Let's talk serums

If there's one step I'd love you to add to your routine, it's a serum. I use one morning and night, and I really do think it's one of the most worthwhile things you can do for your skin.

So, what actually is a serum? Think of it as a little concentrated treatment — it's packed with vitamins and nutrients, and it's designed to sink in and target the specific things you'd like to work on. There are so many out there, all doing slightly different jobs, but the ones I love are oil-based. An oil-based serum has the lovely ability to travel down to the deeper layers of your skin, carrying all that goodness exactly where it's needed.

One thing I always want to be clear about: a serum doesn't replace your moisturiser. It sits alongside it. I like to think of your moisturiser as looking after the surface, and your serum as the treatment working away underneath.

If you're standing in front of a shelf wondering what on earth to choose, here are the ingredients I'd gently steer you towards.

Vitamin A

This one is a real hero for your skin. It works on a cellular level, helping to repair and keep skin healthy. Over time it can soften the look of pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, ease congestion and dullness, and leave skin looking a little firmer and better hydrated.

Vitamin C

A wonderful antioxidant. It helps strengthen the tiny blood vessels in your skin, calm redness and even out your tone, and it encourages your skin to make collagen — which is what keeps everything looking plump and smooth.

Vitamin E

Another lovely antioxidant. Vitamin E helps repair skin cells, drinks in beautifully as a moisturising ingredient, and offers a little protection against UVA damage.

Omegas

Omega 3, 6 and 9 make such a difference to how your skin looks and feels — they help it stand up to all the day-to-day pollutants it meets. The catch is that our bodies don't make Omega 3 and 6 on their own, so we need to feed them to our skin from the outside. You'll find them in gorgeous plant oils like apricot kernel, avocado, baobab seed, rice bran, rosehip seed, argan, evening primrose, jojoba, sunflower seed, seabuckthorn and chia seed oil.

Not all serums are the same

This is the part I really want you to hear, because it matters. So many shop-bought serums are sticky. They stay lying on top of your skin, never really sinking in, and they leave you with that greasy, slidey feeling. Some people mistake that for being nicely moisturised — but that's not it at all. If your serum is still sitting on the surface, it isn't getting down to where the goodness is actually needed.

A proper serum should absorb in beautifully within a minute or two. No greasy seal, no stickiness — just a soft, velvety finish afterwards. Velvet, not slidey. That, to me, is the sign of an oil that's genuinely doing its work rather than lingering on top.

My Multivitamin Facial Serum

This is exactly what I set out to make with my own Multivitamin Facial Serum. It's an earthy little bottle, delicately scented with rose essential oil, and it carries all those vitamins and omegas right down into the deeper layers of your skin where they're needed. It sinks in effortlessly — no sitting on top, no greasy film — and leaves your skin with that lovely velvety feel rather than a slidey, sticky one. It's the difference I care about most, and it's why I make it the way I do.

And if you're ever not sure what your skin needs, please don't puzzle over it on your own. Message me any time at steph@stephkilkenny.com or give me a ring on 087 132 8323, and I'll happily help you put together a routine that suits you.

Steph 🤍