8 Best Serum Ingredients for Face in 2022

A holistic, healthy skincare routine incorporates many parts and products: skin cleanser, moisturizer, exfoliation products, and more. Then there’s face serum, which gives your skin cells exactly what they need to retain their youthful vitality for years to come.

 

Certain ingredients are undoubtedly better than others if you want your skin to look and feel young as long as possible while using face serums. Some active ingredients to look for include salicylic acid, glycolic acid, aloe vera, peptides, and niacinamide.

Depending on your specific skin concerns or skin type, such as having sensitive skin, irritation, skin texture, or pigment issues, being prone to breakouts, having excess oil, or having dry skin, there are serums out there that can address your specific concerns.

If you're looking for hydrating serum ingredients that are lightweight, fragrance-free, cruelty-free, and can help your skin glow and appear more radiant, then we got you covered.

If you’ve never used face serum before, it may be tricky to know what to target as you shop. Today, let’s break down the eight best serum ingredients for your skincare regimen in 2022.

Hyaluronic Acid

First up is hyaluronic acid, an extremely common skincare ingredient for moisturizers. Why? It’s all because hyaluronic acid is a unique molecule and can absorb just about 1000 times its own weight in water.

As a result, it can trap or draw moisture when applied to the skin, preventing your skin from losing moisture throughout the day and improving the effects of other moisturizing ingredients.

It’s essentially a super absorber. When used with a facial serum, hyaluronic acid can help to plump up the skin, prevent it from drying or accruing wrinkles over time, and more. Even better, there isn’t an issue with using extra hyaluronic acid on your skin. So even if your moisturizer has hyaluronic acid, it’s not a problem for your face serum to have some as well.

Hope Health’s Nourish skin serum contains hyaluronic acid alongside ferulic acid and vitamin C to reduce the appearance of fine lines and improve skin texture.

Moringa

There’s also moringa, also known as moringa oleifera, horseradish, drumstick, and more. It’s a classic traditional medicine ingredient, but it has proven health and medicinal properties, such as being a soothing agent, helping the body recover from ailments, and more.

Moringa comes from a native Indian tree (though it can also be found in Africa, Asia, and South America), and it can now be found in many face serums and skincare products. Why?

Simply put, moringa isn’t really just one ingredient. Instead, it’s a compound ingredient that contains critical vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and more. All of these things can be used by your skin and your body overall for increased health and wellness.

On top of all that, moringa is low in fat, doesn’t have harmful cholesterol, and is great when absorbed by the skin in concentrated amounts. When looking for moringa as a facial serum ingredient, you’ll want to look for moringa seed oil specifically, which is an antioxidant. Antioxidants like moringa seed oil can reduce or prevent damage from free radical molecules, corrupting or damaging skin cells over time.

Vitamin C

Next is vitamin C, commonly known for its role in immune system health. But while it helps your body defend itself against viral and bacterial issues, it also helps your skin look and feel younger over time.

That’s because of its role as an antioxidant. Just like moringa, vitamin C can help combat free radical molecules from stressing out your skin cells or causing other micro-cellular environmental damage. As a result, vitamin C can help your skin repair itself more efficiently, avoid excess discomfort or irritations, and more.

Collagen is a vital protein your skin cells use to retain skin shape and elasticity. The more collagen your skin has, the younger and more plump it will seem. That’s not all; vitamin C may also help to brighten the skin tone, alleviating some discoloration from skin splotches, acne scars, or aging spots.

Vitamin A

Retinol, a variation of vitamin A, is commonly found in aging solutions, including some face serums. This is for a few major reasons:

  • Retinol as vitamin A may also help exfoliate your skin by shedding dead skin cells more easily. Exfoliation slows down as we get older, but exfoliating ingredients like retinol can alleviate this decrease to some extent.
  • Retinol may also tighten the pores of your skin, which can help it look and feel younger.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is yet another high-quality potent antioxidant that works very well with vitamin C. They can minimize free radical damage, moisturize the skin, and brighten your skin tone while evening out its texture. So vitamin E is a great ancillary ingredient to target, though vitamin C is a little more important overall.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids

Alpha hydroxy acids, which are commonly found in fruits like oranges, lemons, and great fruits, are fantastic for your skin and make great face serum ingredients when used with a moisturizer. As their name suggests, alpha hydroxy acids can dry out your skin. But so long as you use a moisturizer, you shouldn’t need to worry about this.

In a nutshell, AHAs are chemical exfoliating agents. They can remove dead skin cells and keep your complexion clear. They can also help remove debris from deep within your skin’s pores. In this way, they can do some of the work of a full exfoliation routine each day while preventing your skin from being rubbed raw or exfoliated too much.

Glycerin

Glycerin is, like hyaluronic acid, a very good moisturizing ingredient since it boosts the skin barrier: a natural layer of oils and moisture that protects your skin and prevents it from losing too much water over time.

Glycerin essentially helps your skin both attract and then retain moisture, which can help it feel soft and supple. This, in turn, will minimize some of the signs of aging and help your skin age more gracefully as the years go by.

Green Tea

Last but not least is green tea, which is packed with antioxidants. So it works well with vitamin C, vitamin E, and other antioxidants in face serum solutions.

However, green tea has also been known to help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and other physical signs of aging. It does wonders to exfoliate a certain amount of dead skin cells and may even reduce the appearance of age spots or dark spots, which are common symptoms of hyperpigmentation.

Green tea is healthy when consumed as a drink, of course, but you can also find concentrated green tea in many top face serums these days because of the above benefits.

Summary

As you can see, there are tons of great ingredients to target when shopping for a new facial serum. Face serum is only as good as the stuff packed inside it, so we recommend looking for most of these ingredients, if not all of them when choosing a new face serum solution.

That said, it’s not uncommon for face serums to miss a few of these ingredients, depending on their unique formulas. You can make up for some of the vitamin or mineral deficiencies using supplements, which your body can quickly absorb and then create new, healthy skin cells. Hope Health’s Nourish skin serum contains vitamins C, B, and E alongside ferulic acid and hyaluronic acid to keep your skin feeling fresh and cared for.

Hope Health’s Hair, Skin, and Nails Gummies are the ideal pick to ensure your body has everything it needs for skin, hair, and nail health. It’s packed with non-GMO ingredients like Vitamin A, biotin, collagen, and more. Try it today, or check out our other supplements for more supplemental wellness assistance!

Sources:

Hyaluronic acid: A key molecule in skin aging | NCBI

Bioactive Components in Moringa Oleifera Leaves Protect against Chronic Disease | NCBI

The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health | NCBI

Dual Effects of Alpha-Hydroxy Acids on the Skin | NCBI

A Review of the Role of Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) in Antiphotoaging, Stress Resistance, Neuroprotection, and Autophagy | NCBI