19 best anti-ageing serums that target wrinkles, dark spots and dullness

As a serum with a silk-like texture, this felt so hydrating from the moment it was applied. With hyaluronic acid locking in a level of nourishment, it also helps reduce the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles. Initially it felt a little oilier than some of the other serums, however, it was fast-absorbing and left no stickiness on our skin. It’s also a serum with a gorgeous scent and we felt so relaxed during this part of the skincare regimen.

Key ingredients in this super serum include a high percentage of padina pavonica and red seaweed, as well as tri-peptides and African birch bark. It’s good value for how much this serum packs in, however, it must be noted it is at least half the size of some of the other serums we tested. But a little goes a long way and this potent blend is definitely small but mighty.

We immediately liked how easy this serum was to use. The addition of a pipette ensures the solution is clean, easy and efficient to apply while the product itself is silky, lightweight and not at all oily. It also smells divine and immediately relaxed us while feeling refreshing. Plus, in the hours after applying, our skin felt amazing – practically soft to the touch.

This serum contains polyglutamic acid (a hydrating hero), as well as replexium, which is Charlotte Tilbury’s peptide duo for laser-focus wrinkle targeting. It has been created to completely rejuvenate your face, offering visibly younger skin with daily use. The serum also contains sqisandryl – an antioxidant berry that improves the vitality of the skin. Our skin was left glowing, and it also showed a significant improvement in texture.

Even though we used this serum more sparingly than others, we still noticed a difference in our skin. Creamy in texture, it melted in effortlessly and left skin visibly brighter, reduced the size of our pores and helping create an overall more even skin tone. That effect stayed for hours and even held up under make-up.

However, a word of caution – this serum contains 12.5 per cent of vitamin C and we found that our skin tingled slightly upon application. That sensation didn’t last for long, mind, but as it’s not something that agrees with all skin types we recommend building up your usage. Plus, while we’d always recommend following up with a decent SPF cream, it’s all the more important here. Once you get your dosage right though we promise you’ll be left with beautifully moisturised and hydrated skin.

Even though there was a slight stickiness and a tingling sensation upon our first application, this product immediately felt amazing on our skin. Soft and light in texture with a beautiful scent, this high-performance formula promotes both long and short-term results.

The brand maintains that this serum treats the skin at a cellular and epidermal level to brighten it. Plus, it aims to reduce the signs of ageing by smoothing, firming and plumping all in one go. We also noted that when we didn’t apply make-up afterwards, our skin stayed silky smooth for hours. It is a little pricier than some of the brand’s other products – its “be firm” serum is more than £30 cheaper (£42, Templespa.com) – but we’re still won over.

Compared to the other oil-based serums on this list, this was slightly lighter in colour. As well as its translucency, we noticed that it didn’t have a fragrance, and it was quite a bit stickier to touch. That said, upon regular use, our skin definitely felt more hydrated and was visibly plumper. It aims to blur the skin, making it look smoother in appearance, and address fine lines and wrinkles. We definitely think it delivers and thought our skin looked much clearer and healthy-looking.

An added benefit of the advanced night repair is that the serum formula is also designed to act as an anti-pollutant, with the brand claiming it protects from environmental damages as well as blue light from our screens. It may be pricey, but as it addresses additional skin woes we hadn’t considered, we don’t mind splashing the cash.

Arguably the ultimate anti-ageing serum, this product from Dr. Levy is packed with a potent blend of hyaluronic acid, aloe vera and a vitamin complex the brand says is guaranteed to improve your skin. It was one of the lightest in texture serums we tested. It features a plant-derived stem-cell extract which is said to work to stimulate skin’s collagen production. It takes around six to eight weeks for results to show, but we also immediately noticed how radiant our skin became after just one use.

Although the price tag might be offputting to some, we found it went above and beyond the call of duty. So if your budget stretches to it, we’d recommend this in a heartbeat, especially to those with sensitive skin.

This serum from Skin Generics is a great bargain that delivers excellent results. It promotes the synthesis of collagen, hyaluronic acid and elastin to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. It also contains retinol as an active ingredient – with 2 per cent of a vitamin A derivative, along with ingredients such as vitamin C and Hawaiian algae.

