September is a good month to review our skin. Summer has faded and often left our skin feeling dry and dehydrated. It is the month where perhaps we should consider adding serums into our routine to give the skin an extra boost without overloading it.

Serums

Skin care ranges offer so many serums, which we often hesitate to use, thinking they might be heavy or clog our pores, but this is not the case. Serums can be very beneficial as a good skin hydrator before we apply our moisturisers. As always with our skin it is trial and error until we find one that suits our particular skin type.

Clarins boast that they have the No.1 anti-ageing serum in the UK. It is a double serum, which is their most complete age-control concentrate. It comes with two formulas which you mix together and apply to cleansed skin.

Elizabeth Arden is a good, reliable brand which includes the Prevage range. They have won over 220 beauty awards so you can be assured that if you invest in this range, it may be a bit more costly, but you will get what you pay for. The anti-ageing intensive repair daily serum also does exactly what it says on the tin, which is good to know.

Elizabeth Arden also has a City Smart Broad Spectrum SPF50 hydrating shield, which protects against the sun, pollution and future signs of ageing. It is formulated with a powerful antioxidant blend, which helps to maintain optimum skin health, and is an unusual product in that you apply to the face and neck as the last stop in your skincare regimen.

If you’re like me, you might like to try out a product for a month or so, then know if you see and feel the difference to your skin. Often I apply to just one side of my face so I really know when I see a change.

Hyaluronic acid

Whenever we see the word acid we think it must be very strong and therefore harsh on the skin. This is far from true; in fact it is very light, water-based and highly effective on all skin types.

I use a hyaluronic acid from a skin care range called The Ordinary, which is reasonably priced. This range created a big buzz in the skin care world when they first introduced great quality products but without huge price tags. A few drops morning and night makes a big difference to the skin, then add your creams or serums afterwards.

Use by dates

Now that skin care is becoming more and more ‘high tech’ with their ingredients, it is important that you check the item’s shelf life. If you look at the product you will generally now see a small box with an open lid, indicating how long the product is good for once opened.

Shelf life can be anywhere from six months up, with some products being suitable for use up to 24 months after opening. I try to make a note of the date I open my products, as I don’t want to lose their full benefit, which might happen when past the expiry date.