Skincare routine order for every skin type

The order you put skincare on changes how well each product works. This guide gives the order for any skin type, morning and night, based on what the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends. It also shows where the optional steps fit: toner, serum, eye cream, face masks and makeup. If you are treating acne, the shorter acne version is in what order to apply your acne products. This page belongs to the guide to starting a skincare routine.

The order dermatologists recommend

The AAD's page on this question is short. It says the sequence in which you apply your skin care products affects how well the products work, and it gives four steps:

Step	What to apply	Why it sits here
1	A gentle cleanser, then pat dry	Every other product goes on clean skin
2	Any medicine or treatment	It works best with nothing between it and the skin
3	Moisturizer and sunscreen	Moisturizer holds water in; sunscreen must be the outer layer
4	Makeup, if you wear it	It sits on top of everything else

That is the whole rule. The four steps leave out toner, serum and eye cream. Those all fit between step 1 and step 3.

The AAD adds a warning on the same page: using too many products may irritate the skin. A long routine gives more chances for one product to react with your skin, and more chances to use two products that do the same job.

A full morning order

Here is the morning order with every common product in its place. The optional steps are marked. A beginner needs only the three steps that are not optional.

1. Cleanser. Wash with lukewarm water and your fingertips, then pat dry with a soft towel. The AAD gives these steps in its face washing advice.
2. Toner (optional). A thin liquid that goes on clean skin. The AAD advises people with acne-prone skin or rosacea to avoid toners. When to use toner covers who might.
3. Treatment or serum (optional). The AAD's advice for a vitamin C serum is to apply it after washing your face in the morning and before sunscreen.
4. Eye cream (optional). Use your ring finger. The AAD says it is the weakest finger and will not pull hard on the thin skin around the eyes.
5. Moisturizer. Holds water in the skin.
6. Sunscreen. Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher. "Broad spectrum" means it blocks both types of the sun's rays that harm skin (UVA and UVB).
7. Makeup (optional).

A moisturizer that already has broad spectrum SPF 30 or higher in it can cover steps 5 and 6 at once. The AAD calls this a dual-function product and says it is fine to use one.

A full night order

The night order is shorter, because sunscreen and makeup drop out.

1. Remove makeup, then cleanse. The AAD says to always remove your makeup before going to bed, because makeup left on while you sleep can cause breakouts.
2. Toner (optional).
3. Treatment (optional). This is where most medicines go, such as a retinoid (a vitamin A cream or gel) or an acne gel.
4. Eye cream (optional).
5. Moisturizer.

If you use a face mask, it goes after cleansing. The AAD says to follow the mask's label for how long to leave it on, then apply moisturizer after you wash it off. Morning vs night skincare explains why some products belong to one time of day.

Why medicine goes right after the cleanser

The AAD's order puts any medicine or treatment directly after cleansing. A medicine is meant to reach the skin itself. If a thick cream goes on first, the medicine has to pass through that layer.

Drug labels say the same thing in their own words. The Differin adapalene gel label says to clean the skin gently and pat dry before applying. MedlinePlus says to wash the skin with a mild soap before applying tretinoin, a prescription retinoid, and to let it dry as directed.

There is one planned exception. If a retinoid dries your skin too much, the AAD's page on skin care in your 20s suggests putting on a moisturizer right after washing, then applying the retinoid 20 to 30 minutes later. Use this change only when your skin needs it. For a prescription, ask the doctor who prescribed it before you change the order.

Where sunscreen and makeup go

Sunscreen goes last among your skin care products. The AAD says to always put sunscreen on after other skin care products and beneath your makeup. Its sunscreen FAQ adds that sunscreen goes on dry skin 15 minutes before you go outdoors.

If you use a treatment in the daytime, let it dry first. The Differin label says that if you use the gel during the day, you should allow it to dry before applying sunscreen.

Makeup goes on top of sunscreen. At night, it comes off before anything else happens.

A rule of thumb for everything else: thin to thick

The AAD's order does not rank every product type. For the gaps, Skinli uses a simple rule: put the thinnest products on first and the thickest last. A watery toner comes before a thin serum, and a serum comes before a lotion or cream.

The AAD's moisturizer advice describes the same range of thickness. A gel is often water based and feels lighter than a lotion. A cream is thicker and has more oil than a lotion or gel. An ointment is the thickest of all.

Thin to thick is a guide for products without instructions. When a label gives its own step, the label comes first. The same goes for anything a doctor prescribed.

How ingredient lists help you order products

The ingredient list can show you what type of product you have. The FDA says that on a product that is both a drug and a cosmetic, such as a moisturizer with SPF, the drug ingredients are listed first as "Active Ingredients." Then the cosmetic ingredients follow as "Inactive Ingredients," largest amount first.

A product with an "Active Ingredients" box is a drug under the law. The FDA counts sunscreens and acne treatments as drugs. That tells you where it goes: an acne treatment goes right after cleansing, and a sunscreen goes last in the morning.

Common order mistakes

Moisturizer before a treatment by accident. If you use a treatment, it goes on first, on dry skin. Moisturizer comes after it has soaked in. The only time to flip this is the planned change for a drying retinoid described above.

Sunscreen under moisturizer. The AAD's order puts sunscreen after your other skin care products, so it stays the outer layer. In the morning, moisturizer goes on first and sunscreen goes on top.

Two products with the same active ingredient. The AAD warns against a face mask that repeats an active ingredient you already use, such as retinol or an acid. The same idea applies to any two products. Read both labels before you layer them.

Too many layers. The AAD says using too many products may irritate the skin. How many skincare products you need goes through what a routine can leave out.

The shortest correct order

A beginner routine uses the same order with fewer steps. The AAD's page on skin care on a budget describes a simple three-step approach: cleansing, moisturizing and protecting your skin. In the morning that means cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen. At night it means cleanser and moisturizer.

When you add a product later, find its step in the full order above and slot it in. A serum slides in between cleanser and moisturizer. A treatment goes right after the cleanser. Nothing moves the sunscreen from its place at the end of the morning.

Add one product at a time. The AAD's advice on anti-aging products is to start with one product, because using several at once can irritate the skin. If a new product causes a reaction, you then know which one did it.

If you have acne-prone skin

The order stays the same. Skinli's own plan uses it at night: face wash, then a benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel, then a 5 minute wait, then an adapalene 0.1% gel, then moisturizer once the gels have soaked in. The morning is face wash, a light moisturizer and sunscreen.

The acne guide what order to apply your acne products covers that version in more detail. To see the full plan written out day by day, open the sample plan. Before you add any new product to your order, try it on a small area first, as how to patch test a new skincare product explains.