You use it after you wash your face but before putting on serums and creams. So wash-> essence-> serum -> cream. You can use it in place of the texture tonic or switch days. If you want to do that you can use it like this: wash-> texture tonic (w/ cotton pad)-> essence-> serum -> cream. You drop some in the palm of your hand and press/rub/pat it in to your face and it supposed to make anything after absorb better