Short answer: Start with clean hands and a freshly cleansed face. Apply moisturizer after cleansing and any toner, mist or serum you use, following the product’s directions. Use clean fingertips, the amount the directions give and light upward and outward strokes rather than rubbing. Carry it down onto your neck if its directions include it. Around the eyes, use an appropriate eye product according to its directions, because many facial moisturizers are not intended for that area. Take crème from a jar with a clean cosmetic spatula. In the morning, sunscreen goes on after moisturizer. Gentle, consistent application matters more than any special technique.
Moisturizer is an easy step to rush. A few habits make it cleaner and more comfortable.
Start with clean hands
Your fingertips are the tool, so wash your hands first. Leave-on products such as serums and crèmes are generally applied with clean fingertips, following the directions for the individual formulation.
Hands touch phones, door handles and keyboards all day, and whatever is on them can end up on your face.
Where moisturizer fits after cleansing
Apply moisturizer after cleansing or bathing and after any preceding steps you use, following the product’s directions. A typical sequence is cleanse, an appropriate toner or mist, serum, then moisturizer, each according to its directions, plus daytime sun protection in the morning.
After washing, pat your face with a clean, soft towel rather than rubbing it. Rubbing adds friction to freshly cleansed skin for no benefit.
Take the product out cleanly
From a jar. Use a clean cosmetic spatula each time you take product from a jar, and do not put leftover product back. Fingers carry water, oil and whatever they last touched into the jar. The Spatula Rule explains the habit in full.
From a pump or tube. Dispense onto a clean fingertip. The packaging keeps your fingers away from what remains inside.
Dot, then spread lightly
Place small dots of moisturizer on your forehead, cheeks, nose and chin. Spreading from several points covers the face more evenly and means less dragging.
Continue with light upward and outward strokes, keeping the pressure gentle and avoiding pulling or tugging at the skin. Stop once the product is evenly spread. Heavy rubbing is not needed.
How much to use depends on the product. How Much Skincare Product Should You Use? covers the amount question.
Around the eyes
The skin around the eyes is delicate, so a light touch matters most there. Many facial moisturizers are not intended for the eye area. Check the directions for yours, and if they do not include the eye area, keep it away from there.
For the eye area, use an appropriate eye product according to its directions. Eye products differ in where and how they are meant to be applied, so follow the directions for the one you use rather than a single rule for all of them. Keep product out of the eyes themselves. Do Eye Creams Work? covers products made for that area.
Down the neck
If you want your neck included and the product’s directions cover it, extend the moisturizer onto your neck with the same light, gentle strokes, adding a little more product for the extra area. Keep the strokes light and the pressure gentle there too.
Where moisturizer sits in your routine
Products generally go on from thinner textures to thicker ones, and a product’s own directions come first where they say something different.
In the morning, moisturizer goes on before sunscreen, and sunscreen follows as its own step. In the United States, a moisturizer marketed with an SPF is regulated as a sunscreen drug as well as a cosmetic, so apply it as its label directs, including reapplication.
At night, moisturizer or a night crème is often the final step. Retinol is generally used at night. Follow the directions for your individual product, and daily broad-spectrum sunscreen is recommended as part of the routine. Day Cream vs Night Cream looks at whether you need two, and Skincare Order and Product Storage sets out the full sequence.
Small habits that add up
- Putting fingers into a jar.
- Scrubbing product in with pressure.
- Carrying a facial moisturizer up to the eyes when its directions do not include that area.
- Stopping at the chin when you meant to include your neck.
Victoria’s approach
Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. At home, she favors clean fingertips for leave-on products, following each product’s directions, and a clean cosmetic spatula for anything taken from a jar. Her “less is best” philosophy applies here too: the appropriate amount of each product, applied gently. In professional treatments at Younger You Clinique, Victoria wears gloves throughout and changes them as appropriate between treatment steps to help maintain careful hygiene and avoid cross-contamination.
Examples from the Esenté range include the Hydra Day Crème for the morning and the Hydra-Plus Night Crème for the evening. Neither is intended for the eye area, so pair either with an appropriate eye product, used according to its directions. Both come in jars, so take the crème out with a clean spatula. They are two options among other Esenté formulations, and the right choice depends on your skin, preferences and budget. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. For a question about your own routine, the Ask Victoria page reaches her.
Frequently asked questions
After cleansing or bathing and any toner, mist or serum you use, following the product’s directions. In the morning it goes on before sunscreen. At night it is often the last step in your routine.
Use light upward and outward strokes, keeping the pressure gentle, and stop once it is evenly spread. Hard rubbing adds friction without helping the moisturizer. Pressing lightly is fine. Whatever you do, avoid pulling or tugging at the skin.
Before. Sunscreen goes on after moisturizer as its own step. If your moisturizer carries an SPF, apply it as its label directs, including reapplication.
You can if the product’s directions include the neck. Extend it onto your neck with the same light, gentle strokes and use a little more product to cover the extra area rather than spreading the face amount thinner.
Only if its directions include the eye area. Many facial moisturizers, including Esenté’s Hydra Day Crème and Hydra-Plus Night Crème, are not intended for it. Use an appropriate eye product instead, following its directions, and keep product out of the eyes.
Yes, it is a good habit. Leave-on products are generally applied with clean fingertips, and hands pick up a great deal during the day. For jars, a clean cosmetic spatula keeps fingers out of the product.
About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.
Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.
