How to Layer Skin Care- Building Your Skin Care Routine Order
Skin care routine order matters a lot.
Skin care layering is a method of applying skin care products one after another in a specific order to maximize absorption of active and non-active ingredients, ensuring your skin can get the highest levels of skin care ingredients without irritation or product waste, whilst simultaneously locking in the moisture and ingredients of the previous steps, and finally sealing it all in. In this blog post you will learn how to layer skin care to help you in building your skin care routine order.
Are you using the right skin care products in the correct order?
The science of skin care layering goes far beyond slapping skin care products on one after another. There are a number of rules to stick to when it comes to skin care layering that allow it to work its magic:
- Proper Skin Preparation before Skin Care Layering
- The Products, and the Order in Which They are Applied
- The Active Ingredients
- The Timing
So let’s get into it!
Proper Skin Preparation before Skin Care Layering
For your skin to effectively absorb and make the best use of skin care products, your skin needs to be properly cleansed beforehand. Uncleansed skin can have oils, dirt and dead skin cells which can block the skin from absorbing the product’s ingredients, or worse, encourage the oils, dirt and skin cells to enter your pores and clog them, leading to enlarged looking pores and even acne. Prevent this, and make the most of your skin care by double cleansing.
Double cleansing is a simple two step cleansing process which will leave your skin free of excess oils, dirt, makeup and dead skin cells. It leaves the skin completely clear and bright, without stripping it of moisture.
Double cleansing should always start with an oil based cleanser (we prefer certified organic, cold pressed, high oleic botanical sunflower seed oil as the carrier oil) which removes makeup with ease through colloidal cleansing, followed by a gentle but powerful exfoliating lathering cleanser, which will remove any excess oils and dead skin cells.
After double cleansing with an oil based cleanser followed by an exfoliating lathering cleanser, your skin will be completely clean, clear and bright; fully prepped and ready to absorb your skin care products.
What Products Should I Use and What Order Should They be Applied?
A word to keep in mind when it comes to skin care layering is synergy.
A common mistake when it comes to building a skin care routine is choosing products that weren’t designed to work together.
You could chose an excellent moisturizer packed full of vitamins and a wonderful toner brimming with minerals, but if they weren’t designed to work synergistically together, you could be exposing your skin to too much of a given ingredient, causing irritation, purging or burning, or it could simply be too much of an ingredient for your skin to absorb, leaving it sitting uselessly on the surface. What a waste!
There are also ingredients that when combined, exponentially improve the performance of the other. As the author Stephen Covey said “Synergy is when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand!” Look for skin care lines that keep synergy in mind when creating not just their individual product’s ingredient combination, but also their skin care product’s combinations with each other. When the products you use when skin care layering are designed to work synergistically together, you are sure to notice a difference.
How do you know which skin care products will work together in a skin care routine?
Look for its long term history of proven results and the guarantee.
The order in which you apply your products is also of high importance.
Thicker consistency products should generally be applied after thinner consistency products, to ensure maximum product absorption. For example, if you are using a serum and a thick moisturizer, apply the serum first, followed by the moisturizer. However, if you are using a liquid toner, it can be ‘sandwiched’ or layered in between two moisturizers. That is how the Metrin Skincare Perfect Trifecta is designed to be used.
First, is the Vita Conditioner. Apply the #3 Vita Conditioner to your skin first after double cleansing, delivering hydration and non-comedogenic (non-pore clogging) lipids (which help the skin against moisture loss) and nutrients like vitamins, amino acids and anti-oxidants deep into the skin. It also functions as a base to help bond the layers of skin care products that follow, creating a serum directly on the surface of your skin.
Then comes the #4 Protective Lotion. This next step, a cooling and calming toner, delivers skin healing ingredients which help the skin recover and renew. It also helps reduce excess bacteria growth (preventing acne). By layering this lotion, it further enhances the skin’s ability to deeply absorb active nutrients delivered by the final skin layering step.
The final step is the #5 Enriched Vita Conditioner. The final step contains the highest amount of vitamins and amino acids, and also helps lock in all the nourishing ingredients and healing properties delivered in the preceding skin care layering steps, as well as encourage moisture retention and stimulate circulation.
