By now, you should know the importance of using face serums in your daily skincare routine in your 20s. Serums are lightweight and extremely concentrated skincare products. That’s why they’re highly efficient in addressing your skin issues throughout your 20s. To help you deal with those issues, I’ve put together the best face serums for your 20s. And I stand by my performance.
Because I’m in my late 30s and even though I enjoyed lots of face serums as a 20-something, I only started to get results from them in my 30s. Because I didn’t know how exactly face serums worked, and how to properly choose one for my skin so that I could see a visible difference in my skin. Well, my loss is your gain. So here’s everything you need to know about face serums so that you can find the best one to use in your 20s for your unique skin.
What are Face Serums?
Face serums are lightweight, usually water-based skincare products that contain active ingredients. They’re highly concentrated and easily absorbed by the skin.
Their lightweight texture makes it easier to penetrate the skin better than creams and oils. This makes them considerably efficient for targeting certain skin issues like acne, wrinkles, dryness, and inflammation.
Benefits of Using Face Serums in Your 20s
Face serums are unique in that they offer skin benefits that no other skincare product can. Face serums can help you maintain healthy skin in your 20s while minimizing your major skin concerns.
Contrary to a face cleanser or a moisturizer, face serums are really potent and targeted, allowing you to target your skin concerns in a relatively short time.
Whether you’re in your early twenties or late twenties, you can use serums to clear up pores, hydrate your skin, calm acne, prevent wrinkles, and increase radiance.
How To Choose Face Serums To Use in Your 20s
Find Your Biggest Skin Issue
Face serums are treatment products and there are different types of them. To get the best results from them, you should first consider your biggest skin issue. It can be anything from dryness, and oiliness, to acne, and wrinkles. So prioritize and keep your skin issue in mind before choosing a serum.
Look For The Right Ingredients
As I mentioned, face serums contain active ingredients. Each of these active ingredients targets a specific skin issue. For example, if you’re dealing with dryness, look for hydrating serums made with hyaluronic acid, or polyglutamic acid. If you have clogged pores and acne, look for salicylic acid in your serum, which helps exfoliate the skin and clear up pores. If you have uneven skin tone or marks, consider brightening serums made with vitamin C, or kojic acid.
Keep Your Skin Type in Mind
Last but not least, always keep your skin type in mind when choosing a face serum in your 20s. There’s a face serum for every skin type, but the formulation has to be suitable for your skin type. You can use a vitamin C serum whether you have dry skin or oily skin. But if you have oily skin, you need to make sure the serum is non-comedogenic or oil-free.
Best Face Serums For Your 20s
Whether you’re dealing with dryness, acne, or wrinkles, below are the best serums for people in their 20s.
1. Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Serum
In your early 20s, dryness and dehydration are common concerns. But towards your late 20s, dullness comes into the mix. For those times, a highly potent hydrating hyaluronic acid serum like this one can make a huge difference in your appearance. Hyaluronic acid is naturally found in our bodies. Concerning our skin, its main function is to keep our skin moist and hydrated.
The serum, though a bit expensive, is one of my favorites because of its texture. Because I’ve seen that cheaper options tend to contain more silicones which actually causes pilling, and the serum rubs off. But I digress. In addition to hyaluronic acid, the serum boosts hydration with ceramides, and vitamin B5, and helps the skin barrier with vitamin B3 aka niacinamide. It absorbs fast and instantly plumps up the skin.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5, vitamin B3, ceramides
Key Benefits: Hydrates, plumps fine lines
Skin Type: All skin types
Size: 1.69 oz/ 50 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, silicone-free, vegan, cruelty-free
2. Peter Thomas Roth Peptide 21 Wrinkle Resist Serum
If you’re in your mid-20s, you must hear the word “preventative” a lot. Because that’s usually the time to actively start fighting the signs of aging. Towards your late 20s, you should notice some active wrinkles turning into static wrinkles. Don’t worry, it’s still not too late. Enter peptides! Peptides are targeted amino acids used in skincare to support collagen and elastin growth. There are 3 types of peptides; signal, copper, and neuropeptides.
PTR uses a combination of signal peptides and neuropeptides to make sure he doesn’t leave anything out. The former stimulates collagen growth while the latter limits muscle movement and relaxes wrinkles. This highly concentrated serum is perfect for giving your skin a firmer and lifted look. If you want to effectively fight newly forming and/or existing wrinkles in your late 20s, this one by PTR is one of the best anti-aging face serums for that.
Key Ingredients: Peptide blend, Argireline, hyaluronic acid, polyglutamic acid
Key Benefits: Softens wrinkles, smoothes skin texture, hydrates
Skin Type: All skin types
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
3. Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol Serum
And speaking of anti-aging, you can’t skip retinol. Retinol, as a vitamin A derivative, is incredibly effective in targeting signs of aging. It’s a do-it-all ingredient and a must-have in any anti-aging skincare routine. Retinol is also effective in targeting acne and excess oil as well. Now cheer up because this is the best affordable retinol serum for your 20s!
It’s made with encapsulated retinol, which means that retinol is gradually delivered into the skin. This helps a lot with potential sensitivity. Besides, the vegan serum contains bakuchiol, a natural alternative to retinol that has the same benefits minus irritation. The serum is affordable, effective, and is a great one for your early, mid, and late 20s to give your skin a makeover.
