9 Steps Of The Best Skincare Routine

Increase the effectiveness of your care routine by applying your skin care products in the proper order and paying attention to a few points!

The skin care serum you bought with high hopes did not meet your expectations? Have you been unable to prevent your skin problems even though you have a care routine that includes products suitable for your skin type and concerns? But what if the products you use are correct, but your application order is wrong? Yes, at which stage of your routine you apply sunscreen, or what do you apply to your skin before retinol? The effect you will get from the products makes a difference! In other words, what you apply to your skin is as important as how you apply it. Using even one product at the wrong step can reduce the effectiveness of your entire care routine.

Why is the order of application of skin care products important?

In addition, this situation brings with it some skin problems. Applying the serum without cleansing your face prevents moisture from reaching the skin, causing a lack of moisture on the face. Or other care products used after sunscreens reduce the effect of sunscreen and cause the face to be exposed to harmful sun rays.
The structure of the products you use should go from thin to thick. For example, you should start with thin-textured water-based products and move on to thick-textured creams.
Since water and oil do not mix and oil-based products will create a barrier to the absorption of water-based products, water-based products must be applied first. After cleaning your skin, thin products such as tonic, serum, and essence should be used, and oils and creams should be left to the last stage. Likewise, sunscreen should be the final step before makeup.

How should there be differences between day and night care?
During the day, dust, sunlight, temperature differences, etc., excellent care for skin exposed to external factors; should be aimed at repairing, moisturizing, and protecting the skin. Therefore, oils rich in lipids and protein should be used for evening care in the care routine. Chemical peeling or substances such as retinol cause an effect that increases the skin’s sensitivity to sunlight, so it is more suitable to use at night.

Application Order of Skin Care Products

Step 1: Cleanser (Day and Night)

Since you wipe off your makeup at Night and wash your face with a cleanser, you may not need to use a cleanser again in the morning and prefer to wash your face with just water. However, your pores must be open for the products you will use to be best absorbed by the skin. That is, your skin must be completely free of oil and dirt. In addition, your skin also produces sebum at night while you sleep. For this reason, to increase the effectiveness of the products you will use, it is beneficial to purify your pores with a gentle cleanser that does not harm the protective barrier of the skin before your daycare.

In the evening, you must thoroughly clean your skin from makeup and particles caused by air pollution, oil, and dirt. Makeup removal wipes are not enough for this! Wiping your skin with just one micellar water is not a solution either. The two-stage cleansing, which is applied first with an oil-based cleanser and then with a water-based cleanser, is the most crucial step to beautiful and healthy skin.

So why dual-stage cleaning? Because the remnants of makeup products and sunscreens are not readily soluble ingredients, water-based cleansers are often insufficient alone. This is where oil-based cleaners come into play. Immediately after washing your face with an oil-based cleanser that dissolves makeup easily without irritating the skin, you can clean all the remaining residues with a water-based cleanser in the form of cream, foam, or gel. As a result, you can guarantee the absorption of the products you will use in your night care and give the serum you paid a fortune for!

Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel is Rich in Anti-Aging and Moisturizing Ingredients

Boscia MakeUp-BreakUp Cool Cleansing Oil

A sulfate-free, gentle face cleanser purifies the skin of dirt and impurities while helping maintain and balance the skin’s natural moisture barrier without irritation. The cleansing oil nourishes the skin while removing makeup efficiently.

Bioderma – Sensibio Foaming Gel For Facial Foaming Cleanser for Sensitive Skin

Bioderma Sensibio Foaming Gel

The cleansing gel, which soothes and moisturizes even the most sensitive skin, profoundly cleans dirt, oil, and makeup without irritating the skin with its formula developed with micellar water technology. Sensibio Foaming Gel gently cleanses and purifies even the most sensitive skin, leaving it looking fresh and revitalized.

Step 2: Mask (1 or 2 times a week, Night)

It is often a matter of curiosity about which step of the care routine of masks should be. It is necessary to apply the masks rinsed from the skin to the cleansed skin before the tonic or serum. Exfoliation masks containing AHA/BHA or purifying masks with ingredients such as clay and activated charcoal may fall into this category. Since peeling masks will create sensitivity to the sun, be sure to include them in your nighttime routine.

Applying all kinds of non-peeling purifying masks again in the evening ensures that your pores are cleaned profoundly and that your nighttime treatments better absorb your skin.
You can also apply masks, feed them into the skin, and do not rinse at this stage. However, you must skip the tonic and serum steps and move on to the moisturizing cream stage. Because masks that are not rinsed from the skin replace the serum step. Night masks, which stay on the skin overnight and work while you sleep, are applied instead of night cream or face oil in the last stage of the care routine.

