With holistic skincare on almost everyone’s radar, it seems like more and more “must have” oils and serums from nature hit the shelves every week. It’s great to have so many options, but it can also get confusing. 

Vitamin E is a well-loved skincare staple (that part is easy!), but would you do better with it in an oil or a serum form? And how do facial oils differ from serums in the first place? Let’s find out.

What Are Serums?

Serums are powerful concentrated skin treatments that are tailored to protect the skin and/or address specific skin issues like aging or uneven pigmentation. These products work by delivering water soluble active ingredients to your skin in a water base. Their active ingredients, (which may include vitamins, antioxidants, peptides, alpha hydroxy acids, or glycolic acids) are classified as “actives” because they actively benefit the skin’s appearance and function. To accomplish this effect, serums need to make their way all the way down to the undermost epidermal layers, so they’re formulated with a very tiny molecular size that can penetrate the skin more deeply than other types of products.

Reach for a serum when you have a specific goal in mind for your complexion—either to discourage the effects of age, UV, and pollution, or to hydrate, brighten, firm, plump, or smooth. Apply your serum to freshly cleaned skin (after your toner if you use one) and before any moisturizers, facial oils, or sunscreens. When choosing a serum, look for labels with pure, ethically sourced ingredients from nature, and no dangerous synthetic additives.

Facial Oil Basics 

Facial oils are exactly what they sound like—they’re either single ingredient oils or blends of botanical oils. Either way, they’re all about maintenance because they help keep your skin healthy and beautiful. When used regularly, the three main takeaways from facial oils are hydration, nutrition, and protection. Vitamins and antioxidants naturally contained in botanical oils provide nourishment to the skin, and the oils’ lipids support the skin’s moisture barrier to lock in hydration, keep environmental stressors at bay, and maintain balance. Because oil molecules are much larger than those of water, facial oils don’t penetrate as deeply as serums—so they mainly do their good work on the outer epidermal layers.

Smooth on a facial oil when you want to keep your skin looking radiant. These oils are best applied to clean skin, a few minutes after any toners or serums, to allow time for absorption. As with serums, facial oils should contain only pure botanical oil with no unnecessary or harmful chemical additives to spoil the effect. Our Valentia Vitamin E Oil is as simple and pure as it gets—sourced from only non-GMO sunflower seeds to keep your complexion looking naturally bright, fresh, and glowy.

Introducing the New Hybrids!

If you’ve only seen classic water-based serums, it turns out you don’t have the whole serum picture. That’s because while a serum by strict definition is water-based for skin penetration, a whole new class of oil-serum hybrids has become available to give you the best of both worlds: the protective, nourishing hydration of an oil, along with the deep epidermal delivery of concentrated serum actives. When properly formulated, these hybrids have a much smaller molecule size than facial oils, which allows them to reach deep into the layers of your face where they can work their magic.

Hybrids are the perfect choice when you want maximum skincare results without spending lots of time taking care of your skin. If this sounds like just what you’ve been looking for, try our lightweight Valentia Vitamin E Serum, which blends pure vitamin E from non-GMO sunflowers with some of the most precious botanical oils on the planet—including rosehip, jojoba, hazelnut, strawberry, and papaya. This heavenly skin cocktail will keep your face looking agelessly fresh, glowing, and revitalized in one super-easy step. And when your face is craving a little extra TLC, you can always massage in our vitamin E oil over the serum as a finishing touch.

So there you have it: vitamin E serums, oils, and now hybrids too, all demystified. And the best news of all is when you treat your skin to pure, natural vitamin E, you’ll be putting your very best face forward—whichever delivery method fits best with your unique skin type and lifestyle.