This one surely comes as no surprise; I’ve made no secret of the fact that I revere serums – they are the single skincare step bar prevention that can really impact the skin’s health.
The reason for my having three on the go is that on a cellular level, holidays aren’t the best; skin is prone to inflammation thanks to the sun, dehydration thanks to flights and is usually – well, I am on holiday – subject to an evening glass of wine.
I’ve packed an answer for each concern so I can attenuate damage…
THE PRE-SUN SERUM / Antipodes Worship Superfruit Antioxidant Serum, £34 here.
All the damaging stuff I was talking about above are effectively skin aggressors which will form free radicals. You categorically do not want free radicals bouncing all over the shop – they’re highly unstable atoms desperate to pair off and, while on the hunt, will just bop into other cells damaging them, often beyond repair. Antioxidants are the bodyguards of your skin, taking those uncouth free radicals by the hand and leading them off the dance floor, as it were. Putting an antioxidant serum under your SPF provides a barrier from the blighters suncream simply can’t, so I just pop a layer of this one I’m testing on every morning.
THE POST-SUN SERUM / Exuviance AntiRedness Calming Serum, £46 here.
Silly me – I packed this without any real information on it (just saw the ‘anti redness’ business and know that Exuviance is a reliable brand, so into my suitcase it went) and therefore can’t share any of the finds from the clinical trials and will instead have to, parrot-like, regurgitate some of the stuff on the back: ‘PHA/TriPeptide + Willow Herb formula addresses the 4 underlying causes of redness, visibly reducing flushing and strengthening skin to hep prevent recurrences.’ Based on that (and my finding that it does diminish redness rather deftly indeed) this is not only a good pick for post-sun, but also if you have rosacea…
THE EVENING SERUM / Hydra-Vital Hyaluron Facial Serum, £14.99 here.
I cannot say enough good things about hyaluronic acid because we (and by we I mean clever scientist people who are kind enough to give lectures to we beauty journalists making me feel the aggregated WE are all in it together) know it carries out its function marvellously well. Able to carry up to 1000 times its weight in water, hyaluronic acid is a godsend for dehydrated skin (which applies to pretty much everyone – even if you’re oily). I use this hyaluronic-rich serum as often as I can after a day in the sun.