Dermalogica Hydro Mask Exfoliates with Bamboo and hydrates with Snow Mushroom

Dermalogica Hydro Masque Exfoliant

Hydrating and exfoliating five-minute masque smoothes and renews for luminous, healthy-looking skin. Bamboo primes for optimal hydration, while Snow Mushroom infuses skin with antioxidants. Provides a soothing, refreshing finish.

Nuxe Bio Organic Fruit Stone Powder Micro-Exfoliating Cleansing Mask

Nuxe Bio Organic Micro Exfoliating Cleansing Mask

The creamy mask has a double peeling effect with a physical peeler (powdered fruit seeds) and a chemical peeler (100% botanical salicylic acid).

Step 3: Tonic (Day and/or Night)

Previously, skin-drying alcohol-based tonics have been replaced by gentle formulas that soothe the skin with moisturizing agents. So much so that the new generation tonics, which have ingredients that trap moisture in the skin, such as hyaluronic acid, can replace the moisture lost by the skin barrier. In addition, tonics containing chemical exfoliants such as AHA (alpha hydroxy acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid) or BHA (beta hydroxy acid, salicylic acid) are for the exfoliation step of your care routine with their features of removing dead skin, opening pores, accelerating cell regeneration, preventing blackheads and acne. Exactly.
However, it should not be forgotten that peeling acids can cause sensitization and irritation in some skins. Therefore, it is necessary not to use it daily, to accustom the skin gradually, and to include it in night care. Avoid using a toner with these ingredients, especially on the days you apply retinol, to avoid skin irritation. If you have dry, sensitive, and reactive skin, you can prefer moisturizing and balancing mist instead of acid-containing tonics.
Another feature of the tonics is that they prepare the skin for the next steps of care by providing better absorption of the ingredients to be applied afterward. After washing your face, use your toner to dry your skin with tampon movements with your hands (involving a cotton ball will waste some of the product). Wait 5 minutes for the ingredients to penetrate thoroughly before applying anything else to your skin.

Beilf Aqua Bomb Natural Hyaluronic Acid For a Satisfying Satin Finish For a Smoother, Softer & Healthier-Looking Complexion

Belif Aqua Bomb Hydrating Toner

Moisturizing and soothing dehydrated skin instantly with hyaluronic acid, the tonic is suitable for even the most sensitive skin. Besides, this toner provides a refreshing splash of hydration to help nurture skin for a healthy-looking glow.

Youth To The People Kombucha Overnight Liquid Face Peel + Dark Spot Corrector for Uneven Skin Tone

Youth to the People Kombucha + AHA Exfoliation Power Toner

With 8% concentrated lactic acid and 3% glycolic acid, the tonic that renews the skin and deeply purifies the pores improves the appearance of the skin with Kombucha black tea and birch bark, which act like prebiotics that strengthen the skin microbiome.

Step 4: Eye Cream (Day and Night)

Since the skin around the eyes is thinner and more sensitive, it is more vulnerable to damage caused by environmental factors. Therefore, always keep your eye area moist, one of the areas where signs of aging are first seen, and for this, include eye creams in your morning and evening care.
To prevent the active ingredients in serums and creams from coming into contact with your eye area and causing sensitivity, apply your eye cream after cleansing and toning your face before proceeding with the serum or cream steps. In your daycare, you can get instant revitalization around your eyes with a cream with a massage head that accelerates lymphatic circulation. At Night, you can apply care to restore this area with a nourishing eye cream with rich ingredients that repair the skin barrier.

Shiseido Essential Energy Eye Definer Cream is Best For Dark Circles, Puffiness, and Fine Lines Are Reduced to Visibly Refreshed Eyes

Shiseido Essential Energy Eye Definer

The eye cream, which energizes the eye area with its massage applicator and reduces dark circles, puffiness, and fine lines, is designed to fight the harmful effects of the digital screen around the eyes all day long.

La Mer The Eye Balm Intense For the Look of Puffiness, Lines, and Wrinkles is Diminished as Clarity is Revealed

La Mer The Eye Balm Intense

Deeply nourishing the eye area with La Mer’s patented “Miracle Elixir” and “Marine De-Puff Ferment” formulas, this ultra-luxe balm reduces lines, wrinkles, and other signs of fatigue.

