What 133 serums reveal about how the market really formulates

How much do brands actually tell you?

Across all 291 key actives in the catalog, 37% come with a stated concentration. Only 32% of serums disclose a dose for every active they headline. The rest ask you to trust the marketing. A concentration on the label is the single easiest way for a brand to show it has nothing to hide, and most still skip it.

Are the actives dosed to do anything?

We sort every active into a dose tier from the disclosed strength. 77% land at a studied dose or above. The rest are present in lighter amounts, and some are fairy-dusted below the 1% line, where an ingredient can appear on the label without being there in a meaningful amount.

Does the bottle protect what is inside?

53 serums are built on air- or light-sensitive actives like vitamin C and copper peptides, which lose potency fast once oxygen and light get in. Of those, 9% are sold in a clear dropper bottle or an open jar, the two formats least able to keep a fragile active alive. A great formula in the wrong package is a worse buy than its ingredient list suggests, which is why packaging is scored, not ignored.

How the scores fall

The median serum scores 73 out of 100. Good formulation is not rare, but a top score is: it takes real evidence, an honest dose, and packaging that protects it, all at once.

Does a higher price buy a better formula?

Not reliably. Serums scoring 80 or higher have a median price of $22. Serums scoring under 60 have a median price of $142. The better-scoring group is not the more expensive one. Price tells you almost nothing about whether the evidence and the dose are there.

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