Types of Face Serums: choose face serum for Oily, Dry, Aged & Uneven Skin types?
Many people complain about the adverse effects of facial serums. But most of them don’t choose the right facial serum according to their skin type.
If you use a face serum that is made for dry skin on your oily skin; obviously it’ll give you adverse results that you desired.
So first, you need to know which type of facial serum your skin needs.
How to choose face serum & How many kinds of face serums are there?
There’re mainly 6 types of face serums in the market-
- Anti-Acne Face Serum
- Anti-Aging Face Serum
- Hydrating Face Serum
- Skin Brightening Face Serum
- Exfoliating Face Serum
- Antioxidant Face Serum
But how to pick which one face serum is the best for your skin? Before deep dive into the types of face serums, you have to know what is a face serum is?
what is a face serum?
A Serum is an active ingredient in all your skincare products.
For example; when pure concentrated vitamin C is added in a cream base or soap base, companies labelled it a Vitamin C Cream or Vitamin C Soap.
But using an active ingredient with a heavy cream base or soap base is not as much effective as using it directly on your skin, and they are in a less percentage in these products.
What will happen if you use the only pure concentrated active serum on your skin?
There’re many benefits of using a face serum on your skin like-
Serums are lightweight and they get absorbed into the skin very quickly.
Serums don’t clog the skin pores.
Serums show their results very quickly than creams.
Serums provide the main ingredient that your skin needs.
Serums are very effective for any kind of skin, But how to choose which face serum your skin needs?
There’re 6 types of face serums according to your skin concerns. Choose which one your skin needs-
1. anti-acne face serums:
This type of face serums is very effective in treating any kind of Acne.
Unlike heavy cream-based skincare products, Anti-Acne face serums are lightweight and they also easily get absorbed into the oily skin without leaving greasy appearance after application.
benefits of using an anti-acne face serum:
1. Face Serums have Light Texture:
The one of main causes of acne is the clogged skin pores.
Skincare products containing oil and cream base can increase the acne formation by clogging the skin pores.
Unlike heavy creams, anti-acne face serums are light in texture, have watery concentration so that they can penetrate deep into the skin treating acne and pimples.
2. anti-acne serums exfoliate the skin:
Anti-acne face serums exfoliate the skin chemically and remove trapped dead skin cells and sebum from the skin.
They penetrate deep into the skin and loose the chemical bonds between the skin cells making it easy to exfoliate the dead skin cells.
By removing dead skin cells and sebum (oil) from the skin, anti-acne serums reduce the chances of forming new acne.
3. anti-acne serums don't clog the skin pores:
Most of the anti-acne serums are water-based and have a light texture.
Instead of lying on the outermost surface of the skin, they penetrate the skin without clogging the skin pores.
4. anti-acne serums hydrates the skin more effectively than creams:
If you have oily skin, it doesn’t mean that your skin doesn’t need hydration.
Oily skin may be devoid of moisture, so moisturization is very essential even an oily skin type.
When you use a cream-based or oil-based moisturizer, it can block the skin pores and can increase the chances of the formation of acne.
Serums do hydration jobs very effectively.
what you should look for an anti-acne serum?
There are two main causes of acne formation-
- Excess Sebum & Dead Skin Cells trapped in the skin pores.
- Bacterial Infection.
When natural oil of the skin and dead skin cells trapped get trapped in the skin, it forms whiteheads & blackheads.
Your body naturally removes the dead skin cells, but if somehow your body doesn’t do this work properly, dead skin cells get trapped in the skin and cause the formation of acne-causing bacteria.
Removing dead skin cells is essential for acne pimple-free skin.
There are some chemical exfoliators that exfoliate the skin effectively. Look for these kinds of exfoliators in your anti-acne serums-
- Alpha Hydroxy Acids (Citric Acid, Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid)
- Beta Hydroxy Acids (Salicylic Acid)
- Niacinamide.
Severe and large size pimples are caused by a bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) that live on the skin.
To deal with P. acnes you should use a face serum that contains anti-bacterial ingredients like –
- Neem.
- Green Tea Extract.
2. anti-aging serums:
Many studies have shown that as you age, your skin produces fewer collagen peptides in the body resulting in form of dull, loose, and wrinkled skin.
This type of face serums is used to reduce signs of aging like fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots.
Collagen is the strings of amino acids, which lies below the epidermis (in the dermis).
As you age, the capacity of developing & repairing of collagen peptides also decreases.
What anti-aging serums do?
There are two main causes of aging, fine line and wrinkles-
- Aging.
- Damage due to Free Radicals.
Free radicals are unstable electrons. They form in the body or by sun damage.
When Oxygen molecules split into other single molecules, due to unpaired electrons, they become unstable free radicals.
These unstable electrons react very quickly with other substances and cause damages in the body.
Anti-aging serums increase skin cell turnover which is decreased as you age.
Anti-aging serums also provide antioxidants to the skin.