Step 5: Serum (Day and/or Night)

Containing high concentrations of active ingredients, serums reach deeper layers of the skin compared to other care products, thanks to their delicate molecules, and offer intensive care for different skin concerns, from spots to wrinkles. In addition, applying a serum containing antioxidants during the day can protect your skin against the damage of free radicals throughout the day. In addition to vitamin C, known for its lightening and tightening properties, you can also turn to antioxidants that provide anti-aging benefits, such as vitamin E, green tea, resveratrol, and caffeine.
On the other hand, serums containing hyaluronic acid trap moisture in the skin all day long with their water-holding feature. As a result, hyaluronic acid serums, which you can also use in your night care, are very effective in soothing the skin that is dry and prone to irritation due to retinol or acids used in acne treatment. In addition, thanks to its water-based structure, hyaluronic acid can also be used easily on oily and acne-prone skin.

Skinceuticals C E Ferulic Combination Antioxidant Treatment Helps Build Collagen Strengthens Skin Against Environmental Aging

Skin Ceuticals CE Ferulic

Containing 15% pure vitamin C, the anti-aging antioxidant serum provides preventive care by protecting against environmental factors. Provides eight times photoprotection against aging Neutralizes free radicals & helps build collagen Strengthens skin against environmental aging Eliminates loss of elasticity & hyper-pigmentation Leaves younger-looking skin.

Vichy Mineral 89 Hyaluronic Acid Face Serum Daily Face Moisturizer and Facial Serum to Hydrate With Anti Wrinkle Effect.

Vichy Mineral 89 Fortifying and Plumping Daily Booster

Combining the power of 89% Vichy thermal mineral water with naturally sourced hyaluronic acid, the serum saturates the skin with moisture and strengthens it. Natural origin hyaluronic acid hydrating face serum plumps and strengthens skin for a healthy glow and an anti-wrinkle effect.

Step 6: Local Care (Night)

Since the skin is in the repair process at Night, it is best to include local treatments for concerns such as blemishes or acne in your evening routine. For the ingredients to penetrate your skin, there should be no barrier in between, so apply local treatments before applying moisturizing cream to your skin. After using the product in a thin layer on the blemish or acne, wait 5 minutes before moving on to the next step of your care. Apply the moisturizing cream to your face without touching these areas and fix the product by pressing lightly with tampon movements without spreading the moisturizing cream on the parts you applied local care for last time.

Origins Super Spot Remover is Best For Redness, Acne, Blemish, Scar Treatment Gel

Origins Super Spot Remover Blemish Treatment Gel

The product, which fights acne and pimples with 1.5% salicylic acid in its content, helps prevent color inequalities caused by acne.

Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion Clarifying Gel-Serum that Tackles Clogged Pores | Formulated with Salicylic Acid and Glycerin

Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion

Quickly absorbing, lightweight concentrate with ingredients such as niacinamide helps to improve the appearance of blemishes and balances problematic skin. Formulated with nourishing B vitamins and amino acids for healthy skin and soothing anti-inflammatory herbal extracts to promote healing. Reduce cystic acne fast with this deeply penetrating

Step 7: Moisturizing Cream (Day and Night)

Another step in your skincare routine that is just as important as cleansing is moisturizing. Regardless of your skin type and concerns, apply a moisturizing cream morning and evening. The first rule for beautiful skin is to keep the skin barrier healthy. Then, all you have to do is to maintain the moisture of your skin. If you can’t spare time for long grooming routines, or if a few stages aren’t for you, do this: cleanse your skin morning and evening and then moisturize with a cream suitable for your skin type!

The only function of the moisturizing cream is not to moisturize your skin; at the same time, it increases the absorption of the care products you applied before, allowing you to get more benefits from the ingredients. Every skin type needs hydration (even oily skin!), and there is a moisturizer for every skin type. While dense creams or balms are suitable for dry skin, light lotions are ideal for normal and combination skin. On the other hand, oily skin should turn to products in liquid form or gel moisturizers.
During the daytime, you can use hyaluronic acid-based moisturizers that will keep your skin moisturized all day without making your skin greasy and feel heavy. By choosing a moisturizer with a minimum SPF of 25, you can skip the sunscreen application step and save time. If the moisturizer you apply during the day does not contain SPF, you can use the same product in the evening. However, for comprehensive anti-aging care, we recommend choosing a night cream that will support the skin’s self-repair at Night with hyaluronic acid and ceramides, vitamins, lipids, and proteins.

