How to build a skincare routine for your skin type
Find your skin type with a half-hour test at the sink, then build a short routine on it: a cleanser and moisturizer to suit, sunscreen every morning, and new products one at a time.
Wash your face, wait half an hour and read how it feels: tight means dry, shiny means oily, both means combination, and redness or stinging points to sensitive skin. Build the routine on that answer, with a cleanser and moisturizer to suit it, sunscreen every morning and each new product tested on your inner arm for seven to 10 days before it goes on your face.
Contents
A skincare routine that suits you is usually shorter than your bathroom shelf suggests. Most skin is well served by three steps: a cleanser that leaves it comfortable, a moisturizer of the right weight and sunscreen every morning. What makes the routine work is choosing each product for the skin you actually have, and you can find that out at the sink in half an hour. This guide takes you from that test to a routine you can keep, and shows you how to add something new without guessing.
Read your skin first
Your skin type describes how much oil your skin makes and how easily it reacts. It decides most of what follows: the texture of your cleanser, the weight of your moisturizer and how slowly you bring in anything new. The Cleveland Clinic’s guide to skin types names five: dry, oily, combination, normal and sensitive. You can read yours at home.
The half-hour test
Wash your face with a gentle cleanser, pat it dry and put nothing on it. Wait 30 minutes, out of the steam of the bathroom, then look at your skin by a window and notice how it feels. If you like, press a blotting paper to your forehead, nose and cheeks to see where it picks up oil. The paper is optional: how your skin looks and feels after half an hour tells you most of what you need.
What the results mean
- Dry: your skin feels tight and may look dull or a little flaky.
- Oily: a shine has come back across your face, and your pores look more visible.
- Combination: your forehead, nose and chin shine while your cheeks feel tight.
- Normal: your skin feels comfortable, neither tight nor shiny.
- Sensitive: you notice redness, stinging, burning or itching. Sensitivity can come with any of the other four types, so note both.
Three steps, morning and night
In the morning, cleanse, moisturize and finish with sunscreen. At night, cleanse to take off the day’s sunscreen and makeup, then moisturize. That is the whole routine until you have a reason to add to it, and keeping it this small for the first few weeks shows you how your skin behaves with the basics.
For the cleanse, wet your face with lukewarm water, work a gentle cleanser in with your fingertips rather than a washcloth or brush, rinse, and pat dry with a soft towel. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) suggests washing no more than twice a day, plus after sweating, and warns against scrubbing.
For sunscreen, the AAD recommends a broad-spectrum formula with an SPF of 30 or higher. Use at least a teaspoon for your face, about enough to cover the length of your index and middle fingers, and put it on about 15 minutes before you go out. Outdoors, add a fresh coat every two hours and straight after swimming or sweating. Dermstore sorts its face sunscreens into mineral, chemical and tinted, so you can start from the kind you already like wearing.
Match each step to your skin type
Once you know your type, choose the texture of each product to suit it. The table is a starting point; your skin has the last word.
| Skin type | Cleanser | Moisturizer |
|---|---|---|
| Dry | A cream, milk or balm cleanser | A rich cream |
| Oily | A gel or light foaming cleanser | A light gel or an oil-free lotion |
| Combination | A gentle gel cleanser | A light lotion, with cream on dry patches |
| Normal | Any gentle cleanser you like using | A lotion, a little richer in winter |
| Sensitive | A fragrance-free cream cleanser | A fragrance-free cream with few ingredients |
Texture tells you more than the words on the front of the box. To compare, browse Ulta Beauty’s cleansers and Dermstore’s moisturizers, and read the ingredient list before you buy. Dermstore also groups its moisturizers by skin type, which saves scrolling.
Add one new product at a time
Once the three steps are a habit, you may want a serum or cream built around one ingredient, such as vitamin C, niacinamide, retinol or an exfoliating acid. Bring in one at a time, and test each before it goes on your face. The AAD’s guide to testing skin care products sets out a simple method:
- Choose a spot about the size of a quarter where the product will not be rubbed or washed away, such as the underside of your arm or the bend of your elbow.
- Apply the amount you would normally use, twice a day.
- Keep going for seven to 10 days. For a cleanser, leave it on for five minutes, or as long as the instructions say, then rinse.
- Watch for redness, itching or swelling. If the spot stays calm, the product can go on your face.
- If the spot reacts, wash the product off gently and stop using it. If the reaction is severe and does not improve, see a dermatologist.
If fragrance turns out to be the trouble, the AAD suggests choosing products labeled fragrance-free, and taking care with those labeled unscented, which may still contain fragrance ingredients.
Tip: change one thing at a time. If you start a new cleanser and a new serum in the same week and your skin objects, you will not know which one to set aside.
Layer from thin to thick
When a step has more than one product, put them on in order of texture, thinnest first: watery serums, then lotions, then creams. A thin serum spreads easily on bare skin but slides around on top of a cream. Give each layer a minute to settle, and press it in with your fingertips rather than rubbing.
In the morning, sunscreen is the last skincare step, and makeup goes over it once it has set. Keep that layer sheer too. A skin tint, with a dab of concealer only where you want it, is enough for most days; if your freckles still show, the coat is thin enough. The Makeup section covers skin tints, concealer and what goes on top.
Adjust with the seasons
Your skin type is not fixed. The Cleveland Clinic notes that it can change over the course of your life and from one season to the next, so skin that is combination in August can feel dry by January. When your routine stops feeling right, because your skin is tight after washing or shiny by midmorning, repeat the half-hour test and change one product, usually the moisturizer, before anything else.
Keep a note of what you changed and when. A short routine is also easier to read: with three products on the shelf, you can see which one your skin is answering.
Questions
How many products does a skincare routine need?
Three cover most skin: a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer of the right weight for your skin type and, in the morning, a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. Add anything else one product at a time, once those three are a habit.
Can my skin type change?
Yes. Skin type can change over the years and with the seasons, so skin that is combination in summer may feel dry in winter. When your routine stops feeling right, repeat the half-hour test and adjust the moisturizer first.
What order do skincare products go on?
Thinnest to thickest: cleanser, then any serum, then moisturizer, with sunscreen last in the morning. Give each layer a minute to settle, and put on makeup only once the sunscreen has set.
Sources
- What Is My Skin Type and Why Does It Matter?, Cleveland Clinic
- Face washing 101, American Academy of Dermatology
- How to apply sunscreen, American Academy of Dermatology