Sincerely Miss Ash has looked at a lot of serums. Seventy-six of them, to be exact. She approved 67, gave 3 a mixed take, and skipped just 6. That works out to a Guru Score of 88%, which shows she is genuinely enthusiastic about this category. What makes her record useful is not just the long list of wins, but the very specific reasons she gives when something falls short.
What does Sincerely Miss Ash recommend in serums?
When she loves a serum, it tends to do more than one thing well. She praises products that pair a key active with supporting ingredients, like a vitamin C derivative alongside tranexamic acid, niacinamide, and alpha arbutin. Together those go further on brightness and dark spots than any one ingredient alone. She also has a clear soft spot for antioxidant serums, naming NIOD Survival 0 a winner for its rich ingredient list and its gentle feel on skin. Hydration runs through almost every approval too. She notes when a serum feels plumping and comfortable to wear, and she flags fragrance-free formulas as a bonus. She named 12 serums category winners altogether, including The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum, The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic Acid, and Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair Serum in Cream, among others.
In her words
"This is going to be your main treatment. It's going to target all skin concerns like texture, brightness, softening, and preventing fine lines and wrinkles. It's literally going to do it all because of what is in the ingredient list. This can be used every day, twice a day. At first I was using this twice a day, but then I went to once a day and I loved it. This really does work to brighten the skin, improve texture and tone. And if you have that uneven skin tone because of, let's say, post acne marks or you just have a little bit of discoloration, I feel like this is a product that can really help to give you more of that even complexion in time, of course with consistent use. So this has a stabilized retinol ester. This also has a stabilized vitamin C as well as vitamin E antioxidants and multi-hydroxy acids. There are several exfoliating acids in here like glycolic, mandelic acid, and there are several others to help with that smoother, softer look and feel to the skin, to help brighten the skin, and of course to help eliminate dryness, flakiness. It really gives this nice rejuvenated look over time the more consistent you use it. I feel like within a couple of weeks I really noticed that my skin started to look a little bit more clear. It looked a little bit more brighter. It started to look more refreshed after a couple weeks of using it twice a day. I just feel like this could replace a lot of the serums that you have in your skincare routine right now."
"I really love this brand. This contains hyaluronic acid, ceramides, a triple lipid complex with fatty acids, lipids, and cholesterol, which is what our skin needs on an everyday basis to maintain skin health. There's also niacinamide, vitamin E, glycerin, and I believe even a vitamin C derivative in here as well. This is more geared to hydrating and repairing the skin, and it's great for all skin types. It's fragrance free and can be used every day, twice a day."
"The orange color is coming from the tomato extract in here. So it's not an artificial color. It actually is coming from one of the ingredients in here. But this is truly 10 out of 10. The ingredient list is very impressive with all of those other types of antioxidants. Plus, there's other ingredients in here as well that benefit the skin for signs of aging. It's also very hydrating. It has a little bit of a milkiness to it. So, I do find it to be quite comforting on the skin. And I find this to be very gentle as well. So, if you're looking for a good antioxidant serum, I would say go with this one. If you do have a vitamin C that you love using in your morning routine, you can pair this up with it even for more antioxidant support."
"I really love the Dr. Althea Vitamin C Boosting Serum. This is K-beauty, and I like this ingredient list because it has that vitamin C derivative, but it also has tranexamic acid, niacinamide, and alpha arbutin, three additional ingredients that help further brighten the skin and fade post-acne marks and dark spots. It's just fabulous, I love this. I find it a little more hydrating on the skin than the KaramMD."
"This serum has a little bit of a milkiness to it, so it's very hydrating. It's also plumping, and it doesn't have fragrance in it. It's quite affordable. One of the best drugstore serums out there."
"This is next level, super innovative, backed by science, and one of the best anti-aging serums I have truly ever used. This is actually the next best thing to human growth factors. This contains over 3,000 proteins like peptides, growth factors, exosomes, and this is going to target all skin concerns, targeting fine lines and wrinkles, skin texture, skin brightness, overall clarity, and rejuvenating the skin, stimulating collagen, repairing that skin, and speeding up that healing process with our skin as well, and just keeping it looking youthful. This is extracted from the umbilical cord of a baby red deer, which is [...] humanely done and free range. [...] A little bit actually goes a long way. You don't necessarily have to use this every day either. You may just want to use this once a week or once or twice a week, whatever you want to do. But make sure that you exfoliate your skin really well before you use this."
How many serums has Sincerely Miss Ash reviewed?
Sincerely Miss Ash has reviewed 76 serums, for a Guru Score of 88%. 67 approved, 3 mixed, and 6 skipped.
What has Sincerely Miss Ash skipped in serums?
