"Cocktailing" Serums - How to Combine & Amplify Results

Spring is serum season, and now that winter dryness is receding, you can finally shift your focus towards beautiful skin goals like brightness, anti-aging and anti-acne. Serums are some of the most effective treatment products to give these results. Individual serums are usually quite potent, and serums can even be combined — called “cocktailing” — to amplify results.

At Astrk, we like to think of skincare as a layering process. Products support and complement each other, and we encourage patients to carefully consider and choose each product in their regimen to add to the overall effects they desire. Outcomes are multiplied or broadened depending on the selected product combinations.

Through each step of a skincare regimen, products, active ingredients and benefits layer and build off each other. Consider these two different uses for a soothing cleanser like Hydralux Cleanser: Patients could follow it with Vitabright Moisture Boost or Hydralux Collagen Boost for an ultra-soothing regimen after a procedure; or, if they have sensitive acneic skin, following with Lumapure Antioxidant Boost and Lumapure Sheer Moisturizer will hydrate while soothing and treating acne. Products are combined and layered depending on the goal, and cocktailing can even be used to mitigate sensitizing or drying effects from strong actives in other products.

Combining serums, in particular, can help create a versatile, effective regimen that promotes both overall skin health and individual goals like brightness, firmness and clarity. Astrk’s serums have strong, versatile active ingredients, and we specially design our products to multitask and impart several benefits. 

Astrk offers five medical-grade serum products. Of these, two are lipid-based: Vitabright Moisture Boost and Vitabright Retinol Boost; and three are non-lipid-based: Lumapure Antioxidant Boost, Hydralux Collagen Boost and Hydralux HA+ Boost.

Our top recommendation for cocktailing is to combine lipid-based serums with non-lipid-based serums. This helps moisturize and protect the skin barrier while also improving brightness, firmness and smoothness and treating acne and visible signs of aging.

Our lipid-based serums contain powerful antioxidants and skin rejuvenators, such as Lipochroman® and vitamins E and F, to strengthen and fortify the skin. These repair and protect the skin barrier, restoring hydration and protecting against damaging environmental pollutants.

Our non-lipid serums contain collagen-promoting, firming and brightening ingredients like vitamin C and hyaluronic acid to support plumper, brighter, more youthful skin. These, on the other hand, are better at improving firmness and treating inflammation, redness, lines, wrinkles and other visible signs of aging.

Cocktailing serums is a simple and effective way to amplify results in a comprehensive skincare regimen. Products can be cocktailed by combining before application, or simply applied one-after-another. Our products are all chemically compatible, and all combinations can be used safely without side effects.