One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is what order you guys should be using our products. In this post, I’m going to provide you with some basic skincare routines to choose from on a daily basis (based on your skin needs).
It’s important to note that we don’t believe your skincare routine and steps have to or should stay the same every AM and every PM. Depending on what state your skin is in, it may require different steps. One week, you may be feeling extra dry if you haven’t been drinking as much water or have been stuck in airplanes traveling. Or, one week, your skin may be feeling extra dull and tired if you haven’t been sleeping as much. It’s totally normal for your skin to NOT stay the same consistently. As such, you and your skincare routine should be flexible.
Skincare should be personalized to everyone’s specific needs. While this post and I am always here for you to provide guidance, our hope is that you’ll learn how your skin works with each of our products and eventually create your own routine.
That being said, there is such a thing called our basic skincare steps. These are:
- CLEANSING
- TREATING (OPTIONAL)
- TONING
- MOISTURIZING
These are the basic steps to our skincare routines, no matter what skin type.
So let’s dive into the options in our line for each one of these steps.
CLEANSING
There are two methods in which I use our cleansing oil:
- Pump onto a cotton pad, wipe over face. You can even add two-three sprays of our Organic Facial Rosewater Toner to help hydrate and spread the cleanser. (I use this method when I’m wearing makeup as a makeup remover…no other cleanser is necessary after removing your makeup with this oil)
- Massage oil directly onto face for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then rinse off with warm water or a soft cloth (I use this method mostly in the morning)
I use this around 3x a week to make sure I don’t have any dead skin clogging my pores or preventing my skin from absorbing all the nutrients from my moisturizers! It also helps to help clear out some blackheads while not scrubbing away too much or causing any additional inflammation or irritation.
Good Ol’ Water
I use water to cleanse my face sometimes in the morning (usually when I’m feeling lazy or in a hurry)! You don’t always have to use a cleanser, water in the morning is perfectly ok!
TREATING
Since I am usually in a rush in the morning, I almost always save my mask/treatments for my PM routine. However, it’s totally ok to do this in the morning too if you have time! I also love doing the treatments before a fun night out so my skin is super glowy.
I use the mask at least twice a week. It’s a good week when I’ve done it 3-4x! This mask is so clean that it’s ok to use as much as you’d like.
Should you use it after cleansing or before? After! Your face should be already clean…don’t put the mask over makeup or anything! That would defeat the purpose.
This mask is fun because you can make it work based on your needs and totally open to variation.
Here are some of the options:
- Creating a thicker or thinner mask: Depending on how much water you add to your chlorophyll mix, you can decide whether you want a thicker or thinner mask. If you add more water, it’ll be a thinner mask. If you add less water, you’ll create a thicker mask. If I’m really breaking out, I’ll apply a thicker paste to my face. You can also just apply a thicker mask to certain areas of your face (like my chin/cheeks if I had a breakout there). If my skin is feeling dry, I’ll choose to add more water so the mask is thinner. That way, I’ll still be able to move my face and it won’t feel as tight. The mask will feel tighter on dry skin so just add more water if it feels too tight!
- Adding water or something else: The chlorophyll mask is meant to be a “just-add-water” mask. However, I love creating other mixtures by adding in other non-water options. Sometimes, I’ll add in coconut milk if I’ve been traveling and my skin is dry (coconut milk is an amazing softening and moisturizing ingredient). Other options? Vinegar, rosewater toner (duh), our cleansing oil, or our facial repair serum. You can totally get creative with our chlorophyll mask. Sometimes, I’ll add in a pump of our cleansing oil AND a few spritz of our rosewater toner. Adding in oils is amazing for when your skin is feeling dry!
Organic Turmeric Spot Treatment
You can apply our spot treatment to breakouts or uneven pigment areas. I leave it on anywhere between 20 minutes to a couple hours! Many of you have asked me if you can leave it on overnight. Yes, you can! However, it will stain pillows so I choose not to take that risk. As far as your skin goes, the Turmeric Spot Treatment will not stain your skin no matter how long you apply it! There’s no downside to keeping it on longer.
TONING
The toner is a step that I do not skip. It is a non-negotiable in my skincare routine. It not only relaxes my skin, prepares it for moisture, but it also helps to clean and provide a slight astringent. It’s as calming as it is functional, especially for my breakout prone and combination type of skin. Since it helps with balancing the pH levels of our skin, that means that it helps with “normalizing” both dry and oily skin. For dry skin, it helps seal in more moisture. For oily skin, it helps balance excess sebum production that may be leading to blackheads or inflamed cysts.
