GirlStyle Favourites: 17 Of The Best Serums For Acne-prone, Dry, Sensitive Or Dull Skin & More

By Sophie Hong on 16 Feb 2022

Senior Editor

Serums are an integral part of any skincare routine. These power-packed bottles contain potent active ingredients that target specific skin concerns, such as pigmentation, dehydration, acne, signs of ageing and more.

Face serums are formulated in a way that allows the product to penetrate deeper into the skin, giving you healthy and clear skin from the inside out. Generally, you use serums after your cleansing step, but before your moisturiser.

Read on for our favourite face serums that you can get in Singapore in 2022!

Best drugstore serum for hydration: Avene Hydrance Intense Rehydrating Serum

Besides providing long-lasting hydration, this soothing serum made with Avene Thermal Spring Water also protects skin against environmental aggressions by restoring its natural moisture barrier.

Price: $79.90 for 50ml. Get it here.

Best mid-range serum for hydration: Caudalie Vinosource-Hydra S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum

Singapore’s humid weather means that nourishing or hydrating products can sometimes feel heavy or sticky on our skin, but not this one. Caudalie’s Vinosource-Hydra S.O.S Thirst Quenching serum is super lightweight and absorbs easily, leaving us with visibly plumper and softer skin.

Price: $60 for 30ml. Get it here.

Best serum for maskne: SKIN INC My Daily Dose® of Armour

Most of us learned the hard way in 2020 that prolonged mask-wearing can damage our skin’s natural barrier, causing irritation and breakouts. This serum from SKIN INC uses 4 types of ceramides to strengthen your skin barrier, licorice to protect your skin from further inflammation and irritation as well as vitamin B3+ for healthy, clear skin.

Price: $118 for 20ml. Get it here.

Best drugstore serum for anti-ageing: essano Wrinkle Rescue Natural Retinol Concentrated Serum

The “natural retinol” used in this anti-ageing serum is 1% bakuchiol, which is a plant-based ingredient that works just like retinol, only with less irritation. A great alternative, especially for those with sensitive skin!

Price: $39.95 for 20ml. Get it here.

Best serum for anti-ageing: Sephora 1% Bakuchiol Targeted Wrinkle Serum

This serum is said to visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines after 28 days and is gentle enough for everyday use. We’d recommend this for those who are just starting an anti-ageing routine.

Price: $32 for 30ml. Get it here.

Best mid-range Asian Beauty serum: Kose SEKKISEI CLEAR WELLNESS Vitalizing Serum

This serum from Japanese skincare brand Kose harnesses the power of Black Yeast Probiotic to combat dull complexion and form a resilient moisture barrier over your skin, protecting it from dryness and environmental damage.

Price: $110 for 50ml. Get it here.

Best premium Asian Beauty serum: su:m37 Secret Essence

The bestselling product of su:m37, this lightweight essence helps to slow down cellular ageing using natural fermentation technology, giving you radiant and youthful skin.

Price: $170 for 150ml. Get it here.

Best pore-refining serum: Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Pore Perfecting & Refining Serum

Look ma, no filter. Say goodbye to enlarged and visible pores with daily application of this serum, which is formulated with AHAs, BHAs and other acids to spring clean your pores, leaving you with clearer and smoother skin.

Price: $99 for 30ml. Get it here.

Best brightening serum: Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum

With 15% vitamin C, 1% vitamin E, antioxidants and fruit enzymes, the ingredients in this day serum work synergistically by giving you a brighter and more even skin tone while sloughing off dead skin cells.

Price: $112 for 28ml. Get it here.

Best probiotic-infused serum: HERA Cell Essence BioME Plus™

A healthy skin microbiome = clear, glowing skin. HERA’s Cell Essence BioME Plus™ mimics your body’s natural fluids and is enriched with the probiotic lactobacillus ferment lysate, and prebiotics raffinose, xylitol, xylityglucoside and anhydroxylitol to restore balance to your skin’s microbiome.

Price: $80 for 150ml. Get it here.

Best calming serum: Dr Dennis Gross B3 Adaptive Superfoods Rescue Super Serum

Dealing with redness or irritation? Try this soothing serum chock-full of niacinamide, adaptogens and superfoods, which strengthens your skin barrier and corrects signs of stress.

Price: $115 for 30ml. Get it here.

Best dark spot correcting serum: Derma Lab Lumiclar Anti-hyperpigmentation Serum

Looking for an effective serum to tackle dark spots or pigmentation? Clinical tests have proven that this concentrated serum from Derma Lab is able to lighten hyperpigmentation by 4 tones.

Price: $39.90 for 15g. Get it here.

Best multi-tasking nighttime serum: Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum

By marrying Korean herbal medication with cutting-edge anti-ageing technology, Sulwhasoo has formulated a serum that restores your skin’s balance and strengthens its moisture barrier, resulting in improvements across the board - from clarity to radiance to firmness.

Price: $118 for 60ml. Get it here.

Best multi-tasking daytime serum: Bio-essence Bio-Treatment Daily Mandelic Serum

The main function of this serum is skin renewal, thanks to the gentle exfoliating properties of mandelic acid and caviar lime extract. However, it also helps with sebum control, improves skin elasticity and even keeps your skin well hydrated.

Price: $49.90 for 25ml. Get it here.

Best premium serum: Sulwhasoo Timetreasure Honorstige Serum

This powerful anti-ageing serum is made with rare Reishi Mushrooms and Sulwhasoo’s Active Ginseng Cell™ technology, which was developed after more than 50 years of research.

Price: $1,050 for 40ml. Get it here.

Most innovative serum: b.glen C Serum

Vitamin C comes with a whole host of skincare benefits such as brightening, firming and UV protection, but unfortunately, it is also a very unstable ingredient which can decrease the efficacy of your product. Thanks to its QuSome® technology, b.glen is able to encapsulate and deliver high concentrations of pure vitamin C deep into the layers of your skin, keeping this active ingredient stable and effective.

Price: $72. Get it here.

Best eyelash serum: Heroine Make Watering Eyelash Serum

Get longer, fuller lashes naturally with this serum infused with 10 different conditioning ingredients. It’s free of fragrances, colourings, surfactants, oils, mineral oils and silicones, so you can also use this over eyelash extensions!