Best Skin Care Routine Order

The order that you apply products in your morning and night skincare routine really matters. You see products can affect how well other product absorb and penetrate. So the correct skin care routine order will make every product work better.

This blog explains the order of skin care routine steps that I recommend to my patients in my dermatology practice to use in their morning and night skin care routine. Look at the table of contents below for which type of skin care routine steps you want to know: a simple routine, a 5 step routine, or a routine for men.

Best skincare routine step order for your skin type

The easiest and most accurate way to know the best morning and night skincare routine for you is to take our skincare routine quiz. There are 16 skin types and the routine steps may differ. I want to give you the best skin care routine order advice, but I don’t know enough about your skin until you take the quiz.

It matters a lot which products go first. For example, Vitamin C serums do not absorb well so they often need to be step 2 after cleansing in your routine. Whether you want a simple 3 step routine, a basic 5 step routine, or an advanced 10 step routine- the order of products is important.

best order of skin care routine steps

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Skincare Steps in Order

5 step skin care routine order

Routine for skin types with more than one skin problem need more steps.

A full skin care regimen is 5 steps in the morning and 5 steps in the evening for more complicated skin types.

These 10 steps a day will give you the fastest results.

Not all skin types need all 10 of these skin care regimen steps.

Skin types with fewer skin concerns can do a basic routine of 3 steps in the am and 3 at night.

How many steps you need in your routine depends upon how many underlying barriers to skin health you have.

Our skin type quiz will tell you which barriers to skin health you have and allow you to build a skin care routine step by step to target your skin issues.

Morning Skincare Routine Steps

Morning Routine Skin Care Routine Steps

If you want a full skin care routine for the fastest, here are the best am skin care regimen steps:

Cleanser: A cleanser should be used first to prepare the skin and promote penetration

Eye Cream or Serum: An eye cream or serum protects the delicate eye skin from the treatment product

Treatment: The treatment product goes on clean skin to maximize penetration and absorption of the active ingredients.

Moisturizer: A moisturizer goes on top to increase penetration of the treatment product. Needs to contain ingredients that protect the skin from issues identified by the skin care product quiz.

Sunscreen: The SPF goes on top closest to the sun, to protect the skin and the skin care products from UV radiation and light.

You may need 2 different cleansers in the morning and night routine.

In most of our custom skin type routines, low pH cleansers such as hydroxyacids cleansers and salicylic acid cleansers are used in the morning. They may be too strong to use twice a day so a different cleanser may be used at night. Lowering the pH of the skin with these cleansers makes some ingredients like Vitamin C penetrate better into the skin.

Night Skincare Routine Steps

Night Skin Care Routine Steps

If you want a full skin care routine for the fastest results, here are the best pm skin care regimen steps:

Cleanser: Use a stronger cleanser than in the morning to remove makeup, SPF, oil and dirt

Eye Cream: Medications, retinoids and other ingredients that irritate the eye arrow can get on the pillowcase. Protect this delicate skin at night with an eye cream

Treatment: Serums with concentrated ingredients go in this layer to increase absorption

Moisturizer: A moisturizer goes on top to cause occlusion which increases absorption by slugging the important cosmeceutical ingredients into the skin.

Retinoid: When beginning a new skin care routine, retinol and other retinoids should come after the moisturizer.

The cleansers used at night should have increased cleansing abilities to remove makeup, oil, sunscreen and sweat and to prevent clogged pores.

Cleansers may be too strong to use twice a day so many skin care routines have a different am and pm face wash.

Use an eye cream to protect your delicate eye area from any products that follow. Skin care products get on your pillowcase at night and can irritate the eye area- especially acne and antiaging skin care products.

After the eye cream, apply the treatment product which is usually the most expensive of your skin care products or may be a prescription medication.

On top of the treatment products, apply a moisturizer. In many cases you will apply a retinoid on top of your moisturizer. Use our skincare guide to know when to apply retinol in your skin care routine.

simple skin care routine steps

Simple Skin Care Routine

Looking for a basic 3 step skin care routine that is simple and easy but covers all the basics?

The 3 most important parts of your routine are

Cleanse

Protect

Repair

The products you choose should protect in the morning and repair at night.

These simple starter routines are more affordable but do not work as quickly as a full 10 step regimen.

3 Simple Morning Routine Steps:

Cleanser: A cleanser should be used first to prepare the skin and promote penetration.

Moisturizer: A moisturizer hydrates and protects

Sunscreen: Use a SPF of at least 15 in the am

Simple night routine steps:

Cleanser: Always cleanse at night to prevent clog pores.

Moisturizer: Choose a moisturizer that repairs damage

Retinoid: Most skin types need a retinoid to slow aging, even skin pigmentation, and prevent acne

Skin Care Routine Steps for Men

The skin care routine for men is slightly different than a woman’s because of shaving.

If you do not shave your face, you can follow the same 10 skin care routine steps discussed above.

