You already know sleep can benefit your body and mind, but it can work wonders for your complexion too—especially if you slather on one of the best night creams before bedtime. A moisturizer formulated for overnight use can rehydrate your skin and improve its texture, tone, and overall appearance.
We chatted with dermatologists about how to find the perfect night cream for your skin and tested their favorites. Plus, we dove back into SELF’s Healthy Beauty Awards to find our tried-and-trues. Now, all you have to do is pick one!
Our top picks
- Best Overall: La Mer Crème de La Mer, $100
- Runner-Up: SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 242, $155
- Best Budget Pick: Eucerin Skin Balance Night Cream, $14
- Best for Sensitive Skin: La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Night Cream, $32
- Best for Irritation-Prone Skin: Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask, $45
- Best Firming and Brightening: Augustinus Bader The Cream, $190
- Best for Oily Skin: Youth To The People Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream, $48
- Best for Signs of Aging: Elizabeth Arden Retinol + HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin-Renewing Water Cream, $95
- Best for Skin Barrier Repair: Tatcha Indigo Calming Cream, $92
In this article
Shop the best night creams
Our picks include drugstore workhorses and splurge-worthy masks.
Best Overall: La Mer Crème de La Mer
For a luxe option that really works, try La Mer’s Crème de La Mer (and bask in the skin care flex of displaying it on your sink). It’s made with the brand’s proprietary Miracle Broth, which is mostly moisturizing algae extract, and the consistency feels great on dehydrated skin, Bradley Glodny, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Park Avenue Dermatology in New York City, tells SELF. He adds that it’s also a good choice for people concerned with signs of aging: Your skin tends to get drier as you get older, and a rich cream like this one can help restore its moisture.
SELF’s director of social media, Kassidy Silva, knows this is is a splurge, but says it’s worth it: “I apply a thick layer as the last step—and sometimes only step—to my nightly skin care routine to help lock in moisture and leave me with a dewy morning glow. As a new mom, I’ll take any opportunity to cut down on my routine, and this cream packs that big of a punch,” she says. And you won’t need to stock up too often: “While the price tag might give you a bit of sticker shock, a tiny bit goes a long way. I’m still working on my first jar that I opened almost two years ago!”
Sizes: 0.5, 1, 2, 3.4, 16.5 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Hydrating glycerin
Runner-Up: SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 242
SkinCeuticals
Triple Lipid Restore 242
This night cream from SkinCeuticals has earned a holy grail reputation for its ability to restore the skin barrier, Aanand N. Geria, MD, FAAD, the founder of Geria Dermatology in New Jersey, tells SELF. Its key ingredients include ceramides and vitamin E, both of which help moisturize and strengthen skin. Dr. Geria also points out that the Triple Lipid Restore cream contains antioxidants that can prevent signs of free radical damage, like fine lines and dark spots caused by sun exposure.
SELF’s commerce director, Shanna Shipin, says this cream has made a huge difference in her eczema-prone, dehydrated skin: “It wraps my dry skin in a cocoon of hydration, and it has an immediate impact in that my skin looks plump, dewy (but not oily!), and bouncy after applying,” she says. “Longer-term, it’s worked to even out my skin tone and make it appear brighter.”
Sizes: 1.6 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Smoothing dimethicone, glycerin, hydrating sunflower seed oil
Best Budget: Eucerin Skin Balance Night Cream
Eucerin
Skin Balance Night Cream
This 2023 Healthy Beauty Award winner is fragrance-free, hydrating, and budget-friendly—so it’ll likely be easy on your skin and your wallet. Its star moisturizers are lightweight glycerin, rich shea butter, and panthenol, a form of vitamin B5 that helps your skin hold onto more water and prevents inflammation.
Our tester noticed an immediate improvement after using this moisturizer for the first time: “This cream was surprisingly light and perfect for nighttime,” they said. “I almost always wake up feeling dry, but I awoke to my skin feeling more hydrated than usual.”
Sizes: 1.7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Antimicrobial caprylyl glycol
Best for Sensitive Skin: La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Night Cream
La Roche-Posay
Toleriane Dermallergo Night Cream
La Roche-Posay’s Toleriane Dermallergo Night Cream is a good option for people with sensitive skin because it’s fragrance-free, so it’s less likely to cause irritation, Divya Shokeen, MD, a board-certified medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatologist and the founder of Ocean Skin & Vein Institute in Manhattan Beach, California, tells SELF.
The thin, gel-cream formula is packed with moisturizing glycerin, shea butter, squalane, and vitamin E, to nourish skin without feeling too heavy.
Sizes: 1.35 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Thermal spring water (antioxidants), niacinamide
Best for Irritation-Prone Skin: Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair
Dr. Jart+
Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair
If you have dry, irritated skin that’s prone to inflammation (including redness), the Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask from Dr. Jart+ is worth a try. Dustin Portela, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon in Idaho, praises its calming ingredients like centella asiatica, a plant extract that’s soothing and hydrating.
