I Can’t Stop Staring at Myself During Zoom Meetings Because This Smoothing Serum Makes My Skin So Glowy

A couple of weeks ago, I was in my virtual therapy session when I had to completely hide my own video window. I couldn’t stop staring at myself; I was so entranced by my own complexion that my expression looked like Edward Munch’s The Scream. My skin was glowing and smooth and my pores looked smaller. In my Zoom meetings in the days following, I experienced the same entrancement with my own complexion. The product responsible for this improvement is Tatcha’s new retinol alternative, Silk Serum. 

The Silk Serum launched on March 15, but I got my hands on it a week before that, so I have been using it nightly for five weeks now. It has made the texture of my skin smooth, eliminated rough patches, shrunken the appearance of my pores, and given me a perpetual makeup-like radiance. My skin has been so good that I have been skipping tinted serums, foundations, and concealers altogether. 

Shop now: $98; tatcha.com

I have sensitive skin, so I have a hard time trusting retinol. Though I’ve tried a few bakuchiol formulas that have impressed me, none have made me as vain as the Silk Serum. It uses a retinol-like substitute of cranberry extract and sea fennel that provides many of the same benefits without any potential irritation, astringency, or redness. 

Me barefaced except for Drunk Elephant’s O-Bloos Rosi Drops for blush and Rare Beauty Lip Oil. 

The way Tatcha’s Silk Serum has made my skin the epitome of radiance, I expected there to be something borderline mystical but it’s all seemingly straightforward. Cranberry improves the overall health of your skin by strengthening barrier function. It’s also full of antioxidants, collagen, and elastin. Sea fennel, on the other hand, is a protein stimulant that softens and soothes skin while improving texture and congestion. The Silk Serum also has Tatcha’s proprietary Hadasei-3 complex, which reveals healthy glowing skin stuck under dullness and dead skin cells while also improving moisture. 

The texture is quite thin, a solid pump or two is needed to adequately cover my face and neck. But it also means it absorbs almost instantly and doesn’t pill or feel sticky under the following night oils or creams. 

The bottom line is that though I love the process of applying a full face of makeup, the Silk Serum has made my complexion so vibrant that it feels like a crime covering it up. I’ve been truly astounded by how much I like my complexion and I’ll be hiding my video preview box during meetings and the like until I’ve gotten used to my better-than-ever complexion. Head to Tatcha to shop the new Silk Serum.