Facial oil first or second?

[LadyOfTheCanyon]

I have dry-ish dehydrated skin. In the summer my skin seems to miraculously 'even out' meaning I find I have to wear very little in the way of moisturiser, just serum but as soon as winter approaches I really have to ramp up the moisture.

My winter routine is normally:
Micellar water to get most of the crap off
Second cleanse ( hot cloth) with an oily cleanser
Acid tone
Serum
Moisturiser
Oil

My reasoning being that oil kind of 'seals' everything in. If you put oil on before moisturiser doesn't it stop it absorbing? I'm basing this on an oil-repels-water theory but I see that a lot of people put their oils on first and now I wonder if I'm doing it wrong.

What do you do and why?

Personally I'd skip the micellar water and oil cleanse first and then second cleanse with a cream cleanser using a hot cloth after each. (In the morning I jdon't cleanse at all, I just use a warm damp flannel to my face)

As for moisturiser I rarely if never use it. After I've double cleaned and exfoliated, I tone, then apply a serum followed by an oil. Once in a blue moon I use a moisturiser and it's always one with a SPF in it. This is always applied last. However in the summer I prefer to use a proper sunscreen for the face and anyway.

For as long as I can remember I've always been told moisturiser (if needed) goes on last. It's like a mackintosh and a final layer on top of everything else for protection!

As an aside I'd suggest that if your skin is noticeably different in the winter it's probably because it's dehydrated due to heating and you probably need to exfoliate more often too. Drinking more water will help and maybe turn down your central heating a notch too.

I would have thought the opposite- that the moisturiser locks the oil out. I use oil in the evening after acid toning and before moisturiser, and then serum before moisturiser in the morning.

I put oil last like you do, 'much prefer it that way

Thanks for your replies - I'm going to mix my routine up a bit and see what happens!

I go in order of viscosity.

Serum, oil, moisturiser.

My facialist told me to mix a few drops of my oil of choice in with my moisturiser rather than apply them separately. Might be worth a try?

The oil should go last, for the reasons you say.

If your skin is dry, I'd drop micellar water cleansing and just do an oil cleanse, or maybe a creamy hot cloth cleanser. There's always a lot of misconception about oil- some can be quite drying. Rosehip for example is useless for dry or dehydrated skin so that could be contributing to your dryness in winter.

Does your serum have hyaluronic acid? Or other plumpers?

I have dry skin and my current routine (and I am very pleased as my odd breakout of rosacea has vanished) used since September is:
Hot cloth cleanse with either Body Shop Chamomile butter or Superdrug Vit E
Acid Tone with Olay anti-wrinkle
Serum, alternate between Nip and Fab Dragon's Blood and Lift and Luminate. Love the latter
Moisturise am with Neal's Yard Frankincense and evening with L'occitane divine.

I have various oils which I occasionally use as a moisturiser after the Divine. Pure Argan is probably the best. Cheap as chips in a big bottle from Amazon. I have the Body Shop oils of life thingy, but it's nothing special apart from smelling nice. I read (on the Faces threads on here) that Rosehip etc is a young person's skin oil, helpful for keeping 20-30 something skin more elastic and less prone to wrinkles, but no holy grail once you're past 35.

When really dry I slop on a handful of Astral.

I'm currently sat with a faceful of Sisley black rose oil. I bloody love the stuff but I always use it straight onto the skin with nothing under it for maximum benefit. I may be hungover