Serums Vs. Moisturizers – Things To Know About Them

difference between serum and moisturizer

With growing trends in the beauty industry, skin care practices have evolved a lot. Many new products are coming into the market, which is why skincare today is getting more advanced and more effective. But remember, with new products also comes more confusion.

Serums and moisturizers are both great to rejuvenate your skin, especially if it’s dry. So, is there any difference, or should you use one over the other?

Serums and moisturizers help the skin in different ways. Sometimes a serum alone will be adequate for what your skin needs, and other times, you will feel that you need both a serum and a moisturizer.

Serums Vs Moisturizers

Let us break down the difference between serums and moisturizers.

1) A major difference between serums and moisturizers is what serums don’t include. Serums leave out the ‘sealing’ ingredients such as petrolatum and mineral oils that moisturizers often use to keep water from evaporating from the skin. Serums are formulated using fewer fillers, thickeners, and lubricating elements.

2) The second significant variation is that serums are actually able to work more effectively in your skin for two reasons. Firstly, you must know that serums have smaller particles, so they penetrate the skin on a deeper cellular level.

3) Thirdly, because face serums are curated without the thick airtight ‘sealing’ particles present in moisturizers, the active ingredients in a serum penetrate your skin faster and can work more effectively. The beauty of a serum is that they provide a high concentration of active ingredients and penetrate further, effectively delivering beneficial nutrients and hydration actives to the deepest layers of the skin.

4) Your favorite moisturizer is mainly a blend of water, humectants (an ingredient that holds and retains moisture), emollients (an ingredient that softens and smooths the skin), and oils. Moisturizers are potential barriers between your skin and the environment. They also add water to the skin and keep it moisturized.

5) Your serum is a skin care product with a more fluid, watery, gel or lotion-like consistency. It is a formula full of performance ingredients. These ingredients penetrate much deeper into the layers of the skin. Serums can have a wide range of benefits. These benefits range from diminishing blemishes, firming, fading brown spots, and encouraging a more youthful complexion.

How Serum Works On Face?

Serums are lightweight, non-greasy, and intensive skin care products formulated to penetrate deeply, allowing their active ingredients to combat free radical damage, skin pigmentation, aging, acne, and scarring by delivering nutrients and vitamins deep into the skin cells. Serums that provide antioxidants, peptides, hyaluronic acid, and Vitamin C can have dramatic and swift effects on skin radiance as they brighten, exfoliate, and hydrate the skin. Serums are designed to repair the skin at a cellular level and act on a wide range of skin health factors simultaneously. If your skin feels aged, damaged, scarred, or sun-damaged skin, a serum is your best friend to reduce these visible impacts on your skin. Serums have a targeted action on the skin, helping to improve firmness, smoothness, and luminosity while reducing fine lines and wrinkles. We recommend you to try Oriental Botanics Australian Tea Tree Face Anti Acne Face Serum. It is formulated with bioactive and natural ingredients to help improve overall skin health. This serum is formulated especially for oily and acne-prone skin to help keep your skin hydrated and moisturized without adding any extra greasiness. Green Tea and Tea Tree extracts help soothe irritated skin and reduce the appearance of pimples on your skin. Aloe vera is a gentle moisturizer that keeps your skin hydrated. The clarifying effect of the face serum helps to reduce dark spots and hyperpigmentation and lightens and brightens the skin. Precious essential oils in the serum help in calming and healing the sensitive skin and improving the condition of the stressed skin surface.

Moisturizer Uses For Skin

A moisturizer is a lotion, gel, or cream which contains skin hydrating emollients and forms a physical barrier to help skin stay hydrated. Moisturizers have more extensive molecules, so they do not penetrate into the skin’s epidermis or surface layer. Their main benefit of moisturizer is that they seal the skin, locking in moisture and essential nutrients. The thicker, heavier ingredients in moisturizing face creams form a barrier to your skin designed to lock in moisture. But it can also lock active ingredients in the moisturizer out of the skin, reducing their efficacy. An effective form of moisturizer is in the form of a gel that has the properties of a moisturizer but is light on the skin. Try Oriental Botanics Aloe vera, Green Tea & Cucumber Night Gel. It is a skin-loving night moisturizer enriched with natural ingredients. It supplies your skin with external hydration and superior nourishment essential for rebuilding and revitalizing the skin. It is packed with nutrients that are vital for sustaining the nighttime cell renewal and regeneration process so that your skin retains its youthful elasticity. It helps in repairing the microscopic damages in the skin that occur due to daylong exposure to sunlight and pollution. It restores the skin’s protective moisture barrier and strengthens the antioxidant defense against free radicals. Adding this product to your daily nighttime skin care routine steps helps to lighten the blemishes and give you a clear and radiant complexion. The lightweight gel absorbs quickly in the skin and leaves the skin balanced.

Does Your Skin Needs Both The Serum & Moisturizer?

Serums and moisturizers play very diverse and vital roles in your skincare. Moisturizers are selected based on your skin type, whereas serums are selected based on your skin concern. When you talk about both, that is where the layering effect comes into play. While an antioxidant serum works to repair skin cells and combat free radicals, a moisturizer acts to prevent the evaporation of moisture. It provides a physical barrier to protect the skin from dirt, environmental irritants, and makeup particles. Serums can be used both morning and night to address specific skin issues more effectively than a moisturizer alone, and will also boost the hydrating effects of your moisturizer. Ensure your serum contains antioxidants for skin to provide protection from environmental damage. Ideally, you will use a facial serum to increase your skincare regime’s effectiveness and combat aging, blemishes, acne, and skin damage more successfully. If you are 30 or older, using a serum will make a massive difference in improving your skin and its texture. Serums can be used alone by people with naturally oilier skin or under a moisturizer to help protect the hydration levels in normal to dry skin. During the winter season, it is a good skin care practice to use a moisturizer over your serum for extra hydration and to help your skin cope with changing temperature and drying winds.

Some of the more specific reasons to use facial serums in your skincare regime include:

To help repair sun damage and reduce wrinkles & fine lines.
For deeper skin hydration.
For firm skin and improved texture.
For gentle exfoliation and getting smoother, more radiant skin.
For calming redness and sensitivity on the skin.
For helping to clear and prevent blemishes and acne.
To fade brown spots and pigmentation.

How Should You Apply Serum & Moisturizer On Your Face?

Moist skin is ten times more permeable than dry skin, so skin care experts recommend that you always apply your serum twice daily, directly to your skin after cleansing and toning. In the morning, apply your facial serum before your SPF moisturizer or sunscreen. At night time, apply the serum before your night cream or moisturizer. After cleansing with a gentle cleanser rich in natural ingredients, your serum should be applied over the entire face and neck. Gently dab on with your fingertips and allow it to absorb into the skin for a few minutes before applying a moisturizer. Apply about a dime size of serum with two fingers and massage thoroughly into the skin. More serum does not equal more benefits. Your skin can only absorb a certain amount, and when a serum is packed with great actives, you do not need large amounts. Using a serum often is better than only applying more. Using moisturizer over your serum will help lock in the serum’s anti-aging and nourishing actives and nutrients. Suppose you keep your moisturizer in the refrigerator. In that case, the low temperature of the cream when it is applied after your serum can push surface blood into the skin through the capillary contraction, increasing the penetration of the serum’s active ingredients. Like your body needs water, your skin needs ample hydration to look radiant and healthy. Well-hydrated skin defies aging, infections and repairs itself faster. Serums have a light water-based formula, which adds hydration and is concentrated with nutrients for the skin. The thick creamy consistency of a moisturizer seals in the moisture and offers deep hydration. You can choose your serum and moisturizer according to your specific skin care concern.