Serum vs. cream: Do you need both for healthy-looking skin? | Clinique (2025)

Ease and efficiency are the key to sticking with any skincare routine. However, if you’ve been skipping a serum to streamline your daily regimen, you might be missing out on a healthier looking, more radiant glow. Adding this quick step twice a day is quite possibly one of the best things you can do for your skin.

Keep reading to learn how your skin can benefit by applying both a serum and a moisturizer twice a day.

You’re not repeating a step in your skincare routine when you apply a serum before a cream. That’s because the two products have different formulas and often serve two different purposes in nourishing your skin. A serum delivers powerful ingredients like vitamins and peptides for targeted skincare benefits, while moisturization tends to be the main benefit of a cream. While a serum is thinner in formulation than a cream, just a quick pump or two (check the product instructions!) contains powerful ingredients for your skin to look healthy.

Take our Smart Clinical Repair™ Wrinkle Correcting Serum, for instance. As our most advanced anti-aging serum suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin, this serum contains 9.5% peptides and 1% advanced retinoid, along with a boost of skin-plumping hyaluronic acid to reduce the look of wrinkles and fine lines while visibly lifting, smoothing, and firming skin.

“In a clinical study, we saw the same improvement in the look of lines and wrinkles in women who had one laser treatment as those who used Smart Clinical Repair Serum twice daily over 16 weeks,^*” says Clinique’s Research and Development expert, Dr. Tom Mammone.

When you follow the serum with a cream moisturizer like Smart Clinical Repair Wrinkle Correcting Cream, you are locking in moisture, helping to support the skin barrier. Plus, this moisturizer contains peptides, which help strengthen the skin over time, enhancing its resilience.

Do you see how this combination of products can produce powerful results for your skin? Here’s how and when to apply them for optimal results.

A serum contains a potent blend of ingredients in a lightweight formula that absorbs quickly into the skin. That’s why its application comes after cleansing and exfoliating so that nothing gets in the way of that nourishment sinking into your skin.

When to use: After cleansing, morning and night; be sure to apply daytime SPF when using a retinol-based product.

How to use: Apply 1–2 pumps all over the face and neck using sweeping, upward strokes.

Your skin might look and feel refreshed after a dose of the serum, but don't stop there. A cream moisturizer like Smart Clinical Repair Wrinkle Correcting Cream adds to your routine by helping deeply moisturize and strengthen the skin with potent peptides and giving it a boost of hyaluronic acid.

In a test of more than 100 women, 85% said they observed a diminished look of fine lines and wrinkles.^**

When to use: The cream is thicker, so it should be applied after the serum is allowed to soak into clean skin.

How to use: Smooth cream on face and neck, using sweeping, upward strokes. Follow up with an eye cream like Clinique Smart Clinical Repair™ Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream, patting it in gently using your ring finger.

If you’ve only been using a moisturizer after cleansing and exfoliating your skin, you're missing out on another powerful step in your routine to address your skin concerns. To reap targeted skin care benefits, add a serum as an additional step before you apply the right moisturizer for your skin type.

^*In a clinical study after 16 weeks, women who had one laser treatment showed the same improvement in the overall look of lines and wrinkles as those who used Smart Serum twice daily instead. Laser used: microablative, deka dot SmartSkin CO2™ (Cynosure, Westford, MA) with CO2 fractional tech.

^**Consumer testing on 143 women after using the product for 4 weeks.