and hydrating agents to help skin cell regeneration and maintain healthy, youthful skin.

We Recommend: Anti-Pigment Night Care

• Using No Toner:

  Skipping toner can leave your skin with remnant dirt and, at times, even soap from your cleanser. Without a toner, you have no buffer between a cleansing gel and serum.

• Using Creams Before Serums:

  Moisturizers and creams form a barrier on your skin and may not allow serums to penetrate the topmost layer and do their job.

• Using Sunscreens before Moisturizers:

  Sunscreens have physical and chemical barriers that may irritate your skin at times, which is why the buffer of day cream is vital. Using moisturizers on top of sunscreens can also lead to pilling and heaviness.

• Skipping Moisturizers:

  Using only serums and sunscreens may not be appropriate while layering skincare. It may leave your skin dry, barrier, compromised, and can even trigger oily skin to produce more oil.

• Don’t mix strong active ingredients to avoid irritation. Strong agents like retinol with exfoliants like AHAs or BHAs can highly irritate your skin.
• Use buffers before strong active ingredients. You can sandwich agents like retinol between moisturizers to reduce any dryness they may cause.

• Don’t use too many strong ingredients at once. While layering skincare, try to alternate skin actives between your AM and PM routine.
• If you’re using AHA, BHA, and PHA chemical exfoliants, try and use them before serums. Don’t use them on damaged, broken skin.
• When you’re using serums, try to layer them from thinnest to thickest textures.
• Consult your dermatologist before adding or mixing any new active ingredients. Start with low concentrations and move towards higher ones. Patch test new actives for 24 hours, especially with strong ingredients like retinol or acids.

Following the principles of product layering, light to heavy, water before oil, and adding skin actives with caution helps you support your skin’s natural processes and improve the efficacy of products. With a science-backed approach and proper layering, invest in Eucerin’s skincare products and move towards achieving healthy, resilient skin.

1. What is the correct order to apply skincare products?

   Start with a cleanser and move on to a toner and serums. Once the products have time to sink in, layer on a moisturiser. Close your order of skincare with a sunscreen in the morning and an under-eye cream at night.

2. Can I layer retinol with vitamin C or niacinamide?

   It’s best to consult your dermatologist before adding or mixing skin actives in your regular regimen. However, the ingredients can be paired under the right face care routine order.

3. Should oils go before or after moisturizer?

   Oils can be heavier than moisturizers, which is why using them after moisturizer works well.

4. How long should I wait between layering products?

   Give your products at least 30-60 seconds to sink into your skin before moving onto the next layer.

• Dermaviduals - Lipophilic Substances: Oils and Lipids in Cosmetic Products
• PubMed (Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings) - Stratum Corneum Lipids: Their Role for the Skin Barrier Function in Healthy and Diseased Skin
• Healthline - The Right Order to Apply Your Skincare Products, According to Dermatologists