Trust us when we say that nothing divides a room full of beauty experts quite like a debate over how long to leave between each step of your skincare routine.

While some experts insist that formulas can be slapped on one after the other in a matter of seconds, others stand by the viewpoint that in order to get the most out of your products, you should wait a little while before applying the next step.

I, for one, thought I knew the basic rules when it came to skincare — making sure I wash my face properly by doing a double cleanse with a muslin cloth, always taking my makeup before bed, layering products from light to heavy and so on. A great foundation to start with before adding more steps.

But recently, TikTok and Instagram have been trying to convince me that I’ve been missing a key ingredient: time. Apparently, I haven’t been giving myself enough time in between each step of my routine to let the products sink in and do their thing.

In fact, apparently, by piling on each product moments after the last one, I might even be minimising their effect. Or so some say. But what’s the truth when it comes to how long to leave between each step of your skincare routine?

To get to the bottom of this issue once and for all, we reached out to a whole bunch of skincare experts to try and make some sense of it all. Read on to see what they had to say.

Meet the experts

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How long should you leave between each step of your skincare routine?

As dermatologist Dr Whitney Bowe explained in a video on TikTok, “there’s no exact science” but you should be waiting – at least in between some steps. “You don’t want to wait too long between cleansing and starting your skincare routine,” she wrote. “The longer you wait, the more water evaporates off the surface of your skin (trans epidermal water loss)” which can lead to dryness and disrupt your skin barrier.

So, what are the benefits of waiting between steps?

Are there any benefits to giving your products more time to sink in between steps? Essentially, it all comes down to allowing the product enough time to absorb into the skin. Dr Kaywaan Khan, medical doctor and aesthetician at Hannah London Medispa explains: “Risks of not leaving sufficient time for each product to absorb include pilling (when flaky balls form on the face) and dilution of the products used.” This can be particularly problematic if you’re applying makeup after your skincare routine, minimising your chance of a flawless base.

While it’s true that most experts agree with these comments, the issues come to down to how important of a lesson it really is. You see, while some experts insist you should leave anywhere between 30 seconds and 15 minutes between layers, others argue it’s far more important to just get the product on.