Podcast 302: If your serum isn’t working, this is probably why

We’ve been told for years that great skin comes down to the latest breakthrough active – the kind with a name that sounds more like a space mission than a skincare ingredient.

But what if the reason your serum isn’t delivering results has nothing to do with missing actives at all? What if the ingredient that outperforms many so-called high-performance actives is already sitting quietly in your formulation, completely overlooked?

In last week’s interview episode, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier spoke to Dr Jule Lexa Völzke of CLR Berlin about actives, and one insight stopped everything in its tracks. Turns out that the most effective ingredient for many people’s skin isn’t trendy, patented or TikTok-famous. The key is hydration.

Hydrated skin has a stronger barrier, better function and greater resilience. Simple, reliable moisturisation delivered by ingredients like glycerine rarely gets the spotlight yet consistently outperform the most glamorous actives in moisturisation studies.

In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Lorraine unpacks why hydration in skincare is so underestimated, how the beauty industry’s obsession with actives has distorted the conversation, and why even the most advanced serum will fail if the formulation fundamentals aren’t right.

If you’ve ever wondered why your skincare looks impressive on paper but underwhelming on the skin, this episode might completely change how you think about performance.

“Hydration isn’t a side-effect of good skincare – it is good skincare.” — Lorraine Dallmeier

Key takeaways:

• Hydration consistently outperforms many actives in real-world use: In moisturisation studies, glycerine is often used as the benchmark because its effects are so reliable and well documented. What the industry rarely highlights is that many trend-driven actives fail to outperform this simple test.
• The beauty industry struggles to sell the basics, so it sells complexity instead: Hydration doesn’t sound exciting, luxurious or exclusive enough to justify premium pricing. As a result, marketing focuses on actives that appear advanced and mysterious. This narrative pushes consumers away from effective basics and towards products that promise transformation through novelty rather than function.
• Actives are valuable, but they cannot rescue a weak formulation: Active ingredients absolutely have their place, especially when targeting specific skin concerns with precision. However, they cannot compensate for poor texture, instability or an unpleasant user experience. A product only performs when the whole formulation works. Without a solid base, even the best active will underdeliver.
• The base formulation is the real star of skincare performance: Brands often highlight a single ‘hero’ active while the real impact comes from humectants, emollients and barrier-supporting ingredients. This skews how consumers understand skincare and pressures formulators to overload products unnecessarily. In reality, actives are supportive players, not the lead role.
• Healthy skin is built through quiet, unglamorous ingredients used well: The most transformative skincare ingredients are rarely rare, exotic or trademarked. They don’t go viral, and they don’t dominate headlines. More often than not, they are reliable humectants, well-chosen oils and effective occlusives that keep water where it belongs. These ingredients may not be exciting, but they are the backbone of healthy, functioning skin – and the reason your serum either works or doesn’t.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.