A "better" way to apply layer styles?

Layer styles are great, but applying/rasterizing them is not quite that intuitive. There is the standard photoshop method of right clicking on a layer with a layer style and going to "create layers". Which creates rasterized adjustment layers on top of the existing layer. This is fine, sorta, but it does make your layer palette a little larger (given how many effects you used). Also if you try to merge these layers together, they no longer keep the properties they had as a layer style and may create some unwanted graphic bits.

So what I usually do is this.

1. Create a new layer.

2. Place the new layer below the layer with the layer style I want to rasterize.

3. Go back to the layer with the layer style and merge it down on top of the new layer.

Doing this creates a rasterized layer that looks 100% how it looked with the layer styles applied, with no extra layers to mess with. Exactly what I want.

This method works fine for me, and I've used it for ages, but I'm just wondering if there is a better way?

That's the fastest way I know how.....but a better way??

I'm not entirely sure of what you mean by a "better" way.

I'm one of those "If it works, don't change it" type of people, so normally the way I do things originally is the way that I'm going to do it forever. I do it the same way you do, and I guess I've never sought out a "better" way to do it.

By "better way" I mean something that doesnt require having to go through steps like I posted. Like an alternative photoshop command other than "create layers". I doubt one exists though.

The method I mention that I use is nice n' semi-fast, but if I could just get a single command (guess an action would suffice for what I do), I would find that so much better.

I use so many layer styles (so that they no longer look like layer styles when seen) that rasterizing, putting on extra layer styles, then re-rasterizing sometimes is something I'd prefer to make an even quicker procedure.