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

Lia-Crafts

I use Boots No7 Lift & Luminate Night cream. It's not expensive and I'm happy with the results.

jenniewb

Serums and moisturisers (should) work totally differently. Ideally your serum should do all the "work". So if you are trying to treat your dryness, it could be a hyaluronic acid type serum and hyaluronic acid works by penetrating deeper into your skin than a basic skin cream and then holds onto water cells (this is it's feature, FWIU no other product does this). You then apply your moisturiser and the hyaluronic acid molecules are perfectly placed to draw moisture in deeper.


Or retinol- which itself is the only product backed by science to work with/against the signs of aging (before you do an slap loads on it's really a less is more type- you need an incremental effect over time of lower doses rather than a high % which will most likely cause skin damage and this can actually speed up the appearance of fine lines and aging so go easy on the retinol!) You'd then apply your moisturiser over the top to keep your skin hydrated as retinol if often quite drying.


Or there are antioxidant serums- these are great at boosting your skin's own moisture barrier which is really important in helping protect your skin from things like pollution and sun damage (n/b it is NOT a substitute for sunscreen, it just helps to boost your skins defences). You'd then apply a moisturiser. Antioxidants will deplete in the air so serums are often very potent and too potent to share their space with a moisturiser. Yes there are anti-oxidant based moisturisers and these are a great thing, but they wont have as much potency as an antioxidant serum. Same goes for vitamin C and vitamin B, D and E within a serum. By all means use a more dilute formula but you'd me missing out on more results.


Basicly you are paying for a serum to "work" and a moisturiser to compliment but really just to add moisture (hence the name!). However if you really don't want to spend the time, take the effort or aren't that fussed on trying to see a difference as fast as you can, opt for a moisturiser that has added benefits just bare in mind that if it's also moisturising well, it will be limited in ways a serum wont be. And also remember it needs to be in an air-tight container which is not see through (sun light reduces the life of certain ingredients) if you are using a moisturiser with any antioxidants- especially vitamin C and also if it has any degree of retinol in. Moisturisers with these features are not cheap and if you don't take care of them it's just the same as throwing money away buying more expensive products and letting the sun reduce/void it's abilities.

prowla

As with all makeup, it is intended to make you look good from a distance; it's not so great if someone gets close, and certainly not if they're close enough to kiss you.

maddiemay

jenniewb wrote: »

Serums and moisturisers (should) work totally differently. Ideally your serum should do all the "work". So if you are trying to treat your dryness, it could be a hyaluronic acid type serum and hyaluronic acid works by penetrating deeper into your skin than a basic skin cream and then holds onto water cells (this is it's feature, FWIU no other product does this). You then apply your moisturiser and the hyaluronic acid molecules are perfectly placed to draw moisture in deeper.


Or retinol- which itself is the only product backed by science to work with/against the signs of aging (before you do an slap loads on it's really a less is more type- you need an incremental effect over time of lower doses rather than a high % which will most likely cause skin damage and this can actually speed up the appearance of fine lines and aging so go easy on the retinol!) You'd then apply your moisturiser over the top to keep your skin hydrated as retinol if often quite drying.


Or there are antioxidant serums- these are great at boosting your skin's own moisture barrier which is really important in helping protect your skin from things like pollution and sun damage (n/b it is NOT a substitute for sunscreen, it just helps to boost your skins defences). You'd then apply a moisturiser. Antioxidants will deplete in the air so serums are often very potent and too potent to share their space with a moisturiser. Yes there are anti-oxidant based moisturisers and these are a great thing, but they wont have as much potency as an antioxidant serum. Same goes for vitamin C and vitamin B, D and E within a serum. By all means use a more dilute formula but you'd me missing out on more results.


Basicly you are paying for a serum to "work" and a moisturiser to compliment but really just to add moisture (hence the name!). However if you really don't want to spend the time, take the effort or aren't that fussed on trying to see a difference as fast as you can, opt for a moisturiser that has added benefits just bare in mind that if it's also moisturising well, it will be limited in ways a serum wont be. And also remember it needs to be in an air-tight container which is not see through (sun light reduces the life of certain ingredients) if you are using a moisturiser with any antioxidants- especially vitamin C and also if it has any degree of retinol in. Moisturisers with these features are not cheap and if you don't take care of them it's just the same as throwing money away buying more expensive products and letting the sun reduce/void it's abilities.

jenniewb - A really great explanation of how these thing work.:D

jenniewb

prowla wrote: »

As with all makeup, it is intended to make you look good from a distance; it's not so great if someone gets close, and certainly not if they're close enough to kiss you.

That sounds like more of a primer than a serum- serums tend to treat, primers tend to even out the way your skin looks and create a surface easier for make up to adhere to. I'm not saying there are not some products that offer both, but in their majority serums are there to treat and are not always pretty to look at afterward!