What goes on first? Then what? Oh, and then what? There are so many different types of products on the market nowadays it can be rather confusing to know what to put on, in what order and when. Let me see if I can break it all down for you...
LET'S WORK WITH TEXTURES
So, the easiest way to remember it is by working from 'light to heavy'.
We start with the lightest water based product you have - For me it's the Forlle'd Refining Lotion. This is extremely lightweight and packed with hyaluronic acid which can easily penetrate into the skin due to their patent formula. Ideally after applying, you just gently tap the face to allow the product to penetrate further.
After that it is your water based serums such as The Vitamin C Serum. Again this is very hydrating and can help with surface level hydration to plump out fine lines and wrinkles. After applying one pump, again gently tap the skin to allow it to absorb.
Now I like to apply eye creams. This could be something like the Nimue Anti-Ageing Eye Cream (contact me to purchase) or the Forlle'd eye cream which I also love. Both can help strengthen the skin around the delicate eye area and help treat fine lines, puffiness and dehydration.
Then follow with your face creams such as The Face Cream, your Nimue day and night preparations or the Forlle'd face creams all of which are super hydrating and will help plump out fine dehydration lines.
After that, I would recommend applying your oil based products such as The Face Oil or the Nimue Hyaluronic oil to protect the skin and provide a film over the face to prevent trans-epidermal water loss and lock in moisture.
Then, finally during the day you want to apply your sun protection every single day. I recommend this as the last thing that you apply before makeup. It will protect the skin from the harmful UV rays and also act like a great makeup primer if you're going to follow with makeup. My favourites are the Nimue Sun C and SkinBetter Science's Tone Smart mineral spf 50 (contact me to purchase Nimue and SkinBetter products)
WHAT ABOUT ACIDS AND RETINOLS?
So ideally you want to apply your higher strength acids and any retinol in the evening only. If you apply them during the day they can make your skin sensitive to sunlight - which will mean you're at risk of hyperpigmentation even if you're wearing your SPF.
Use the same layering technique as above and just switch them into your skincare routine depending on their weight.
IN SUMMARY...
We want to apply our water based products, then creams and then oils. Lastly we apply our sun protection during the day.
Retinols and high strength acids are to be applied at night only and in an ideal world we would allow a minute or so in between applications so they can be absorbed. So in summary...
water based serums
heavier serums
eye creams
face creams
face oils
sun protection
I hope you have found this guide useful,
Thank you so much for reading,
Lots of love,
Emmaline x