Could Layering Serums Be the Secret to Saying Bye-Bye to Your Biggest Skin Concerns? Meet the Matchups Right For You

We’re only meant to experience high school once in our lives. The memories created during those four years are great reminders of how far we’ve come, but we’d take a hard pass on having to relive them — those awkward school dances and mile runs in gym class can stay in the past. But if you’re a beauty enthusiast, you'll know that sometimes your high school days haunt you, especially when modern-day skin care sort of feels like a science experiment.

Unless you totally aced chemistry class, deciding which products work well for your skin — and more importantly, work well together — can be more challenging than SAT prep. But here’s the thing: when done correctly, layering certain products, especially serums, can be a huge game changer for your routine. So, where do you begin? Allow us to give you the 101 on it all.

Rarely does anyone have just one skin concern. Usually, we’re trying to address at least two simultaneously while ensuring our skin stays completely balanced at the same time. The trick is to find the right two serums that work best together to do exactly that. Ahead, a lesson in layering the right serums for the right results.

Did you wake up today looking like you aged 10 years? Almost overnight, your skin looks sallow, dull, and completely devoid of moisture. Your solution: vitamin E and hyaluronic acid. A lightweight serum like the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Dullness Serum (best used in the daytime) uses vitamin E to strengthen your skin barrier function, i.e. the brain behind the operation. Without a strong skin barrier, your skin can’t maintain homeostasis and it can lose moisture at an even faster rate.

Vitamin E is also an expert supporter, like your high school BFF who was always down to play hooky if it meant cheering you up. Known to extend the effectiveness of vitamin C (another hero ingredient in Bye Bye Dullness), vitamin E can help its fellow antioxidants protect skin and dramatically improve its overall radiance, so you look glowing and healthy.

After boosting the skin with Bye Bye Dullness in the morning, top it off with the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Lines immediately after or later that evening, which quenches the skin with a powerful concentration of hyaluronic acid, a humectant that helps skin retain moisture. The result: radiant skin.

The most relatable movie line ever: "My pores are huge!" While your pores can’t actually grow or shrink in size, they can be extremely clogged and seem more noticeable than usual. Dealing with that and lingering dark spots requires a complexion refresher that includes acids and vitamins, specifically B3 and C.

Start with the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Dark Spots Serum, which uses four percent niacinamide (visibly reduces discoloration) and one percent ethyl vitamin C (visibly improves skin tone), to target dark spots. Niacinamide is a dermatologist favorite, but is rarely mixed in the same formula with vitamin C because the latter is usually unstable. Many iterations of vitamin C lose their effectiveness when exposed to air and light making it virtually useless. However, the form of vitamin C used in the Bye Bye Dark Spots is stable and bioavailable, so you have the chance to harness the power of both ingredients at the same time.

The best way to unclog pores and make them appear smaller is to incorporate an ingredient like glycolic acid into your routine, specifically at night. The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Serum uses a 10 percent concentration of the ingredient to help break down the "glue" that binds dead cells to the skin’s surface so pores appear minimized and skin more refined. It makes for the perfect evening follow-up to Bye Bye Dark Spots.

Nothing makes you feel like you're in high school again like dullness and oversize pores. In fact, if you are a teenager, listen closely: vitamin C and acids are your new ride-or-dies, which you can find in the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Serum. While the former will fight off free radicals on the skin, so you look healthy and fresh all the time, the latter will help vacuum pores clean while keeping skin hydrated.

Here’s the thing about Bye Bye Pores: while glycolic acid, like many exfoliating acids, can be harsh on some skin types, this serum's 10 percent concentration is a sweet spot for many skin types. Using daily shouldn’t throw your skin off balance, especially since it’s paired with an ingredient like hyaluronic acid. Together, these two can help you achieve a smoother and refined skin texture in as little as one week.

While we totally support layering, beware of layering serums that do have intense active concentrations. For example, the 15 percent of vitamin C in the Bye Bye Dullness Serum is very powerful, so it's best to use this formula in the morning and Bye Bye Pores in the evening, so neither the vitamin C and glycolic acid will negatively interact with one another.

As far as skin-care concerns go, dark spots and fine lines are two that tend to linger for a very long time. Whether your hyperpigmentation is from an old breakout or you’re naturally prone to it, those fussy dark spots aren’t likely to leave until you hit them with a unique combination of niacinamide and vitamin C, both of which will strengthen your skin and help visibly reduce uneven skin tone. The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Dark Spots Serum is lightweight, so layering it underneath another serum is easy.

The key to addressing lines is to plump the skin. The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Lines Serum uses hyaluronic acid ranging in molecular weights (the smaller they are, the deeper they penetrate skin) to retain moisture and help smooth out lines. That and its unique cocktail of peptides and vitamin B5 help skin stay soft and supple.