A good male skin care routine is:

Wash face with a face wash using warm water

Leave face wash on skin to soften your beard while you wash and condition your hair

Wash off any hair conditioner and face wash with warm water

Shave using either a shaving cream of a face cleanser made to shave with like Zerafite Creamy Cleanser and Shave Cream

Rinse off and pat dry

Apply any toner or serum your skin type needs

Apply moisturizer

In morning, apply SPF. At night apply retinol if right for your skin type.

I test products from different skin care brands by layering skin care products on the skin and following outcomes. I use this information to customize skin care routines for each Baumann Skin Type.

Why Skin Care Routine Order Matters

The order to layer your serums, creams and lotions depends upon which Baumann Skin Type you are.

One of the important things that I think about when I customize and personalize a skin care regimen for my patients is the circadian rhythm of the skin cells.

This daily skin rhythm affects the cell cycle and determines what skin care products should be used in the am and which skin care products should be used at night. (1)

Processes that protect the skin are active during the sunlight hours, so it is best to use protective skincare ingredients such as antioxidants and ingredients that protect from pollution in the am.

Repair processes are active at night.

Use ingredients that promote repair such as niacinamide and retinoids at night.

Circadian rhythm of skin

Your Baumann Skin Type determines which skincare ingredients are best to protect your skin in the day and which repair processes to target at night.

Dermatologist Advice on the Best Skin Care Routine Order

Below I discuss some factors that I consider when I design a skin care routine for my patients. Please understand that this is just scratching the surface of the science that dermatologists consider when developing skin care routines.

Most skin care routines focus on one skin issue only such as dryness or acne. However, the best skin care routines target all of the skin’s issues. This is where deciding on skin care regimen steps becomes complex.

Things to consider when designing the skin care routine order of skin care products:

Circadian rhythm

How the products affect skin pH

How light affects the products (to know if to use in the am or pm)

How the products interact with each other

Is it complicated- this is why I build a custom skincare routine builder to help you put together your skincare routine steps properly.

Considerations for Regimen Design

Consider these 3 issues when designing your routine:

When two products are layered on top of each other- they combine on the skin. This causes chemical reactions that change the way the products perform.

The more issues the skin care routine needs to address , the more skin care ingredients need to be used.

Ingredients can affect penetration and absorption of other ingredients

The more products that are used-= inthe routine- the more likely it is for the ingredients to adversely affect each other. This decreases effectiveness and increases side effects.

If you need help building your skin care routine, take out quiz or make an appointment with one of the medical providers and doctors I have trained to help you design your skin care routine!

Take the Quiz

16 Baumann skin types

Interaction of Products

Products interact on the skin so the step order that you use products is important.

skin care products layered on the skin

2 products that are placed on the skin together will act differently than if they are used alone.

products combine on the skin

Just like layers of paint combine to change color- the products skin care routine combine, have chemical reactions, and their activity changes.

skin care regimen step order

This is why skin care product step order is so important!

What to Consider When Building a Skin Care Routine

The order of skin care routine steps is determined by a number of factors. These factors differ by skin type.

These are the issues to consider when building a skin care routine:

How the products affect penetration of skin care ingredients

How the products affect the skin pH

Which fatty acids are in the products?

Which ingredients inactivate other ingredients

What ingredients mix with others to turn into irritating ingredients

You can learn more about individual cosmeceutical ingredients here in our ingredient library.

Order of Routine Steps

The order that you use skin care products affects how well they work.

The steps in your morning skin care routine should protect your skin while the night skin care routine should repair skin damage.

The correct skin care routine step order depends upon which of the 16 Baumann Skin Types you are.

Use our skincare routine builder to get the best skin care routine order for your skin type.

Once you take the skin care routine quiz and learn your Baumann Skin Type:

We will give you the exact skin care routine steps for your skin type.

You will know how to layer products

You will be able to build a skin care routine step by step from many brands.

You can shop by your skin type

You can read reviews from your skin twins (others with the same skin type as you.)

You will be confident that the skin care products you choose are in the correct skin care routine step order.

You are 3-5 minutes away from seeing which one of 40,000 dermatologist-developed skin care routines is right for you!

Let us help you build the perfect custom skincare routine. Search out library, use our chat bot, or email me with questions.

But first- take the quiz!

