Everything You Need to Know About Serums

A brand that doesn’t compromise on nature, Apivita has been producing holistic products since 1979 to promote health, beauty and wellbeing. The nature-loving brand from Greece will soon launch the new Aqua Vita Advanced Moisture Revitalising Serum in mid-May, with active ingredients like hyaluronic acid and chaste tree phyto-endorphins to combat the summer heat.

#legend spoke to beauty expert Evangelia Panou, who is the Kosmos brand training director at Apivita, on why you need to incorporate serums into your daily routine.

Why are serums important?

Skin is the most protective organ we have. It’s the organ that protects all the other organs, so it’s actually very difficult for substances to penetrate into the skin. It’s a protective barrier, so it’s not easy, even if we use a good moisturising cream, for the product to penetrate. Serums are designed to go deeper. They have active ingredients in smaller sizes that can penetrate deep. That’s why they are a necessary step.

What is hyaluronic acid and what does it do for the skin?

Hyaluronic acid is also found in our bodies, in the skin and in the dermis. It’s a natural molecule. It acts like a sponge, if I could describe it that way. It absorbs water and it keeps it there. We also create hyaluronic acid in the lab in order to put it in our moisturisers, in serums, so it captures moisture in the skin and doesn’t allow it to escape.

Read more: High-Potency Serums to Repair and Hydrate Skin

How many serums do we need? Is is enough to have just one serum?

Serums don’t do the same thing, that’s why we have different kinds of serums for hydration, for anti-wrinkling. Eyes are also a very special area so for sure, we need to use a serum designed for the eyes. Skin around the eyes have a different condition; it’s thinner, without fat tissue and is very expressive, so eye serums are [important].

Our eye serums are newly launched this year, and it’s great because you can use it on the upper lids, which is very rare, in order to firm and to give a brighter look.

Silicone is bad for the environment but why do so many brands still use it?

Silicone is not irritating for the skin, but it’s not active so it has no function. It stays on the skin and is responsible for the silky smooth texture of the moisturiser. You touch your skin and you think it feels like velvet but it’s only illusionary. At the end of the day when you wash your face, the illusion of smooth skin will disappear. And when we wash it away with water, it ends up at the bottom of the sea. Silicone is not biodegradable. You need special systems to clean water and dissolve silicone. And who has it? Nobody knows. Silicone is everywhere in shampoos, conditioners. If you read the labels on the back of your products, you will find many, many ingredients that end on C-O-N-E. They’re all silicone derivatives. It’s a big industry, silicone is everywhere in our lives. So whatever we can do to reduce it, I think we should do it.

Is applying serum going to make a major difference to our skin?

I like to tell the truth. If you spend money for just one product, you spend money with no results. One product is better than nothing, but you will not receive the same results you would with a complete skincare programme. We have to do proper exfoliation and masks once or twice a week, otherwise the dead skin stays on the surface and makes it even harder for serums to penetrate. The masks give extra nutrients to the skin. I love using the Sea Lavender mask.