We didn’t find this to be as lightweight in texture as some of the other serums, but it did absorb quickly nonetheless. While an excellent price, those with sensitive skin should exercise caution as the mixture of vitamin C and retinol did cause our skin a little irritation. It didn’t last long, however, and we just made sure to use a more nourishing and lightweight moisturiser on top.

This repair serum is true to its name – it really did rescue and repair our skin. We noticed a change after the first application. It went on so easily, making skin feel silky smooth from the start, and it absorbed quickly. We immediately noticed a difference in the size of our pores and could see a significant amount of brightening. In addition to focusing on smoothing skin texture and fixing pigmentation, it’s also a great option for those of you suffering from sensitivity or other skin concerns such as rosacea and acne.

The one downside to this product was, unlike other anti-ageing serums which either smelled amazing or were fragrance-free, this one had a slightly clinical or chlorine-like scent. However, the results were very promising for this serum.

Our first thought when applying this anti-ageing serum was that the texture felt great when hitting our skin and there was a pleasant smell to it. However, it must be noted that this serum wasn’t as fast-absorbing as others we tested and our skin didn’t feel as immediately hydrated. This was a surprise, given the blend of micro and macro hyaluronic acid, however this can be easily resolved by using a particularly nourishing moisturiser.

We’d perhaps recommend this serum for those with more mature skin, as it did a wondrous job of making our face feel noticeably firmer and tightened upon each use. Our skin also did look and feel plumper.

This serum was absorbed quickly upon application, getting straight to work on softening the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles thanks to what the brand calls its “line-relaxing complex”. Its cellular filling complex is what helps re-establish shape and elasticity, visibly plumping and re-contouring skin.

We found it to be an excellent product, making our skin feel instantly smooth. We did notice an improvement in finer lines and our skin felt noticeably more hydrated which, in turn, positively affected its appearance. The drawback with this product is its price as, as fantastic as it was, it is rather expensive – particularly if you were to implement it into your daily skincare routine. We must admit that it is hard to assess whether this serum delivered particularly better results than those at a third of the price.

Out of the retinol-based products, this one appealed to us more, given the higher concentration of retinol in the serum’s makeup. Verso’s super facial serum uses retinyl retinoate (which is said to be stronger than retinol), meaning its power to work magic and make your skin appear more youthful-looking is stronger.

It is also said to cause less irritation to the skin and we found it to also be a gentler version of the beloved vitamin A product. We found no stinging as we applied this serum and our skin wasn’t left feeling at all dry. However, the texture of the product overall was a little thick for our liking.

We must say, however, we weren’t particularly impressed by any changes to the texture of our skin, gaining the sense that the visible effects of this anti-ageing serum aren’t efficient as some of the other products we tried and tested. A great serum product to add between your toner and moisturiser each day and night, however it showed us limited results which would lead us to question its higher-end price point.

This product comes with a hefty price tag, so it’s definitely a luxury purchase but (although we hate to say it) we did enjoy using it, and were impressed with the results.

Intuisse’s active NAD+ face serum aims to promote cellular renewal, stimulate the skin’s own collagen production and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Formulated with the brand’s patent-pending, high-absorption active NAD+ and pomegranate enzymes, the serum also aims to provide hydration and strengthen the skin’s barrier.

During testing, we applied the serum to our face, neck and décolleté twice a day, and noticed how bright our skin appeared after regular use. The serum has an unoffensive scent and our skin was left feeling hydrated as soon as we applied it. When it comes to longer-term results, we noticed an overall improvement in the texture of our skin, while fine lines on our forehead and around our mouth were less visible.

Despite most anti-ageing serums taking weeks to give noticeable results, we were drawn to the fact that we were able to see a small improvement after just a week with this formula. Upon initial application, there was a warm, burning sensation, but we weren’t too concerned due to the product’s proclaimed “needle-less” concept.

There was no visible irritation to our skin at all, but if tingling concerns you, this is not the right product. We’d also recommend those with sensitive skin steer clear, as it might make you nervous upon each application.

That being said, ingredients such as seaweed ensured the serum was packed full of vitamins and minerals, as well as hyaluronic acid to help the skin retain moisture and stay supple. We also liked the fact that there is red tea extract in the serum, as this ingredient is said to act as an anti-inflammatory agent, assist with brightening and aid the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles.

