Facial Serum vs. Facial Moisturizer—What’s the Difference and What Should You Use?
June Javelosa
We’ll be the first to admit: the sheer number of skincare products that we can choose from today can be confusing. Picking one, given your skin type and seasonal shifts can be one of the most overwhelming choices you have to make between toners and cleansers, moisturizers, serums, and creams.
However, a mainstay in most skincare routines is some kind of moisturizing agent that goes after cleansing and toning—typically a bottle of serum or a pot of moisturizing cream. The question is, what’s the real difference between the two?
What Is A Face Serum?
Serums are lightweight formulations, usually thin, highly absorbent, and absorb well into the skin. This makes it the most effective formulation to deliver actives and address multiple skin concerns—from anti-aging, skin brightening, or acne prevention.
What is a Moisturizer?
Moisturizers are a thicker formula you apply to your skin to create a physical barrier that helps lock in hydration. It also helps enhance the surface layer of the skin by retaining moisture and preventing the skin from drying out.
What Should You Be Using?
Serums contain active ingredients designed to seep deep into your skin to deliver all its skin benefits. On the other hand, Moisturizers are made to hydrate the skin and prevent water loss.
While moisturizers are designed to form a barrier on your skin, the most significant difference between the two is what the serum does not include. Serums don’t usually contain thickening agents or occlusive moisturizing ingredients, allowing a higher concentration of active ingredients. For more persistent and challenging skincare issues like sun damage, a high-quality serum may need to contain more active ingredients.
Moisturizers have a more straightforward job—to hydrate and minimize water loss, while serums can boost the hydrating effects of your moisturizer.
Which One Should You Be Using?
If you have a problem with your skin that you’d like to address, such as early signs of aging, dark spots, or sun damage, adding a serum can help. Those who suffer from dry skin often use a separate moisturizer to address this problem. Still, because Green Chemistry is all about simplifying the skincare process, we wanted to create a serum that effectively addresses dry skin and skin issues.
This led to the creation of Phyto Flora, a transformative serum that could address skin problems while making sunblock more effective, build collagen and brighten your skin at the same time.
To learn more, be sure to check out our product page to learn more about our distillation process that helps preserve all the active ingredients that we included in this nutrient-rich serum and what it can do for your skin.