Serum vs cream, what is good for our skin type.

Are serums real skincare marvels (who doesn’t want to find that “unicorn” skincare product?) that must absolutely be added into our beauty routine or is it just another fad? 

We often hear from bloggers or influencers that serums are too rich, useless or tend to clog pores.

So first of all, do serums really clog pores?

Although you should be mindful of which Serums you purchase. Regular serums from big commercial brands are filled with petrochemicals & often silicones whilst creams are often filled with harsh toxic preservatives. 

That’s a bit of a tricky question because that depends on the quality of the ingredients and the comedogenic factor of the botanical oils used. The common botanical oils that are at very low risk of clogging your pores are as follow: Argan Oil, Castor Oil, Primrose Oil, Hazelnut Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Plum Kernel Oil, Raspberry Seed Oil, Rosehip Oil, Pomegranate Oil, Inca Inchi Oil.

Other oils that are low risk of clogging pore are as follow: Sweet almond oil, Camelina Oil, Tamanu Oil.

All these oils are available on The Spoiled Bee’s Website and all our Serums are formulated to have a low to non existent comedogenic factor.

Botanical Ingredients in our Serums: The Real Stuff

When we formulated our Serums, we were after the very best active botanical ingredients available to address specific skincare concerns & needs.

And like all our products, our serums can be used guilt free as they do not contain any chemicals. No preservatives, no SLS, no silicones, not artificial fragrances. Only the good stuff!

Botanical Oils addressing Real Skin Condition

Botanical Oils can also help address certain skin issues such as eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis in a completely natural way. Many have tried treating these conditions with botanical oils and had great success in doing so. Oils such as Plum Kernel Oil, Camelina Oil and Hemp Seed Oil for exemple (only 3 of many!) will help heal and fix many skin conditions that petrochemicals would simply aggravate or hide. 

The Active Ingredients Are Already in the Botanical Oils

Now we LOVE active ingredients that fill certain specific roles in skincare products. After all, one of our serums contains 10% of Fruit Enzymes and the other contains Botanical Collagen. But botanical and herbal oils are also naturally packed with active ingredients; To name a few:

• Inca Inchi Oil is very high in Omega 3’s (it has the highest omega 3 content compared to any other oils available)
• Fruit kernel or seed oils are very rich in anti-oxidants which make them highly anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing.
• Some oils also contain an extraordinary amount of Vitamins such as Vitamin E: Avocado Oil, Hemp Oil, Rosehip Oil to name a few.

Why use Serums AND Creams?

 Consider Serums to be the cherry on the cake. Face creams are great at restoring the skin’s water content and moisture (but make sure to only use a cream free of chemicals as they do more harm than good both for your skin and health), however for many of us, it’s not actually enough. Sure, cream based products are very easily and quickly absorbed by the skin, but they do not contain as much of the good stuff as concentrated Serums.

Some of us will need to add Serums as part of our daily skincare routines whilst others can get away with using them only on a weekly basis.

So in what order should you use them? Everyone has a different opinion on this. We personally like using face creams first, leaving them to be absorbed into the skin for about 10 minutes before going in afterwards with a Serum in the evening. Always massage gently into the skin waiting another 10 to 15 minutes for the serums to be absorbed by the skin before going to bed.

An extra little tip for hot summer days by the pool or cold winter night by the heater?

If you find yourself with a sunburn in the summer (remember your SPF girls!) or with very dry skin in the winter, you can go a little heavier on the serum and use it twice a day. Basically, learn to listen to your skin and try to take notes on when it feels dry vs oilier. You may even notice a correlation with you menstrual cycle, stress, the foods you eat etc… Overtime that will help really customise your skincare.

If you want to only use creams, make sure they contain enough of the moisturising ingredients to meet your skin’s needs

Many creams contain a lot of… well useless stuff! Fillers, chemicals, fragrances. In case you hadn’t noticed, we like to keep things simple! After all, our skin tends to be quite good at regulating itself with a little extra help. So make sure that the face cream you do use contains good botanical oils and active ingredients that will really help your skin recover and heal itself.

When Budget Wins over Quality: The Skincare Industry Master Plan

Did you know that many (if not most) big cosmetic brands split their budget as follows: only 2.5% of the total cost of a product goes towards its ingredients & product formulation whilst 97.5% of the budget is geared towards marketing, magazines, models, PR’s etc… A fancy packaging on a big billboard with a stunning model (who you know does not actually use that particular product…) will only get your skin so far. Knowledge is power and the same applies for your skincare. If you really want to go the extra mile for your skin, please please do not let yourself be fooled by pricey marketing. Look at the ingredients, spend 5 minutes researching the ingredients on google. Are they useful? More importantly, are they safe?

Now our answer to the big question: do you really need serum in your beauty routine? Well yes. Yes you do!

We would love to find out about experience using serums?

The Spoiled Bee Team

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