How to Layer Your Skincare
Layering formulas is a way to care for your skin with intuition and care. Understanding how to layer your skincare is all about giving the skin the nourishment it needs, in the right order, so that each step works in harmony and encourages balance for a radiant complexion.
Layering for Optimal Results
When layering skincare products, the order is key to ensuring that each formula delivers full benefit to skin. Tammy’s rule of thumb is to start with deeply nourishing treatment serums—Quintessential Serum or Plant Milk Serum—which are designed to absorb deeply and deliver potent nutrients and active ingredients directly to the skin. These serums provide a foundation of hydration, calming, and replenishing the skin from within.
Once the serum has been fully absorbed, follow with a moisturizing crème to seal in all the benefits and provide an extra layer of protection. Whether it’s Intensive Repair Balm, Celestial Rose Crème, or another of Tammy's luxurious moisturizers, this secondary layer works synergistically with the serum to keep the skin hydrated, nourished, and shielded from environmental stressors.
When you layer skincare with this approach, each step is intentional, allowing the skin to fully benefit from the nourishing properties of the serum while the crème provides lasting protection and support.
How to Layer Your Skincare: Complete Guide and Tips
Our simple guide to layer your skincare products creates the foundation for a radiant, balanced complexion.
Each step serves a purpose, but not every step may be necessary at all times. Skin has changing needs, and listening to those needs is key. If at any point the routine feels overwhelming for the skin, it's perfectly fine to pare back. Less can be more, especially if skin is feeling sensitive, overstimulated or is an acne prone skin type—simplicity can bring balance and radiance.
Step 1: Cleanser
Cleansing is the first step in any skincare routine, preparing the skin to receive the goodness of the formulas that will follow.
For dry or sensitive skin, Cleansing Milk offers a gentle cleanse, soothing with Lavender and purifying with Fo-Ti, while preserving the skin’s natural barrier function.
For oily or combination skin, Purifying Cleansing Gel provides a refreshing cleanse, blending Spearmint and Alfalfa Leaf to gently purify without over-stripping, leaving the skin balanced and smooth.
Step 2: Gently Mist with a Floral Tonic
After cleansing, skin is primed and ready to absorb the nurturing benefits of tonic or floral water. Choose from one of Tammy’s three formulations.
Essential C is a vibrant blend incorporating Green Tea and uplifting citrus essences, like Bergamot, Orange Peel, and Grapefruit. A burst of fresh energy for the skin, this tonic brings a bright, refreshing start to the morning. It awakens the complexion gently, setting the tone for the day ahead.
Roman Chamomile Tonic is a calming floral water infused with the pure essence of Roman Chamomile. Known in traditional European herbalism, Chamomile helps soothe inflammation, restore hydration, and support skin healing by strengthening deep tissues. Perfect for sensitive or dry skin, this tonic gently balances and soothes.
Crafted with the precious essence of Rose, long cherished for its incredible ability to restore depleted skin, Bulgarian Rose Water reawakens the complexion with gentle, nurturing care. Its delicate yet powerful touch is especially loved by dehydrated, sensitive, or mature skin.
Step 3: Eye Care
Next focus on eye care with Awakening Eye Gel. This lightweight gel is designed to restore tone in the delicate eye area. Apply a small amount gently around the eyes, allowing it to fully absorb.
Step 4: Serum and Spot Treatment
With your choice of treatment serum, you bring concentrated activation to the skin. Each serum has a beautiful way of supporting the skin, whether it’s soothing, deeply hydrating, or focuses on spot treating for blemishes. The key is to tune in and listen to what the skin is asking for in this moment, letting your intuition guide you toward the treatment serum that will bring the most balance and nourishment.
Plant Milk Serum is a great, light day treatment for any skin type, but is ideal for stressed or sensitive skin. Incorporating a wealth of soothing and nutritive herbal remedies, the formula is a milky botanical emulsion, rather than an oil-based blend, providing a weightless layer of hydration that soothes and nurtures the skin without overwhelming it. Perfect for those with easily irritated complexions or those seeking a lighter, breathable texture.
