The order things go on

Layering advice is usually given as a law: thinnest to thickest, water before oil. It is a good rule, and like most good rules it is a summary of something more specific.

What you are really doing is making sure each formula meets skin in the state it was designed for. An essence is meant to meet damp skin. A sunscreen is meant to meet skin that has stopped moving. A retinol alternative is meant to meet skin that is dry, because dryness slows its delivery and that is the point.

So: cleanse, then press the essence into skin still wet from the tap. Serums next, on skin that has stopped feeling damp. Moisturiser. In the morning, sunscreen last, and more of it than feels reasonable.