Serum ingredients in a body wash: what survives thirty seconds and a rinse

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Researched. We have not used this one long enough to give you a verdict, and we would rather say so than invent one. What follows is how it works, who it suits, and what it will not do. When we have used it properly, this page carries the verdict and the date.

Olay Super Serum Body Wash

The listing names five ingredients: niacinamide, BHA, collagen peptide, vitamin C and shea butter. In a face serum, every one of those would sit on your skin for hours. In a body wash, they are on your skin for the length of a lather and then rinsed away. That one difference decides how much each of them can do.

Contact time is the whole question

Most skincare ingredients need time on the skin to have an effect. A leave-on product gives them hours. A rinse-off product gives them the thirty seconds or so between lathering and rinsing, and then most of what is not bound to the skin goes down the drain.

We covered the same problem from the other side in what a hot shower actually does, and where the moisturizer goes, and in in-shower lotion: what survives the rinse. The rule is the same here: some ingredients are designed to stay behind, and some are not.

Which of the five can work in a wash

Shea butter — the most likely to matter. Rich body washes are built to leave a thin film of conditioning ingredients on the skin after rinsing, and a butter is exactly that kind of ingredient. This is where the soft, less-tight feeling after the shower comes from.

BHA — salicylic acid can do a little even in a short contact time, particularly on the back and chest, where it can help with clogged pores. Leaving the lather on for a minute before rinsing gives it a better chance.

Niacinamide, vitamin C and collagen peptide — these are the ingredients most associated with serums, and the ones least likely to do much in a wash. Some may stay behind; most will not. Read the "serum" in the name as a description of what is in it, not a promise that it works like one.

The claims on the listing

The listing claims 24/7 hydration and five visible benefits: hydrates, firms, smooths, brightens and evens. Hydration and smoothness are the ones a conditioning body wash can plausibly deliver, through the film it leaves behind. Firming and brightening from a product you rinse off within a minute are the claims to be most sceptical of.

Who it suits

The listing says it is for normal to dry skin, and for extra-dry skin in its title. If your skin feels tight after an ordinary shower gel, a rich, conditioning wash like this is a sensible swap. It is fragranced — the listing describes floral and herbal notes with vanilla and soft woods — so it is not the one for skin that reacts to perfume.

Getting the most out of it

Lukewarm water rather than hot. Let the lather sit for a minute before rinsing. Pat dry rather than rubbing, and put body lotion on while the skin is still slightly damp. The wash can take the edge off dryness; it does the most when it is not the only step.

What it will not do

It will not do what a leave-on serum or body lotion with the same ingredients would do. It will not firm skin in any way you should expect to see. And it will not replace a moisturizer for genuinely dry skin — it just means that moisturizer starts from a better place.

The product

A rich, fragranced body wash for dry skin, with shea butter doing most of the practical work and a list of serum ingredients along for the ride.

The one people are searching for is the Olay Super Serum Body Wash for Extra Dry Skin.

Olay Super Serum Body Wash

We do not print prices here, because a price we typed last month is a price that is wrong today.

Written by JamieG in Garner Town, Tennessee.