Product Review: Murad Active Radiance Serum

By Pauline Lee on August 17th, 2009

Murad-1

After spending a long weekend at a beach house on Fire Island, I was ready to give Murad’s Active Radiance Serum a try. My skin needed some serious help after all the sun exposure and dips in the salty ocean. My skintone looked dull and uneven, and I had the faintest hint of reverse racoon eyes from wearing sunglasses at the beach.

The instructions advised using the product every day after cleaning and toning. Wanting to rush results (I’m very impatient), I applied the serum twice a day (morning and night) for the first few days of the week. But I followed the rest of directions by massaging a thin layer and waiting one minute for it to absorb before following up with moisturizer and sunblock (in the mornings).

One of the first areas I began to notice improvement was in my skin’s texture. It felt and looked much smoother. I’m assuming the glycolic acid (listed 2nd on the ingredient list) was what was responsible for the change. Glycolic acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid dervied from sugar cane that helps exfoliate and the skin and is used in chemical peels at higher percentages. It also didn’t hurt that the product contains dimethicone, which is a silicone that helps fill in fine lines (much like spackle that fills in small cracks and holes in wood).

After a couple days, I noticed a brighter complexion just as the product promised. It credits its Resillient-C Complex, which is a highly stable Vitamin C that is very potent. Besides the glow that it gave my skin, I love Vitamin C because it also helps promote the production of collagen, which gives our skin suppleness. As we age, collagen production slows down so I love giving it a helping hand with skincare products.

I’m definitely going to keep using this product. Although it is a somewhat invisible benefit, the serum contains Ectoin, which helps cells resist environmental stresses like UV exposure and pollutants. A girl is going to need that if her skin’s going to survive life in New York City.