Could you mix all of your facial morning products in one bottle to save application time?

Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D.Could you mix all of your facial morning products in one bottle to save application time?

It might be tempting in our multi-tasking world to mix all of your morning skin care products in one bottle and all of your evening skin care products in another.  You could apply them all at once saving precious time.  This is not a good idea!  Every skin care active ingredient is placed in an optimized vehicle to maintain its stability over time.  The pH of the vehicle is carefully selected.  For example, vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, must be kept at an acidic pH in order remain active.  Vitamin C placed in an alkaline environment would no longer be functional vitamin C.  Many different ingredients require different pH levels and a given product can only be formulated at one pH.  This is one reason skin care products cannot be combined.  A second reason is that certain active skin care ingredients might not be compatible with certain preservatives.  It is best to leave each skin care product in its original packaging designed to optimize product performance.

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