Olay Super Serum: a Guru Score of 70% from 11 skincare experts

What the experts use it for.

The concerns the experts tie this product to, in their own words. Paid and founder takes don't count.

Rough or uneven texture4 experts

“it also helps with skin texture, skin tone, firmer feeling skin, it helps with lines and wrinkles.”

The Style and Beauty Doctor, watch at 16:55

Loss of firmness4 experts

“it also helps with skin texture, skin tone, firmer feeling skin, it helps with lines and wrinkles.”

The Style and Beauty Doctor, watch at 16:55

Dull skin3 experts

“So it hydrates, it helps to firm the skin, it gently exfoliates and brightens the skin, it helps with texture.”

The Style and Beauty Doctor, watch at 12:32

Fine lines and wrinkles3 experts

“it also helps with skin texture, skin tone, firmer feeling skin, it helps with lines and wrinkles.”

The Style and Beauty Doctor, watch at 16:55

Dark spots and post-acne marks2 experts

“This one has fragrance in it, but it's a hydrating formula that also has some ingredients that are good for overall complexion, dark spots, and redness, namely niacinamide and the alpha hydroxy acid, which can help improve skin smoothness.”

Dr Dray, watch at 4:23

Redness1 expert

“This one has fragrance in it, but it's a hydrating formula that also has some ingredients that are good for overall complexion, dark spots, and redness, namely niacinamide and the alpha hydroxy acid, which can help improve skin smoothness.”

Dr Dray, watch at 4:23

Skin barrier support1 expert

“The lactic acid is good for rough skin texture, niacinamide is good for the moisture barrier, dark spots and redness.”

Dr Dray, watch at 4:14

Dehydrated skin1 expert

“It targets several common concerns all at the same time, including things like uneven texture, dullness, loss of firmness, fine lines, and dehydration.”

Dr. Aleksandra Brown, watch at 3:57

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

Dr. Jenny Liu

324k subs

~Yay

"Their Super Serum. Olay is the OG niacinamide formulator and they formulate very uniquely at a low pH. That's been shown to be even more effective than just like regular typical pH. I've seen their clinical data. Really helps with brightening, helping with antioxidant benefits, anti-glycation. So if you're looking for a like more simplified routine of all-in-one to help exfoliate, improve texture and tone when it comes to skin rejuvenation, the Super Serum is the way to go."

All 4 takes from Dr. Jenny Liu

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"I really think of this as an all-star serum, one that can tackle many different skincare concerns, especially if you want to improve the science of aging, fine lines, even skin texture and skin tone, and really want just one product aside from retinol that can target those. And especially if you're someone who wants to simplify your routine and minimize the number of products, this one plus a topical retinol can just be the two actives that can help you achieve your skincare goals."

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"I love this Olay Super Serum for lots of different reasons. Number one, not sure if you guys are aware, but P&G, Procter & Gamble, the company that owns Olay, is really the forerunner in niacinamide research. We talk about niacinamide like it's a relatively new skincare ingredient, but it's been used for years in the skincare industry, and P&G is basically the brand that has done the majority of niacinamide research here. They have wonderful niacinamide formulations."

Niacinamide, is it worth the hype? Derm explains | Dr. Jenny Liu

"The Olay Super Serum is one of my favorite ones from drugstores when patients and followers want a relatively affordable, easy to find serum that helps to target texture, tone, fine lines, and firmness. [...] I just love the Super Serum because it is truly a multitasker. Aside from niacinamide, it's got other ingredients that helps to gently exfoliate, improving dullness, helps to brighten your skin, improving uneven skin tone at the same time supporting collagen."

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"Their Super Serum. Olay is the OG niacinamide formulator and they formulate very uniquely at a low pH. That's been shown to be even more effective than just like regular typical pH. I've seen their clinical data. Really helps with brightening, helping with antioxidant benefits, anti-glycation. So if you're looking for a like more simplified routine of all-in-one to help exfoliate, improve texture and tone when it comes to skin rejuvenation, the Super Serum is the way to go."

Dr. Aleksandra Brown

153k subs

~Yay

"That lactic acid component is worth highlighting specifically for that mature skin. It's one of the mildest AHAs, but it does real work in improving texture and radiance without the irritation you would get from stronger exfoliants. This is a really smart, well-formulated serum that layers really easy under moisturizer and sunscreen for anyone who wants noticeable improvement without managing a full multi-step routine. This is a genuinely practical option for everyday."

