Cleansers, moisturizers, serums, and SPF are essential components of any effective skincare routine. Serums are the cornerstone of a solid routine and can do almost anything to improve the skin. When it comes to meeting your most pressing skincare requirements, these concentrated elixirs are a necessity. Doing the legwork and selecting the appropriate one can make all the difference between having good skin and having great skin. Ahead, we break down everything there is to know about using a facial serum and how to find the best face serum.
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What is a Face Serum?
A major question remains: What is a face serum and what does it do for your face, despite all of the skincare educational content available? From adding moisture to providing beneficial active ingredients and skin-friendly nutrients, serums can target a specific need. As a key step in building a skincare routine, serums often pack a more powerful punch compared to lesser potent products.
Lightweight serums typically contain active ingredients in high doses, including vitamins A, C, and E, glycolic, kojic, lactic, salicylic, and ferulic acids, peptides, resveratrol, hyaluronic acids, niacinamide, and retinol. While some may mistake a serum for a moisturizer, the two are entirely different. A face serum is much more than just stronger. Depending on the main ingredients in the formulation, it is frequently used to treat wrinkles, acne, or hyperpigmentation on the skin. Since the active ingredients are typically in larger amounts and higher doses, they can better penetrate the skin for more visible results.
Different Types of Face Serums
Some of the more popular types of face serums include:
- Anti-aging serums: stimulate collagen and elastin to help fight the common signs of aging and defend against free radical damage
Serums for discoloration brighten the skin and improve its tone overall. - Hydrating serums: add moisture to the skin for a younger, plumper look
- Acne serums: shrink pimples and diminish acne scars
- Retexturizing serums: improve the skin’s overall texture and appearance
The Essential Components of Face Serums
Face serums contain a wide range of different ingredients, some of which you may be familiar with from other skincare products. Commonly used active ingredients in serums typically include:
- Retinol: The anti-aging properties of retinol are well-known. It aids in the production of collagen, accelerates cell turnover, and has the potential to lessen the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. By preventing the accumulation of dead skin and clogged pores, retinol is extremely effective against acne.
- Vitamin C: This potent antioxidant, also known as L-ascorbic acid, can do it all. Not only can vitamin C defend the skin against free radical damage, but it also helps stimulate collagen, brighten the skin, and improve the skin’s overall tone and appearance.
- Hyaluronic acid: A staple moisturizing ingredient, it holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water, making it an excellent hydrating agent. By hydrating the skin, it works to plump up fine lines and wrinkles for younger-looking skin.
- Niacinamide: This vitamin B3-derived ingredient helps improve the skin’s barrier function while reducing inflammation and minimizing the appearance of enlarged ones. Niacinamide is often recommended for erasing stubborn hyperpigmentation, too.
- Peptides: Consider a peptide if retinol is too strong for your skin. It works to stimulate new collagen production while improving elasticity.
What Does Serum Do for Your Face?
Using a face serum can offer several different skin benefits. Not only do face serums absorb quickly on the skin, but they are also a must for those who are short on time when it comes to skincare. Based on the ingredients, a serum can also be beneficial in calming and soothing sensitive skin. And their lightweight fluidity makes them suitable for those with oily and acne-prone skin since the products aren’t nearly as heavy as creams—there’s also less potential for the pores to become clogged with serums. Drier skin types can benefit from a serum but usually must still incorporate a more traditional moisturizer.
To address issues like dryness, discoloration, fine lines, and wrinkles on the skin, various serums target different areas. The ingredients within a serum will dictate what they can best help with. Nonetheless, the majority of serums have anti-aging and protective properties due to the inclusion of antioxidants in their formulations to help delay aging. Since serums contain a high concentration of active ingredients, you’re likely to see more visible results, perhaps even faster, than other skincare products.
How to Incorporate Face Serum into Your Routine
It’s easy to incorporate a face serum into your skincare routine. It’s best to use a serum daily unless the product’s instructions say otherwise. Additionally, you can alternate between serums for daytime and nighttime use and use different serums for various skin issues. When applying a face serum onto the skin, it’s best to apply it after cleansing and toning and before any other products, especially heavier ones. You don’t need more than a few drops of a serum, and make sure to apply it all over the face and down the neck. Then, following the application of a face serum, continue with your regular skincare routine, and finally, seal in with a good moisturizer to help keep moisture in and prevent dry skin. Top it off with sunscreen.
Serums can also be used in layers to get the most out of them. Although there is no right or wrong way to layer serums, you should make sure that the ones you combine do not contain ingredients that will cancel each other out or cause redness, dryness, or irritation.
Shop the Best Face Serums
1. Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum
Key Ingredients: Retinol, antioxidants, peptides and stem cells
Skin Concerns: Fine lines, Wrinkles, Sagging
Serum Type: Anti-Aging
The best anti-aging face serums out there feature ingredients that speed up cell turnover and improve your skin’s elasticity. Vitamin C and other antioxidants support the fight against free-radical damage, which contributes to premature aging. Some also offer skin-firming benefits, making lines and pores less visible.
2. Neocutis BIO SERUM FIRM
Peptides, human growth factors, sodium hyaluronate, and glutamines are the main components. Skin Concerns: Loss of Firmness
Serum Type: Collagen-boosting
For skin that’s lost its resilience, reach for a collagen-boosting serum that features the restorative properties of peptides. Known for its ability to refine tone and texture, peptides also improve firmness and elasticity, unveiling a revitalized complexion.
3. iS Clinical White Lightening Serum
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, arbutin, kojic acid, licorice extract and alpha hydroxy acids
Skin Concerns: Hyperpigmentation
Serum Type: Brightening
Depending on the active ingredient, brightening serums work by either inhibiting some steps along the melanin pathway (different ingredients inhibit different steps along the pathway, not just production) or by accelerating cell renewal, improving skin tone and texture and illuminating a dull complexion.
4. Hyaluronic Acid Boosting Serum
For PCA Skin Ceramides, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and essential fatty acids are the key components. Skin Concerns: Dry Skin
Serum Type: Hydrating
Hydrating serums offer a two-pronged approach to restoring your skin’s moisture level. First, they repair your skin barrier to prevent moisture loss. After that, they cling to your skin and seal in moisture. Use this to boost the effects of your moisturizer, or try it alone if you have oily skin.
5. SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Gel
Key Ingredients: Herbal extracts, chamomile, aloe and calendula
Skin Concerns: Redness Prone-Skin
Serum Type: Calming
The Bottom Line
A lightweight serum is a must-have for healthy, youthful skin in your skincare routine. The high active ingredient concentration makes them more potent than other skincare products. Plus, they absorb fast into the skin and provide hydration and comfort at the same time. Everyone can use a skin serum!