How to Layer Your Skincare Correctly for Your Morning and Night Routine

How to Layer Your Skincare Correctly for Your Morning and Night Routine

When it comes to your skincare routine, order matters. When you have multiple steps to your regimen, it’s important to layer your products properly to maximize effectiveness and help deliver the results you want. The last thing you want is to reduce a serum’s efficacy by applying it in the incorrect sequence. 

Follow this guide to make the most of your anti-aging skincare regimen and ensure you’re ordering your products properly in your morning and nighttime routines.

What is the Correct Order to Apply Skin Care?

Depending on your needs and goals, the products you use in your regimen will vary, but the basic order should be: cleanser, serums, retinol (PM only), moisturizer, and sunscreen (AM only). Your day and night skincare routine will differ thanks to your skin’s changing needs and the appropriateness of products for sunlight and sleep.

Morning Skincare Routine

Throughout the day, your skin is exposed to UV rays, blue lights, pollution, dirt, grime, and more. Your morning routine should refresh your skin while helping to protect it from the day ahead.

Step 1: Cleanse 

Washing your face and neck first thing in the morning with a daily facial cleanser can clear away oil and grime that accumulates while you sleep. This step also helps prepare your skin to absorb the beneficial ingredients in your skincare regimen. Use a cleanser that will remove pollutants without stripping your skin. Our sulfate-free and self-foaming Gentle Cleanser helps to remove impurities while calming the skin. As Dr. Morgan Rabach, MD, says, "[Alastin's Gentle Cleanser] is packed with antioxidants, so it makes me feel like I'm giving my skin a smoothie in the morning."

Step 2: Serums

Next, you want to apply formulations that deliver targeted benefits to help improve the look and feel of your skin. Here’s where your anti-aging serums come into play. Remember to address your full face as well as delicate (and often neglected) areas like your eyes, neck, and chest.

We recommend powerful products that have multiple benefits in a single bottle. Consistency in skincare is key, and the fewer steps you need to achieve great results, the more likely you’ll be to stick to a regimen.

Restorative Skin Complex with TriHex Technology® helps improve all visible signs of aging. Apply one pump to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, even out your skin tone, and improve texture. The proprietary TriHex Technology® works with the skin to clear out damaged elastin and collagen while supporting the skin's natural ability to produce new, healthy elastin and collagen.

For the eye area, Restorative Eye Treatment with TriHex Technology® helps decrease the appearance of fine lines, crow’s feet, and wrinkles, while helping to reduce the look of puffiness and dark circles. Dab one pump around your eye areas and gently pat into the skin. For the neck and chest, Restorative Neck Complex with TriHex Technology® helps smoothness, tighten, and evens out skin tone. Apply one pump in upward strokes.

Step 3: Moisturizer

All skin types need a good moisturizer to help lock in the skin’s moisture and prevent water loss throughout the day. Because moisturizers tend to be thicker, they need to be applied last to seal in your other products and maximize their effectiveness. Look for moisturizers with added benefits like our Ultra Nourishing Moisturizer with TriHex Technology®, which supports the production of new elastin and collagen. Apply one pump to the face and gently massage into the skin.

Step 4: Sunscreen

Arguably the most important product in our arsenal, sunscreen should be used every single day to protect your skin from sun damage, such as the aging effects of UV radiation. Look for sunscreens with an SPF 30 or higher like HydraTint ProMineral Broad Spectrum SPF 36 Sunscreen. This all-mineral sunscreen is lightweight, grease-free, reef-friendly, and can be used in place of makeup (or as a primer) thanks to a tint that works for most skin types. 

Bonus Step: Body Care 

Before you jet off to your busy morning, it pays to be mindful of your body. Apply TransFORM Body Treatment with TriHex Technology® to improve skin texture, moisturize, and address crepey skin.

Nighttime Skincare Routine

The order of your nighttime skincare routine will be similar to your morning regimen with a few exceptions:  You won’t have to worry about UV radiation while you sleep, so there’s no need for sunscreen. Plus, it’s best to incorporate retinol products in the evening only as they break down in the presence of UV light. Here’s what your night skincare routine should look like:

Step 1: Cleanser

After a day of facing natural air pollutants, microscopic dirt and grime, and makeup, your skin needs a good cleanse. Don’t forget to use a cleanser that won’t strip your face and neck of its natural oils, like our Gentle Cleanser

Step 2: Serums 

You’re cleansed, toned, and prepped—now it’s time to restore nutrients before you hit the hay. In the evening, just repeat your morning restoration routine: For your face, use our Restorative Skin Complex; for the delicate skin around your eyes, dab one pump A of our Restorative Eye Treatment, and for your neck and chest area, apply one pump of Restorative Neck Complex in upward strokes.

Step 3: Retinol

Retinol helps reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles, but it’s only effective when used in the evening as the active ingredient isn’t stable in the presence of UV light. Some retinol products can be a bit drying and you may experience skin purging (which isn’t a bad thing) due to increased cellular turnover. Use retinol products (just a pea-sized amount) two or three times a week to start. To help combat the potentially drying effects, look for easily tolerated, hydrating formulas. Our Renewal Retinol (available in two different strengths) is packed with hydration and can help smooth away wrinkles, improve skin texture and uneven skin tone.  

Step 4: Moisturizer

Finish off your evening routine with a moisturizing night cream to help hydrate and repair the look of skin as you sleep. You’ll only need one pump of our Ultra Nourishing Moisturizer to give your skin hydration and a healthy dose of peptides.

Bonus Step: Body Care 

Right after an evening shower or before you tuck into bed, apply TransFORM Body Treatment to any part of the skin. This formula will help tighten and smooth skin as you sleep.

Don’t forget—skincare is self-care. The time and attention you give to your regimen is the time and attention that’s just for you. So be kind to your skin (and yourself) with a daily skincare routine, morning and night.

 

Sources:

  1. Ganceviciene, Ruta, et al. “Skin Anti-Aging Strategies.” Dermato-Endocrinology, Landes Bioscience, 1 July 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583892/
  2. Sundelin, Tina, et al. “Cues of Fatigue: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Facial Appearance.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Sept. 2013, academic.oup.com/sleep/article/36/9/1355/2453883
  3. Ye, Rose, et al. “Photostability of commercial tretinoin products differs dramatically.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 1 March 2009. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2008.11.375
Featured Products
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Anti-Aging

Restorative Skin Complex with TriHex Technology®
 

$230.00

Addresses all visible signs of aging on the face.

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Sunscreen

HydraTint Pro Mineral Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 36

$76.00

Powerful sun protection with a hint of tint.

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Moisturizers

Ultra Nourishing Moisturizer with TriHex Technology®

$88.00

Designed to help calm, nourish, and hydrate skin.

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Cleanser

Gentle Cleanser
 

$52.00

Gentle gel cleanser that cleans without drying the skin.