The 5 Serums Every Man’s Skincare Routine Should Start With

When the city is still soft with sleep and the day has not yet demanded too much, there is a moment to return to the self. A moment to look inward, almost ceremonially, into the mirror. For the modern man, this ritual is no longer perfunctory. Skincare has evolved past the splash-and-dash utility of soap and water. It has become a gesture of personal sovereignty.

And at the heart of this slow practice are serums.

These concentrated formulas, texturally light but chemically potent, are the linchpins of a regimen that reclaims the skin from stress, fatigue, and time. Where moisturizers seal, serums signal. They’re biochemical poems, sending messages deep into the dermis to firm, brighten, hydrate, and renew.

Below, a grooming edit of the most compelling serums for men today: each one distinct, ambitious, and elemental in its alchemy.

1. Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex

Best for: Deep overnight repair and visible morning radiance

There’s something romantic about a serum designed to work while you sleep. Estée Lauder’s iconic Advanced Night Repair is a nocturne in a bottle, backed by four decades of chronobiology research and anchored by their exclusive “1-in-60-million” Night Peptide. The formula dives deep, syncing with the skin’s natural regeneration cycle. Come morning, skin is less lined and more luminous. It’s a serum that understands darkness, and knows how to bring light from it.

2. The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum

Best for: Efficient and science-forward skin support

Unpretentious in both price and packaging, this is a serum that delivers. The Ordinary’s Multi-Peptide + HA Serum is a democratic choice, an everyman’s elixir, blending cutting-edge peptides with hyaluronic acid for hydration and firmness. And in its simplicity, there’s something radical: a daily drop of efficacy.

3. La Roche-Posay Vitamin C12 Oil Control Serum

Best for: Oily or combination skin that needs balance and clarity

Precision meets practicality in this targeted formula from La Roche-Posay. Tailored for those who struggle with shine or congestion, this serum offers radiance without residue. The 12% pure Vitamin C acts as a brightening agent, while its unique Oil Control tech recalibrates the skin’s relationship to sebum. The result is a complexion that’s matte but not muted, glowing but never greasy. Like good lighting, but bottled.

4. Clé de Peau Beauté THE SERUM II

Best for: Jumpstarting skin renewal and boosting overall performance

The name alone speaks with the cadence of a sacred object. THE SERUM II is a prologue. As a first-step serum, it prepares the canvas, boosting circulation, enhancing absorption, and awakening the skin’s latent potential. With consistent use, the face becomes more sculptural, radiant, and present.

5. La Mer The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum

Best for: Restoring hydration and resilience to dehydrated skin

If a serum could be described as elemental, this would be it. Drawing from La Mer’s storied fermentation process and marine-sourced ingredients, The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum is less a product and more an atmosphere. It floods the skin in what the brand calls a “micro-cloud of moisture,” deeply replenishing while remaining whisper-light. For men who move through cities, flights, and late nights, this serum offers a stillness and a tide of restoration.

Skincare as intention

In an age where masculinity is being redefined, the act of skincare is both vanity and awareness. A commitment not just to appearance, but to presence. To care enough to touch your own face and tend to.

These serums, whether understated or indulgent, aren’t just vessels of cosmetic improvement. They are tools for transformation, daily rituals that invite men to think of beauty not as something to acquire, but as something to uncover. One drop at a time.

Photos courtesy Estée Lauder, The Ordinary, La Roche-Posay, Clé de Peau Beauté, La Mer