Think of the best antioxidant serums as your insurance against future damage—they supplement your first line of defense (namely, sunscreen) in order to protect skin. These face serums can make a meaningful difference in maintaining healthy, youthful skin over the years, even if you don’t see their effects immediately. What makes them so impactful: “Every day, we’re exposed to things like UV radiation, pollution, and other environmental stressors that generate free radicals,” says Melanie Palm, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in La Jolla, California. “Those free radicals can over time contribute to pigmentation, collagen breakdown, and other signs of premature aging.”
Vogue’s Favorite Antioxidant Serums
Like a superhero of sorts, topical antioxidants help neutralize some of those free radicals, effectively taking them out of commission before they can harm skin. While that doesn’t mean you can swap out your sunscreen for a vitamin C serum, they do work in tandem. And some antioxidant serums even go above and beyond mere protection. “Vitamin C, for example, is involved in collagen synthesis and can help address uneven pigmentation, so you’re getting both preventive and corrective benefits,” says Dr. Palm.
While you can find antioxidants in face moisturizers and even some sunscreens, they’re especially helpful in serums, which “are lightweight and can be formulated with relatively high concentrations of active ingredients without the heavier components you might find in a cream or a moisturizer,” Dr. Palm explains. With that, scroll ahead to find the antioxidant serums worth adding to your routine.