Organic Rosewater Facial Toner
Our Rosewater Facial Toner is the perfect gentle toner to use post-cleansing, to set makeup, or any time that your skin needs an instant refresh throughout the day. Made with pure rose hydrosol, this toner helps to clean, balance, and moisturize the skin.
Two options on how to use the toner:
- Spray onto a cotton pad, wipe over face (I use this method 90% of the time)
- Spray directly onto face (I do this mostly to set my makeup or when I need a mid-day refresh)
The Raspberry Vinegar Toner is great at removing excess oil, especially on skin that tends to be oily or acne prone! The slightly acidic pH level of the Raspberry Vinegar Toner helps to lower high pH levels of the skin, that can be contributing to an increase in sebum production, which could lead to acne.
Use this toner on a cotton pad, and gently dab all over face 1-2x per day, preferably before moisturizing.
MOISTURIZING
You guys know how much I moisturize my skin. At the end, this is the most important part of your skincare routine! We have five options for our moisturizers: our Organic Facial Repair Serum, Organic Chia Facial Oil, Organic Matcha Face Moisturizer, Raspberry Jasmine All-Over Oil, and our newest moisturizer, our Golden Elixir. Here’s why and when I use each one.
In the AM:
Both of our AM moisturizer options absorb into your skin super quickly. That’s why I love and use them both in the morning. However, I do use either the chia oil or facial repair serum for different purposes. You can see which describes what you’re looking to address the most and make a decision for which one you should use (or maybe it’s both, like me)!
Our Golden Elixir is our most lightweight, absorbent moisturizer yet. Suitable for all skin types, including oily and acne prone, this moisturizer has a superiorly unique omega-3 composition. It is rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and E, which help to fight free radical production, skin stressors, and inflammation.
Raspberry Jasmine All-Over Oil
The Raspberry Jasmine Oil is another one of our most absorbable oils! It uses unprocessed raspberry seed and baobab to help promote collagen production and skin turnover! This oil also helps to create a stronger skin barrier while combating free radical and day-to-day environmental damage. Perfect for soothing inflammation of all skin types!
The Chia Oil is my favorite moisturizer when my skin is feeling dull or thin. Specifically, it is packed with powerful and concentrated omegas that help protect skin from free radical damage while hydrating. For anti-aging efforts, it’s my go-to moisturizer.
Another reason I use the chia oil is if I’m experiencing any hormonal breakouts or if I’m feeling oily. The Chia Oil has vitamin B3 and zinc, which help to calm oil production and ward off breakouts.
While the repair serum is also good for anti-aging, I use this specifically when I’m looking to work on my texture, tone, and pigmentation. If I’m dealing with acne scars, breakouts, or any underlying redness, this is the moisturizer I choose. It helps with creating softer skin that also appears more smooth, even, and supple.
In the PM (or AM and PM for dry skin):
Organic Matcha Face Moisturizer
The Matcha Face Moisturizer is a deep hydrator. It’s thicker than our repair serum or chia oil, so that’s why I save it for the night time! I use this specifically because it helps to rejuvenate and repair my skin overnight. I wake up in the morning with reduced pigmentation issues and glowing skin. Because I deal with old and new acne scars, this is the moisturizer I use to combat these every day. At the same time, because it is a deeper oil moisturizer, if I’m in the middle of a hormonal breakout, I usually reach for the chia oil or repair serum at night because they are more lightweight.
For people with dry skin, this may work extremely well for you as both an AM and PM moisturizer. I have combination skin so I like switching it up between our moisturizers.
Other notes about our moisturizers:
-While I love the chia oil and repair serum for the morning, they can also be used at night! You don’t have to stick to the way I use things if it works differently for you. And there are many times when I use these day and night.
-I love mixing a few sprays of our toner into our moisturizer oils. I’ll put a few drops of our chia oil or repair serum into my palm, spray the toner in the palm 1-2 times, then mix the two and massage it onto my face! The combination of the toner and oil is amazing not only for the scent but also for the absorbency into our skin. You can even mix our toner into our matcha face moisturizer (in your palm) too!
-If you have never used oils before, I would recommend trying our repair serum or chia oil at night first! Use only a pea size amount over your face, and slowly incorporate it into your AM routine as your skin adjusts. The time it takes for you to adjust to oils could depend, but until then, stick with them at night if you are nervous!
