The best serum after 60 does the job your skin needs. It has an ingredient with data for that job and leaves out what your skin does not tolerate.
Find the serum that fits my skinWhat “best” has to mean after 60: five things to check
A serum is a light layer that goes on before a cream. After 60 the useful question is not which serum is best, but which one does the job your skin needs.
- One job at a time. Decide first: comfort, hydration, support for a tight, flaky skin barrier, first lines or firmness. In our view a routine should do one job at a time.
- An ingredient with data for that job. For lines, retinol is the best studied, bakuchiol has small clinical studies, and Bidens pilosa extract (Bidens Pilosa Extract), a plant-based alternative to retinol, has tests run by its supplier. For firmness, look for an ingredient with data on how firm skin feels, such as Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline, a lipo-amino acid.
- Water-binders underneath. Glycerin is the best-studied humectant, and hyaluronic acid (Sodium Hyaluronate) at two molecular weights holds water in the upper layers of the skin. Well-hydrated skin measures as more elastic.
- The right place in the routine. A serum goes before a cream because a light layer spreads best on bare skin and the cream then sits over it.
- Nothing your skin does not tolerate. If your skin reacts to fragranced products, leave fragrance and essential oils out of what stays on your skin. If retinol works for your skin, keep it: an alternative is for people it did not suit.
Which of these matters most depends on your skin. A few questions, under a minute.
Why the way an ingredient is made belongs on the list
There are three ways an ingredient can be made, and each tells you something. Fermentation: a microorganism produces it, as with hyaluronic acid. Enzymatic hydrolysis: enzymes cut a large natural molecule into smaller fractions, as with hydrolysed red algae. Extraction: the ingredient is drawn out of a plant.
A plant extract such as Bidens pilosa is obtained by extraction: the plant is steeped and its active fraction drawn out. A lipo-amino acid is made by synthesis from an amino acid. In formulas like these, the fermentation-made part is the hydrators.
One caution: a process tells you how an ingredient came to be. It is not proof of what it does. For that, look at how it was tested.
How to check any serum against this list
Three steps, one minute. First, the first five names are most of the formula. Second, find the ingredient with the job and the water-binders: Sodium Hyaluronate and Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid work at fractions of a percent, so finding them near the end is normal. Third, read the end of the list: “Parfum” means added fragrance, and EU rules require certain fragrance allergens, such as Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol and Geraniol, to be named. To check that a product is retinol-free, look for Retinol, Retinal and Retinyl Palmitate.
The honest limits. Deep wrinkles do not change with a serum or a cream; what they can give is a firmer, more lifted look and smoother-feeling skin. Give a product for lines 8–12 weeks before you judge it, and keep a separate sunscreen in the morning. A set of questions online is not a diagnosis: skin under a dermatologist’s care, or redness that stays for days, is a question for the dermatologist.