“Serum is the key! You have to be using one!” A friend said this last year, and I hear it over and over again….eh, pretty much every time I go to wash my face. Looking in the mirror, a silent chant arises: Serum. You must not forget the serum.
But… What is a serum?
Serum—if you’re new to the skincare game—is a delightful product you apply to your skin after washing, but before moisturizing. It’s thinner than lotions and creams and heavier than toner. It’s meant to be applied in between those two steps because, as beauty expert Bobbie Thomas points out, it’s most effective to apply skincare products in order from thin to thick. A helpful way to keep an increasingly complex routine in order, tbh.
The purpose of serum is to deliver a concentrated dose of ingredients that give your skin what it needs besides hydration. (But most formulas hydrate too, so yeah...kind of amazing.) That means when you add a serum to your routine, get ready for a wallop to the face of potent amounts of ingredients like vitamins E and C, retinol, hyaluronic or glycolic acid, and zinc.
Over time, a serum can dramatically improve the condition of your skin, so it looks more even and feels smoother and less irritated. The key is knowing which ingredients your skin needs, or which issues you want to address.
What’s In Maelove The Glow Maker Serum
Maelove’s The Glow Maker serum has four key ingredients, each of which are intended to help resolve or improve specific skin issues. It’s got vitamin C for increased collagen production (skin looks more youthful and bouncy) and reduced inflammation (less red spots, pumps and flaking), and vitamin E, which is an antioxidant that helps protect skin cells from icky stuff in the environment. Plus ferulic acid, an antioxidant that helps protect skin by making sunscreen more effective and encouraging cell repair, and hyaluronic acid for hydration.
That’s a lot of skincare speak that basically means this serum is supposed to make your skin look and feel emoji sign-100 while also helping to protect it from sun and environmental damage. To set their formula apart, Maelove also added a proprietary blend of botanicals that they claim enhances the nourishing effects of the serum and helps moisturizer and makeup go on smoothly.
How The Glow Maker Serum Worked For Us
I’m pretty religious about my skincare routine, and The Glow Maker serum has been a nice addition. My hormonal acne has remained dormant, I haven’t had a single flake or dry patch in months, and my skin feels incredibly soft to the touch.
My skin really tends to fluctuate with the seasons—more oily in the summer, dried out in the winter—so I always adjust my products accordingly. I’ve kept the Maelove serum in my routine while transitioning to a creamier face wash and heavier moisturizer for winter, and still my skin looks and feels great. That’s a sign that the formula is nicely balanced, and probably good for a variety of skin types.
Maelove recommends using three to five drops in the morning only, which is how I started using it this summer. (Remember; serums are potent, and overdosing can cause your skin to freak out a bit.) Around October I upped my use to a few drops in both the morning and evening.
How to use serum
Just squeeze the recommended amount on your finger tips, then tap your fingers lightly on your forehead, cheeks, chin and neck before rubbing in to be sure the product is evenly distributed. If you have time, it’s nice to let the product fully absorb for a few minutes before applying your moisturizer.
We can say with confidence that my skin looks better now than it has at any point in the last year, and I think this serum is a big part of that improvement because it has worked so well with our other products. Most notably, my skin is softer and less broken out—as in, never breaks out—which is a true game-changer for us and reason enough to keep it in my everyday, all-year-long skincare routine.