Fall Skincare Routine Order: The Perfect Step-by-Step Guide for Autumn
Sweater weather is almost upon us 🍂, so your Fall skincare routine is about to become crucial for maintaining healthy, glowing skin in the cold. Part of that includes knowing the correct order to apply your products to maximize their effectiveness. In this post, we’ll go over the proper skincare routine order for your:
Let’s get to it!
Morning Fall Skincare Routine Order
Step 1: Gentle Cleanser Start with a hydrating, non-stripping cleanser to remove overnight oils without over-drying your skin. Fall weather calls for cream or milk-based cleansers instead of harsh foaming formulas.
Step 2: Toner or Essence Apply a hydrating toner to balance your skin's pH and prep it for better product absorption. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid or glycerin for extra hydration and moisture.
Step 3: Vitamin C Serum Layer on an antioxidant serum to protect against environmental damage and brighten summer sun damage. Vitamin C is a great ingredient for addressing post-summer hyperpigmentation.
Note: you may choose to use other types of serums at this step depending on your own skin’s needs.
Step 4: Moisturizer + Eye Cream (Optional) Apply a cream-based moisturizer with ceramides and fatty acids to lock in hydration. Your fall moisturizer should be richer than your summer formula. And if needed, you may apply a nourishing eye cream around the delicate eye area using your ring finger. Fall is the time to switch to richer formulas with peptides.
Note: this step is optional as the next step is sunscreen, which may also serve as a moisturizer. Do what suits your skin the best.
Step 5: Sunscreen (SPF 30+) Apply broad-spectrum sunscreen as your final morning step. It’s important to never skip SPF, even in Fall, as UV rays remain strong during autumn months.
Evening Fall Skincare Routine Order
Step 1: Oil-Based Cleanser Remove makeup, sunscreen, and daily buildup with an oil-based cleanser or micellar water. This not only protects your skin from irritants, but it helps subsequent products act more effectively.
Step 2: Water-Based Cleanser Follow with your gentle water-based cleanser for a complete double cleanse, essential for skin health.
Step 3: Exfoliant (2-3x Weekly, optional) Use chemical exfoliants like AHAs or BHAs to remove dead skin cells accumulated from summer sun exposure. You may skip this step on non-exfoliation nights or if your skin can’t handle exfoliation well.
Step 4: Toner or Essence Reapply your hydrating toner to refresh and prepare skin for treatment products.
Step 5: Treatment Serum Apply targeted serums like retinol, niacinamide, or hyaluronic acid. Fall's reduced sun exposure makes it ideal for introducing stronger active ingredients that may sensitize your skin.
Step 6: Night Cream or Moisturizer (+ optional eye cream) Use a rich night cream with ingredients like peptides, ceramides, or squalane to repair and hydrate your skin overnight. At this step, you may also apply your eye cream to combat fine lines and dryness that tend to worsen in fall weather.
Step 7: Face Oil (Optional) If you’d like, you may seal everything in with a nourishing face oil for extra protection against moisture loss.
To close out, I leave you with 2 tips for your skincare routine: 1) always apply products from thinnest to thickest consistency, and 2) allow 30-60 seconds between each step for proper absorption. Following these tips and the skincare routine orders mentioned above will put you on your way to achieving and maintaining healthy, radiant skin through the Fall season. 🍁