Ingredients 101: What's In Serums?
Typically, people think that exfoliants or masks are the most important part of a skincare routine, and while they are important, nothing is as game changing on your skin as the right serum. This is also the one product in my personal routine that is from like three different product lines, I just love serums!
So why are serums so amazing, what’s the big deal? Well before I breakdown serums and their common ingredients, if you haven’t already read it, I wrote a blog a while back for my “Back to Basics: Serums, Ampoules and Face Oils” which explains the differences and benefits between them. It’s an important read as it is easy to think that something is a serum but really it’s a facial oil, or a moisturizer…I don’t know why some skincare lines name their products in such a confusing way. What’s important is that you know what’s in the products you’re using and you know why you’re using them on your skin.
“A day without serum is like...just kidding, I have no idea”
FYI: I am writing this Ingredients 101 series in backwards order (I just wrote the moisturizer one in January) so that when I am done it will be in the order of a home skincare routine.
Serums are applied to the skin after you have already cleansed and toned your skin. If you are using your serum on an exfoliation night, apply your serum after you exfoliate, but always before your moisturizer.
You can also have more than one serum. For example, I recommend always having a spot treatment handy if you ever experience a pimple, but unless you have an active breakout (the pus-looking one not the red-angry one) then you don’t apply a spot treatment everyday. Or if you have a really oily T-zone but a drier perimeter of your face, use a hydrating serum all over and an oil-absorbing one only in your T-zone.
As you see, you can apply serums all over or only in certain areas. This is because they are a high concentration of ingredients for a specific reason, like those mentioned above or the categories I am about to break serums down into.
Like mentioned above, serums are skincare products that pack a punch, they are meant to help deliver visible results to your skin. What are they specifically meant to treat? Skin conditions. Serums can also help balance your skin, but that really comes down to you having a consistent morning and evening basic routine (cleanse • tone • moisturize), whereas serums are really meant to target skin conditions present.
If you remember back to my “What’s Your Type?” blog about skin types and skin conditions, your skin conditions fluctuate and are affected by many factors, unlike your skin type which you are born with and doesn’t change. Knowing what skin conditions you are dealing with will help you figure out what kind of serum you need. For sake of space and your memory, I am only going into 4 categories of serum ingredients: those meant for acne-prone skin, anti-aging benefits, good for everyone and the fillers you will see on most ingredient lists.
“Estheticians are like personal trainers for your skin”
Acne. We have all had a pimple once in our life, but acne is different. Acne is a steady stream of breakouts, typically lasting from 4 days to 4 weeks. Teenage acne is predominantly on the oilier parts of our face (T-zone) or in what I like to call the “diet related" areas like between the eyebrows and the center of the chin, whereas adult acne is hormonal and on the jawline, chin and cheeks. For my blog on how to properly treat a pimple, CLICK HERE.
Regardless of which kind you have, or how often you breakout, the ingredients found in serums for acne-prone skin are the same. With that said though, there are two main ingredients you’ll always see: Salicylic Acid (BHA) and Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO). Let’s begin:
Common Ingredients For Acne-Prone Skin:
Salicylic Acid (BHA): Derived naturally from plants, and also one molecule away from aspirin, this ingredient is attracted to oil, and absorbs a lot of it, thus helping to minimize breakout. Oil holds the food that feeds the bacteria that create acne, diminish their food = reduce the bacteria. This is great for breakout due to oil production, however it can irritate the wrong skin type. Also, if you are allergic to aspirin, do not use this. Not needed everyday.
Benzoyl Peroxide: The word “oxide” should give this one away, it is an oxygenating ingredient, acne-causing bacteria cannot live where oxygen is present, so this ingredient kills the bacteria by robbing them of their anerobic environment. Great for hormonal acne, or deep nodule-like acne as it will push oxygen down into that follicle thus killing the bacteria creating the pimple. Use as a spot treatment, not as an all over face product.
Tea Tree aka Maleluca Oil: Antiseptic and anti-microbial, this powerful plant oil is used in serums for oilier skin types, but can also be found in various other skincare products. For example, I do own a Tea Tree Cleanser, even though my skin is not oily, for those days when my skin feels extra greasy. You can use this in many different ways but please do not put the essential oil straight on your face, it is photosensitive and can cause pigmentation if exposed to sunlight. Make sure you are diligent with your SPF.
