AliceintheRabbitHole has reviewed 55 serums. Their Guru Score for the category is 53%. Of those 55, they approved 29, gave a mixed take on 15, and skipped 11. They dig into the research and are honest when a formula did not work on their skin.
What does AliceintheRabbitHole recommend in serums?
AliceintheRabbitHole tends to approve serums that are fragrance-free and backed by real research. They praised the Numbuzin No.5 Vitamin Concentrated Serum for pairing 5% niacinamide, which they called a good level, with 4% tranexamic acid. They liked that the formula paired a well-known ingredient with a newer one. That way the headline active did not have to do the job alone. Texture matters to them too. A serum that absorbs well earns their approval, and one that pills (rolls up instead of absorbing) or runs too thin does not. They also respond well to genuine reformulations, praising both the Purito Wonder Relief Centella Serum Unscented and the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum for being noticeably better than their earlier versions.
In their words
"I finished a mini of the Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Cream, a nice travel size that I traveled with. I love this moisturizer, I love the new Innisfree, I'm so glad they went in the direction of fragrance free since they used to use a lot of fragrance. I moved on to the full size of this one for my niacinamide-free trial and absolutely loved it."
"This is the Purito Wonder Relief Centella Serum, unscented, the brand new reformulation and updated formula from Purito. I never fell in love with the original, I thought it was good but it didn't really blow my mind. I love this one. I feel like it might be a little thicker than the original, and I do feel like it is even more soothing, which makes sense since they say it now has more centella asiatica even if the packaging lists less. It's a really beautiful formula featuring panthenol, centella asiatica, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid, all in a fragrance free formula."
"That set contains one of the thickest and most nourishing eye creams I have ever tried, the Kiehl's avocado eye cream. It is super thick."
"This is the Vitamin Concentrated Serum. I am so much more impressed with this than I thought I would be. It has five percent niacinamide, which is such a good level, and four percent tranexamic acid, combined with a tried and true ingredient in niacinamide rather than relying on the tranexamic acid alone. It also has some vitamin C derivatives lower on the ingredients list. It's a little bit thicker in texture, it feels a little heavy when you first apply it but then it absorbs really nicely. I do feel like this helped my skin bounce back after I had some breakouts. I have loved using this product, this is my second favorite product in the video."
"I'm getting the Peach Slices Redness Relief Azelaic Acid Serum. I might up my quantity of it because it's a favorite product for me."
"This is Sulwhasoo's bestselling product, it has recently been updated. What this product does is immediately after cleansing you apply this and it boosts your barrier for better absorption of everything you apply afterwards, and in addition to increasing absorption and boosting the skin's barrier, Sulwhasoo also claims that this helps to address ten different signs of aging. This one to me is very worth the hype, I think this is a fantastic place to start if you are curious about this brand, it's their bestseller for a reason, they are proud of this new formulation for a reason, and I actually think this is even better than the last version."
How many serums has AliceintheRabbitHole reviewed?
AliceintheRabbitHole has reviewed 55 serums, for a Guru Score of 53%. 29 approved, 15 mixed, and 11 skipped.
What has AliceintheRabbitHole skipped in serums?
Of the 11 serums they skipped, texture is the most common reason. They found The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% pilled, meaning it rolled up on the skin rather than absorbing. They called the NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 3 nearly unusable for being so runny. With the NIOD, the research on copper peptides also came up thin, which added to the skip. The Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum caused more redness on their skin, so they skipped it, though they noted it might suit a different skin type.
"This is NIOD's copper amino isolate serum, and I didn't feel like it did that much for me. I really like peptide ingredients and copper peptide is supposed to be an incredible one, but when I looked into the data there isn't much research on copper peptides. My biggest issue though is how runny it is, it's incredibly unpleasant to use, nearly unusable, and it's still not inexpensive. So that's a no for me."
"This just did not work for my skin type. I felt like I was getting an increase in redness when I used this product, though it's possible that came from the fragrance or the vitamin B12 ingredient rather than the PDRN itself, since this is a higher concentration than I'd knowingly tried up until this point. So for me this is a no, I'm sure it will work for some amount of people, but it was sadly a no-go for me."
"I decided to repurchase the Ordinary azelaic acid serum, and I immediately remembered why I stopped buying it. The Ordinary has such a tendency to cause pilling, whereas I don't feel like I have that problem with the other one."
"This is the Ordinary's Multi-Peptide and Copper Serum, which is the Ordinary's Multi-Peptide Serum with the addition of copper peptides, so it also has neurotransmitter inhibiting peptides, matrixyl peptides, natural moisturizing factors, two forms of hyaluronic acid and amino acids. When I finished my bottle of this product I didn't really feel it did anything in addition for me from the regular multipeptide serum, whereas for me the copper peptide just didn't stick. Every time I used it my partner gave me grief about the smell. I don't have a strong nose so I never really smelled the copper, but she smelled it every time, even when I tried to be sneaky, and she did not like it."
What should you take from AliceintheRabbitHole's picks?
AliceintheRabbitHole is worth following on serums if you want the reasoning, not just the verdict. They check the research, pay attention to texture, and say plainly how their skin responded. That makes their skips as useful as their approvals. Of the 55 serums they reviewed, they named three category winners: the Medicube Age-R Booster Pro, the Peach & Lily Copper Peptide Pro Firming Serum, and the BYOMA Barrier Repair Treatment.
Watch AliceintheRabbitHole say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Medicube Age-R Booster ProNamed a winnerWatch at 10:58
- Peach & Lily Copper Peptide Pro Firming SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 12:03
- BYOMA Barrier Repair TreatmentNamed a winnerWatch at 7:32
- NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 3Skipped itWatch at 8:39
- Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide SerumSkipped itWatch at 16:32
- The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%Skipped itWatch at 5:28
- The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% SerumSkipped itWatch at 8:20
- Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery SerumSkipped itWatch at 19:43
- Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Intensive Hydration SerumSkipped itWatch at 15:31
- Glow Recipe Pomegranate Peptide Firming SerumSkipped itWatch at 27:39
- Anua Peach 70 Niacinamide SerumSkipped itWatch at 23:01
- SkinCeuticals C E FerulicSkipped itWatch at 9:45
- The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support SerumSkipped itWatch at 7:51
- Anua Azelaic Acid 10% Hyaluron Redness Soothing SerumSkipped itWatch at 7:58
- Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic CreamRated itWatch at 13:18
- Purito Wonder Relief Centella Serum UnscentedRated itWatch at 5:13
- Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with AvocadoRated itWatch at 3:19
- Numbuzin No.5 Vitamin Concentrated SerumRated itWatch at 15:26
- Peach Slices Redness Relief Azelaic Acid SerumRated itWatch at 13:28
- Sulwhasoo First Care Activating SerumRated itWatch at 6:39
- Virtue Healing OilRated itWatch at 46:14
- Experiment Super Saturated SerumRated itWatch at 10:40
- BYOMA Hydrating Recovery OilRated itWatch at 18:27
- The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Hyaluronic Acid SerumRated itWatch at 9:04
About this expert
See everything AliceintheRabbitHole has reviewed
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This guide reflects what AliceintheRabbitHole said across their videos about 55 products in serums, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.