Top Pick: all-in-one serum

All 2 takes from Dr. Aleksandra Brown

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"That lactic acid component is worth highlighting specifically for that mature skin. It's one of the mildest AHAs, but it does real work in improving texture and radiance without the irritation you would get from stronger exfoliants. This is a really smart, well-formulated serum that layers really easy under moisturizer and sunscreen for anyone who wants noticeable improvement without managing a full multi-step routine. This is a genuinely practical option for everyday."

The Best Drugstore Skincare for Mature Skin, According to a Derm

"The best all-in-one serum is going to be your Olay Super Serum. This is a multitasking five-in-one facial serum that's designed to simplify a mature skin routine while still delivering visible results. It targets several common concerns all at the same time, including things like uneven texture, dullness, loss of firmness, fine lines, and dehydration. I like this option for mature skin that wants noticeable improvement without layering multiple serums."

Dr. Daniel Sugai

723k subs

~Nay

"It's saccharine at first and then it becomes this floral ginger scent, which I think is overpowering. Right off the bat, I think that Olay needs to change that. They need to take out the fragrance or tone it down big time because I can imagine a lot of my patients with sensitive skin or rosacea getting irritation from this. [...] The texture is great and it rubs in really well with no sticky residue, and when I apply my sunscreen or moisturizer over this, there's no peeling."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

~Mixed

"If you are looking at these serums with the hopes of improving skin texture, dark spots, skin tone, some wrinkle smoothing benefits, go with the night one. You avoid the issues around fragrance. It can be irritating, headache-inducing, and you also get the salicylic acid which can help with exfoliating the pore. The thing about Olay's super serums, they're not necessarily unique in terms of what they are offering. It's not necessarily a unique type of formulation."

All 7 takes from Dr Dray

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"The ingredients are fine, Olay usually uses fairly reasonable ingredient profiles, but the price point is always what gets me. For [...] these ingredients, there are less expensive drugstore brands that have similar ingredient families, especially niacinamide, which is a dime a dozen. There are also a ton of excellent Korean toners and serums [...] competing with that."

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"If you are looking at these serums with the hopes of improving skin texture, dark spots, skin tone, some wrinkle smoothing benefits, go with the night one. You avoid the issues around fragrance. It can be irritating, headache-inducing, and you also get the salicylic acid which can help with exfoliating the pore. The thing about Olay's super serums, they're not necessarily unique in terms of what they are offering. It's not necessarily a unique type of formulation."

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"It also has lactic acid that can hydrate and soften and smooth the skin. And they snuck in 3-O ethyl ascorbic acid, that's a stable form of vitamin C that may help cut down oxidative stress, but is not evidence based for like getting in the skin and boosting up collagen, so if you were thinking it did that, stay tuned, we don't have research in that regard. Glycerin is very hydrating."

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"This is new from Olay, this Super Serum, and it has one of my favorite antioxidants, niacinamide. Not only is it an antioxidant but it's anti-inflammatory, and it does a lot of other things in the skin that can yield benefit. It can help reduce redness, it can help lighten dark spots because it helps to reduce the transfer of pigment packets from the pigment-producing cells, melanocytes, to neighboring keratinocytes."

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"The Olay Super Serum has a night version that's fragrance-free. This one has fragrance in it, but it's a hydrating formula that also has some ingredients that are good for overall complexion, dark spots, and redness, namely niacinamide and the alpha hydroxy acid, which can help improve skin smoothness. Vitamin C and vitamin E are antioxidants. It also has tea leaf extract along with niacinamide, so the tea leaf extract is also going to be helpful for warding off free radicals potentially."

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"The Super Serum has lactic acid, niacinamide, and 3O L ascorbic acid. The lactic acid is good for rough skin texture, niacinamide is good for the moisture barrier, dark spots and redness. 3O ethyl is a form of ascorbic acid that's stable, but whether or not it converts to actual ascorbic acid in the skin is to be determined. This Super Serum has fragrance, it had a night version of it that does not."

