How Skin Creams and Skin Serums Work to Enhance the Skin

Serums are water-based products designed to penetrate deep into the skin. Every serum delivers a different result, and they’re designed with different skin types in mind. When an aesthetician works with you to target specific problems of the skin, they often recommend the use of a serum, in order to achieve a desired result.

Serums are not designed to stay on the surface of the skin. Because the molecules are smaller and water based, the active ingredients in a serum penetrate and do their work within deeper layers of the skin. However, the benefits of a serum are not achievable without the help of an appropriate skin cream and vice versa – they work together to address skin problems. In order to treat the skin from the surface we need creams.

Creams are heavier in texture, and because they need to have a moisturizing effect on the outer layers of the skin. They are designed so that they don’t penetrate too deeply into the skin, and this is why you’ll notice that they seem to sit on top of your skin longer and don’t absorb in quite the same way or at the same rate that a serum will.

The skin cream protects the skin from the environment and keeps the hydration of the skin in check, working on top layers of the skin. The other role of a skin cream is to “seal” the serum in to the skin. This is important because without the cream we are leaving the skin prone to the extreme environment we live in.

There are some exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, in the case of oily skin, your aesthetician will suggest use of a serum only, in the summer months, because the skin already has an over active oil gland and produces more than enough oil. The role of the serum in this case, is to regulate the oil gland and deliver some hydration to the skin. Since people with this condition do not need the emollient action of the cream, it is more than sufficient to use the serum only.

In some cases, an aesthetician will recommend use of more than one serum to address multi-specific concerns on the skin. For example: using one serum for sensitive areas of the cheeks and using another for firming of the skin.

Our aestheticians recommend using serums and creams from one product line, such as ElmLine because the ingredients in the two products are designed to properly compliment each other, thereby allowing the maximum result. There’s a great deal of science that goes into developing skin care products.

While serums equal results, we must remember that for results to last, we need to constantly attend to the care of our skin, and be vigilant about using the products according to the advice of our Elmwood Spa Spa Care Expert™

Considerable expertise and care has been devoted to the development of ElmLine as a range of professional quality skin care products. If you have questions about skin care or about ElmLine, we invite you to ask a Spa Care Expert™ at Elmwood Spa. We’ll be happy to help.