Serums & Boosters

A serum is a concentrate. That is the whole definition — fewer ingredients, at higher levels, in a thin base built to be layered under something else. It is not a moisturiser and it will not replace one.

Which means the useful question is not "which serum is best" but "what is the one thing I want this layer to do".

Choose by the one thing

• Hydration — HYDRALIS™ Hydrating Serum, or the HYDRALIS™ Double Hydration Gel. The layer that suits almost everyone, and the safest place to start.
• Lines and firmness — RENOVÉA™ Firming Serum and COLLAVIS™ Plumping Serum.
• Texture and the look of fine lines, without retinol — VESPERA™ Line Smoothing Serum (water-based) or BAKURIS™ Line Smoothing Serum (oil-based, so it goes later in the routine).
• Radiance and uneven tone — LUMERIS™ Radiance Serum and CLARITAS™ Tone Perfecting Serum.
• The look of dark spots specifically — KOJARIS™ Dark Spot Corrector.
• Skin that looks tired or congested — EXOVIA™ Skin Renewal Serum and AEQUILIS™ Rebalancing Jelly Serum.
• Blemishes, on the spot — PURIVA™ targeted blemish serum, used where you need it rather than all over.

Boosters are different

CAFFERIS™ De-Puffing Booster and GINKARIS™ Protective Booster are meant to be added to what you already use — a few drops mixed into your moisturiser, or applied underneath it — rather than used as a step of their own.

How many at once

One, usually. Two if they do different jobs and one of them is hydration. Layering four serums does not multiply the result; it multiplies the chance that when something goes wrong you have no idea which one caused it — and it is how most people end up with a stinging face and an expensive shelf.

Order: thinnest first, oils last. Water-based serum, then anything oil-based, then moisturiser. Nothing water-based gets through an oil, so an oil serum applied early blocks everything after it.