What serum do you guys recommend?

[Whocansay]

I need a new serum. Preferably one that will give me the skin of a 22 year old. After using No7 P&P for several years, I have just had the Estee Lauder one which was pretty good and was a marked improvement, but wondered if there was something even better? Any recommendations?

Do people generally have a bit of a selection? To be honest it never occurred to me to chop and change.

And I apologise for my daft questions, but I am totally confused!

I love chopping and changing but some people get better results by sticking to set products or keeping it simple. I guess everyone is different. I do think your skin needs definitely change from summer to winter though.

Which Sarah Chapman one do you use, polyhymnia? I've got the hydration booster (I think that's what it's called), but I really like the look of the overnight and morning facial ones as well.

So my serum has already arrived, but it's freezing cold! Won't that affect it's effectiveness? I know you shouldn't store it over a certain temperature. Surprised it didn't come in a box too. Obviously happy with the speedy delivery though.

who, the review was on amazon. It's not hard to find. There's hardly any negative reviews, so it stands out. I think the review heading is the name of the chemical you mentioned. It was also saying that it could damage skin cells.....

Oh and also, I've read lots of reviews saying that it's done wonders for their dark circles and eye bags, but you don't put it under your eyes do you?

I've got a degree in chemistry and I still find it all a bit baffling if I'm honest. I read somewhere (Sali Hughes?) that you should be looking for hyaluronic acid to be in the first 7 ingredients on the list.

I attended a talk yesterday by a chemistry professor using hyaluronic acid extensively in healthcare. He said using putting it in face creams or using face creams with it in was like giving a blind person eyeballs to eat to help them see...theoretically makes sense but, in practice, absolutely useless.

largered Some serums keep better in the fridge, although not sure if vitamin c is one of them (a quick Google led to some conflicting information). I'd say extremes of temperatures are probably not a good thing for it long term, but if it's just been out for delivery for a bit it will probably be fine.

Not much in a cream will help dark circles. Not sure about eye bags, but there are cooling gels which can depuff a bit or tighten. The effect would be temporary though. You can put serum under your eye though. I do usually, rather than using a separate eye cream. Getting rid of them long term - water, sleep and apply products whilst massaging under the eye in a sweeping kind of motion can help with draining any retained water, I believe.

Christmas that's really interesting. My understanding is that it absorbs and then retains water, hydrating and plumping out the skin, although the effects would of course be temporary rather than getting rid of wrinkles permanently. Did he suggest taking a supplement or anything? They seem to be popping up all over the place at the moment.

Found the review, it is wrong, propylene glycol is not classified as a strong skin irritant, in fact it is not categorised as hazardous at all. They have copied that pretty well word for word from the site of someone selling organic toiletries with no link to actual research or data and no qualifications listed.

Nab, ok thank you for that. I actually don't really have eye bags, or dark circles, but I have noticed some fine lines just under my eye socket, but wasn't sure how far you can take a cream or serum up towards the eyes. I don't use eye cream, as, from what I've read, it's pretty much pointless. Might try a bit of serum though, if it's safe.

Who, ah I see. Well I'm back to being excited about my trying it! Will report back on that if and when I see results.

*about trying it

Nabootique I think his point was that skin naturally has hyaluronic acid which does it's job of repairing skin damage when necessary. Adding more hyaluronic acid to the skin through moisturisers does nothing as it doesn't significantly increase the amount of HA or fluid in the skin enough to see visible results (both visually and scientifically).

Having said this, I'm not a chemist myself and just went along to support a colleague. I spent most of the talk daydreaming as he was talking about HA in arthritis treatment. My ears pricked up when he started talking about moisturisers though. When he was making the point about moisturisers it seemed to me that most people in the room (all scientists) were nodding in agreement.

Ahh, I see. You're clearly a good friend to go along I read that our skin makes less of it as we get older, so if you're a bit crepey you'd notice the difference, but I think sometimes young, dewy 20 somethings pile it on and wonder why it doesn't do anything, although not sure what you would want it to do when you're already plump and glowy bitches My skin does get dehydrated and if I don't watch that I look like I have crows feet, even though in reality I don't yet really, if you see what I mean.

Nabootique DH is a scientist and it seems most of our friends are . They're all pretty much in agreement that 'super' ingredients in beauty products are all mostly bullshit as the companies decide what findings they want (i.e. our moisturiser with this new fangled acid makes you look younger) and then set about finding data to prove their point. The margin of proof also, apparently, only has to be very very slim to makes these claims.

I feel like a lemon because I get sucked into the marketing and start believing it. I don't tell all my scientist friends that though and I just keep using what works best for me, bullshit or not

My view is only retinol/vitamin a actually works to reverse signs of ageing i.e. actual wrinkles, but other things can temporarily help plump them out, or can do other things for you, brighten the skin a bit, fade dark spots, etc. I think companies can say "improves appearance of fine lines" even if the product just hydrates and plumps them out, but it does sound quite misleading and more like "reverses the signs of ageing", which is actually a different thing.

Christ I must get myself a life

Christmas - I'm a scientist, so is DH and so are many of our friends and obviously our colleagues (none in the cosmetics industry). We do tend to agree there's a lot of bullshit out there, but most of us still buy into the dream to some extent.

So I tried the serum last night and again this morning. It really is watery! I lost the first pipette of serum, because I put it on my fingers like I would with the ANR, but it just rolled off because it's basically the same consistency as water. So tip would be, use the pump and put the serum into your palm.

I like the smell- very subtle orange. It dries very quickly and leaves your skin instantly silky smooth. It made me feel like I needed to apply moisturiser though, as it makes your skin feel tight.

I think I look a tad more glowy, but no more than if I'd used a face mask. Only used it twice though, so it's too soon really.

It says use it morning and night (obviously! Can't imagine why they'd want you to use it so much ) But I'm wondering if that's too much. .....

Just come back to this list now, lagered I found it has reduced pigmentation and my skin looks fresher, I use it night time only and once it has penetrated I use moisturiser, I find it makes my skin feel tight too...

Be strong serum - from temple spa. It is awesome. I have used it for about 6 months and can really tell the difference. It soaks right through the layers of your skin and when your skin renews itself it is just beautiful.

I have some links to some great offers if you want to explore ;-)