This Serum is Amazing - The Top 5 Serums You've never Heard of
Serums are becoming more and more popular every day. But there is a lot of confusion surrounding them. What do they do? Do you need to use them? How often should you apply serums to your skin? Let's dive in to this before we explain our top 5 favorites that you've never heard of:
What is a serum?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word "serum" as the following:
"The clear, yellowish fluid that remains from blood plasma after clotting factors (such as fibrinogen and prothrombin) have been removed by clot formation of blood cells"
This version of serum is rich in proteins that help with major bodily functions. While this isn't the type of serum we are talking about in this blog, it does help to explain why the beautifying concentrated clear liquid was given its' name; just as serum inside of our body plays a major role in our overall function, so does the cosmetic kind that we place on top of our skin.
With this in mind, a cosmetic serum is a skin care product that is applied to the face after cleansing and before moisturizing. Serums are designed to penetrate deep into the skin, delivering powerful ingredients that can address specific concerns such as wrinkles, dark spots, or dryness. A good serum includes a higher concentration of these same powerful ingredients that makes them almost a necessity against specific skin concerns.
Can a serum be used on sensitive skin?
Most products on the market are designed to be used by all skin types, but when it comes to serums that is not always the case. Some sensitive skinned individuals may find a serum irritating due to its high concentration of active ingredients and other actives like Retinol, glycolic acid and hyaluronic acid. If you have sensitive skin it is best to seek out a serum that has been specifically designed for those with delicate skin.
Do I need to use a serum?
Serums are not always necessary, but they can be incredibly beneficial if your goal is to target specific concerns. If you have never used a serum before, we recommend starting with one that includes a gentle active like hyaluronic acid or vitamin C. This way you can get your skin acclimated to the serum form of ingredients before moving on to ones with more powerful effects such as retinol and glycolic acid.
What are the best face serum ingredients and what do they do?
While most products have dozens of active ingredients, serums tend to have at least one or two and sometimes even more. Here is a list of the most common ones you will see i your search for the perfect serum and what they do:
- Hyaluronic Acid - Significantly helps replenish moisture
- Vitamin C - Powerful antioxidant that aids in cell repair, wound healing, inflammation and skin tone
- Retinol (Vitamin A) - Stimulates collagen production and cell turnover
- Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) - Powerful exfoliator that keeps skin complexion clean and clear
- Vitamin E - Powerful antioxidant that works well with Vitamin C
- DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol) - Lifts, firms and tightens skin
- Peptides - Built-in amino acid chains repair skin cells and increase collagen production
- Ceramides - Creates powerful barrier to lock in moisture and help prevent 'bad things" from entering your skin
- Glycerin - Improves skin hydration
- Green Tea - Antioxidant wit anti-inflammatory properties as well
- Stem Cells - Stimulates cell renewal to completely rejuvenate and protect skin
- Growth Factors - Aids in the division of healthy cells, growth of new skin cells, and production of collagen and elastin.
- Resveratrol - Particularly potent antioxidant
- Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) - Promotes the production of keratin and collagen
- Alpha Lipoic Acid - Waterand fat soluble antioxidant with anti-inflammatory proerties
- Botanical Extracts and Oils - Too many differentcombinations and benefits to list here
What are the best Serums Beau Visage Beauty has Discovered that I need to try?
The most important thing to remember is that there are no rules when it comes to serums. There are thousands of different combinations and brands available on the market, so this list simply represents our personal favorites. In no particular order, here are the 5 serums we think EVERYONE should try but probably have never heard of:
Earth Harbor Naturals AURORA Superfood Luminance Ampoule
Price: $23.96
Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, Botanical Extracts and Oils
A serum doesn't need to be expensive to be effective, and this product completely proved that to us. After trying it out, it was a no-brainer to us that it should be used by more people than it currently is. Made from all-natural ingredients loaded with antioxidants, just a few drops can go a long way in achieving an overall much-improved complexion. Best of all, its soothing formula is great for all skin types, from combination to sensitive.
