Focused Guide · Routine order guide: oil versus serum, application sequence and substitution rules

Face Oil vs Serum: Order, Layering and When an Oil Seals the Routine

Face oil or serum first? The order of application explained with the oils and textures in this edit: water based serums before oils, the exceptions, and when an oil can stand in for a step.

No. 1

The Selection

4 listings that answer this brief.

No. 1

Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil

Best Oil That Covers a Serum Step

The glow oil built on squalane: an oil soluble vitamin C in a sugarcane squalane base, finished with Chios crystal oil and Damascus rose extract.

Because its vitamin C is oil soluble and rides in the oil itself, this is the one entry here that honestly does a serum's brightening job and the oil's sealing job in a single pass.

Suits

Normal, dry and dull looking skin that wants its brightening step and its oil step in one bottle, and readers new to face oils who want a light first oil with an active in it.

Skip if

You avoid fragrance character in leave on products. The Damascus rose extract gives this oil a noticeable rose scent, and the pure squalane entry below is the scent free route to the same base oil.

Size: 30 ml / 1 fl oz
Format: Dropper facial oil
Key ingredients: Squalane, vitamin C, Chios crystal oil, Damascus rose extract
Use: Press a few drops onto clean skin morning and night, after serum and moisturiser to seal, as directed on the listing
Formula note: Vegan, plant derived squalane base, as printed on the bottle

View on AmazonPremium listing verified: Amazon listing for the Biossance brand with manufacturer Biossance and manufacturer part number 3000641 as printed in the product details.

Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow amber orange 35 ml dropper bottle with gold collar and label reading Vitamin C + Turmeric Face Oil with THD Ascorbate

No. 2

Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow Vitamin C + Turmeric Face Oil

Best Treatment Oil in the Serum Slot

The statement glow oil: THD ascorbate and golden turmeric in cold pressed raspberry and evening primrose oils, in the orange bottle.

C.E.O. Glow is used by many owners where a vitamin C serum would sit, warmed and pressed in before moisturiser. It shows the substitution at its most deliberate: treatment first, seal second, in one bottle.

Suits

Dull, uneven looking skin that wants a visible morning glow from its oil step, and vitamin C users who prefer the comfortable, oil soluble form over a water based serum.

Skip if

You want a fragrance free, single job oil. Turmeric and the seed oils give C.E.O. Glow a warm, distinctive scent and an unmistakable orange tint on the skin at first application.

Size: 35 ml / 1.18 fl oz
Format: Dropper facial oil
Key ingredients: Vitamin C (THD ascorbate), golden turmeric, evening primrose oil, red raspberry seed oil
Use: Warm a few drops between palms and press onto clean skin morning or night, as directed on the listing
Vitamin C form: THD ascorbate, an oil soluble form of vitamin C, as printed on the bottle

View on AmazonPremium listing verified: Amazon listing data for ASIN B07P2QDSD3 (1.18 fl oz) with model name C.E.O. Glow Vitamin C and brand Sunday Riley as printed in the product details.

No. 3

Biossance 100% Squalane Oil

Best Pure Sealing Layer

The pure workhorse: one ingredient, sugarcane derived squalane, in a generous 100 ml pump for face, body and hair.

With no active at all, the pure squalane is the clearest illustration of the oil's real job: it goes last, over serums and moisturiser, and replaces nothing except a heavier occlusive.

Suits

Ingredient minimalists, sensitive and reactive skin, and anyone who wants one oil that seals a routine, softens body skin and smooths hair ends without scent or extras.

Skip if

You want an active doing visible extra work. This is a sealing and softening oil only, and the vitamin C rose oil above it is the same brand's treatment version.

Size: 100 ml / 3.3 fl oz
Format: Pump oil for face, body and hair
Key ingredients: 100 percent squalane, sugarcane derived
Use: Press over moisturiser as the sealing step; also used on body skin and hair ends, as directed on the listing
Ingredient count: One ingredient: squalane

View on AmazonPremium listing verified: Amazon.com listing under the Biossance brand with manufacturer Biossance and manufacturer part number 3000610 as printed in the product details.

No. 4

Elemis Superfood Facial Oil 15ml

Best Oil Over Moisturiser

The light green bottle in this edit: nine superfood oils led by broccoli seed and flax seed, with a finish dry skin can wear in the morning.

Its fast settling finish is the practical pick for the over cream position in a morning routine, the slot where heavier oils pill or shine.

Suits

Dry or lacklustre skin that wants a superfood oil step with a lighter, faster settling finish than the richer blends here, including as a morning oil over moisturiser.

Skip if

You buy oil by the millilitre. At 15 ml this is the smallest bottle in the edit, and high volume users will feel the cost per month.

Size: 15ml bottle
Format: Dropper facial oil
Key ingredients: Broccoli seed oil, flax seed oil, daikon radish, nine superfood oils in total
Use: Facial oil step over cleansed skin, before or instead of moisturizer at night
Range: Superfood

View on AmazonPremium listing verified: Amazon listing record for the Superfood Facial Oil; manufacturer part number 50161 and manufacturer ELEMIS printed in the listing specifications

No. 2

Questions, Answered

Can a face oil replace a serum entirely?

Only when the oil carries the active you were using the serum for, in a form designed for oil. The vitamin C oils here qualify for a brightening brief. A plain squalane or seed oil does not replace a water based treatment serum; it replaces the occlusive end of the routine, and the two steps solve different problems.

Should face oil go under or over moisturiser?

Over, in the standard order, because the oil's job is to slow water leaving the layers beneath. Some brands direct their lighter oils under moisturiser or mixed into it, and Herbivore's listing for Phoenix offers both positions. Mixing a drop into moisturiser is the forgiving middle route for beginners who find a separate oil layer hard to dose.

Widen the lens in the full Best Face Oils 2027 ranking, or return to the Face Oils hub.

No. ·

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