Skincare

Layering Order and Why It Decides Absorption

The working rule is thinnest to thickest, because each layer slows down whatever follows it. Water based products go first, oils and butters last. A serum applied over a cream or an oil is mostly sitting on top of it rather than reaching skin, which is why an expensive product can seem to do nothing. Body butter is the useful exception: it is designed to seal, so it works best on skin that is still slightly damp, where it holds water in rather than trying to add any.

Reading a Concentration Rather than a Promise

Ingredients appear on a list in order of quantity, highest first, which makes position more informative than presence. A formula naming shea butter in the first three lines is a shea product; one naming it after the fragrance line contains a trace. Where an ingredient sits in the list tells you more than how large it is printed on the front of the bottle. The fragrance line is worth locating for its own sake, since its position indicates how strongly a product will scent skin under anything worn over it.

Introducing One Product at a Time

Changing several products at once removes your ability to tell which one did what. Adding a single new product and leaving the rest of the routine alone for a fortnight is the only way to attribute a result to it. Patch testing on a small area before a first full application is worth the delay, particularly with anything richly fragranced or new to your routine. If skin is reacting rather than simply adjusting, that is a question for a pharmacist or a doctor rather than a shopping decision.

For body specifically, the whipped shea and cocoa formulas are grouped in Body Butter. If the routine ends with a scent, how that interacts with a moisturised skin barrier is covered in Perfume.