The Best Facial Serum Ingredients for Different Skin Types & Concerns
With so many different face serums to choose from, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by your options. Here’s a quick overview of which ingredients work best for your particular skin type.
Normal Skin
Normal skin types have the luxury of experimenting with a variety of face serums without having to worry too much about irritation. Feel free to layer serums as needed to address multiple skin concerns, or swap out products depending on seasonal or hormonal changes that may affect your skin.
Dry Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Hyaluronic Acid
Dry skin can greatly benefit from hydrating face serums layered with rich moisturizers. Look for serums made with humectant ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, betaine and panthenol, which draw moisture from the air and infuse it into the skin. Also, keep an eye out for serums made with coconut extract, ceramides, plant-derived lipids, essential fatty acids and antioxidants such as Vitamin E.
Oily Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Niacinamide
Eliminate excess shine with a serum that controls your oil production. Ingredients like niacinamide and enantia chlorantha extract are both excellent at controlling oil, reducing sebum and minimizing pore size. Zinc, lactic acid and pink clay are ideal for absorbing oil, as well.
Combination Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide
Combination skin can be tricky to treat, but facial serums are lightweight enough to allow for some easy mixing and matching. Try using a hydrating serum on the parts of your face that are dry while balancing oilier patches with serums that contain mattifying agents like niacinamide.
Ance-Prone Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Salicylic Acid
When it comes to acne-fighting serum ingredients, salicylic acid is an absolute essential. This powerful exfoliant unclogs pores while reducing inflammation and redness. Also, look for azelaic acid, which helps to eliminate acne-causing bacteria. Antibacterial honey, green tea extract and willow bark extract are other popular anti-acne ingredients, while lemon balm helps soothe irritated skin.
Mature Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Retinol
Retinol is by far one of the best skincare ingredients for targeting fine lines and wrinkles, because it helps stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. Even better, it penetrates the skin more effectively when it’s applied as a serum. Peptides help fight wrinkles and smooth skin, while humectants such as hyaluronic acid and panthenol restore hydration. We also suggest using face serums with lactic acid to help boost your skin’s natural cell turnover.
Sensitive Skin
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Calendula
Calendula is strong enough to heal wounds and prevent scars while being gentle enough to use on babies’ delicate skin. In other words, it’s the perfect face serum ingredient for sensitive skin types. Milk proteins and other botanical extracts like green tea can help soothe irritated skin, while lecithin is a miracle worker that can enhance your skin’s protective barrier and essentially block irritants. Also, try to steer clear of synthetic fragrances and dyes that can cause irritation.
Dullness
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Vitamin C
Vitamin C brightens the skin and boosts its collagen production while deeply penetrating the skin barrier. Other effective brightening Ingredients include daisy extract, vitamin A, licorice root extract, mulberry extract, arbutin and alpha lipoic acid.
Hyperpigmentation & Dark Spots
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Glycolic Acid
Dealing with dark spots, redness or hyperpigmentation? Achieve the even complexion of your dreams with the help of glycolic acid, which gently exfoliates skin and helps fade discolorations over time. Niacinamide and hydroquinone can also be used to address pigmentation issues.
Rough Texture
- Powerhouse Ingredient: Lactic acid
If rough texture is your primary concern, choose a facial serum with lactic acid to achieve skin that looks and feels smoother. Glycolic acid and retinol also help resurface the skin, while AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) boost cellular turnover.
CORE7 Anti-Aging Hydration Serum Ingredients
Our brand-new CORE7 Anti-Aging Hydration Serum is made with the following ingredients to deliver incredible results to a variety of skin types:
- Peptides fight wrinkles & smooth skin
- Plant-derived lipids and essential fatty acids hydrate, protect & soften skin
- Daisy extract brightens
- Lemon balm soothes & fights skin damage
- Coconut extract hydrates
- Penetrating Vitamin C brightens & boosts collagen while deeply penetrating the skin barrier
- Vitamin E fights wrinkles & skin damage
- Enantia chlorantha extract controls oil and pore size
CORE7’s skin-tightening complex reduces pore size up to 15% when used 2x per day for 28 days — and its peptide complex reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in just ONE week!