OTHER TREATMENTS
MYMATCHA All-Over Moisture Stick
You know how I like to use this like 13095130 times per day. In the morning and night, I apply this after I put on my moisturizer. In the middle of the day, I put it right under my eyes and sometimes over my makeup. There may be times where the makeup comes onto the stick, so I just wipe that right off – no biggie. I’ll just blend the MYMATCHA and the makeup under my eyes slightly together by padding it in.
MACABEET Tinted Moisture Stick
Use this whenever you want! If I’m wearing makeup, I’ll put this right over it.
In the AM, it’s usually my first “makeup” step after I’m done with my skincare routine. It doesn’t really matter what step you put this on. At night, I usually apply this after cleansing and moisturizing too.
I usually use this at night, especially to take off my eye makeup. I put it on a cotton pad and then wipe my eye makeup off. This is a better oil for taking off eye makeup than our cleansing oil, because the grapeseed oil is a natural astringent, which helps to firm up this area.
So now that we’ve talked about all the different products, here are some skincare routine options that you can follow! I’ve provided many different options for the AM and PM because that is truly what I use depending on how I’m feeling. I like to keep things interesting!
SKINCARE ROUTINE OPTIONS
| Various AM Options | ||||
| 1) Water Rinse | 1) Exfoliator | 1) Cleansing Oil massaged onto face, rinse off with water | 1) Exfoliator | 1) Water Rinse |
| 2) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 2) Rosewater toner on cotton pad |
| 3) Chia Oil, Golden Elixir or Facial Repair | 3) Chia Oil, Golden Elixir or Facial Repair | 3) Chia Oil, Golden Elixir or Facial Repair | 3) Matcha Face Moisturizer | 3) Matcha Face Moisturizer |
| 4) MYMATCHA, MACABEET, brow balm | 4) MYMATCHA, MACABEET, brow balm | 4) MYMATCHA, MACABEET, brow balm | 4) MYMATCHA, MACABEET, brow balm | 4) MYMATCHA, MACABEET, brow balm |
| *Perfect for days when I’m in a rush! | *You can exfoliate morning or night! I do it 3x a week at least. | *If I’m feeling dry, I love using the cleansing oil in the morning. | *Matcha Face in the AM is great for persistently dry skin or mature skin. | *Matcha Face in the AM is great for persistently dry skin or mature skin. |
And for the night…
| Various PM Options | ||||
| 1) Take Makeup off with Cleansing Oil on cotton pad | 1) Exfoliator | 1) Take Makeup off with Cleansing Oil on cotton pad | 1) Take Makeup off with Cleansing Oil on cotton pad | 1) Exfoliator |
| 2) Take off eye makeup using eye firming oil | 2) Take off eye makeup using eye firming oil | 2) Take off eye makeup using eye firming oil | 2) Take off eye makeup using eye firming oil | 2) Take off eye makeup using eye firming oil |
| 3) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 3) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 3) Chlorophyll Mask | 3) Turmeric Spot Treatment | 3) Chlorophyll Mask |
| 4) Matcha Face Moisturizer | 4) Chia Oil, Golden Elixir or Facial Repair | 4) Rinse off chlorophyll mask with water | 4) Rosewater Toner on cotton pad to wipe off turmeric spot treatment | 4) Rinse off chlorophyll mask with water |
| 5) MYMATCHA and brow balm | 5) MYMATCHA and brow balm | 5) Rosewater toner on cotton pad | 5) Matcha Face Moisturizer | 5) Chia Oil, Golden Elixir or Facial Repair |
| 6) Matcha Face Moisturizer | 6) MYMATCHA and brow balm | 6) MYMATCHA and brow balm | ||
| 7) MYMATCHA and brow balm | ||||
| *This is my “staple” night time routine | *You can exfoliate morning or night! I do it 3x a week at least. | *I apply the chlorophyll mask anywhere between 2-4x a week. |
*I use the turmeric spot treatment on specific breakouts or scars. You can also use this after using the chlorophyll mask too. | *None of our products don’t work with each other because of specific ingredients or anything. Feel free to mix and match! |
It’s important to note that there are so many more and less options! You don’t have to follow all these steps, you can add in other products, or choose not to use all the products I do. This is just my recommendations and they are FLEXIBLE. No “steps” in our skincare routines have to be set in stone. Our skin is ever-changing and requires a constant and new evaluation for what it requires that day or that morning. The above are options that I’ve found are best for me (and many of our customers who have provided feedback).
I hope you’ve found this post helpful, and of course I’m always around on Instagram DM or our team is extremely responsive every day to your questions (just email info@cocokind.com!).
Thank you so much for reading!
-Priscilla
