5 Benefits of Adding a Serum to Your Skincare Routine

Photo: ImaxTree

By now, we all know the basic skincare commandments: don’t go to sleep with your makeup on. Always moisturize. Use SPF like your life depends on it. But there’s a new complexion mandate you might not be as familiar with: use a serum. We’re serious; adding serums to our skincare routine has made the biggest difference to the way our faces look and feel.

Not convinced? Allow us to persuade you further. Here are five big, beautiful benefits to adding a serum to your skincare routine.

1. They work.

Serums are all killer and no filler, containing the highest concentration of active ingredients that you can get without a prescription. Compare—cleansers and moisturizers usually contain between 5 and 10% active ingredient, whereas serums can contain up to 70%. This means that you’ll actually get results, whether you’re looking to even tone, reduce fine lines, brighten, firm or get rid of dark spots.

2. Zero fillers.

If you have sensitive or breakout-prone skin, you know how important avoiding cheap occlusive agents (like mineral oil and petroleum) can be. Because serums are especially designed to be delivery systems, they don’t contain any of those. Their goal is to make sure that their fancy active ingredients (peptides, stem cells, vitamins and beneficial minerals) get past the outer layer of your skin and deliver their greatness deep down, so anything that could get in the way of that mission is left out of the cocktail entirely. The result? A pure, potent skincare potion.

3. Fewer breakouts.

People with acne-prone skin, rejoice! Unlike traditional moisturizers (which can leave a pore-blocking layer atop the skin), serums have a watery consistency—and many are, in fact, water-based instead of being oil-based. This means they absorb much faster without any breakout-encouraging residue left behind. It’s the miracle we’ve been waiting for!

4. A less oily complexion.

It happens to us on the regular: when our skin gets oily, the last thing we want to do is moisturize and add more fuel to the grease-fire. But then our sebaceous glands go bonkers, overproducing oil to try to compensate for what it feels like is chronic dryness. So our attempts to make our skin less oily actually end up making us oilier! Where will the madness end?

That’s where serums come in. Far lighter (and faster to absorb) than moisturizer, they keep your skin hydrated without contributing to that greasy feeling that we all hate so much. And because you’re keeping hydrated, your skin won’t go nuts overproducing sebum—thus making you less oily in the long run.

5. You’ll save money.

But wait, we hear you saying. Serums are more expensive than any other skincare product. How will that save me money?

Simple: if you invest in a good serum, you’ll actually have something that works. No more wasting money on multiple products that are just ok, or that you think might be working; a great serum is actually going to give you visible results.

It all comes down to what you’d rather spend money on: five cheaper products that take up space on your shelf and do nothing for your skin, or one product that does amazing things and costs a little more. Trust us: once you find your perfect serum, you’ll never waste your dollars on anything else again.