Charlotte Palermino of Dieux Skin Reveals Some of Her Best Skin Secrets Yet

If you’re a beauty enthusiast, chances are you’ve already seen Dieux eye masks on your Instagram or Tik Tok feed. Behind the viral under-eye masks is Charlotte Palermino. The Dieux co-founder is a major trailblazer in the beauty and wellness world and has been making her mark as a leading voice and advocate for inclusive and transparent practices. With a strong background in journalism and a passion for challenging industry norms, Palermino has paved her own path in the ever-evolving landscape of beauty.

Palermino began her career as an editorial director and strategist, working at major organizations like Cosmo at Hearst and Snap Inc. where she launched and developed media partners locally and abroad, including prestigious titles like The New York Times, Washington Post, and Vogue, among others. During this time, she witnessed the lack of transparency within the beauty industry. This eventually led to the creation of Dieux, a skincare brand with an emphasis on sustainable packaging, results-driven formulas, and ingredients backed by clinical studies.

As a licensed esthetician and ultimate beauty guru, Palermino also extends her influence on social media, sharing the intersections of beauty, skincare, and self-care. In the latest episode of Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr, Palermino answers pressing beauty questions, discloses what’s on the horizon for Dieux, and more. 

For excerpts from that conversation, scroll below.

I also want to talk about layering because I feel like the order in which one does things is critical on many levels. What questions do you get the most about the dos and don’ts of layering and also proper application?

The one rule that I have is do not cock block your ingredients. And I say this because I see so many people using really thick, rich products and then applying their serum. You’ve just created an impenetrable barrier, and now you want these sensitive actives to somehow get through that. It can’t. So, start with your water-based products—that’s the easiest way to think of it. I would say start with water and then work your way to oil. It’s like if you drop a glass of water on the floor, it’s going to evaporate eventually. [But if you] drop oil on the floor, it’s not going to evaporate. I like to think of it like you want to put the hydrating stuff first, and then you’re going to wrap it in with an oil-based product. Keep it simple; three steps are more than enough. As long as you’re cleansing, moisturizing, and using sunscreen, there’s really nothing you need to do on top of that.

What about time in between? Does it matter, and do you need deliverance? For example, do you need to let a product soak into the skin before you put something before you put your moisturizer on?

I like to wait because I think of it this way: If I don’t let it dry [before] I put on my moisturizer, I am moving around where the active ingredients are going. So it’s not going to be a full layer. It’s not going to be evenly distributed. But I do like to apply moisturizer on damp skin as it allows for permeability. There was a study done in the ’70s [that] shows that if your skin was damp when you applied products, it just absorbed more of it. You don’t want that for every product, especially the ones with very strong ingredients. It also really depends on the situation. For example, if you put a glycolic acid on a damp face, you might actually be reducing its efficacy because it can be neutralized with water. It really depends as it also shifts the pH of the acid, which is really important in terms of efficacy because pH is for acids. [There’s] a lot of chemistry that goes into skincare. 

Are there some overall things — like if you don’t know anything about moisturizers, here’s my 101 — we should know coming from an expert?

So when you have oily skin, sometimes it’s because your skin actually isn’t hydrated, so your skin is producing more oil to overcompensate for it. But the reality is that when you have oily skin, you can sometimes be more prone to breaking out because you have [more] oil. Then if you use a really rich product on top of that, you’re going to trap that oil, which is food for bacteria, in your pores, and then that’s going to create an infection. That is what breakouts are, so you do have to be careful. We [Dieux] have a moisturizer, Instant Angel, which has helped some people with breakouts.

With moisturizers, you want to avoid D4 and D6, the cyclic silicones. And again, it really just depends. If you have really oily skin, I would say use light water moisturizers, like those jelly-light, not-too-thick moisturizers, because what you really need is hydration. 

I really like things that are very dewy, juicy, and bouncy. I’m always looking for bouncy and then putting Vaseline on top of that so it stays there. But if you have oily skin, you can use things that are really, really hydrating and then control that oil. And so there are so many great moisturizers out there for you that do that. They’re typically called gel moisturizers or water moisturizers. And you’re never going to look for anything that’s too rich or creamy unless you move to New York in the winter!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next up, check out our previous episode featuring Halle Bailey.