A slightly pricier product, we feel this one is necessary to shout about because, when it comes to skincare, Elemis is a brand that has your back. We found this serum to be fast-absorbing and not greasy or sticky in texture, making it a pleasant product to apply. Plus, it’s rich in micro and macro algae, which the brand says promotes radiance.

It also contains “drone peptide” technology, which is said to help target those more needy areas, such as by the eyes and around your mouth. There is a difference between this ultra smart pro-collagen serum and the pro-collagen super serum elixir (£59, Elemis.com), in that it does fix those fine lines and wrinkles a little quicker, reducing their appearance overall. Of course, you do pay for those extra benefits but a little goes a long way, so it ultimately depends on your budget and approach.

Sienna X’s serum features 0.3 per cent pure retinol, making this a great product if topical vitamin A is what you’re looking for. We were really looking forward to trying it because of its potent formula, however, as effective an ingredient as retinol is, it is not advisable if you have sensitive skin.

This meant there was slight irritation and redness to our skin upon application. It didn’t go away as quickly and seamlessly as the slight tingling with other serums we tried. However, this serum is very good value for money given the high concentration of its ingredients and, should you not suffer from skin sensitivity, it could be the one for you.

We’re big fans of Sculpted by Aimee and after having used the brand’s make-up for quite some time, we’re really enjoying incorporating the ex-make-up artist’s skincare line into our regime. The hydraglo serum smells great (it’s shea-butter scented) and, in addition to feeling substantial and nourishing in texture, it melted into our skin with ease, and felt lightweight.

The first thing we noticed was the nourishing and brightening effects of the serum, with ‘hydraglo’ being a very apt name for the product. Featuring a combination of hyaluronic acid, ceramides and niacinamide, these ingredients work together to lock in moisture and strengthen the protective barrier of the skin. There’s also the addition of shea butter to soften and further hydrate, which we definitely noticed after a single use. We also really liked that we can use the refillable packs to top up the bottle once empty.

Bringing the price back down with our trusty beauty experts from Avon, the latest serum to enter the brand’s repertoire is this anew renewal power serum. We loved the smell of this product – it was light and refreshing – while the texture of the serum was also lightweight and went onto our skin with complete ease and absorbed nicely.

The serum aims to reduce the appearance of fine lines while making skin look smoother, firmer and giving it a radiant glow – thanks to the inclusion of niacinamide. After using it for a week, we noticed a smoother look to our skin, overall, with pores appearing minimised.

Due to the serum having a bit more to its consistency than other super lightweight serums on the market, we actually felt that this nicely plumped our skin, yet left it feeling supple. It is also formulated with protinol technology, to help restore collagen in the skin.

A huge fan of Eve Lom beauty products, we were excited to try the latest offering from the brand’s skincare range. Packed full of encapsulated retinol and prebiotic oat kernel ferment, this serum’s main goal is to soften and smooth the appearance of fine lines and other imperfections on the skin. What we were really intrigued about was the claim that, while replenishing the skin with moisture, the serum helps maintain skin hydration for up to 72 hours.

We only needed a couple of drops of this serum for our skin to feel refreshed and nourished – with regular use, we noticed our skin looking and feeling more hydrated. Thanks to this potent blend of alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), the formula works to gently exfoliate the skin. As well as a smoother appearance, we also noticed a visible difference in the brightness. Plus, we saw the appearance of pigmentation reduce over time.

Bringing it back to slightly more affordable skincare, Skin Republic’s series of serums target different skin concerns. We opted to try the salicylic acid version, as the key ingredient in the serum promises to control oiliness and fight spots. We liked the pipette dispenser (as opposed to a standard pump), as we felt it allowed us to accurately spread the serum over our face but also target specific areas.

Overall, we saw our skin become visible clearer, with redness reduced. While we must admit, to our disappointment, our spots and pimples didn’t completely disappear, we did notice the serum aided acne in an anti-inflammatory sense, reducing the swelling that comes with aggressive spots and the overall appearance of them. We also noted zero irritation or other issues from using daily a serum with 2 per cent salicylic acid. However, if your skin tends to be on the dry or sensitive side, you might wish to use this serum sparingly.