Serums are usually water-based, but have a high concentration of active ingredients compared with toners and essence - you can choose based on whether you are after specific ingredients, such as peptides (good for anti-aging), antioxidants (for anti-aging and reducing pigmentation), or brightening agents.
Serums tend not to be as occlusive as moisturizers, as they don’t contain mineral oils, petrolatum, lubricants and thickeners such as seed and nut oils.
We really love The Ordinary "Buffet", which is a serum containing peptide complexes which has helped to reduce the appearance of fine lines and facial folds on our face. We like to Ffocus this on dehydrated areas rather than all over our face (which is important if you have an oily T zone), as it has a relatively viscous consistency.
The Rovectin Skin Essentials Aqua Activating Serum (Style Korean)(Jolse) is a relatively natural formulation containing niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, and aloe leaf juice, but otherwise contains a limited ingredients list with few extracts. We really like using this for breakouts as it is very calming on the skin. We noticed long term plumping effects and improvement to the appearance of skin elasticity after using this for a few months. The La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum had similar effects, though keep in mind it contains alcohol.
These serums contain hyaluronic acid, or sodium hyaluronate, which is a water-soluble form of hyaluronic acid. Take care if you have had previous reactions to hyaluronic acid and always do a patch test first.
Another active you can look for in serums is L-ascorbic acid.
L-ascorbic acid is the active form of vitamin C. On the face of things, it has many benefits for the skin, including brightening the skin, improving skin tone, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, stimulating collagen production, sun protection, and fading hyperpigmentation. One of the best organic serums containing vitamin C is the Drunk Elephant C Firma Day Serum, which has helped to fade pigmentation for us when applied consistently (daily) for 6-12 months.
However, L-ascorbic acid and other forms of vitamin C can be very unstable unless kept in optimal conditions. For more detailed information on how to maximise the efficacy of L-ascorbic acid in the presence of light, see our post on our evening skincare routine.
The other precaution with L-ascorbic acid is, that we don’t recommend using them together with skincare containing niacinamide.
You can also look for serums containing alpha arbutin. Also known as glycosylated hydroquinone, alpha arbutin is supposed to be a safer alternative to hydroxyquinone. The latter was traditionally used for skin whitening and to tackle hyperpigmentation even though it was associated with risk of serious side effects including cancer, which was exacerbated by exposure to UV radiation. The evidence suggests that alpha arbutin minimises this risk. However, we are only discussing non-prescription formulations here.
To be safe, we recommend keeping alpha arbutin in your night time skincare routine. Also restrict your use of alpha arbutin to no more than 3 months at a time. We like to use the The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA. Using this product for 3 months has been effective at reducing the appearance of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation and freckles on our skin.
You can also try the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum Ex (Jolse), which has improved our skin tone and texture, making it more smooth and bouncy. However Sulwhasoo products do contain alcohol as a preservative, as well multiple botanical extracts, so it is best to patch test in case you are allergic.
The Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Eye Serum is targeted at people with dehydrated yet oily skin, and helped to correct dark circles noticeably after a few months. The Sulwhasoo Essential Revitalizing Serum EX is a lightweight consistency that is great for oily skin people, especially if layered with moisturizers or another product like the Sulwhasoo Essential Balancing Water EX (Style Korean)(Althea) from the same brand. We don’t recommend using the Sulwhasoo Essential Balancing Water EX (Style Korean)(Althea) on its own though, as we didn’t find it hydrating enough.
By the way…some of the skincare we recommend are available on iHerb, which we use to buy a lot of our organic skincare. You can use our code AEJ0519 at checkout to get 5% off.
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P.S…this is probably obvious, but the information presented doesn’t constitute medical advice - always check with your own doctor!