Sulfur/Charcoal: These are commonly used in cleansers and masks, but you might see them in oil absorbing serums. Known for calming down as well as detoxifying, these ingredients are usually paired with either Salicylic Acid or Benzoyl Peroxide so they can get to the root of the breakout.
There are some important things to note when using a serum for acne:
Most of these serums are “active” or exfoliating, so you don’t need to use them in conjunction with an exfoliant, especially if your skin barrier is impaired. How do you know if your skin barrier is impaired? It’s red, dry, angry and tingles when you put product on it.
Due to their active nature, all of these require you to be consistent and diligent in your usage of SPF. You absolutely must wear SPF after using these, your skin could get photosensitive and result in pigmentation, which is even more annoying to get rid of than a pimple.
A lot of these are in spot treat form, not meant to be applied all over the skin. Only use where needed and as directed by the product line you choose.
The most common and asked about ingredients are the ones found in anti-aging products. Everyone and their mother wants the fountain of youth serum, something that is going to erase time. Unfortunately, that really doesn’t exist and we should all embrace the aging process as that means you’re living a full life. What we can do and what serums here do, is make the process more enjoyable and slower.
Anything that claims it can “visibly diminish” is actually saying that on the surface it won’t look like those lines and wrinkles are there, but underneath the damage is still done and not repaired. Like using a slice of potato under your eye to firm the skin, it is just the result of the potato molecules left behind causing a topical “tightening” of the surface of your skin, but not actually adding collagen and elastin to repair the loss. With that said, there is a whole community of skincare prodcuts called cosmecueticals, these are much stronger and can go deeper into the layers of the skin, affecting real change. Most of what you can by over the counter (OTC) is not a cosmecuetical, these are typically sold by estheticians as they can help you with choosing the right ones and how to use them correctly for your skin. My product lines here are cosmecuetical, they have high concentrations of powerful ingredients that deliver results to your skin, not just visibly. If you would like help discovering which products are best for your skin, schedule a Virtual Skin Consultation with me, I’d love to talk with you more about your skin!
“The trick is to age honestly and gracefully and make it look great so everyone looks forward to it.”
Ingredients For Anti-Aging Benefits:
Co-Enzyme Q10: A powerful antioxidant loaded with perks for aging skin, this ingredient has a very distinct yellow/orange color, if you are using a product that claims to have this in it but is white or opaque, this ingredient is NOT in it! The crazy thing about CoQ10 is that every cell in our body needs and makes this for metabolism, cell energy. We do create it naturally, but like all things over time this diminishes and we need help in making more. You can take this internally too, but topically it is amazing for wrinkles, sun damage, and getting that glow.
Vitamins C & E: These little gems help protect and fight sun damage in the skin, used together they boost each other’s efficacy, and are typically found together in products. Feed your skin vitamins just like you feed your body, we need all the support we can get in this arena! Don’t forget, you won’t see these listed as “vitamin C” but instead by its scientific name, ascorbic acid or for “vitamin E” tocopherol acetate.
Retinol: This is where we start to get into exfoliating ingredients in serums. Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A and is great for cell turnover, aka exfoliation. Used for acne and aging skin because of its exfoliating properties, it can help diminish signs of aging, wrinkle depth, and acne. Word of caution: this is active and should not be used every day, make sure you apply your SPF diligently as not doing so can cause bad reactions when using products with Retinol.
Glycolic Acid: Another exfoliation ingredient, glycolic acid is one of the go-to’s for aging skin. As we age, our skin tends to slow way down on its cell turnover process, this results in dull, lackluster skin. Glycolic acid breaks the “glue” that holds these dead skin cells together, allowing the skin to desquamate and reveal healthy, fresh skin underneath. Use at night or as recommended by your skincare line.
Ok, so that’s great if your focus is anti-aging or acne, but what about people with “normal” skin or seemingly no skin concerns, do they need to use a serum? YES!
Every skin type needs a serum, and there is a serum for every skin. Regardless of what you see on your skin, I am here to tell you the 99.99% of the world is chronically and topically dehydrated. Our skin is our body’s last location to send water to, our organs and internal functions are way more important than the protective armor known as our skin. Drinking water is essential, but not always delivered to topically. Applying serums that boost hydration topically is essential to a skincare routine like drinking water is to your diet.
