Serums

Why this is the step that does the work

A serum is a thin, concentrated carrier for an active ingredient, designed to be absorbed rather than to sit on the surface. It is the part of a home routine with any real prospect of changing what your skin looks like, and it is also the part where a wrong choice does the most damage, because the ingredients are strong enough to matter in both directions.

Delivery is doing more of the work than most people realise. AlumierMD sells the same retinol at 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0, all encapsulated and time released, and describes the 0.25 as the one to start on if retinol is new to you. ZO makes the same point about its own range and tells new users to begin with the lower concentration. Three strengths of one ingredient exist for a reason, and the reason is that skin tolerance is individual.

How to choose between the ones above

Choose by concern, not by brand. For uneven tone and discolouration, the range runs from EvenTone and Intellibright Complex, both hydroquinone free, through to the ZO Retinol Skin Brightener. For redness and reactive skin, Calm-R and Rozatrol. For breakouts, the Acne Balancing Serum, built on salicylic acid. For lines and texture, the retinols, plus Ultimate Boost Serum, ZO Firming Serum and the Growth Factor Serum.

For daytime antioxidant defence there is EverActive C&E + Peptide at 15% vitamin C, ZO 10% Vitamin C Self-Activating, ZO Daily Power Defense and Alumience A.G.E. And for exfoliation there is the AHA Renewal Serum with 8% lactic acid, which is a different job again and should not be stacked on top of a retinol without advice.

Morning and evening are not the same job

AlumierMD marks this explicitly in its own kits. In the Prep & Enhance collections the vitamin C serum is labelled AM and the retinol is labelled PM. Antioxidants in the morning sit under your sunscreen; retinol goes on at night. Two serums is a normal routine. Five is a routine that is fighting itself.

The mistake people make with it

Starting everything at once, at the strongest version available, on the theory that faster is better. It is the single most common reason people decide active skincare does not suit them, when what did not suit them was four new actives introduced in the same week.

The second mistake is the opposite: buying a good serum and then skipping the SPF. Our BBL page is blunt that sun protection between sessions is what determines whether a result holds, and that is just as true of a result you are building at home.

Ask us before you start, if

You are considering retinol. Every retinol product in this range carries the same line from its maker: consult a skincare professional before starting, so the concentration matches your tolerance. We would rather have that two minute conversation than have you abandon retinol after a bad fortnight on the wrong strength.

You are pregnant or breastfeeding, or you are taking isotretinoin or recently stopped. Tell us, because it changes what we would put you on and when.

Your pigmentation is melasma. It behaves differently from sun damage, it is stubborn and prone to returning, and it needs a longer-term plan of daily topicals and rigorous sun protection rather than a single bottle. Our peels page is honest that this is managed rather than cured.

You have a treatment booked. Actives usually pause around microneedling, peels and resurfacing, and restart when you are told.