How to Use a Face Serum

The skin care you use is all about personal choice. Some of us keep things uber simple and simply cleanse and moisturise. Others add in the odd nourishing or deeply cleansing face mask and might exfoliate every week or so. Whilst others go all out and layer up on multiple skin care products .

Really, there is no right or wrong. If this year of coronavirus has taught us anything, we all need to do what we need to do. No one should be telling us what’s right or wrong in terms of how we deal with the mental health aspects of lockdowns and social distancing as much as they shouldn’t when it comes to our skin care choices.

So where do you stand when it comes to facial serums? Do you use them? Are they necessary and beneficial to the skin? Or are they a waste of money and full of glossy marketing hype designed to get us to spend our hard earned cash on empty promises?

What about if you have stressed out or contrary skin? Can they add extra benefits to non conformist skin types?

For the avoidance of doubt, here at Sönd, we have a serum as part of our alkalising skin care range. Our Strength Training Serum helps to soothe, smooth, brighten and plump the skin.

We’re fans of using a serum, that’s why we developed one to complement our cream cleanser and day and night moisturiser. But just because we are, doesn’t have to mean you are. However, since you’re here reading up about serums, their benefits and whether or not you should use one, here’s our answers to some of the questions you might have on face serums…

What is a face serum?

A face serum is a concentrated skin booster, that may resemble a face cream. However, since they contain very concentrated ingredients, they tend to be used more sparingly than a moisturiser and therefore come in smaller containers.

What do face serums do?

Face serums tend to be packed with a high concentration of beneficial ingredients that help to nourish and support the skin more than simply wearing moisturiser alone. Their molecular size is usually smaller than that of moisturiser.

This means that they can penetrate further into the skin than a moisturiser can, delivering nutrients and beneficial ingredients deep into the lower layers of the skin where they’re of more benefit. Face creams tend to sit on top of the skin and penetrate only the upper layers.

Different face serums do different things. But in the main, they’ll help to promote extra hydration, manage acne breakouts, have anti ageing properties or help to calm the skin. Or they may have multiple benefits and do all four! (Like ours does…)

Those of us that do use face serums also tend to report that our makeup goes on more smoothly, and stays looking ‘just applied’ fresh for longer too.

When should I use a face serum?

Most face serums are designed to be used after cleansing and before using a moisturiser. The majority are also designed to be used during the day, so before your day cream, rather than before your night cream.

This is normally because a face serum contains ingredients that help to protect the skin from environmental pollutants and damaging free radicals that can be caused by the ultra violet (UV) rays from the sun.

How do I use a face serum?

Using a face serum is easy. After using your normal cleanser, make sure the skin is clean and dry and free from old makeup.

Then apply a coffee bean sized amount of serum to your entire face. Don’t forget to include your temples, forehead, jawline and neck, plus you can use it on your decolletage too if you’d like to.

Use gentle circular motions or a soft patting motion to apply your face serum. But work fairly quickly to spread it around before it dries.

Then, once it’s dry after a minute or so, apply your day cream using the same gentle circular or patting motion. Once your moisturiser is dry, apply your makeup if you wear it.

Do I have to use a face serum?

Absolutely not! No one has to do anything when it comes to skin care. In our eyes, it’s all about personal choice, all the time. We’d never use underhand or aggressive marketing to get you to spend money on something you neither want nor need.

But you may well benefit from using a face serum since they do help to nourish and protect the skin.

Will face serums irritate my skin?

Possibly. Some face serums might contain harsh ingredients such as artificial preservatives, perfumes and colourants. Others might contain ingredients that might simply be too much for your skin.

This can cause the skin to break out in acne spots or become irritated or inflamed. If you know that your skin tends to overreact to certain things, look for a face serum that’s made with natural, plant based ingredients and promises to be gentle on even the most contrary of skin types.

What’s the best face serum?

Well obviously, we think our Strength Training Serum is the best face serum on the market! If we didn’t, there’d be little point us talking about and writing all these words.

We suffer from skin problems here at Sönd. Or rather, we did suffer with skin problems. With acne prone, stressed out skin, we were frustrated at the lack of skin care aimed at skin like ours.

We wanted skin care products that worked. We wanted skin care products that helped to calm and soothe our skin, help to manage our acne breakouts and that were made using natural, nourishing ingredients without the harshness of mineral oils and parabens.

But we couldn’t find it. So we made our own. And we loved them so much, we then went public with them and now we have an abundance of fans who also love our skin care products. Including our face serum!

Featuring our unique blend of alkalising silica salts and natural plant botanicals, it helps to kickstart the cellular regeneration processes that go on in healthy skin. This not only helps to reduce redness, irritation and inflammation. It also helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles too.

So if you’re currently wondering if you should use a face serum or not, then you could always give us a go, and see what you think...