Face serums are powerful tools when you have specific concerns like fine lines or discolored spots from sun damage, but they work very differently from more widely used products like moisturizers and cleansers. If you have been wondering how to make use of serums in your daily skincare routine, all you need is a quick crash course.
What Exactly Is a Face Serum?
Serums are skincare products that are formulated to provide a concentrated dose of active ingredients in a lightweight, easily absorbed suspension. This makes them much thinner than moisturizer creams and toners, and much more potent gram for gram. Unlike those products, the average face and neck serum is not designed for a total facial application, but for targeted use that addresses specific concerns. Some are made with full-face use in mind, but many more are built to target area-specific issues like fine lines around the mouth or eyes.
Serum formulations are built to be safe for daily use, allowing you to keep up with them as long as needed. They also deliver many of the same active ingredients found in less potent concentrations in products like vitamin C cream or daily moisturizing cream with ceramides, so often people use a serum for targeted concerns and then switch to a moisturizer with similar ingredients for long-term maintenance when their goals are reached. They work equally well either way.
Since serum formulations are for targeted concerns like loose skin, dehydration, or fine lines, it's important to find a new serum for each concern you want to address. That might mean using them in rotation, depending on how much time you have for skincare. You can use different serums in the morning and evening, so consider that as you seek out serums that fit your needs.
Some serums are formulated for multi-use purposes, like DNA complex, and those might be the best choice for beginners. While it was designed to treat fine lines and under-eye bags originally, it is also formulated to be safe for full face and neck use. That makes it easy to use for first-timers and widely useful even after you've seen results around your eyes.
Incorporating Face Serums in Your Skin Care
Serums are designed to absorb quickly and directly, so it's best if they are applied to clean skin that has nothing else on it. The liquids used in the suspension evaporate quickly, allowing for the next product to be absorbed easily, too. That means you should use serums after your cleanser and before anything else like moisturizer, toner, or SPF.
It will be its most effective then. If you are using targeted serums, apply them to the areas they work on before applying a full face serum over them. Then proceed with the rest of your routine.
Find the Serum You Need
Remember, there are serum formulations for almost any concern you could think of. If you're looking to alleviate skin damage from the sun or dark spots from aging, then check out something like licorice root serum for skin brightening and complexion evening. Remember, the same nutrients and antioxidants that make skin brightening cream effective are the ones you want in a serum, they're just more concentrated. Start looking for the serum you need today.
