Routine
A Korean routine without the ten steps
A routine built on four product types. Everything else is optional.
Published July 28, 2026 · 4 min read
The ten-step routine is a marketing frame more than a tradition. A routine can have four products as easily as fourteen.
Morning: cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen
In the morning: a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen. If you only have time for one step, make it the sunscreen.
Evening: cleanser, moisturizer
In the evening, cleansing can be more thorough, especially if you wear sunscreen or makeup. Then a moisturizer. Serums and acids go in between, if you use them.
When to add something
Add one product at a time and give it two weeks. If you add three products on the same day and something stings, you no longer know which one it was.
The order is the same every time: thinnest first, thickest last. Cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, and in the morning, sunscreen on top. Check as you go that your products do not overlap: two different acid products one after the other are one acid step, not two.
