How to layer serums

Layering means applying more than one product of the same kind, one after another, rather than choosing between them. With serums it is the most common question people have, and most of the answer is practical rather than technical.

Wait between layers

The usual advice is to let each layer settle before the next one goes on — long enough that the surface no longer feels wet. Applied on top of each other immediately, products tend to pill: they roll into small pieces instead of staying put.

Thin first, again

The same convention applies within a step. If one serum is watery and another is more like a gel, the watery one usually goes first.

Fewer at once is easier to read

If you introduce three products in the same week and your skin does something you did not expect, you have no way of knowing which one to stop using. Adding one at a time, with a few days between, is simply easier to interpret.

Patch-testing

A patch test means applying a small amount somewhere inconspicuous and leaving it for a day or two before using it on your face. It is worth doing with anything new, and especially if your skin tends to react.

This page is general information about how products are applied. It is not advice about your skin, and nothing here describes what any product does. If your skin reacts to something, stop using it.