Why You Need To Try An Antioxidant Serum
By Gr0 Core Team
We all know how sensitive our skin is. It might not always be sensitive to the touch or to products, but it is always sensitive to our actions and the factors around us. There is one thing many of these exterior factors have in common: free radicals. From air pollution to UV rays and those late-night snacks and drinks, these molecules have a mind of their own and can pop up around us when we are least expecting them.
The primary overarching reason to try out an antioxidant serum is to neutralize free radicals. If that isn’t enough to persuade you into trying out some fun serum, we have plenty more! But first, let’s take a closer look at what exactly antioxidants and serums are, and then we’ll get into some reasons that are a bit more fun.
What is an Antioxidant?
Antioxidants help fight against free radicals. Believe it or not, free radicals can make their way into your body in many different ways. Air pollution, smoking, UV rays, and chemicals are only a few of many free radicals that you may be exposed to in your day-to-day life.
Antioxidants prevent oxidation. Oxidation is not something we want; it’s the chemical reaction that produces the free radicals that can lead to illness and aging. Free radicals can even have a domino effect and damage the cells or organisms living inside your body. Thankfully, antioxidants help slow the damage of these free radicals and their negative impacts.
The antioxidants your body produces on its own are called endogenous antioxidants. Although sometimes it’s nice to lend your body a hand and introduce exterior antioxidants, which are known as exogenous.
Antioxidants offer countless benefits and come in numerous forms. This is great news for us as it means we have easier access to these benefits. Some common ways to incorporate exogenous antioxidants into your body are through your diet and the foods you eat, supplements, and serums.
What is a Serum?
A serum is a highly concentrated skincare product. It is recommended that you apply a serum after washing your face, although before you put your lotion or moisturizer on your face and neck. A serum should be applied directly to your skin so that it can fully soak into your pores. Thanks to its high concentration, the small molecules can deploy deep into your skin, allowing you to target any specific skincare issues or impurities you may be struggling with or feel insecure about sometimes.
Most of the time, serums are water-based. This allows for quick and easy absorption into your skin, making them easy to use.
These small but mighty products often come in small glass jars that include a small dropper. This makes the application of serums even easier. However, try to avoid touching the dropper on your skin. If it touches your skin and you put it back in the jar without cleaning it, you may be putting germs and dirt back into your serum.
Reason 1: Brightening
The first reason to try out an antioxidant serum is to support a brighter complexion. A great brightening antioxidant serum is a vitamin C serum.
A vitamin C serum not only helps fight against free radicals but also offers your skin other benefits. Vitamin C is known to help brighten the skin and reduce the appearance of dark circles and spots.
A vitamin C serum also helps promote your body’s collagen production. This is extremely important as your natural collagen production slows as you begin to age. This extra collagen production helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, as it is a key component of a firm and youthful-looking complexion.
The nice thing about a vitamin C serum is that individuals can typically use this topically for a longer time without any irritation or adverse reactions.
Reason 2: Moisturizing
The second reason to introduce an antioxidant serum into your skincare routine is to better moisturize your skin. A fantastic moisturizing antioxidant serum is hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid can support more supple-looking and feeling skin. The hyaluronic acid found in your skin accounts for approximately half of the hyaluronic acid in your whole body. This serum is known to be extremely moisturizing as it binds to water to retain moisture in your skin.
When using hyaluronic acid, don’t dry your face entirely before application. Instead, pat your face dry until it is damp and then apply the serum. In doing so, you are giving the hyaluronic acid a chance to bind to that excess water sitting on the surface of your skin.
Reason 3: Exfoliating
The third reason to try out an antioxidant serum is for exfoliating purposes. A great antioxidant serum that promotes exfoliation is glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is unique as it exfoliates by dissolving the binding that fuses dead skin cells. From here, it gently lifts to over pigmentation from your skin and supports your collagen production.
Something fun about glycolic acid is that it is found naturally in plants, which means if you select the right brand, you can feel confident about the serum entering your pores.
Although, if you are more sold on the other serums - try those first. There are other ways to exfoliate the dead cells off your face gently. You can most definitely try other methods of exfoliation instead, such as different facial cleansers or microdermabrasion. The advantage to at-home microdermabrasion, such as with our handset, as a gentle exfoliation method, is it helps get out ahead of sun damage. To top it all off, you could also introduce a vitamin E serum into your skincare routine to help further support the protection against UV damage.
Reason 4: Reduces Appearance of Inflammation
Our fourth reason to try an antioxidant serum in your skincare routine is to help reduce the appearance of inflammation. Various factors lead to inflammation, and while we could spend lots of time talking about them, we would much rather give you a solution to the irritating problem.
An amazing antioxidant serum that reduces the appearance of inflammation is vitamin B3, which is more commonly known as niacinamide. Niacinamide works to support a youthful skin texture as it aims to strengthen your skin’s protective barrier. Protecting your skin’s natural barriers helps to reduce inflammation that can appear in many different ways, such as dry, red, or irritated skin.
Another antioxidant that works similarly is licorice root. Although, if you use niacinamide and a vitamin C serum together, be aware that the niacinamide may render the vitamin C less effective.
Reason 5: Smoothes
Our final reason that we will be sharing with you about why you should try out an antioxidant serum is to help smooth the appearance of your skin. A phenomenal antioxidant serum that soothes irritated skin, whether it be rosacea, facial redness, or acne, is a green tea serum.
Acne-prone skin benefits even more from green tea serums as there are antibacterial properties within the serums. Green tea serums are also great for combating oily skin. When applied, they can help reduce sebum secretion, which can lead to excess oil and acne.
If you want, you can even drink green tea! Its high content of polyphenols helps to work magic from the inside out. This helps address skin irritation by reducing redness and swelling. This makes a green tea serum one of the most soothing of almost all serums out there.
In combination with a kick-ass sunscreen, a green tea serum is the ultimate skincare product. We guess you could even say we saved the best for last. Green tea serums make your sunscreen’s UV protection even more impactful and effective. It is also a great way to soothe a small cut or sunburn - although you won’t need that since you’ll be wearing sunscreen.
How to Use
We recommend that you try a patch test first with each serum to see how your skin will react before putting it directly onto your face. And remember, your serum should be applied after you cleanse your face and before putting on any moisturizer. When it comes to using an antioxidant serum properly, we recommend following the instructions for further details.
In Conclusion
Believe us; there are many more reasons as to why you should try out an antioxidant serum. Although instead of sitting in front of your computer reading this or continuing to scroll on your phone, we would rather you get up and try one for yourself! Put all of our reasons to the ultimate test!
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