Skin Care

The Only Way Ever to Apply Your Skin Care Products

Your morning and evening guide to layering your serums, wrinkle-fighters and sunscreens

by Emily Woodruff | 2 COMMENTS

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A.M. Step 1: Get Your Face Really Clean Here's the deal: In order to get those hydrating, plumping and brightening products you pay pretty pennies for into your skin, you have to remove buildup first. "Even the best products won't work if there is debris or oil on the skin," says Craig Kraffert, M.D. and president of Korean skin care line Amarté. Cleanser is a must for those with oily skin, but dermatologist Dendy Engelman, M.D., says that those with extra dry skin can get by with misting their face with water or toner.

Kraffert recommends using a cleanser that gently exfoliates, like Amarté Exfoliating Cleanser.

SEE NEXT PAGE: A.M. Step 2: Treat

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What comes first? Forget the chicken and the egg, we're talking about our skin care products, like serum, moisturizer, face oil and sunscreen. A cabinet full of products to keep you blemish-, wrinkle- and sun spot-free means nothing if you don't know in what order to apply them. Instead of slapping them on and crossing our fingers, we conducted a skin care nerd-out session with board certified dermatologists Dendy Engelman, M.D., and Craig Kraffert, M.D., who is also the president of Korean skincare line Amarté. We grilled them to find out which products should be applied first, last and everywhere in between so that they can perform exactly as they're supposed to. Here, these derms school us in the exhaustive process of layering skin care.