How To Best Layer Products On Your Skin?

November 22, 2022 by Marjorie R. Rogers, MA (English), Certified Consultant

Usually really life-changing for a lot of people is to not wait for your skin care products to dry before you apply your next product. Whenever I say that to the people, they’re always like wait I want the product to sit there and let it dry for like a minute before I go in with other products. You know when you think about it I guess that feels like it makes sense, you don’t want to put another product on while your skin feels like it’s wet.

But what we know is that your skin care products absorb better when your skin is dry because if it’s completely wet it just still feels like it’s hydrated it’s actually going to absorb your products and the ingredients even better there going to be more effective. The best way is to try niacinamide and vitamin c to see how well they’ll absorb in your skin.

The best way to think about it is like a sponge. When the sponge is already really wet and it’s snowing really full and it feels nice. It looks like it actually absorbed everything better. But if that sponge is super dry then you can put niacinamide and vitamin c on top of that, it’s going to sit on top of it, so it’s the same way to think about your skin. Your skin is obviously very different from the sponge, but it’s an easy way to visualize so it’s the time you don’t want to follow this rule.

If you’re new to strong-acting products, e.g. if you just introduced vegan retinol or tazarotene into your skin care routine, it might be too strong for your skin. First, you don’t want to put it on damp skin and make it work even better because it’s just going to be really harsh on your skin.

Instead, let your skin dry for a little bit and when it feels like it’s dry and then you put on the active ingredient that you’re new to. Your skin is acclimated to say a retinoid is that you’re introducing that you might be able to put it on to your skin while it’s still damp or you might not. You just have to watch your skin and see how it activates vegan retinol.

Then another product that you would not want to put on a damp face is sunscreen. I always tell everybody to let their moisturizer completely dry down and then put their sunscreen on top. That way you just are guaranteeing that you’re treating this nice film over your face.