She skipped only 6 serums, so this is a short list, but the pattern is clear. High concentrations of actives came up more than once. She gave the NIOD Ethylated L-Ascorbic Acid 30% Network a six out of ten, partly because 30% vitamin C felt like too much, and partly because a nighttime-only use instruction clashed with how she structures her own routine around tretinoin and other actives. The Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum got a similar verdict for being too sensitizing on her skin. She links that directly to using tretinoin, which she says changed how her skin handles glycolic acid. The Glow Recipe Pomegranate Peptide Firming Serum she found pleasant enough in texture, but at $61 she felt it simply could not compete with The Ordinary copper peptides at half the price and a denser anti-aging ingredient list. Pilling and texture problems ended The Ordinary Vitamin C 30% in Silicone for her straight away. She found the silicone base made it impossible to layer with anything.
"I've had this for a very very long time and the reason why it has taken me so long to finish this is because sometimes my skin can be okay with glycolic acid and then there are times where my skin gets a little irritated it gets a little bit angry. I think it's because I'm a tretinoin user now and I think that's why my skin has changed a little bit when it comes to glycolic acid, but again it's a hit and miss. This product was a little bit too sensitizing on my face."
"I am a huge fan of the ordinary copper peptides and that one is half the price. For me personally I wouldn't pick this over the ordinary copper peptides and I also wouldn't choose this over the Neostrata. I feel like the ordinary and Neostrata are formulated perfectly. I have seen the best results with those and for the price point I much prefer to use those. The one from the ordinary and from Neostrata, they contain more anti-aging ingredients and so I just feel like to spend $61 on this, it's just not worth it for me. But I do think it's a great option if you love this brand and you want something that has that creamy texture, something that is a little bit more moisturizing on the skin. This one is not sticky or tacky once it's dried down and it does layer up nicely with the products that I have used with it and it always sat nicely underneath my makeup as well. So although I think this is a lovely option for an anti-aging serum, I just don't feel like it's worth $61 for what it is."
"They also recommend to use this serum at nighttime because of the high percentage, that was another reason why I never continued on with this because I'm using tretinoin at night, I'm using lactic acid or peptides. I don't want to be using vitamin C at night. I much prefer to use vitamin C in the morning. I like the texture, it's thin, it's like water, it spreads, absorbs nicely, but again that 30 percent is just a little bit too much. So six out of ten."
"This is a product that I never hear anybody talk about and from my experience with this, this has been a miss from day one. The formulation is gritty, it pills with skincare products. It has that silicone ingredient so it never layers up nicely with serums and moisturizers. I tried to make this work back in the day when I first started using it and I could never make it work because it pilled. When I put my moisturizer on top of this, that's when I noticed everything peeling. Silicones don't always mix well with oils, and then of course too many layers in your routine and different textures can just create pilling. This is not the best product in my opinion, especially if you have sensitive skin because it is at a 30% concentration of ascorbic acid, which is the purest form of vitamin C. A lot of people are sensitive to a 15% concentration of ascorbic acid, this is at a 30."
What should you take from Sincerely Miss Ash's picks?
Sincerely Miss Ash is a generous reviewer of serums, and her 88% Guru Score reflects real enthusiasm for the category. Her sweet spot is formulas that pair brightening, anti-aging, or hydrating actives together, and she weighs value for money heavily when prices climb. Anyone using tretinoin or other strong exfoliants may want to pay close attention to her notes on sensitization and concentration, since she draws on her own experience with that routine throughout her reviews.
Watch Sincerely Miss Ash 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 Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:32
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 5:28
- The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2%Named a winnerWatch at 0:40
- NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 2:1Named a winnerWatch at 9:23
- The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3%Named a winnerWatch at 10:45
- Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair Serum in CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 8:38
- The Ordinary Marine HyaluronicsNamed a winnerWatch at 9:47
- The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%Named a winnerWatch at 29:05
- NIOD Survival 0Named a winnerWatch at 14:46
- Neon Modulating Glucosides SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 24:42
- Calecim Professional SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 0:42
- NEAD Copper Amino Isolate SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 1:47
- Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night SerumSkipped itWatch at 23:10
- Glow Recipe Pomegranate Peptide Firming SerumSkipped itWatch at 4:12
- NIOD Ethylated L-Ascorbic Acid 30% NetworkSkipped itWatch at 18:22
- The Ordinary Vitamin C 30% in SiliconeSkipped itWatch at 4:53
- SkinCeuticals Resveratrol B E SerumSkipped itWatch at 20:01
- The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%Skipped itWatch at 23:16
- U Beauty Resurfacing CompoundRated itWatch at 10:19
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 Hydro Serum HARated itWatch at 13:33
- Dr. Althea Vitamin C Boosting SerumRated itWatch at 11:47
- Bubble Day Dream Vitamin C + Niacinamide Tone & Texture SerumRated itWatch at 5:18
- The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support SerumRated itWatch at 3:10
- NIOD Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic ComplexRated itWatch at 7:24
About this expert
See everything Sincerely Miss Ash has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Sincerely Miss Ash said across their videos about 76 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.