The Active Ingredients
As touched on previously, the specific ingredients in your skin care products play a role in their order. However, this should not be down for you deliberate. This should be something kept in mind by the skin care brand when formulating their line. Creating products that have the exact right amount and exact right combination of active ingredients, designed to work within that product, at its particular step in the layering process is crucial. For example, Vitamin A/ Retinol, as a rule, should be applied in the final step of skin care layering. That’s why the final step of the Metrin Skincare System, the #5 Enriched Vita Conditioner, contains the highest amounts of Vitamin A and Retinyl Palmitate.
The Timing
The final thing to keep in mind is the timing in which you apply the steps. (Don’t worry- this part is simple!)
After each step of your skin care layering, you should wait until the product is fully absorbed before moving onto the next step. Skipping onto the next step too quickly before the product has absorbed into the skin can cause pilling on the skin and prevent your skin from retaining the product’s ingredients and moisture. Luckily, if you have followed the previous points, specifically the skin care prep by double cleansing, your skin will happily drink up the products and you won’t have to wait long between steps.
Skin care layering is without a doubt the best way to provide your skin with high levels of active ingredients, moisture and nourishment. Done correctly, it ensures optimal delivery, retention and potency of your skin care. It provides your skin with the highest level of ingredients without irritation, and seals it all in while protecting your skin’s PH and skin barrier function.
But as a consumer, keeping all this in mind when purchasing skin care products and building a skin care routine can be confusing, and frankly, quite overwhelming.
Luckily, with the proven Metrin Skincare System, you don’t have to.
Our famous Metrin Skincare System, formulated in 1932, was made with how to layer skin care and building your skin care routine order. And of course, creating a powerful synergy was at the forefront of Dr. George Runnel’s (the inventor’s) mind. How to Layer Skin Care- Building Your Skin Care Routine Order.
Starting with double cleansing with the natural botanical oil and water based #1 Deep Cleanser, followed by the gentle but powerful exfoliating #2 Lathering Cleanser, your skin is prepped and primed for the skin care layering of the following steps; the #3 Vita Conditioner, the #4 Protective Lotion and the #5 Enriched Vita Conditioner.
Take the guessing out of your skin care routine by sticking to one, cohesive, synergistic skin care system, proven to work, time tested and true. (We have even numbered them for your convenience!)
With the Metrin Skincare System, you don’t have to worry about whether you are applying them in the correct order, or if you are overexposing your skin to too much of an ingredient through an undesigned, ad hoc or random product combination. We have done all the work, so you can just enjoy your skin care routine, knowing your skin is getting the best possible care.
“I’ve been using Metrin for about 30-35 years and it’s the best thing I’ve ever used on my skin! I’m 75 and most people think I’m much younger! – don’t have wrinkles and Metrin products cleared out 95% of the scarring I had from teenage acne!!! I love your products!”
-Sharon G.
“I could not recommend this skin care regimen enough. I was introduced to Metrin years ago by my mother who has religiously used it for probably over a decade or two now. My skin was so oily with many dry spots. I would break out all the time. Since using Metrin day and night, my skin has completely regulated and is now moisturized and glowing. If I even feel a break out coming, I use the 5 steps, and I swear by step 5 the break out disappears. It is truly magical. I have turned friends onto it only those who I know will use it the proper way (because there is a proper way), as you don’t want to waste your money (or golden products). This product is like no other.”
-Josie S.
Our Promise to You
In addition to the 92+ years of lifelong customer loved results, the Metrin Skincare System also comes with a no questions asked 6 Month Money Back Guarantee on first time purchases of The Metrin Skincare System (that’s how confident we are that it will work for you!). Even if you have used your bottles to the last drop, if you aren’t satisfied within the first 6 months, you can get your money back.
Want to Find Out More?
References:
- https://metrin.com/the-best-way-to-hydrate-your-skin/
- https://www.health.com/skincare-routine-order-7507961
- https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-layer-skincare
