The rule is short and the reasoning behind it is worth understanding, because it tells you when the rule matters and when it does not.
The order
- Cleanse.
- Apply serum to clean skin.
- Wait until it has absorbed.
- Apply moisturizer.
- In the morning, finish with sunscreen.
Amplified Glow's own directions follow this. Its serums are directed for application to clean skin followed by moisturizer; its creams are directed for use alone or after a serum has absorbed.
Why lighter goes first
A cream leaves a more substantial layer on the skin surface, containing lipids that help limit water loss. Applying a lighter, water-based serum on top of that layer means the serum has to get through it.
The other way round, the serum goes onto clean skin and the cream follows, which also helps hold humectant ingredients in place — relevant for serums built around sodium hyaluronate, which is most of them. Our sodium hyaluronate page covers why a humectant benefits from something over the top.
How long to wait
Until the serum no longer feels wet. For most lightweight serums that is well under a minute.
Precise waiting times circulate widely and are mostly folklore. Amplified Glow does not specify one, and neither will we. Absorbed is the condition; the clock is not.
Applying this to the Amplified Glow range
The GHK-Cu + SNAP-8 serum and the GHK-Cu + SNAP-8 cream are designed as a pair — matching peptide disclosures, shared botanical blend, directions written for layering. The Copper Peptide Renewal Serum and Copper Peptide Renewal Cream pair the same way, both disclosing 0.1% GHK-Cu.
What Amplified Glow does not address is layering products from different lines, or combining its vitamin C serum with a peptide serum. We have not invented guidance for that — see vitamin C and copper peptide routine considerations.