Read our full AURORA Superfood Luminance Ampoule review here
Jan Marini Age Intervention® Peptide Extreme
Price: $112.00
Key Ingredients: Glycerine, Botanical Extracts and Oils, Peptides (multiple), Ceramides, AHAs
Now, if you don't mind spending up on quality products, this one is absolutely one of the best in our humble opinion. To start with, the ingredient list is very impressively filled with a plethora of major anti-aging fighters. With the amount of glycerine and ceramides found in this product, it works as well (if not better) than most traditional moisturizers. So now that your skin is nice and supple from the moisture retention, the other ingredients start to work on collagen regeneration to help smooth out fine lines AND attack deep wrinkles. As a bonus, the serum itself is perfectly silky-smooth; not too oily and not too watery. If money is no object, this product is WELL WORTH IT!
Read our full Age Intervention® Peptide Extreme Review
Hydrossential Serum (With Hyaluronic Acid)
Price: $69.00
Key Ingredients: Green Tea, Glycerine, Vitamin C, Botanical Extracts and Oils, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E
Buy from the Hydrossential website
Honestly, we weren't sure this one was going to be any good at all as it is sold off of its' own self-named (and poorly built) website and nowhere else. We received enough requests for this product however that we decided to look into it, and were pleasantly surprised at the number of good-quality ingredients it contains. We decided to give it a shot and lo-and-behold, it has worked for us amazingly! The combination of all-natural ingredients found in this serum work together to help your skin learn to be its' own moisturizer and further make the most out of its' anti aging properties. It can help with a wide array of concerns, from pigmentation to blemishes to skin dullness. Definitely a surprisingly amazing product that way more people need to be incorporating into their beauty routine! BONUS: by clicking our link above you can get an additional savings off of your order of 3 or more bottles!
Read our full Hydrossential Serum Review
Elemis Pro-Collagen Rose Facial Oil
Price: $79.00
Key Ingredients: Glycerine, Botanical Extracts and Oils
This serum is unique in the fact that it incorporates the little-used "Rose Canina (Rosehip) fruit oil", which helps to protect the skin's lipid barrier, leaving skin feeling replenished, nourished and hydrated. It's an amazingly silky-smooth and lightly fragrant serum without being watery. Its' number one ingredient is glycerine (while most other beauty products list water as their first ingredient), so we know that this product is almost as highly concentrated as it gets. However, there are a variety of other ingredients available in this bottle to avoid irritation and make it safe for almost all skin types. Despite only having two different key ingredient types, they are the perfect mixture of concentrated and gentle while being loaded with natural antioxidants. A great addition for those looking for something gentle-yet-powerful to help with moisture retention and defense against free radicals!
Read our full Pro-Collagen Rose Facial Oil Review
Korres Golden Krocus Ageless Saffron Elixir
Price: $98.00
Key Ingredients: Glycerine,AHAs, Peptides (multiple), Botanical Extracts and Oils
If you managed to get this far into our reviews, you may have noticed a theme: an extremely important factor in picking a good serum is its' ability to work as a moisturizer. Without molecules that can keep your skin from being dry, the rest of the ingredients are almost irrelevant. With that in mind, this serum is one of the best on the market at doing just that. The price can be a little steep to some, but part of the reason is because of its' special proprietary ingredient: the krocus flower-derived saffron elixir. The flower only grows once a year, and it takes thousands of them to be able to extract enough oil to make the extremely potent Greek saffron elixir. This means the serum can only be made once a year, but that it is incredibly powerful in its' hydrating and anti-aging properties. It also has the powerful-yet-rare copper peptides, which are molecules found organically in your own blood cells and are a very powerful anti-aging ingredient. If you're able to snag yourself a bottle of this amazing product, you will NOT be sorry!
Read our full Golden Krocus Ageless Saffron Elixir
Bonus: RoC MULTI CORREXION® Revive + Glow Vitamin C Serum
Price: $32.99
Key Ingredients: Glycerine, Peptides, AHAs, Vitamin C
So this product is a lot more well-known than the previous 5 on this list, but we felt the need to add it in here at the end. The serum fluid doesn't deliver as many hyper-concentrated ingredients as the other products before it, but it does offer 10% vitamin C. This amount is higher than most other skin revival serums, which does a fantastic job at evening out and brightening your skin tone. It also helps to tighten and improve skin texture, with results being almost immediate. If you're looking for another strong serum fluid while on a budget, you've got to check this one out!
Read our full MULTI CORREXION® Revive + Glow Vitamin C Serum Review
This concludes our ranking of the top 5 best serums that you didn't know about! We hope you found this as much to read as we did to write. Let us know here if you tried any of these serums and how they worked for you!