DQH Knowledge drop: In your 20s, your skin cell turnover decreases. (Cell turnover is a key component in keeping your skin youthful.) You know what else slows down? Your collagen production. Starting in your 20s, collagen decreases by about 1 percent per year. Should you want to prevent fine lines and wrinkles, start by eliminating behaviors that contribute to premature aging. “If it’s bad for you, it’s bad for your skin,” says dermatologist Michel Somenek. “Cigarette smoking reduces blood flow to the skin and causes premature wrinkling and a dull skin texture. Making the repeated pursed motion to inhale can also cause smoker’s lines. Alcohol and recreational drugs are toxins for the skin that damage its cellular structure and DNA,” Somenek tells us. “The faster you eliminate vices while you are young, the better chance your skin and body have to recuperate.” Also, adopting an anti-aging routine in your 20s is key. After all, the best offense is a good defense. We spoke to Somenek and experts Joshua Ross and Audrey Kunin to find out more. Keep reading for the best anti-aging products for your 20s, according to skincare professionals. Sunscreen “We all know that the sun is the number one cause of skin aging and starting the prevention in your 20s is very important,” Ross says. “The majority of your sun damage won’t start to appear until you’re in your 30s, so don’t wait until you see it surface or you’ll be behind the curve. Stay ahead of it with a good-quality zinc-based sunscreen worn daily.” Farmacy Green Defense Daily Mineral Sunscreen An invisible sunscreen with SPF 30, plus botanical extracts meant to protect skin with tons of antioxidants. Bonus: It’s clean and fine to use under makeup. Bareminerals Complexion Rescue™ Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Although we recommend you use your SPF and moisturizer separately, we also understand moments when you don’t have time or energy for that extra step. For those times, this bareMinerals moisturizer is a great thing to have on hand. Vitamin C Serum “A great introduction to anti-aging is to start with a vitamin C serum in your morning skincare routine,” Ross says. “It’s a powerful antioxidant that will neutralize free radicals and brighten the skin.” He adds that it’s a great way to counteract the effects of the sun’s harmful rays, which, as previously mentioned, are among the biggest causes of premature aging. Drunk Elephant C-Firma™ Vitamin C Day Serum The Drunk Elephant C-Firma is a lightweight serum that promises to give skin a glow by combining the brightening powers of vitamin C with ferulic acid, l-ascorbic acid, and vitamin E. The included sodium hyaluronate is meant to replace hydration loss, so you shouldn’t have to deal with any irritation. Sunday Riley C.E.O. Rapid Flash Brightening Serum This potent serum is jam-packed with vitamin C (15 percent, to be exact), which means it’s a potential superstar at both brightening skin and dousing it in antioxidants. Peptides Using peptides on your skin has many benefits, says Somenek. “The skin barrier is what defends the body against pollution, UV rays, bacteria, and toxins. It can be damaged by several everyday factors. Using topical peptides aids in building a stronger barrier,” he says. “Peptides comprise elastic fibers, which are a type of protein. These fibers help to make skin appear taut and firm. Peptides can also help repair damaged skin, relieve inflammation, and even out skin tone. Some peptides can kill acne-causing bacteria that is common in 20-somethings.” Kunin agrees, saying, “Peptides are an excellent entry point for supporting collagen.” She recommends looking for face and eye treatments that contain these collagen-boosting powerhouses. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Eye Rescue Cream This Charlotte Tilbury super-emollient eye cream has a base of coconut oil and shea butter (read: it’s incredibly hydrating). Botanicals plus peptides are meant to help reduce dark circles and boost collagen, respectively. This creamy moisturizer serves up potent collagen-boosting peptides and pycnogenol, and antioxidant-rich vitamin C. “Instead of sitting on top of the skin, peptides penetrate the outer layer so they go deep. The ‘signals’ they send tell the cells to produce elastin and collagen, which are needed for youthful-looking skin,” explains Somenek. At-Home Peel Pads Remember that skin cell turnover fiasco we talked about earlier? One way to help support it is by exfoliating. “Exfoliation is important to help keep skin fresh and luminous,” Kunin says. She recommends using at-home peel pads as an easy and effective way to exfoliate. “The goal in your 20s is to fight the slowing pace of cell turnover. It is wise to use products that gently exfoliate, yet still remove oil and other impurities. Products that have Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA) or Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHA) are a good choice.” According to Somenek, you should only exfoliate two to three times a week. “People of all ages are guilty of over-exfoliating and that can be too much of a good thing,” he says. Dermadoctor Kakadu C Intensive Vitamin C Peel Pad A few swipes of this Derma Doctor powerful peel pad promise to leave your skin glowing and smooth, thanks to the seven (yes, seven) types of chemical exfoliants, including AHA and BHA. It also contains vitamin C via Kakadu plum extract for added brightening and antioxidant protection. KEY INGREDIENTS Kakadu plum extract is sourced from the Kakadu plum, a fruit grown in northern Australia. It contains vitamin C, which restores the skin’s natural barrier, increases collagen production, and soothes irritation. Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel Pads These are the gold standard of peel pads, with a cult following and over 900 five-star reviews on Sephora. They’re easy to use and contain a blend of anti-aging exfoliating acids. Emollient Night Cream “In your 20s, you need to start upping the hydration in your skincare routine. You may have been cautious of over-moisturizing because of acne in your teens, but as you enter your 20s, your skin transitions and becomes drier,” Ross says. “I recommend an emollient night cream added into your evening skincare regimen.” “Twenty-somethings need to make sure that they are not using creams that will clog their pores and cause excess oil production,” says Somenek. Opt for non-comedogenic products. Cerave Skin Renewing Night Cream One great choice is the CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream, which is a non-comedogenic night cream that leaves skin soft and glowy. It combines the moisturizing powers of ceramides and hyaluronic acid. RoC Retinol Correxion Max Hydration Creme “The best night cream ingredients contain retinol, benzoyl peroxide, and/or salicylic acid or hyaluronic acid. The goal is to moisturize, yet remove excess oil,” says Somenek. This Roc Retinol Correxion cream fits the bill as it contains both hyaluronic acid and retinol so it promises to moisturize while also being non-comedogenic.

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