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"The ingredients are beneficial if the formula is good, but the thing is Olay has so many [...] niacinamide serums, moisturizers, lotions over the years, probably more than I could count. If you're not allergic to fragrance, you could give it a go."

Dr. Vanita Rattan

1.23M subs

~Nay

"At a similar price tag of about 22 to 23, they did better than L'Oréal in that it's NA safe, so no dye, no alcohol, no fragrance, and no essential oils. But it's not in airless packaging, and there are no clear percentages written anywhere, which means you actually don't know who Olay Super Serum is for. It penetrates nicely into the skin, but unless I know more about this product, I don't even know who to recommend it for. Olay, you let yourself down. Nowadays it's all about transparency."

Mad About Skin

734k subs

~Mixed

"Overall she'd give it a six out of 10, which I think is quite fair scoring when you look at the price point, the formulation and the results that you've seen. 21 days worth of wear to see a noticeable improvement in your hyperpigmentation and some firming, I think that's pretty good. [...] The formulation [...] is probably the best formulated of all of the Olay products out there. I like those five key actives, the vitamin C is in a stabilized form so it'll have a long shelf life."

Dr. Mamina

283k subs

~Yay

"The Olay Super Serum or Radiance Serum and those are just a few ahas I recommend"

Nipun Kapur

413k subs

~Yay

"You can use the oily serum if your skin is a bit oily if your skin is dry you can use the oily cream"

Translated from the guru's original language.

HotandFlashy

1.23M subs

~Yay

"All of the Olay Regenerist line is on sale for Black Friday."

All 3 takes from HotandFlashy

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"All of the Olay Regenerist line is on sale for Black Friday."

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"This little Super Serum contains niacinamide, vitamin C, collagen peptide, vitamin E, and lactic acid. [...] For me, the vitamin C in here is kind of a waste because they used a vitamin C ester instead of ascorbic acid, even though it is at a lower pH where ascorbic acid would be possible. But for me, the lactic acid is definitely the hero ingredient in here. If it's 5%, then it could be within the effective range and could be a nice starter lactic acid."

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"I've switched away from the Olay Regenerist line that I used to use. I do love that line and I do still recommend it. There is nothing wrong with it. [...] When it's really super cold winter, I will probably go back to the Olay Ultra [...] because it's really thick and really emollient."

The Style and Beauty Doctor

222k subs

~Yay

"Olay Super Serum, I like this. I use it as my antioxidant serum during the day. [...] An antioxidant helps fight environmental stressors and protects you from damaging UV, though it's not to be confused with sunscreen, antioxidants and sunscreens have to work together."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Vitamin C

Topical vitamin C is an antioxidant with reasonable evidence for dullness and uneven tone. It breaks down in light and air, so how a product is formulated and packaged matters as much as the percentage on the front.

Source: DermNet

Niacinamide

Niacinamide has evidence behind it for redness, uneven tone and supporting the skin barrier, and it is usually well tolerated even by skin that reacts to most things.

Source: DermNet

Alpha hydroxy acids

Alpha hydroxy acids loosen the bonds holding dead cells at the surface. The evidence supports smoother texture and more even tone over time, and they can leave skin more sensitive to sun.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Olay Super Serum?

Olay Super Serum is a multitasking facial serum that combines niacinamide, vitamin C, collagen peptide, vitamin E and lactic acid. It's designed to target uneven texture, dullness, fine lines and loss of firmness.

Is Olay Super Serum worth it?

The gurus are split. 7 of the 11 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 70%.

What is Olay Super Serum's Guru Score?

Olay Super Serum holds a Guru Score of 70%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 11 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Olay Super Serum best for?

Olay Super Serum is generally suited to oily skin, dry skin, combination skin, normal skin and mature skin.

What is Olay Super Serum good for, according to the experts?

In their reviews, experts say Olay Super Serum is good for rough or uneven texture (4 experts), loss of firmness (4 experts), dull skin (3 experts), fine lines and wrinkles (3 experts), dark spots and post-acne marks (2 experts) and redness (1 expert).

Is Olay Super Serum good for rough or uneven texture?

4 experts who reviewed Olay Super Serum say it is. The Style and Beauty Doctor put it this way: “it also helps with skin texture, skin tone, firmer feeling skin, it helps with lines and wrinkles.”