This $16 Hydrating Serum Is Incredible for Skin That’s “Flakier Than a Croissant”

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For our 26th annual Best Beauty Buys, the InStyle team worked with leading dermatologists, makeup artists, hairstylists, wellness experts, fragrance connoisseurs, and manicurists to find out which products they can't get enough of. Now, the votes are in — and you'll want to get ahold of these 229 beauty game-changers.

I’ve tried 101 ways to make oatmeal exciting, but try as I might to disguise it with toppings, nothing gets me jazzed about actually eating it. Prepping them for breakfast might see me rinsing gluey debris down the drain, but Aveeno’s Calm + Restore Triple Oat Hydrating Face Serum converts the benefits of oatmeal into a hydrating, calming serum — a healthy way to start my morning that I, and hundreds of Amazon shoppers, can get behind.

Aveeno creates products that baby your skin while bringing out its best self. Perennial crowd favorites include the body lotion Jennifer Aniston loves, and the overnight facial behind her “dewy, glowing, twinkling skin,” so I wasn’t shocked to see InStyle’s team of leading experts crown the brand’s serum as Best Beauty Buy-worthy. According to one of said experts, board-certified cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Shereene Idriss, it’s just what people need after this doozy of a pandemic.

“This past year has wreaked havoc on everyone’s skin. People who have never had issues before are coming out of the woodwork with skin sensitivities, inflamed skin barriers, and overall stressed skin,” Idriss tells InStyle. The matter is complicated by masks, which create an artificially humid environment around our noses and mouths. “The fine balance of repairing one's moisture barrier without overdoing it within a particularly humid-heavy setting is key. This is where this serum comes into play: It offers the right amount of hydration while soothing inflamed skin through its triple oat complex.”

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Shop now: $16 (Originally $19); amazon.com

The serum’s earned over 400 five-star ratings from Amazon shoppers, and it’s especially adored by those who turn to it for help with sensitive, irritated, and dry skin. It calms parched faces on contact, leaving them feeling quenched, soft, and supple — and it reduces rosacea and retinol-induced discomfort. That’s thanks to the formula’s trio of oat kernel flour, oat kernel oil, and oat kernel extract, helped along by feverfew flower juice, which Aveeno says calms down irritation and delivers antioxidants.

In shoppers’ experience, the combination means immediate relief after a single day of use, earning it “holy grail” status from people with hyper-sensitive and inflamed skin. It clears up rashes, doesn’t irritate eczema, and is a nursemaid for over-exfoliated skin, so if you tend to get slap-happy with scrubs or peels, the serum’s a lifesaver to have on hand (after reading through all the reviews, Aveeno should start branding this as the firefighter of skincare). Even people with extremely sensitive, inflamed skin that stings at the brush of a hair agree that it’s a godsend. Where moisturizer leaves them dry within minutes, two drops of the serum keeps their face flake-free for the entire day, and paves the way for painless skin.

“After several days, my skin has improved and was able to retain moisture without it being flakier than a croissant,” the person above continues. “The random days of having a red, sensitive face was gone as well.” A last person agrees, adding: “Knowing this serum delivers instant soothing and relief honestly thrills me. It does everything it claims to do, and does so fast.”

For under $20, the skin vacation is less than a plane ticket — and just as relaxing. Get it on Amazon and see the results for yourself.