Key Ingredients: Retinol, bakuchiol, hyaluronic acid
Key Benefits: Improves skin texture and tone without irritation
Skin Type: All skin types
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Vegan, cruelty-free
4. Caudalie Vinopure Natural Salicylic Acid Pore Minimizing Serum
Acne is common throughout your 20s. But in your late 20s, it becomes more difficult and stubborn. Using a product in a serum form ensures the efficacy of your acne treatment. This is a salicylic acid serum you can use to treat and prevent acne and minimize pores for 20s skin. Salicylic acid is an exfoliant that clears up clogged pores, prevents congestion, calms breakouts, and brightens the complexion.
Plus, the serum has niacinamide to calm inflammation and improve the appearance of large pores. So if you have oily and acne-prone skin, this is an amazing serum you can use in your 20s to clear up the skin without drying or irritating it. I have sensitive skin from rosacea and I used it for weeks in a row to calm my stress breakouts. I can swear that it’s super gentle on the skin.
Related Review: Caudalie Vinopure Natural Salicylic Acid Pore Minimizing Serum
Key Ingredients: Salicylic acid, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid
Key Benefits: Calms acne, unclogs and minimizes pores, reduces blackheads
Skin Type: Normal, combination, acne-prone
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Vegan
5. Paula’s Choice Calm Repairing Serum
Redness on the skin is usually the result of some kind of inflammation. Inflammation is a skin reaction. And it manifests itself with redness, tightness, and sensitivity. Rosacea is a great example of this. Besides treating the root cause of your inflammation, some skin-soothing face serums can help calm the face and reduce redness.
For that reason, this is one of the best face serums for 20-year-olds with redness and sensitivity. It’s made of calming antioxidants like feverfew, soybean seed extract, and licorice. It also has ceramides and hyaluronic acid to boost moisture and repair the skin barrier. This one is great for soothing red and irritated skin instantly.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, ceramides, licorice extract
Key Benefits: Calms redness and sensitivity, hydrates
Skin Type: All skin types, especially sensitive
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, cruelty-free
6. Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum
Several reasons can cause a loss of radiance in your skin. It can be because of acne in your early 20s. It can be because of dead skin cells accumulating on your skin in your late twenties. Whatever it is, you can achieve a brighter, more radiant, and luminous complexion by using a vitamin C serum. Vitamin C is an amazing antioxidant that prevents and repairs UV damage in the skin. It’s also helpful in increasing collagen production and decreasing hyperpigmentation.
So it gives you an even skin tone by fading skin discolorations from dark spots or acne marks. This is a personal favorite because it contains a vitamin C derivative to make the serum gentle as pure vitamin C can be irritating for some. The best part is that it has a radiant finish, which literally leaves your skin glowing and healthy. It’s a great antioxidant face serum for your 20s to get rid of any dullness.
Key Ingredients: Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, squalane, vitamin E
Key Benefits: Reduces hyperpigmentation, illuminates complexion
Skin Type: Normal, dry, combination, oily
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Gluten-free, cruelty-free
7. Bliss Bright Idea Vitamin C Face Serum
Again, this is another serum made with a vitamin C derivative to make it easy on sensitive skin. When you’re in your late 20s, you may notice some dark spots appearing on your face. Not to be presumptuous but, that’s probably your skin telling you that you haven’t been using enough SPF. These dark spots can be annoying. A face serum can help with them. But treating them is not going to stop them from appearing again unless you use an SPF.
This vitamin C serum will help a lot to fade away hyperpigmentation on the skin. Plus, it contains signal peptides to address fine lines and wrinkles as well. It’s non-comedogenic, so all skin types can comfortably use it. It’ll get rid of brown spots and acne scars. And it’ll even out your overall complexion for a more radiant look. Plus, it’s budget-friendly!
Key Ingredients: 3-o-ethyl ascorbic acid, peptides, licorice extract, squalane
Key Benefits: Brightens skin, reduces dark spots, plumps fine lines
Skin Type: All skin types
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Vegan, cruelty-free
8. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Serum
When it comes to hyaluronic acid, there are great drugstore options. This hyaluronic acid serum is suitable for all skin types. It’s water-based, so oily skin can also use it without worrying about clogged pores or acne. Because oily skin can experience dehydration too! The serum’s one of the best face serums for your early and mid-20s to boost your skin’s hydration levels.
If you don’t have a major skin issue, you can use this as a daily face serum in your morning and evening routine to keep the skin barrier happy and prevent dryness. Layer it under a moisturizer to enhance your results. It’ll simply plump up the skin and reduce the visibility of fine lines.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, sodium PCA
Key Benefits: Hydrates, plumps
Skin Type: All skin types
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Oil-free, contains fragrance and silicones
9. SkinCeuticals Resveratrol B E
Nighttime skincare is a thing in your late 20s. Most face serums are suitable to use at night as well. But some serums should stay longer in the face for them to be effective. This one is an antioxidant-rich night serum designed to repair the skin by the science-backed skincare gods SkinCeuticals.
Daily UV exposure and pollution are common skin deteriorating factors. They speed up the aging process. And this night serum reverses those effects, thanks to the magical ingredient resveratrol. Resveratrol B E is a nourishing night treatment that gives your skin a rested and revived look in the morning. If you’re on an anti-aging skincare routine in your mid or late 20s, you can benefit from this particular night serum.
Key Ingredients: Resveratrol, vitamin E, vitamin B3, caffeine
Key Benefits: Treats and prevents free radical damage
Skin Type: Normal, dry, combination
Size: 1 oz/30 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, gluten-free, paraben-free
So these are the best face serums to use in your 20s for several skin issues. Once you understand what your skin needs, you can use a serum to get rid of common skin problems while preventing future ones.