These anti-oxidants are able to donate the electrons without making themselves unstable and protect the skin from free radicals.
Anti-aging serums contain Retinol & Bakuchiol as the main ingredients.
They both repair, fight free radicals and boost collagen peptides in the skin making skin plump.
Retinol Face Serums exfoliate the skin, this property of retinol serums can make your skin initially thin but as you use it continuously, they increase the collagen peptides in the skin increasing the thickness of the skin.
Retinol face serums also can cause irritation initially to the sensitive skin type, but there is an alternative of retinol for sensitive skin type called Bakuchiol, which has the same benefits as retinol.
Retinol face serums should be applied in the night time on clean, dry skin and you have to must wear sunscreen at least SPF 30 in the day time.
What You should look in an anti-aging face serum?
These are some ingredients that boost and repair collagen peptides in the skin-
- Retinoids.
- Bakuchiol.
- Vitamin C
- Peptides.
Know more; Best Anti-Aging Face Serums according to your skin type.
3. skin brightening serums:
If you’re facing hyperpigmentation, acne scars or dark spots on your skin, this kind of face serum is for you.
Skin brightening serums contain ingredients that reduce the melanin production in the skin and hyperactivity of tyrosinase enzyme which is responsible for melanin production.
Melanin is a natural pigment in the skin which decides the color of the skin.
Studies have shown that direct sun exposure stimulates keratinocytes to secrete chemicals that stimulate melanocytes.
Then Melanocytes produce more melanin pigment at that spot resulting in form of dark patches.
Skin brightening serum lightens the skin tone by reducing the hyperactivity of melanin.
what you should look for in a skin brightening serum?
Skin brightening serums contain skin lightening ingredients like-
- Kojic Acid.
- Arbutin.
- Licorice Extract.
- Mulberry Extract.
4. hydrating face serums:
If you face dry skin even after applying any oil or cream-based heavy creams, your skin needs a hydrating face serum.
This type of face serums penetrate into the skin and hydrates the skin.
Heavy creams and oils lie on the skin and only reduce the water loss from the skin without hydrating the skin.
On the other hand, Hydrating face serums penetrate into the skin and hold the water within the skin making the skin hydrated for a longer period of time.
The main ingredient in the hydrating face serums is Hyaluronic Acid.
Hyaluronic Acid is a humectant that attracts and retains the water in the skin.
It can hold over 1,000 times its weight in water within the cells of the skin making it super hydrator for extremely dry skin.
Hyaluronic Acid also instantly improves the fine lines & wrinkles by plumping up the dry & dehydrated skin.
HA also provides an extra layer of hydration and improves the lipid barrier function of the skin.
Ingredients in a hydrating face serum are-
- Hyaluronic Acid (HA).
- Glycerin.
- Jojoba Oil.
- Argan Oil.
- Peptides.
5. anti-oxidant face serum:
These kinds of face serums are used to combat the adverse effects of sunlight and free radicals.
If your skin is highly sun-sensitive, you need an anti-oxidant face serum.
We all have to face sunlight, pollution every day which damages our skin.
Free radicals are unstable electrons (contains an unpaired electron in their atomic orbital).
They form in the body when Oxygen atoms break in two atoms or when your skin gets exposed to direct sunlight.
Antioxidant face serum protects the skin from the harmful effects of free radicals by donating electrons to free radicals making them stabilize without making themselves unstable.
Antioxidant serums are used in the day time.
These are top 3 antioxidants-
- Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid)
- Green Tea Extract
- Pomegranate
Read more; Best Vitamin C Serum according to your skin type.
Know more; Best Antioxidant Serum in India.
6. Exfoliating face serum:
This type of face serums is used to treat dull skin with whiteheads & blackheads.
Many studies have shown that the capacity of your body to exfoliate the skin also decreases with age.
Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells & replacing them with new skin cells.
When your body doesn’t exfoliate the skin effectively, these dead skin cells get trapped in the skin pores or hair follicles causing problems like dull skin, whiteheads, and blackheads.
For younger-looking skin, exfoliation is essential.
You can exfoliate your skin by two methods-
- Physical Exfoliation
- Chemical Exfoliation.
Physical exfoliation can be done by small grains of Apricot Seeds, Flax Seeds, and many other ingredients, which may be harsh on your skin and can cause redness & irritation.
Exfoliating face serums contain chemical exfoliators like Alpha-Hydroxy-Acids, Beta-Hydroxy-Acids, and Poly-Hydroxy-Acids.
They exfoliate the skin by breaking adhesive bonds among the skin cells so that dead skin cells get a path to come at the outer layer of the skin.
Sunil Kumar is a passionate blogger in Beauty & Cosmetic Industry. After graduation from the technical field, he started sharing his knowledge (cosmetic products related) on social media and started a blog.
The aim of Sunil Kumar is to provide transparent views of cosmetic products to their users.
