My FIRST Brand PR Package! Good Molecules Skincare Unboxing & Honest Review 💌I’m 40-Something and I Just Learned What Order Skincare Goes In. Don’t Laugh. Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products I’ve actually used and would put on my own face. I started using Good Molecules six months ago. Then I did something I’d never done before. I emailed a brand and asked if they’d send me samples. A week later, a box showed up on my doorstep. A big one. I genuinely thought I’d get one product. Maybe two. I opened it and laughed out loud. Because inside was not a sample. Inside was an entire beginner skin care routine, in order, numbered, ready to go. Let me tell you why that box mattered more than it should have. The part nobody tells you about starting skincare I’m in my 40s now. I only got serious about my skin recently. When I was 18, people told me to take care of my skin. I did not listen. Now I’m noticing things. Fine lines. Puffiness in the mornings. Dry streaks across my cheeks that show up out of nowhere. And when I finally decided to fix it, I hit a wall every beginner hits. What order do I use these in? Do I do the serum first? The moisturizer first? Does the retinol go before or after the eye cream? Am I supposed to wait between layers, or just pile it on? I spent weeks Googling. I still got it wrong. That’s the dirty secret of the beginner skin care routine conversation. Everyone tells you what to buy. Almost nobody tells you what order, and the order is the entire point. The thing Good Molecules does that changed everything for me Every box has a step number on it. Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. That’s it. That’s the whole feature. And it’s the single most useful thing I’ve found as someone new to all of this, because it removes the guesswork entirely. You don’t have to remember a rule. You just read the box. If you’re building your first skin care routine for beginners, this matters more than any ingredient list. A $10 serum used in the wrong order does less than a $10 serum used right. Here’s the exact routine, step by step, so you can copy it. The 6-step routine, in the order it actually goes Step Product When The one thing to remember 1 Hydrating Facial Cleansing Gel AM + PM Lather on wet skin, rinse, pat dry 2 Toner AM + PM Cotton pad or palms, press it in 3 Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel AM Pat outward, never rub 4 Hyaluronic Acid Serum AM + PM Apply to damp skin, let it absorb fully 5 Gentle Retinol Cream PM, 3–4x a week Start slow. Stop if you get sensitive 6 Lightweight Daily Moisturizer AM + PM A little goes a long way Now the details that actually matter. Step 1: Hydrating Facial Cleansing Gel Dispense a small amount into your palms. Massage onto a wet face to create a light lather. Rinse. Pat dry. That’s the whole instruction, and it’s step one for a reason. Cleanse first, always. Everything else is built on clean skin. One tip from my own routine: I switched to an African net sponge with my daily cleanser and it has been a game changer for exfoliation and actually getting my face clean. But it does leave me with dry streaks sometimes. Which is exactly why step six exists. → Grab the Hydrating Facial Cleansing Gel here (affiliate link) Step 2: Toner Dispense onto a cotton pad and gently swab over clean skin. You can also pour it into your palms and press it in. Daily use is fine. No drama, no burn, no sting. If your toner is burning, that toner is not for beginners. → See the toner here (affiliate link) Step 3: Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel Apply a small amount around the eyes. Gently massage outward. Lightly pat until fully absorbed. Daily. And yes, it goes under makeup. Here’s why I was excited about this one. Some mornings I wake up with genuinely puffy eyes. Not “a little tired” puffy. Puffy puffy. And I can feel it before I even look in the mirror. This is the step I reach for on those mornings. (Fun fact: I used to drink yerba mate. It gave me heartburn, so I stopped. But on my eyes? No heartburn. Just depuffing.) Just don’t get it in your eyeballs. → Check out the Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel (affiliate link) Step 4: Hyaluronic Acid Serum A few drops, morning and night. Let it fully absorb before you apply anything else. This is the workhorse of a beginner skincare routine. Hyaluronic acid for beginners is basically the safest, most forgiving place to start, which is why almost every starter routine includes it. The tip that doubles its performance: apply it to slightly damp skin, then let it sit before your next layer. Not dripping wet. Just not bone dry. → Get the Hyaluronic Acid Serum here (affiliate link) Step 5: Gentle Retinol Cream This is the one to respect. Massage onto skin after your serums. Use three to four times a week, at night. Not every night. Not right away. The box tells you plainly: may heighten skin sensitivity. Discontinue if your skin becomes very sensitive. That warning is not fine print. Retinol for beginners is where people wreck their skin barrier, because they get impatient and go nightly from day one. Don’t. Start at two nights a week. Build up. And wear sunscreen, every single morning, because retinol makes your skin more sun-sensitive. It softens the appearance of fine lines. Give it weeks, not days. → See the Gentle Retinol Cream here (affiliate link) Step 6: Lightweight Daily Moisturizer Gently massage onto your skin. Let it fully absorb before applying anything else. Daily use. Not thick. Not greasy. A little goes a long way, so one tube lasts. And the finish? My skin looked like it came to life. There’s a slight shine to it, the good kind, the hydrated kind. Also worth saying: none of these products have a strong scent. If fragrance in skincare gives you a headache or irritates your skin, this whole line is a safe bet. → Grab the Lightweight Daily Moisturizer here (affiliate link) 5 beginner mistakes to skip (learn from mine) 1. Buying ten products before you know the order. Order beats quantity. Always. 2. Starting retinol nightly. Start 2x a week. Build up over a month. 3. Applying hyaluronic acid to dry skin. Damp skin. Every time. 4. Skipping sunscreen because nothing in the routine mentions it. Retinol without SPF is a net loss. Add it as your real last step every morning. 5. Switching everything at once. If your skin reacts, you’ll have no idea what caused it. Change one thing at a time. My honest verdict Six months in, one box. I’m not going to tell you this is the most luxurious skincare on earth. It isn’t trying to be. What it is: an affordable skincare routine that tells you exactly what to do, in exactly what order, with no guesswork. For someone starting from zero in their 40s, that’s worth more than a shelf full of expensive bottles I’d use wrong. I’m glad these are on my skin care journey. I’m glad they made it this easy. Clean face. Numbered steps. No more Googling at 11pm. Ready to stop guessing? If you’ve been meaning to start a skin care routine and you keep putting it off because it feels complicated, start here. Start with the steps. Every product below is linked, in the exact order you’d use it: Step 1 → Hydrating Facial Cleansing Gel Step 2 → Toner Step 3 → Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel Step 4 → Hyaluronic Acid Serum Step 5 → Gentle Retinol Cream Step 6 → Lightweight Daily Moisturizer Or grab the whole routine and skip the decisions entirely. → Shop the full Good Molecules lineup here Your skin in ten years is being decided by what you do tonight. → Start with step one Affiliate Disclosure (FTC 16 CFR Part 255): I participate in affiliate programs, which means I may earn a commission when you click a link on this page and make a purchase — at no additional cost to you. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own, based on six months of personal use. This page is not sponsored unless explicitly stated, and all product recommendations reflect my honest experience. Good Molecules did send me products at no cost; that did not influence my review, and I was not paid to write it. Not medical advice. Patch test new products, introduce one at a time, and consult a dermatologist if you have a skin condition or reaction.