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Post in K-Beauty
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How to layer (Recommendations)

I bought a couple skincare products and not sure how to layer them. 
P.M Routine 

1. cleanse 

2. toner

3. Serum

4. Eye Cream

5. Moisturizer

- Morning routine is the same, just finished it with SunScreen. 

 I just bough an “Essence” and a Vitamin C serum “C’s the day” and a “Retinol” from Versed. Also, Should I not apply my vitamin C with retinol, and use it for my A.M routine instead? Or maybe other recommendations instead of using V-C. Thank you!

 

 

Re: How to layer (Recommendations)

@Sauske10  You can use retinol and vitamin C in the same routine. They don't cancel each other out, and there's no pH conflict between them. The only reason not to use them together is your skin's tolerance level: some people's skin is too sensitive to tolerate these 2 ingredients together. 

 

Since vitamin C is an antioxidant, you'll get more bang for your buck if you use it in the morning so it can protect your skin from the day's pollutants. Retinol can also be used during the day (contrary to popular belief, retinol does not make your skin more sensitive to the sun), but again, some folks' skin can't handle the retinol + vitamin C combo. So the safest best is to use vitamin C in the morning and retinol at night. 

 

So, I recommend this order of application: 

Spoiler

PM

  1. Cleanser 
  2. Toner (Which toner do you use? Some "toners" are really essences.) 
  3. Essence 
  4. Serum 
  5. Eye Cream 
  6. Moisturizer 
  7. Retinol 

You can try using retinol before moisturizer if you'd like. But moisturizer can buffer some of retinol's irritating side effects (excessive dryness and peeling) without stopping retinol from doing its job. Also, by applying moisturizer first, you ensure your skin's well hydrated—as opposed to waiting for your skin to dry down pre-moisturizer, which is how most brands direct folks to use their retinol serums. 

 

AM

  1. Cleanser 
  2. Toner 
  3. Essence 
  4. Vitamin C 
  5. Serum 
  6. Eye Cream 
  7. Moisturizer 
  8. Sunscreen 

Whether you use toner and essence depends on which toner you're using. Toner is arguably unnecessary, since most cleansers these days aren't nearly as alkaline as they were in the old days—which is why folks needed toners to readjust their skin pH. That readjustment's not needed so much anymore. So, most of today's toners are just additional delivery systems for hydrating ingredients, antioxidants, or exfoliants (usually AHAs). 

 

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