Can anyone tell me what the point of face Serums is ?

morganlefay

I am in my early 70s and have regularly used face moisturiser on my reasonably OK and normal skin, but lately, giving in to all the advertising I bought a tube of No 7 Serum for older faces (or something like that) I put it on, and then my moisturiser and even after a while I feel as if I've got glue on my face. If I add foundation my face feels sticky all day: if anyone kissed me they'd stick to my cheeks ! Whatever is the point of this (quite expensive) goo ?

unforeseen

It makes more money for the manufacturer because they call it serum so people think its medical so must be better than moisturiser and many people fall for the marketing BS

Hermia

I don't see the point of a lot of them. However, I have extremely dry skin and in winter I have found that moisturising serums really help. They are a lot more pleasant to use compared to having to use an extra rich moisturiser with the texture of lard!

catherinekate

Ideally a serum would contain ingredients which complement your moisturiser. It sounds like your serum and moisturiser are not working together well and that's why it is going all sticky.

I use a hyalauronic acid serum (Vichy Aqualia Thermal) which plumps skin . It works for me - I can genuinely see a difference if I skip a few days' use, and it doesn't go sticky. Vitamin C serums, which are supposed to promote collagen production and reduce wrinkles, are also popular.

If you are keen to try serums I would suggest you have a go at scrounging samples from beauty counters first to see what ingredients work for you. Like you say, they can be expensive. Or, The Ordinary have good, relatively inexpensive serums (e.g. Vit C £5 and Hyalauronic acid £6) which get good write ups, although I don't know if you can buy these in shops - might be online only.

HTH

luvchocolate

The Aldi serum for mature skin is amazing.

pollypenny

Are you using too much?

I use Boots serum for my dry, aged skin. I like it.

MrsStepford

Just bought some Le Petit Olivier anti-ageing argan oil serum 7.99 from T K Maxx so time will tell whether it works or not !

Cheapest moisturiser you can buy is water, with all the impurities taken out, around 1.2 litres a day.

morganlefay

Thanks, ladies, helpful info. I think that I probably don't need serum AND moisturiser, and I bet I'm using too much of both. I've got a sampe of the Vichy one (thanks for idea Kate/Catherine) and am using it much more sparingly... WE'll see, but I'm sure that theres a lot of hype about these sorts of products !

fibonarchie

I don't think there's any proven benefits to these anti ageing products, other than that they make the person feel better about themselves, which I suppose is a good thing in itself. Bit of a waste of money, though, and playing on people's insecurities a bit.

luvchocolate

The Aldi was is only £3.99 (I think) I always have a few in stock its pump action so thats the right amount, I dont use moisturiser just at night.
Give it a try cheap enough to.

lessonlearned

Another one voting for the Aldi serum. In fact Aldi's cosmetics are rated very highly and compare very well with a lot of the more expensive brands.