How to use serums correctly so as not to overload the skin

Watching the beauty industry launch new “must-have” assets every season, I'm starting to think that modern women don't need a beautician so much as a basic education in chemistry. We look at the shelves in our bathrooms and see dozens of jars. Marketers have successfully convinced us that without daily multi-layered application of all the best, we will immediately be covered in wrinkles before the weekend, informs Ukr.Media.

Serums were created as powerful concentrates, quick help or targeted effects on a specific problem. But because of the desire to get results yesterday, many people start generously dousing themselves with these expensive liquids. The finale is usually sad: instead of the glow from within promised by influencers, we get irritated, tired skin that just begs to be left alone.

How do you know if your skin is “too much”?

Skin is very straightforward, it doesn’t know how to hide its indignation. If an hour after your evening routine your face sticks to the pillow or shines as if you just ran a marathon in the sauna, this is not a “healthy glow.” It’s your skin simply suffocating under a layer of makeup that it can’t absorb.

Another sign that you've overdone it is creasing. When your morning foundation suddenly comes off in clumps, it means only one thing: the previous five layers of care either didn't absorb anywhere, but simply dried on the surface, or their textures “fell apart” with each other. Add to this the sudden small rashes or red spots that appear when someone decides to play alchemy and mixes incompatible ingredients.

4 golden rules of application (keep them so you don't forget!)

It's a bit funny to read such appeals from marketers, because in fact the rules are simple logic. It all starts with quantity. Serum is a concentrate. Two or three drops are really enough for the entire face. Pouring half a pipette on yourself at a time is just washing money down the sink, it won't work any faster.

Next, we have to think about where exactly we apply it. All moisturizers, where hyaluronic acid is the main star, require moisture. It makes sense to apply them to a still slightly damp face after washing it, then they work like a sponge. But serious active ingredients like retinol or vitamin C require exclusively dry skin, otherwise instead of rejuvenation you can get severe irritation and peeling.

The application process itself should not resemble kneading dough either. There is no point in stretching the skin by intensively rubbing the product in. It is enough to rub the drops between your fingers and lightly press your palms against your face.

And finally, the cream. Any serum is quite volatile, and without a cream it will simply evaporate, leaving a feeling of tightness. The cream is needed as a lid that keeps everything useful inside. Of course, if it is a sticky July evening outside, and the skin is already oily, this convention can be neglected, but in other cases, there is no way without a cream.

What can't be mixed with what?

It seems like every day there's a new rule about how ingredients fight each other. To put it simply, vitamin C is great in the morning—it acts as a shield against city smog and the sun. Retinol and acids are strictly an evening affair, doing their work of renewal in the dark.

Remember: if you're playing with assets, your best friend in the morning is a cream with SPF, otherwise age spots will not last long.

But what you definitely shouldn’t do is mix retinol with acids in one evening. This is the fastest way to wake up with a face the color of a ripe tomato, which will also be unpleasantly flaky for the next few days. If you don’t want to think about compatibility at all, there are good old ceramides, panthenol and hyaluronic acid. They are absolutely peaceful and coexist peacefully with any other jars on the shelf.

Give your skin a day off

There is a strange illusion that if you miss even one day of active care, your body will turn into a pumpkin and your face will instantly wrinkle. In fact, the skin gets tired from constant stimulation.

When you have an arsenal of anti-wrinkle, anti-pigmentation, and anti-aging products, the worst thing you can do is try to use them all up in one week, or even one day. Alternating works much better. Tonight, something active. Tomorrow, basic moisturizing. And sometimes, it’s worth not applying anything at all, except for cleansers and a simple cream. In routine, as in life, the most beneficial thing is not the amount of effort, but banal adequacy and the ability to stop in time.

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