I usually set font style with separate declaration -- mostly because I can't remember the order for setting all attributes in a single declaration. This is the attribute order:
font-style font-variant font-weight font-size/line-height font-family
Example:
// setting all attributes
font: italic small-caps bold 16px/1.2em arial;
// typical setting
font: normal normal normal 1em arial,sans-serif;
// size and setting
font: 12px/1.4em garamond,serif;
source:
W3 Schools