There is one ingredient that has been getting a lot of attention: hyaluronic acid. It also comes with a lot of confusion, misrepresentation on products and usage. So let’s dive into what ingredients are great for everyone and how to look out for them.
Good For Everyone:
Hyaluronic Acid aka HA: Seriously if you haven’t heard about this, I don’t even know what to say! This ingredient is amazing, imagine how an ant can carry like 10,000X its weight, well this molecule is like that any and holds a HUGE amount of water and delivers it directly to your skin. What is important when looking for a serum with this in there is how much of HA is in it, what’s the percentage? You want to get at least a 10%, but 20% and higher is better. Skin Script’s Ageless Hydration Serum is packed with HA and one of my absolute favorite serums to use both in the treatment room and at home.
Vitamin Rich Serums: If you see anything toting loads of vitamins, it’s probably good food for your skin. One of my favorites is Farm House Fresh Chocolate Fig Serum not only is it good food for your skin, it also smells amazing!
Lactic Acid: Made famous by Cleoptra and her “sour milk baths”, lactic acid is a skin lightener, brightener and hydrator, as long as there is more than 5% of it in your product. Recommended for use at night, this might cause some mild exfoliation, but really your skin will just glow.
Antioxidants: Sometimes you will see just the word “antioxidant” on a product list without them explaining which antioxidant it is. So generally speaking, this is how they work: our cells are made up of protons, electrons and nuetrons, when a cell is damaged due to free radical activity it looses an electron, antioxidants have tons of extra electrons to share and that is how they nuetralize free radical damage. A lot of things (even BBQ’ing) can cause free radical damage, so it is beneficial to always have an antioxidant rich serum handy.
“A large glass of antioxidants before bed”
Like all things, quality matters and so does using the dang thing, so if you are investing in a good quality serum for daily use, make sure to use it daily!
Even though serums are high concetrations of powerful ingredients, they also need to have some fillers to make sure they are able to get their job done. You always want to read your ingredient list and just look at the first 5 ingredients. These being in the highest concetrations, you want to make sure there are some of the previously mentioned ingredients and not loaded with tons of these fillers.
I won’t be able to cover all the ingredients, but these are ones commonly found, or ones that might raise an eyebrow when reading. I will say that I used OTC skincare to base this list off of, you may not find these ingredients in your serum. Check your products at home, not just serums, and see if there are any of these filler ingredients in there, you’d be surprised where these things pop up.
“Filters are great, but great skin is better”
The Filler Ingredients:
Water aka aqua: Water is a very important ingredient, and usually listed as the first one. Used as a solvent mostly, it can also aid in the spreadability of a product and is very necessary. It is not regular tap water though, it has to be filtered and processed so that it is not harboring bacteria or any other toxin.
Alcohol Denat: This is used for the formulation of the product, not for any skin benefits, and if in too high of a concentration, it can irritate the skin. Used to help keep products “weightless” it breaks down the surface lipids (oil) layer of your skin, that is why it is not meant for everyone or in high concentrations, it will literally dry out the surface of your skin.
Glycerin: I may have mentioned this in my moistruizer blog as it is a humectant- an ingredient that draws moisture in to the skin. Used to help keep skin smooth and hydrated, this both has a function (spreadability) and purpose (hydrate skin).
Butylene Glycol: More of a functional ingredient, this gives a product its feel, giving it a smooth, thick glide. It can give the appearance of hydrated skin, but that is only topically and not skin deep.
Dimethicone: This is an inactive ingredient, only functioning to give products slip, glide and leave skin feeling soft and hydrated, topically. Think makeup primers, they use this ingredient a lot.
There are so many more ingredients, and who knows they might get covered in a future ingredient blog so stay tuned! For now, check your products, find ones you like and that fit your skin’s needs and stick to using them regularly. If you ever want 1:1 coaching around what your skin needs, what products to look for and a review of what you are currently using, schedule a Virtual Skin Consultation with me and let’s figure it out together! Until my next blog, or I see you for our skin chat, take care of your skin and even better care of yourself.
xx eri