Just imagine! You're baking a cake. You have the list of ingredients but not the recipe. So you mix things in random order and bake them. Do you think the cake would be a success? Not at all! Because you mixed random ingredients in random order, your cake becomes a mess!
Again, imagine yourself putting makeup in reverse! Can't even imagine, right? You would end up with a cakey look.
The point of all these examples is that not only baking and makeup but many things in life require a particular order to do it. That includes skincare. There's an order for applying skincare products too!
So what is the order? Let’s discuss.
Start with a facial cleanser, a face wash, just like a clean canvas before you paint.
Then use a toner to prep your skin for the upcoming skincare products and makeup. But here comes the problem.
Is it facial serum after moisturizer or moisturizer after facial serum? This is a common question we get from many of you these days.
So in this blog post, we are going to address the same!
Before we dig into that question, let's understand what a facial serum is. A facial serum is a highly concentrated liquid with active ingredients like acids, retinoids, etc., curated for specific skin concerns.
Diving back to our question: Facial serums before or after moisturizers?
The rule of thumb is that serum goes behind moisturizers. This is true for many reasons, including,
- Often serums are thin liquids, whereas a moisturizer is thick in consistency.
- The second thing is that serums are usually water-based liquids. In contrast, most moisturizers contain an oil-based formula unless you opt for a gel or water-based moisturizer.
Therefore by applying an oil repellent which in our case is a serum, the moisturizer takes time to get absorbed. In contrast, the active ingredients in the serum are easily absorbed, keeping our skin moisturized for a long time.
On the contrary to this, when you apply a moisturizer first before facial serums, the moisturizer is absorbed easily, and the active ingredients in the serum are melted away before reaching the layers of our skin.
One more reason why serums should go first is that serums generally contain smaller molecules of particles, unlike moisturizers that have complex molecular structures in them. So, our skin can easily absorb simple molecules rather than complex molecules.
Some benefits of applying a serum might include,
- Reduced signs of aging
- Protection from sun damage
- Treats acne
- Reduces pores
- Eases skin irritation and redness in the skin
- Soothes dry and flaky skin
- Reduces hyperpigmentation
Therefore, applying a facial serum first allows the simple, active ingredients to have maximum contact with the skin before other products.
Looking for a light-weight moisturizer? Check out Royal Flush by Unsweetened Beauty, a hybrid formula that contains serum-and-moisturizer.