Ampoules Have Changed My Skin—Here’s Why You Should Try Them

Hearing “You have great skin” from a stranger is the equivalent of finding Park Place in McDonald’s Monopoly for me. Like the annual French fries parlay, I know that it’s a possibility, but it still catches me completely by surprise and brings me an immense amount of joy when it does happen. To be honest, my skincare routine is borderline obsessive. Recently, though, I’ve been receiving skin-related compliments more often than ever before, so I did a blind study to see what it could be. My findings were definite: more compliments came on days that I was wearing an ampoule. 

I came to find out that many people don’t use skin ampoules because they don’t know what they are. Basically, ampoules are little glass vials of super-charged serums divvied out into daily doses. Typically, they are meant for a two-week or sometimes month-long intensive program to rebalance or recharge tired skin—kind of like a trip to an ashram for your face. If you’ve been working non-stop, have had no time for self-care, or need to hit a quick restart button, an ampoule set may be your answer. We consulted with two skincare pros, celebrity esthetician Natalie Aguilar and board-certified dermatologist Zain Husain, to get the low-down on how exactly ampoules work and how best to use them.

Meet the Expert

• Natalie Aguilar is a celebrity esthetician and dermatological nurse.
• Zain Husain, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of New Jersey Dermatology and Aesthetics Center.

Opening an ampoule can sometimes feel like an impossible task (more on that later). Ampoules’ otherwise-foolproof portion control keeps people from wasting potent ingredients or getting skin irritation and chemical burns by using too much product (raise your hand if you’ve been guilty of this, too). When examining ingredients on these, typically you’ll find extremely high concentrations (90 to 100%) of botanical extracts or other actives.

Ahead, check out the best ampoule programs to get a total skin re-set.