My friend told me today, over the phone, that she had bought a bottle of serum. I asked her “What does it contain?” She said ‘Why don’t you check it yourself? I don’t really know.” And so, I did.
And found what I expected to find.
The first most important thing about a serum is that it is first and foremost a ‘protein’. It is not oil, and it is not fat. So, when it is sold as a mix of some very exotic and rare oils, functional yet oils nonetheless, I find that unethical. More so when it is a high-end product, and expensive. Call it miracle oil, secret formula oil, call it magic lotion – but it cannot be called and sold as serum.
If you visit Estee Lauder’s outlet, and buy their night serum, that 50$ bottle, they tell you very clearly, to use it along with a good night crème. Ever wondered why? I mean, if you are anyway spending 50-100 $ on a bottle of serum, why would you need to apply another coat of an expensive night crème? Should this magic serum be doing the magic?
So, here’s the actual truth about serums and how they work; something the beauty industry doesn’t want you to know.
Serums are humectants, which means they pull and hold moisture. One such example is today’s fashionable Hyaluronic acid. HA, as it is commonly called, is a wonderful thing. We produce HA in our bodies, and it can be found under our skin, while we are young. HA is responsible for fresh hydrated youthful and glowing skin. Its production diminishes as we age, and so we need externally applied HA. HA enters our skin, when applied topically, and begins pulling moisture from the underlying skin layers toward the surface. Some larger HA molecules stay on the top surface and begin pulling moisture from the air to the skin. This gives our skin a well plumped hydrated look and feel.
However, and this is a big however, if you are living through a Delhi summer, or winter for that matter, you probably just emptied your pocket in a futile attempt to erase those lines. You see, HA absorbs moisture for your skin from the environment. And if humidity levels are under 50%, there isn’t enough moisture in the air. And while HA cannot get the moisture from the air, it is still trying to pull the subcutaneous moisture from you. So instead of hydrating your skin, you have dehydrated it!
So, the beauty specialists will tell you to use HA with an occlusive, a crème, to be applied over the HA application, a moisturizer, which will give the HA enough moisture to pull into your skin. And if you investigate any good moisturizer, it will usually have, albeit a very tiny percentage, of glycerin – all moisturizing creams use glycerin, usually by default. And it is a more effective humectant than HA.
In the end, one might intelligently question – what really improved my skin texture? HA or the skin creme?
Further, HA is not an anti-ageing agent. It is ONLY a humectant, and helps deeply hydrate the skin, if you live near the sea, or if you use it during monsoons. Not if you live in NCR, or in an air-conditioned environment. And for me this gets funny – you might want to have a humidifier running if you wish to justify your purchase. Well, with the humidifier running, you may not really need anything for your face, you know? Also, an anti-ageing agent is collagen, for example, which repairs the age-related tissue breakdown. Not HA, not Vit C serum either. Having said all the above, I must also say that the bottle of exotic oil my friend bought is also a treat, nonetheless. All those oils used are actually very good. And they should be promoted for what they really are – miraculous oils for mature skins, not serums.
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