Even if your skin is not sensitive, you can end your night care with a moisturizing cream containing retinol, which is known to increase new cell formation and collagen production.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Face Moisturizer | Sunscreen & Hyaluronic Acid Protects Pollution-Exposed Skin Against Sun Damage & Replenishes for Soft, Supple Skin

Neutrogena Hydro Boost City Shield

Suitable for all skin types, this hydrating water gel with SPF protects against pollution and replenishes soft, supple skin. It contains broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen boosted with a complex of purified hyaluronic acid to attract moisture and lock it in. The hydrating water gel sunscreen also contains antioxidants that help fight daily aggressors like pollution. The lightweight moisturizing cream containing hyaluronic acid provides moisture to the skin all day long and protects the skin against UV rays and air pollution with SPF 25.

Caudalie Premier Cru, The Cream, Face Moisturizer, Visibly Plump, and Reduce the Appearance of Wrinkles

Caudalie Day Care Cream Premier Cru

Premier Cru Day Cream offers a comprehensive anti-aging effect. Its content, rich in sugars that tighten the skin, shows its visible mark from the 3rd minute to 6 hours.

Step 8: Face Oil (Day and/or Night)

Since facial oils are in a covering structure when another product is applied, they prevent the absorption of the ingredients. However, thanks to its feature of fixing the products used underneath, it increases the effectiveness of your care routine by ensuring that your serum or moisturizer is better absorbed.

Facial oils do not show a high moisturizing performance when used alone. However, when applied to serum or moisturizing creams, it doubles the moisturizing effects of the products under it with its moisture-retaining feature. Facial oils also act as a barrier that protects the skin against external factors. For these reasons, this phase should be the last step of your grooming routine. Face oils are a must-have product for dry, dehydrated, and irritated skin. But do not think that only people with dry skin can use oil. Light oils such as rosehip seed oil, jojoba, or squalene can work well on oily skin, even balancing sebum production in acne-prone skin.

DARPHIN 8-Flower Golden Nectar Essential Oil Elixir Best For Wrinkles

Darphin 8 Flower Golden Nectar

Combining eight flower essences such as iris, ylang-ylang, and jasmine, with 24 karat gold particles and more than twenty essential oils, the product deeply nourishes the skin, illuminates it, and reduces the appearance of wrinkles.

Rosehip Seed Oil Cold Pressed & Unrefined Carrier Oil for Face, Hair & Skin – Natural Anti-Aging Moisturizer – Great For Fine Lines, Wrinkles, Acne Scars

Mother Nature Organics Rosehip seed Oil

Organic rosehip seed oil, which provides anti-aging and anti-blemish care with natural vitamin C, is suitable for all skin types, including oily skin.

Step 9: Sunscreen (Daytime)

Although we said that the last step of care should be facial oils, this rule changes a little during the day, and sunscreens come into play at the previous stage. Physical sunscreens containing mineral filters do not penetrate the skin. Instead, they reflect UV rays and show their effects on the skin’s surface. Since these protectors block the sun’s rays and other external factors, the product you will apply does not penetrate the lower layer of the skin. Therefore, applying sunscreen after skincare and before makeup is best.

We all know the damage of the sun to the skin and the importance of using sunscreen with at least 25 SPF before going out every day in summer/winter. However, a topic has been talked about frequently lately: Which sunscreen should you choose? In sunscreens with chemical filters, which carry out a chemical reaction under the skin, UV preventive chemicals are mixed into the bloodstream, which causes some question marks in the minds regarding health. On the other hand, mineral filter protectors are considered a safer option as they protect from exposure to chemical ingredients. However, they are difficult to spread on the skin while applying.

Peter Thomas Roth Mattifying Sunscreen For Oily Skin, Water-Resistant

Peter Thomas Roth | Max Matte Shine Control Sunscreen

The mattifying cream, which does not contain chemical filters, protects the skin against the damage of UVA and UVB rays with its naturally sourced zinc oxide. Provides mattifying, water-resistant SPF 45 protection with a sheer, shine-free finish that won’t clog pores.

Kiehl’s Since 1851 Dermatologist Solutions Super Fluid Daily UV Defense Helps to Defend Skin From Environmental Aggressors and Prevent the First Signs of Aging

Kiehl’s Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

Providing broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays with the mineral filters, it contains a lotion that does not leave a greasy feeling and protects the skin against the harmful effects of free radicals with its formula enriched with Vitamin E.

Knowing how to take care of your skin equals slowing down aging.

Thank you for reading. We’ve tried to pick the best products for you.