When you apply your favorite lotion and face cream, you may think at some point, whether you should wait a certain time between each step, so that each product has time to absorb. How long should I wait between using skin care products? We have shared the correct hierarchical order, and now is the best time for us to study in depth between each step.
Correct Hierarchical Order is the Key to Success
Experts agree that the order of using skin care products is more important than time. We want to start with the smallest molecule and slowly increase the size of the layer. We’d better layer the lightest product first, and then layer the thickest product. This will allow each layer to be completely absorbed by the skin.
What is the Time Interval Between Each Layer of Skin Care Products?
About 30 seconds to 1 minute is a sufficient gap between the layers in the skin care step. Serum / spots after treatment with the exception of retinol. You should wait 3-5 minutes before applying the next layer to allow the surface skin to penetrate. Sunscreen can only be used when there is no trace of moisturizer on the face. Otherwise, the intensity will be diluted. It is important to pay attention to the application sequence and interval time to ensure that each layer is effective.
Waiting time for different kinds of skin care products
- Acne treatment: 1 minute
Prescription topical drugs, especially acne drugs, definitely need some waiting time. Shah said that before applying serum and moisturizer, they need to be completely melted into the skin to give full play to their effects. Acne treatment needs to stay on the skin for one minute, and then apply face cream on the skin to make the active ingredients work.
- Essence and moisturizing cream: 1 minute
The time interval between serum and moisturizer is about one minute. This kind of waiting has the same reason: 60 seconds – give or take – give each product a little time to study your pores.
- Sunscreen: 1 minute
The second exception is sunscreen, which takes a while to achieve the maximum effect. To get enough sunscreen, your sunscreen must form a uniform layer on your skin. It takes time. To be exact, about 15-20 minutes. If you apply foundation make-up (or anything else) directly after applying sunscreen without giving it enough time, you will wipe some sunscreen off. Don’t do that! It doesn’t matter if your sunscreen penetrates after a few minutes and your skin feels dry. You still need to wait at least 15 minutes before touching it. Here is no exception!
When sunscreen is mixed with other products, it will be diluted and the effect will be reduced. Because of this, SPF should be the last layer of your morning skin care. Professionals recommend waiting a minute between moisturizer and sunscreen to allow them to penetrate and dry. (allure’s digital beauty editor likes to wear clothes before applying sunscreen on his face.) Then, before starting daily makeup, take a few minutes to make sure your sunscreen is fully penetrated.
- Vitamin c serum (soak for 1-2 minutes)
Every expert we talked with agreed that ideally, vitamin C should be retained for a period of time before proceeding to the next step, but the recommended time varies greatly. The recommended average time is between 1-2 minutes. The problem with vitamin C is that it is a very unstable ingredient, which means that products are usually carefully formulated to maintain their potency as much as possible. Dr. Khan explained, “with vitamin C, you want to maximize the use of the product without dilution. A few minutes should be enough time for the product to dry before proceeding to the next step.”
- Retinol: (static absorption for 10-20 minutes)
Other dermatologists believe that the higher the quality of the product, the better (and faster) your skin will absorb it. When using high-quality products such as retinol, the waiting time is even less – may not exist – because they “are a different chemical that will mix and absorb faster” into the skin.
Retinol is also an ingredient, which should be fully absorbed into the skin before using another product. It is important to allow 10-20 minutes to wait before using the next product. Retinol is a powerful antioxidant. If you want to avoid skin sensitivity, it is important to let it be fully absorbed.”.
Conclusion
You don’t have to wait 10 minutes between skin care products. Just wait until one product is completely absorbed, and then use the next product. The only exception is sunscreen. The best thing about using the best skin care products is that you don’t have to wait a long time between each use. This will save you time and allow you to try to add our booster or serum to your daily life. These beneficial additives won’t add much time and are good for your skin.
