The best face serums for plumped-up, dewy skin success
Dull, lacklustre or sun-scorched skin? No problem! Meet the SOS face serum saviours – rated, reviewed and beauty-editor adored
Cleansers and moisturisers – they’re wonderful – but serums? Serums are second to none
A non-negotiable STEP 2 in any successful skincare routine (STEP 1: Cleanse, and STEP 3: Moisturiser/SPF), serums are the actives stage, packed with targeted ingredients designed to protect skin by day, and treat skincare concerns by night. The benefits of face serums are tenfold.
This is the stage of your skincare routine to invest in. These thirsty skin-quenching, glow-giving, ageless, pore-perfecting, sensitive skin boosters are where the real science happens. Get it right, and it feels like you’re doing a really good thing for your skin! Which is why we’ve tried, tested and reviewed EVERY serum imaginable for you.
Which face serum should you use?
- First up, ID YOUR SKIN CONCERN. Dull, dry, sensitive, acne-prone, early-ageing? Pick an active to treat it. Hormones, weather, daily stressors all take their toll on skin – and naturally, every skin differs but – in general – serums will moisturise, exfoliate, regenerate or vitaminise skin – making them ideal pore-refining, youth-boosting, hydrating and/or brightening.
- PICK YOUR INGREDIENT(S). From peptides to ceramides, vitamin C to niacinamide, BHAs and AHAs, to hyaluronic acid, retinol and all the antioxidants – there’s a skin-loving active for all. Find your solution here.
- ID YOUR SKIN TYPE. Serums are ideal for most skin types (check the ingredients) and won’t sit on the skin like heavy creams and oils (great for acne-prone skin) with many brands offering serums for sensitive, rosacea-prone skins too.
- HOW TO APPLY FOR BEST RESULTS. Apply drops to the face and neck, AM or PM – post-cleanse, pre-moisturiser – ideally onto damp skin (it gives humectants something to hold on to). Massage product in with fingers, or with a puff-reducing facial massage tool (kept in the fridge to soothe) to boost your periorbital circulation and aid lymphatic drainage.
8 of the best face serums
Feed skin what it needs with – The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum
Another win from The Ordinary, this much-hyped, suits-all skin-loving serum is packed with actives (niacinamide and ceramides) to help repair the skin barrier, soothe discomfort and reduce the look of redness. Great for sensitive and rosacea-prone skin types, use two drops every AM/PM – apply to palms, then press into skin to activate (a bit like applying aftershave).
To brighten dull, lacklustre skin – C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum
Add some zing to your AM routine with vitamin C – a potent antioxidant proven to boost collagen, revive stressed-out skin, reduce redness and protect skin from UV damage, inflammation and daily stressors. Adored by everybody, C.E.O. Brightening Serum is powered by a whopping 15% advanced vitamin C, to help tackle pigmented, ageing and acne-prone skin. GREAT news for end-of-summer, pigmented and sun-scorched skin.
A tall glass of water for thirsty skin – The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Moisture-maxing, skin-plumping hyaluronic acid attracts water, is non-comedogenic (won’t clog pores) and it’s fast-absorbing, ideal for time-poor types looking for great skin, now! INKEY’s non-tacky Hyaluronic Acid Serum is clinically proven to deliver instant and lasting hydration, plus it helps your other skincare products work harder too. One for all skin types – including oily-prone – apply to soothe – AM and/or PM – on VIP days, post sun and post ski days, Sundays (or whenever your skin needs a good soak).
For envy-inducing skin – Elizabeth Arden Retinol + HPR Ceramide Capsules Serum
Want to help skin look flawless, fast? This serum has everyone obsessed. Packed with clinically proven high-performance (anti-ageing) retinol and skin-soaking ceramides for smooth-as-silk, radiant-looking skin. Divided into daily doses (perfect for travel), it’s potent enough to promise visibly reduced wrinkles – in just one week – while gentle enough to use AM and/or PM (minus any dryness, peeling or redness), making it suitable for retinol converts and first-timers alike. L-O-V-E.
Best SOS serum (while you Zzz) – Estée Lauder ANR SOS Rescue Serum
Adored by A-Listers, Rescue Serum is part of the multi-award-winning ANR dream team. Packed with skin-renewing peptides (tripeptide-32), plus 15% bifidus ferment (to soothe) and yeast extract (to calm), this non-sticky, skin-soaking formula was developed with sensitive types in mind but suits all skins and ages. Apply PM, on irritated (post-shave, post-blemish), redness-prone skin.
For ‘WOW’ skin daily, try – Clarins Double Serum
It’s Clarins’ most complete age-defying concentrate yet – and in a word? WOW. With 22 plant extracts and, for the first time, 5 pure active molecules – this is the serum that does it all. Created to improve skin firmness, radiance and texture, while reducing the visibility of wrinkles and pores – Double Serum boosts the skin's 5 vital functions (regeneration, oxygenation, protection, hydration, and nutrition) and targets the effects of ageing linked to lifestyle. For all skin types, use one drop, twice daily, for optimal results.
Clarins Double Serum
£65.00
For sensitive skin barriers – Lancôme Advanced Génifique Sensitive
Inspired by microbiome science, Lancôme’s bestselling Genifique has been encapsulated in a sensitive, soothing facial serum – proven to strengthen skins barrier and instantly soothe the feeling of stressed skin. Enriched with seven prebiotic and probiotic derived extracts, this intense recovery concentrate features two active concentrates in one (separate until first use to maintain their freshness). The blue one (enriched with antioxidant ferulic acid and vitamin E) is released into the serum base to create an active recovery concentrate, helping to balance and soothe the feel of skin.
