HA serum--over or under?
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free skin care · Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:26 pm

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to ask all of you experts out there who use HA serum--should you put it under or over moisturizer? Lately I have been placing it over my face cream but under my sunscreen, and I think it works better that way. For a while I religiously used SC Hydrating B5 gel over CE FErulic and it didn;t really make my skin look that great (it always felt kind of dry a few hours into my day).
Someone on this forum recommended putting it over moisturizer (since it is a humectant, after all), and and I tried some over my SC eye balm and it worked wonders--the 'plumped' effect was much prolonged, so now I've inverted the entire order of my actives + moisturizer. My face also feels silkier and not so oily-looking for an hour after I put everything on in this order.
Anyone else have the same experience or willing to experiment, please post your results!

avalange

free skin care · Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:47 am

Hi avalange!

I recently bought the HA serum from PSF, and had the same questions as to where it fit in the "order" of things. So, I e-mailed their customer service, and they advised that it goes on in the a.m. after the herbal sunscreen (which was the last step in my series of products). I'm glad I asked, because I was thinking that a serum would always go underneath any sort of lotions or creams...but I guess you never know!

Hope this helps!
Mary Smile

free skin care · Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:06 am

I've heard any "serums" are to go under other products.

Also a tip for HA: Apply to face as it is still wet. I've done both and can see better results with it wet still.

free skin care · Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:08 am

yea that is a wierd response to me too... I thought that HA was to go under the moisturizer as its purpose was to "pull" the moisturizing component in and hold it there... maybe the idea is that it forms the shield over the moisturizer to keep that in.. Confused

free skin care · Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:11 pm

Now I'm confused! Sad

I did think the "put the HA over the sunscreen" advice was unusual, because I've always heard that serums go under lotions/creams. Then I figured, "Well, I guess they know their products so I'll follow their advice." However, I think I'll write again to ask them to clarify why they advise putting it over rather than under. They are always great with responding, so hopefully they can make some sense of this for me...

Mary Smile

free skin care · Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:12 pm

oh, i am so glad this topic is finally getting some posts!
to wenrwdy: I tried putting the HA serum on my skin while still damp, and noticed the opposite effect--that it became *drier* as a result! My only real positive experience with HA serum has been over a moisturizer. As for putting it over sunscreen, i suppose that could work if you don't have a separate moisturizer and sunscreen, like SC's moisturizing sunblock, which I wear sometimes. it is a humectant, so i am under the impression it can lock moisture, i.e. that it can increase the effectivity of your moisturizer.
here is the dictionary definition:

humectant
n : any substance that is added to another substance to keep it moist
hmm

m, that just further ambiguates the issue, since it could keep a damp OR a moisturized skin moist!
Maybe it can work both ways--I've just noticed a longer-lasting, more silky plumped up effect with it worn over my moisturizer. Smile

Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:47 pm

I also thought that the HA serum goes on first, before moisturiser. It needs the moisturiser on top so that it can pull the moisture from it into the skin, otherwise (if you use HA by itself that is) it can actually make the surface of your skin appear dry.

free skin care · Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:15 am

Do you use the ha in the morning or night, and if in the morning, under or over vit. c?

Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:38 am

razinkane wrote:

Do you use the ha in the morning or night, and if in the morning, under or over vit. c?

You can use it morning and night, as needed. I'd use it over vit C serum.

free skin care · Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:13 pm

Well, I went ahead and e-mailed PSF customer service with the question as to why I would put their HA serum over my sunscreen/moisturizer, and here was their response:

"Normally water-based serums do go underneath a lotion or cream if they contain active ingredients. This assists in penetration of the active. But our HA Serum does not contain any actives (antioxidants, etc.). It is for moisturization purposes mostly. So applying it over the Sunscren helps create a mositure barrier to help keep the moisture in. In addition, the sunscreen can then be applied to a clean face, which enhances the absorbtion of the photshielding ingredients."

This may not be applicable to other HA serums which do contain actives...but figured I'd post this anyway just in case anyone out there was using the same stuff I am!

Mary Smile

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