Mad About Skin has reviewed more than 150 serums. His approval rate of 76% is only half the picture. He approved most of what he tested, but what he skipped tells you just as much as what he liked. The pattern across his approvals is formulation: not just which ingredients are in a serum, but how they work together.
What does Mad About Skin recommend in serums?
He keeps praising serums where two or more actives combine to do more than either one alone. He pointed to a study: vitamin C combined with centella asiatica produces four times as much extra collagen as vitamin C on its own. That pairing shows up across several of his top picks. He also praises stabilized vitamin C formulas for staying fresh far longer than unstabilized ones. He specifically favors pump applicators because they keep air away from the formula between uses, which slows the vitamin C from breaking down. Price matters to him too. He named the KRX Six Peptide Skin Booster, at around £18, as one of the very best multipeptide serums he has found, with multiple different peptides each supporting collagen production in a slightly different way.
In his words
"It comes as a little ball of PDRN suspended in a hydrating serum that you shake to activate, and it gives you the nicest plumping, [...] my skin drinks it up. [...] It's the plump, it's the hydration, it's the long-term anti-aging, it's just the most beautiful beautiful product. I went through the last one in about a month because I was so lavish with it, I loved it so much. There's no stickiness, it sinks in and gives all that anti-aging goodness, [...] plumping and hydration."
"The blend of different hydrating agents in here is unmatched. [...] This is quite honestly the nicest serum when it comes to lightweight yet meaningful hydration, it's a gel [...] that leaves the nicest finish, not sticky, not tacky, [...] and you can even keep it in the fridge for extra cooling. [...] I've fallen in love with it."
"This is a stabilized vitamin C, so it doesn't oxidize and has a super long shelf life, with centella asiatica, and using vitamin C and centella together gives you four times the additional collagen versus using vitamin C on its own. If you are using vitamin C for its anti-aging, this is the one that you should be using, it's a one and done, really potent. It's somewhere in the region of about £13, it doesn't get more affordable than this."
"A single bottle lasted four to five months. It does come with a slightly higher price point than previous years' picks, but I [...] see it as a three-in-one serum so that justifies the spend. I've definitely seen plumpness, hydration, increased glow and luminosity, and minimized fine lines and wrinkles. This was an absolute no-brainer for my favorite new serum, and the innovation and technology in it is unparalleled."
"It's not always about the strength. I think I'd rather people go for a lower strength and use it twice a day every day than go for a high strength and use it a couple of times a week when they remember. That consistency is the key part. This I love again, calming, soothing, and really really helps to just, I think you get a lot more performance than you would traditionally expect for an 8% because of that quality formulation here, and it's super affordable which I absolutely love."
"I wouldn't use this in the same routine as a vitamin C serum, an exfoliating acid, or tretinoin, though it can be used alongside Remedy's own vitamin C. I'd definitely say the Remedy one is on a par if not slightly better than The Ordinary copper peptide, bringing a great formulation at an affordable price point. I'm going to award this a solid nine out of ten, almost perfect, just be mindful of how you layer and pair it."
How many serums has Mad About Skin reviewed?
Mad About Skin has reviewed 160 serums, for an approval rate of 76%. 121 approved, 16 mixed, and 23 skipped.
What has Mad About Skin skipped in serums?
He is direct about what earns a Nay in his record. He skipped SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic because it often arrived already oxidized. He skipped La Roche-Posay's vitamin C serum after the brand added colorant to hide the yellowy-brownish tinge that oxidation causes, leaving buyers with no way to tell whether the product was still working. He also skipped The INKEY List's vitamin C for not disclosing the percentage. Without that number, you cannot choose the right concentration for your skin type. He is equally blunt about standalone hyaluronic acid serums: he calls them a waste because hyaluronic acid is already in your cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, and most other serums.
"La Roche-Posay's vitamin C had the same oxidation issue. They actually added a color into it to disguise the fact it was oxidized rather than working to overcome the issue in the first place. That sort of shady brand behavior just turned people off."
"I won't be using the Anua azelaic acid serum and I won't be shopping with Anua at all, because I think there are deeper issues with the brand rather than just this azelaic acid serum. They used a [...] salt form of azelaic acid at a much higher pH than traditional azelaic acid, and [...] they hid that reformulation until a cosmetic formulator called them out on it, which tells me they didn't actually believe it was a superior product."
"But honestly I was just a bit underwhelmed. It's pretty much just a hyaluronic acid serum and it costs £50, which is ridiculously expensive. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, I just think the price point means that you could honestly be getting the same outcome at a fraction of the cost. I tried the original which was a bit of a fail. This is the Prebiotic one which I think is fractionally better, but still just not worth it."
"I don't know why this is popular. [...] This is just a hyaluronic acid serum. [...] You don't need a lot of hyaluronic acid. It's in everything - it'll be in your cleanser, it'll be in your serums, it'll be in your sunscreens, your moisturizers. You don't need extra hyaluronic acid. You certainly don't need a hyaluronic acid serum like this. It's not super expensive, which is probably why it's super popular. But I just don't think it's needed."
What should you take from Mad About Skin's picks?
Across more than 150 serums, his record is a useful guide to a crowded category. He named more than 20 winners worth coming back to, many of them well under £20. His reasons for skipping the rest are just as specific: disclosed percentages, no hidden oxidation, and no paying for an active that is already in everything else you use. His winners list and his skip reasons together give you a lot to work with when you are trying to narrow down which serum actually earns its place.
Watch Mad About Skin say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%Named a winnerWatch at 15:07
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 7:13
- Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 10:14
- Geek & Gorgeous C-Glow 15% Vitamin C SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 11:18
- Medik8 Liquid Peptides Advanced MP+ SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 11:19
- The INKEY List Redness Relief Super Solutions 10% Azelaic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 10:20
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5% + Hyaluronic Acid 2%Named a winnerWatch at 9:18
- Remedy Daily Defense Vitamin C SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 10:29
- Beauty of Joseon Light On Serum: Centella + Vitamin CNamed a winnerWatch at 8:38
- Geek & Gorgeous Power Peptides Pro Collagen Multi Peptide SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:51
- Allies of Skin Beta Glucan and Resveratrol Advanced Hydrating SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 6:51
- Allies of Skin 20% Vitamin C Brighten & Firm SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 7:16
- Allies of Skin Azelaic & Kojic Advanced Clarifying SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 12:38
- Geek & Gorgeous Stress Less Serum with 0.5% Beta-Glucan and Metacast-AideNamed a winnerWatch at 10:55
- NIOD Modulating Glucosides SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:33
- The Ordinary B OilNamed a winnerWatch at 6:30
- NIOD Survival 0Named a winnerWatch at 8:45
- Stratia Rewind DMAE SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 6:21
- Theramid 3% Copper Peptide SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 18:41
- Medik8 Oxy-R PeptidesNamed a winnerWatch at 4:57
- The Ordinary Caffeine 3% + EGCG 1% Face SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 14:48
- Numbuzin No.5 Glutathione Vitamin Concentrated SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:42
- Medicube PDRN Booster GelNamed a winnerWatch at 4:49
- KRX Six Peptide Skin Booster SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 8:36
About this expert
See everything Mad About Skin has reviewed
Expert rankings
Related guides
This guide reflects what Mad About Skin said across his videos about 160 products in serums, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products he approved. It is general information, not medical advice.