How to Use Face Oil in Your Skincare Routine: Step by Step

Wondering how and when to use facial oils in your skincare routine? You’re not alone. We generally offer two different recommendations. You can choose your own adventure based on whether or not you’re using a serum:

1. If you are mixing serum and face oil, our recommendation is to mix face oil and serum together and apply after toning, and before moisturizing.

• Step 1: Cleansing: Our Pink Cloud Cleanser is gentle enough to remove makeup and impurities without stripping.

• Step 2: Masking: If you’re using a water-based serum that, unlike Prism, does not exfoliate the skin, apply a natural chemical or enzymatic mask like Prism 20% AHA + 5% BHA Exfoliating Glow Facial after the cleansing step.

• Step 3: Toning: Freshen your complexion with a daily toner like our Jasmine Green Tea Toner, giving your skin a boost of suppleness and hydration plus supportive antioxidants after cleansing.

• Step 4: Facial oil + serum: Apply a light, quick-absorbing face oil with ingredients that help to soothe the skin after masking, like the blue tansy oil in our Lapis Facial Oil. Try gently mixing Prism 12% AHA + 3% BHA Exfoliating Glow Serum with a few drops of facial oil and apply. 

• Step 5: Moisture: After your facial oil and serum mixture has had a moment to absorb, apply a nourishing daily moisturizer like Pink Cloud Soft Moisture Cream and a mineral SPF during the day.

Skip the exfoliating serum step on days when you’re using an exfoliating mask like Prism 20% AHA + 5% BHA Exfoliating Glow Facial. The skin needs time to recover after having been exfoliated, so using additional exfoliating ingredients too soon after resurfacing can cause irritation and oil overproduction. 

2. On masking or no-serum days, we recommend applying face oil as the last step in your routine:

• Step 1: Cleansing: Wash your complexion with a gentle cleanser like our Pink Clay Cleansing Bar, which doesn’t overstrip the skin before masking.

• Step 2: Masking: Apply an exfoliating mask such as our Blue Tansy Resurfacing Clarity Mask, which is gentle enough to use more than once per week.

• Step 3: Toning: Rehydrate and soften your skin after masking with our Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist’s blend of nourishing Coconut Water and softening Hyaluronic Acid ingredients.

• Step 4: Moisture: Apply a clarifying daily moisturizer like Aquarius Pore Purifying Clarify Cream, after toning to provide balanced hydration.

• Step 5: Sunscreen: Apply an all-natural mineral SPF (during the day)

• Step 6: Facial oil: Apply any face oil after completing all of these steps for glowing moisture that lasts all day. Lapis Face Oil is lightweight and oil-controlling, for clearer, more radiant skin over time.

At the end of the day, what matters is how your skincare routine works for your unique skin. Feel free to mix and match Herbivore serums with any of the Herbivore face oils, and the same applies to face oils and moisturizers. Mix your favorites to find your own perfect potion.

SHOP THE STORY:

Using a face oil with a serum:

Pink Cloud Cleanser

Jasmine Green Tea Toner

Lapis Face Oil with Prism 12% AHA + 3% BHA Exfoliating Glow Serum

Pink Cloud Soft Moisture Cream

Using face oil with a mask or without a serum:

Pink Clay Cleansing Bar

Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist

Blue Tansy Resurfacing Clarity Mask or Prism 20% AHA + 5% BHA Exfoliating Glow Facial

Aquarius Pore Purifying Clarity Cream

Lapis Face Oil