Serum goes before moisturizer. The rule is thinnest to thickest: serum is a light, concentrated liquid that absorbs best on clean, bare skin, and moisturizer is the heavier layer that seals it in and slows water loss. Apply serum to clean, dry skin, wait about a minute until it feels dry, then moisturize.
Key takeaways
- Serum first, on clean, dry skin; moisturizer second; sunscreen last in the morning.
- Wait about a minute between layers, until each feels dry to the touch, to prevent pilling.
- Oil-based serums go last, and a prescription product goes wherever the prescriber says it goes.
Why the order matters
A moisturizer does its job by forming a film. Its emollients smooth the surface and its occlusive ingredients, the shea butter, dimethicone or petrolatum on the label, sit on top to slow water from escaping. That film is what you want over a serum and what you do not want under one. A serum applied on top of moisturizer has to get through the film before it reaches the skin, and most of it will not. It sits on the surface, feels tacky, and rolls up into little balls when you touch it.
Serum first, on bare skin, means the concentrated part of your routine has direct contact with the surface. Moisturizer second means that contact is protected for the next eight hours. It is the same logic as painting a wall before you varnish it.
- CleansePat dry. A serum wants bare, dry skin.
- Serum4 drops for the face, pressed in, plus a drop or two down the neck.
- Wait a minuteDry to the touch before the next layer. This is the step that stops pilling.
- MoisturizerThen sunscreen in the morning. Nothing else at night.
The serum behind this answer
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The full order, morning and night
| Morning | Night |
|---|---|
| Rinse with water or a gentle cleanser | Cleanse |
| Serum | Serum (or a retinoid or acid on its alternate night) |
| Wait about a minute | Wait about a minute |
| Moisturizer | Moisturizer |
| Sunscreen | Nothing else |
The minute between serum and moisturizer is the step that gets skipped most, and it is the one that prevents pilling. The serum should feel dry to the touch. If it still feels wet, wait, or use fewer drops next time; the dose is covered in how many drops of face serum should you use?.
The exceptions
Oil-based serums
A few serums are really face oils with a serum label. Oils are occlusive and go on last, after moisturizer, or mixed into it. If the product is thick, slow to absorb, and lists oils at the top of its ingredients, treat it as the final layer. A water-based serum such as the INTENSE Serum, which is thin and dries clear, goes first.
Buffering a retinoid
People with sensitive or mature skin sometimes apply moisturizer first and a retinoid on top, or sandwich it between two thin layers, to soften its effect in the first weeks. That is a deliberate exception for one product, done on purpose, and it is a reasonable technique if a dermatologist has suggested it. It does not change the rule for an ordinary serum.
Prescription products
Anything prescribed by a dermatologist goes where the dermatologist says it goes. If you are adding a cosmetic serum to a routine that includes a prescription, ask them how to sequence it. Do not guess, and do not drop the prescription to make room.
How long to wait between layers
About a minute is the working number, and it is not precise. The aim is for each layer to feel dry to the touch before the next goes on, which for a thin serum on dry skin is often less than a minute and on a humid night can be more. Pressing a layer in rather than rubbing it speeds this up. If mornings are rushed, brush your teeth between serum and moisturizer and again between moisturizer and sunscreen; the timing takes care of itself. The neck follows the same order as the face, in upward strokes, and is the area most routines forget.
Can you skip moisturizer if the serum feels hydrating?
Usually not, and this is a common mistake in the other direction. Hydrating serums draw water into the surface; they do not keep it there. On a dry evening, or in a room with the heating on, a hydrating serum with nothing over it can leave skin feeling tighter by morning than it was before. The American Academy of Dermatology counts moisturizer as one of the two most effective anti-aging products a person can use, alongside sunscreen, and that is not a step to trade away for a serum. Very oily skin can sometimes get away with a light gel moisturizer, but even then, something goes on top.
What about sunscreen?
Sunscreen is always the last skincare step in the morning, after moisturizer, because it needs to form an unbroken film on the surface to do its job. Wait a minute after moisturizer before applying it, and apply it generously. Makeup goes over the top of all of it. If you are outside for long stretches, reapply over whatever is already there rather than starting the routine again.
If things are pilling anyway
- Use fewer drops of serum.
- Wait the full minute between layers.
- Press products in rather than rubbing them across the skin.
- Check whether the skin itself is flaky. A rough, dehydrated surface makes every product pill; two weeks of plain cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen usually calms it. The explanation is in skin barrier basics.
If the skin is stinging or red under any of these layers, stop the serum, keep the moisturizer and sunscreen, and let it settle. Persistent redness, a rash or cracked skin needs a dermatologist, and no change in layering will fix it.
The under-eye area has its own order of operations because the skin there is thinner and the product is lighter; that is covered in eye serum before or after moisturizer.
Read next
When you are running more than one serum, the order between them and how to keep them from fighting is covered in how to layer serums without wasting them. For which serum belongs in the routine in the first place, start with the exosome skin serum guide.
