In the Herculean effort of maintaining moisture in my skin during the bone-cold days of winter, I’ve been trying different hydrating hacks in my beauty routine. First, I slathered a moisturizing balm all over my face—but balms aren’t really my thing. I’ve started incorporating hydrating facial masks, which are great for an added boost—it’s like letting your skin chug a liter of water in a 15-minute treatment. But then I concocted my very own skin-care cocktail… and it’s been giving me an unparalleled radiance.

After playing around with the bottles lining my beauty cabinet like a chemist in a science lab, I finally found the trick to keeping my complexion glowing all day rather than dying of thirst by, like, noon. All it takes is adding 2 to 3 drops of a facial oil into my moisturizer, and I’m set. While my cream is fine on its own—really, I’m not complaining—I like a dewy finish to my skin and in the winter, I need a boost. Though I don’t normally use facial oils, the moisturizer is the perfect vessel for application—and what’s left is an added barrier of protection on my complexion so that it’s quenched (and glowy) throughout the day.

“Mixing is great because it adds an extra layer of protection to your skin and blends two steps into one,” says Elizabeth Fernandez, a skin therapist at New York’s Heyday. “All skin types can benefit from mixing. However, if you have oily skin, I’d recommend using an oil every other day rather than every day.”

“Mixing is great because it adds an extra layer of protection to your skin.” —Elizabeth Fernandez

Personally, I’ve been using a CBD oil mixed into my Tatcha The Silk Cream ($120), but plenty of other oil/moisturizer combos provide the same effect. “Rosehip seed oil has great anti-aging benefits—I’d recommend adding a few drops into Naturopathica calendula cream ($59),” says Fernandez. But the perk of the whole cocktailing practice is that it’s fun and experimental… play around with different oils and creams, and figure out which your skin likes best. Once you concoct the perfect blend, go ahead and bask in that radiance.

If you’re on the market for skin hydration, try these dry skin moisturizers and layer in a trusty hyaluronic acid serum.