7 minute read
iS Clinical has a reputation among aestheticians for doing more with a serum than most brands manage with an entire routine. The catch is that the range is built around six core serums with genuinely different jobs, and the packaging does very little to tell you which is which.
If you have ever stood looking at Active Serum and Super Serum Advance+ wondering whether you need one, the other, or both — this is the guide for that.
What is iS Clinical Active Serum for?
iS Clinical Active Serum 30ml is the brand's most famous product, and the one most people should start with.
It is a resurfacing serum built on a blend of glycolic, salicylic and mushroom-derived acids, with bearberry extract for tone. What makes it unusual is how broad its remit is: it works on texture, congestion, fine lines and pigmentation at once, which is why it has such a devoted following.
Choose it if: your skin is dull, textured, prone to congestion, or you want one serum that does several jobs competently.
Be aware: it tingles, sometimes sharply, for the first thirty seconds. That is expected. Start every other night.
What is Super Serum Advance+ for?
iS Clinical Super Serum Advance+ 30ml is the antioxidant and repair serum — 15% vitamin C alongside Copper Tripeptide Growth Factor.
Where Active Serum resurfaces, Super Serum rebuilds. It is the one to choose if your concerns are firmness, scarring, uneven tone and general environmental protection rather than texture and congestion.
Choose it if: you want brightening and collagen support, you have scarring you are trying to soften, or you want a vitamin C serum that is doing more than vitamin C alone.
Active Serum and Super Serum are frequently used together — Super Serum in the morning, Active Serum at night. That combination is the backbone of a great many professional iS Clinical routines.
What is Pro-Heal Serum Advance+ for?
iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advance+ 30ml takes the vitamin C base and adds vitamin E, olive leaf extract and retinol, tuned specifically for inflamed and compromised skin.
This is the serum for active breakouts, rosacea-prone redness, and skin recovering from a procedure or a flare. It calms while it treats, which is a genuinely difficult combination to formulate.
Choose it if: your skin is reactive, inflamed, breaking out, or post-treatment. If Active Serum has been too aggressive for you in the past, this is very often the right substitution.
What is Hydra-Cool Serum for?
iS Clinical Hydra-Cool Serum 30ml is hyaluronic acid plus centella, kojic acid and menthyl lactate, and it does exactly what the name suggests — hydrates and cools.
It is the lightest of the six and the least likely to cause trouble. It layers beautifully underneath the more active serums, and it is the one to keep for hot weather, air travel, and any period when your skin feels tight and irritable.
Choose it if: your skin is dehydrated, heat-reactive, or you want something soothing to buffer a stronger active.
If you are not sure whether your skin is dry or dehydrated — and the distinction changes what you should buy — our guide on dry vs dehydrated skin explains it properly.
What is Brightening Serum for?
iS Clinical Brightening Serum 30ml is the targeted pigmentation option, and unlike a general vitamin C it is built specifically around evening out discolouration — sun spots, post-inflammatory marks, melasma.
For deeper or more stubborn pigment, it pairs with iS Clinical Brightening Complex, which is the heavier-duty companion product.
Choose it if: pigmentation is your single defining concern and you want a serum devoted entirely to it.
Our broader piece on how to get rid of hyperpigmentation is a useful companion read, particularly on why SPF is non-negotiable alongside any brightening product.
What is GENEXC Serum for?
iS Clinical GENEXC Serum 30ml combines 15% vitamin C with growth factor technology and is aimed squarely at ageing skin — loss of density, deepening lines, and dullness that has crept in over years rather than weeks.
Choose it if: you are in your forties or beyond and want the most sophisticated anti-ageing serum in the range.
Which iS Clinical serum should I choose — the short version
- Texture, congestion, dullness → Active Serum
- Brightening, firmness, scarring → Super Serum Advance+
- Inflammation, breakouts, rosacea, post-procedure → Pro-Heal Serum Advance+
- Dehydration, heat, sensitivity → Hydra-Cool Serum
- Pigmentation specifically → Brightening Serum
- Mature skin, loss of density → GENEXC Serum
What should I put around the serum?
iS Clinical serums are only half the routine. The cleanser matters more than people assume, because these serums are potent and a stripping cleanser underneath them causes most of the irritation we hear about.
- Cleansing Complex 180ml — the default, suits almost everyone
- Warming Honey Cleanser — a treatment cleanser, lovely for dry or dull skin
- Cream Cleanser — for dry and mature skin
For moisturiser, match the weight to your skin: Moisturising Complex for normal to combination, Reparative Moisture Emulsion for dry or ageing skin, and SHEALD Recovery Balm when the barrier is genuinely compromised or you are post-procedure.
Sun protection is where iS Clinical routines are most often let down. Eclipse SPF 50 Translucent and the tinted Eclipse SPF 50 PerfecTint Beige are both mineral filters, which is the right choice over treated skin. If you are unsure which type suits you, our guide on chemical vs mineral sunscreen covers the trade-offs.
Finally, if you want to add retinol into an iS Clinical routine, Retinol+ Emulsion 0.3 is the gentle starting strength, and Youth Eye Complex handles the eye area. Do not add retinol and Active Serum on the same night when you are starting out — alternate them.
If you would like help pairing these to your own skin, our team is on hand. iS Clinical rewards getting the choice right first time, and it is a range we know well.