Can’t seem to make serums work for me - sensitive skin

[Didyousaynutella]

I keep trying serums. I know supposedly they are the most important thing in your beauty routine. But I have really struggled.
I have quite sensitive skin which doesn’t help.
I went through a “the ordinary“ phase and wrecked my skins barrier. It became sensitized and dry. I wasn’t even using acids. Took about a year for it to get back on track. This has made me more cautious. I tried a hyaluronic acid one and it just made my skin feel tacky.
I keep looking at all the beauty pie ones and they all seem to have alcohol in them as do a lot of other ones I have considered purchasing. Even ones supposedly for sensitive skin. I have read enough research to know that alcohol is a no no and long term does more harm than good ( not including cetostearyl alcohol).
I really want to avoid alcohol, citrus extracts and fragrance. preferably no silicones too. Is it really too much of an ask?
Or do I just stick to good old moisturiser and get my high tech ingredients in that?

Oh, yes Ren. Lovely products. In addition to Superdrug cheapness, I also use Ren omega serum for the joy of the delicate fragrance. Also recently started using the jelly cleanser. Love it.

I was proper daft.

Me too, OP! You could have a look at the fantastic skincare threads on here. The most important thing is SPF.

Likely irritants seem to be Vitamin C (very much depends on the formula), exfoliating acids (AHA, BHA, PHA, glycolic, salicylic, lactic are some of what they might be described as) though salicylic is meant to be less irritating, and lactic is also more gentle I think, retinol and niacinamide. It really depends on the strength and formulation too, as well as frequency of use. Cleansers can be irritating too, especially anything foaming that strips your skin. Fragrance and essential oils in anything are also potentially irritating.

the superdrug Simply Pure serums are my absolute favourites - very soothing. I also enjoy their vitamin E range so that might also be worth a try.

I also like the Superdrug simply pure serum. I ruined my skin barrier with liquid gold glycolic acid and the simply pure sorted it right out. I spritz with a la Roche posay sensitive toner in a can then apply the serum when skin is still damp.
I also get on well with LRP vit c serum