According to an article on Allure, there is a window of three seconds after cleansing that women have to apply their first skincare product. Why so? Well, it would seem that damp skin is more receptive to the active ingredients housed in that pricey bottle of serum or cream than dry skin. Tricks to Optimize Your Skincare Routine
We called on skincare experts to find out whether this three-second rule stacks up. And, if it does, whether there any other timing factors we should be factoring in when applying product to get optimal results from our skincare routine. Here's what the experts had to say.
“Damp skin is more permeable than dry skin,” says facialist Debbie Thomas. “So technically you should get up to 10 times better absorption of your products if applied directly after cleansing. You don’t want it to be wet, but my advice is to apply your products within a minute of cleansing or washing your skin.”
Rabbia Aslam, clinical director at HC MedSpa, suggests using a damp face cloth to remove excess cleanser and water from the face before applying your products to a damp face. “Similar to a sponge, dry skin will hold some moisture, however, if the sponge (or in this case your skin) is damp, it will absorb and retain even more liquid.”
“While the skin is damp, it is best to then apply serums, which generally contain a higher concentration of actives,” adds aesthetic doctor Maryam Zamani.
Make Your Skin Ever More Receptive
If damp skin is more receptive to skincare ingredients, it would make sense that exfoliated skin would be more open too, right? “An exfoliator will remove the barrier and buildup of dead skin cells, therefore any skincare applied to the surface will penetrate deeper into the layers than if an exfoliator was not used,” says Aslam.
To reap the benefits daily, Use a daily facial brush. A soft silicone brush act as a light exfoliator that will deep clean and softly exfoliate your face. LUCE
But it’s not just that the exfoliator clears the way; it actually changes the skin to make it more receptive to certain skin-boosting ingredients.