Warm between the fingertips, then work in a circular motion. Start at the jawline and really let sensation be your guide, releasing any tension as you work across the cheekbones, around the orbitals of the eyes and lightly up along the forehead.
Quintessential Serum, with its rich blend of Frankincense and pure essence of Rose, and harmonizing nutritive oils is designed to deeply nourish and replenish. This ultra-concentrated, oil-based serum is a more intensively restorative treatment, particularly in the evening or during times when the skin needs extra care. Its rejuvenating qualities leave the complexion glowing with dewy luminescence. Press a drop or two of this award-winning elixir into the skin to bring out a revitalized radiance.
For skin prone to blemishes, Clarifying Dermagel is so helpful. This gentle, lightweight gel blends the natural antiseptic powers of Thyme, Tea Tree and Myrrh to soothe and treat breakouts, while hydrating Aloe keeps everything in balance. A small amount, softly applied to the affected areas in the morning and evening, helps bring clarity and harmony to the complexion.
Step 5: Moisturizing Crème of Choice
Choosing the right moisturizer is an essential part of caring for the skin, helping to meet its needs throughout the day and night. Tammy has lovingly crafted four beautiful options, each designed to support different skin types and conditions, ensuring the skin feels balanced and nourished.
Luminous Morning Crème is a perfect choice to welcome the day. This lightweight moisturizer clarifies and illuminates the complexion while providing daily protection. Uplifting citrus essences, like Neroli and Sweet Orange, revitalize skin and this choice is especially beneficial for oily, combination, or blemish-prone skin.
Spontaneous Recovery Crème is an abundantly rich moisturizer ideal for dry, depleted, and sensitive skin. Blended with treasured remedies such as Buriti Fruit Oil and Iris Root, it deeply rehydrates the complexion, penetrates like an oil, and protects the skin like a serum. This formula provides maximal protection from the elements—whether hot, dry, cold, or harsh—while sealing in moisture.
At night, or for those with extra-dry skin, apply a light layer of Intensive Repair Balm or Celestial Rose Crème.
Intensive Repair Balm is deeply hydrating, blending some of the most powerful regenerative botanicals like Helichrysum, White Lily, and Lotus. This balm is sumptuous, designed to restore and repair the skin overnight, leaving it soft, supple, and nourished.
Celestial Rose Crème combines the delicate scent of pure Rose with the soothing calm of Manuka Honey. This velvety balm melts into the skin, offering rich nourishment while creating a soft, protective barrier against environmental stressors. Ideal for rehydrating and de-stressing, it’s perfect for all skin types, including sensitive skin.
Step 6: Sunscreen for Long Days Outdoors
When planning to enjoy a day in the sun, wait 30 minutes after applying your favorite moisturizing crème and then add broad spectrum protection mineral-based sunscreen, SPF 30 or above. Mineral sunscreen is formulated with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
These ingredients sit on the skin rather than absorbing into it, offering a reflective barrier against UV light. This final step in your routine will amplify your skin’s protection against the sun.
Mindful Layering for Healthy Skin
Layering skin care products is a gentle, mindful ritual, where each step is taken with care and intention. When gently applied with a soft patting motion, skin isn’t pulled or stretched—especially around delicate areas like the eyes. Give each layer a moment to absorb fully before adding the next, ensuring the skin benefits from all the nourishing ingredients.
Layering is flexible, allowing for a nurturing skincare routine that adapts to the skin’s changing needs, whether responding to the moment or shifting with the seasons.
In warmer weather, lighter, breathable layers that hydrate without feeling heavy keep the skin fresh and balanced. As the air cools and moisture loss becomes more common, layering becomes even more essential—a nourishing serum followed by a rich moisturizer helps lock in hydration, keeping the skin soft, supple, and shielded from the elements.
As you apply skincare products do so with intention, honoring the skin's needs in that moment. Listen closely, apply gently, and let your skincare routine be a ritual of self-love, one that supports your natural radiance from the inside out.
