Short answer: after. Moisturizer first, sunscreen on top, makeup last.
The longer answer is more useful, because once you know why the order exists you can tell which of the other rules you have been handed are real and which are just tidy.
Why order matters at all
An SPF number is not a property of the liquid in the bottle. It is a measurement of how that liquid performs as a film on skin, tested at a standardized density set by the FDA. The number on the front assumes an even, unbroken layer at that density.
Everything about how you apply sunscreen is really about protecting that film. Anything that thins it, breaks it, or wipes it around lowers the protection you get below the number you paid for.
That is the whole argument for putting sunscreen on after moisturizer. Spread a moisturizer over sunscreen that has already set and you are dragging a finished film around and diluting it. Put the moisturizer down first, let it absorb, then lay the sunscreen on top of settled skin, and the film goes on intact.
The order, start to finish
- Cleanser.
- Any treatment or serum you use, thinnest to thickest.
- Moisturizer. Give it a minute to absorb rather than layering onto a wet surface.
- Sunscreen. Last step of skincare, and about 15 minutes before you go outside.
- Makeup, if you wear it.
The 15 minute gap comes from standard sunscreen label directions. It is on the back of most bottles, including ours, and it is there so the film has time to set before it meets sunlight.
Two mistakes that cost more than the order does
Mixing sunscreen into your moisturizer in your palm. This is common and it undoes the testing entirely. Blending the two cuts the density of the sunscreen film to something well below what was measured. If you want one layer instead of two, use a product formulated and tested as one, not two products stirred together on your hand.
Counting on the SPF in your foundation. The number on a foundation is real, but it was measured at the same standardized density as any other sunscreen, and nobody applies foundation that thickly. Treat it as a small bonus on top of sunscreen, not as the sunscreen.
The part the order question distracts from
How much you use and how often you reapply move the needle far more than sequence does.
The American Academy of Dermatology notes that many people apply only about 20 to 50 percent of the amount needed to reach the SPF on the label, and recommends about one ounce, roughly a shot glass, to cover all skin not covered by clothing. For the face on its own it asks for at least a teaspoon, about the amount that covers the length of your index and middle fingers. Outdoors, reapply approximately every two hours, and after swimming, sweating or towel drying.
A perfectly ordered routine applied at half density protects you less than a sloppy one applied properly. If you only fix one thing, fix the amount. We wrote a whole piece on how much sunscreen to actually use.
When the question stops applying
If your moisturizer is your sunscreen, there is no order to get wrong. One step, one film, applied at the density it was tested at, with nothing going on top of it to thin it out.
That is the case for a combined product, and it is the reason Creamed® is a broad spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen and moisturizer in one balm rather than a sunscreen you layer over something else. Non-nano zinc oxide 20% is the only sunscreen active, and the full formula is ten ingredients long.
Still deciding on the number itself? Here is what actually separates SPF 30 from SPF 50.
Related reading
- Sunscreen under makeup: how to layer it so it still works
- Can sunscreen replace your moisturizer?
- Travel size sunscreen and the TSA liquids rule
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology, Sunscreen FAQs
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Sunscreen: How to Help Protect Your Skin from the Sun