Our tester says they “can’t recommend this enough” to anyone with redness and irritation: “It’s an overnight mask that actually shows a difference in the morning,” they say. “My skin was significantly less red in the morning and felt moisturized after I rinsed it off.”
Sizes: 2.53 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Glycerin, soothing allantoin, niacinamide
Best for Firming and Brightening: Augustinus Bader The Cream
Augustinus Bader
The Cream
Augustinus Bader’s The Cream packs an impressive amount of skin-improving ingredients, including plumping peptides, skin barrier-enforcing ceramides, gently exfoliating retinyl palmitate, and brightening vitamin C. This combo can ward off signs of aging and damage (think: fine lines, hyperpigmentation, and redness) before they pop up.
Dr. Glodny also says The Cream can “heal and moisturize your skin overnight,” thanks to a blend of amino acids (which make up the proteins that keep your skin strong). If you’re trying to address multiple issues at once and you have a little extra to spend, we think this night cream is well worth the investment.
Sizes: 0.5, 1, 1.7, 3.38 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Glycerin, shea butter, panthenol, moisturizing squalane
Best for Oily Skin: Youth To The People Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream
Youth To The People
Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream
This Healthy Beauty Award–winning cream has a light, whipped texture that blends into skin like a dream. It majorly boosts hydration—hi, hyaluronic acid!—without leaving a greasy residue behind. Our verdict? It’s perfect for oily or combination skin types.
“I deal with some dryness and sensitivity around my eyes, but my face often gets oily throughout the day, and this was just the perfect texture,” our tester says. “It just made my face look and feel so good. I didn’t think I’d be running to repurchase a $48 cream, but here I am!”
Sizes: 0.5, 2 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Kale and spinach (sources of vitamin C), soothing green tea, panethenol, aloe vera
Best for Signs of Aging: Elizabeth Arden Retinol + HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin-Renewing Water Cream
Elizabeth Arden
Retinol + HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin-Renewing Water Cream
There’s no denying the skin-smoothing effects of retinol, but are the results worth the notorious purge period your skin goes through? Actually, you don’t have to wonder. These cream-filled capsules are infused with retinol, making them gentler—and less likely to cause irritation, so you can skip right to the good part.
Just ask our Healthy Beauty Awards tester: “I was a little nervous to try this cream because I have sensitive skin and have never used retinol every day, but it worked GREAT,” they said. “I noticed that my dark spots from acne faded significantly after using it consistently for a month, and it gave me an overall glow without making my face look too dewy or greasy (which often happens with products that contain ceramides for me).”
Sizes: 1.7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Glycerin, dimethicone, soothing bisabolol, shea butter
Best for Skin Barrier Repair: Tatcha Indigo Calming Cream
Tatcha
Indigo Calming Cream
Redness and stinging are major signs that your skin barrier isn’t feeling so hot. Enter: this Healthy Beauty Award–winning cream. Accepted by the National Eczema Association, it contains colloidal oatmeal and Japanese indigo extracts to tone down irritation. With squalane, hyaluronic acid, and glycerin, it’ll tackle flaky patches too.
“Anytime I felt like my face was looking dry and red, I’d slather this stuff on and wake up with skin that felt hydrated and balanced,” our tester says. “It also played nice with various serums, layered well with other creams, and didn’t get all weird under my sunscreen.”
Sizes: 0.5, 1.7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Dimethicone, moisturizing coconut oil
How we chose the best night creams
After asking dermatologists which qualities to look for in a night cream, I collected favorites from SELF staffers. They came through with creams they’ve been using nightly for years. I also perused past SELF Healthy Beauty Award winners to find nourishing moisturizers with active ingredients that are better suited for your P.M. routine.
FAQs about night creams
What’s the difference between a night cream and my daily moisturizer?
Your skin tends to lose moisture throughout the day and into the night, so it can be helpful to use a more nourishing skin care product that’ll make up for that water loss before going to bed, as SELF has previously reported.
That’s why the most obvious difference between night creams and daytime moisturizers is their consistency, Randie H. Kim, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, tells SELF. Most traditional options are usually thicker, heavier, and, well, creamier. (Other products marketed for overnight use, including facial oils and thinner face creams, can be just as moisturizing in a lighter-weight, faster-absorbing formula.)
Night creams are also more likely to have ingredients that are designed to target specific skin concerns, Marisa Garshick, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City, tells SELF. She gives the example of retinol to address signs of aging or exfoliants to address texture and tone. Because retinol and certain exfoliants can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, you typically want to use them only at night, which is where a designated cream (like the ones on our list) comes in handy.
What should you look for in a night cream?
To replace the moisture your skin loses throughout the day, look for a cream that contains humectants like hyaluronic acid, which draw more water into the skin, Samantha G. Stoler, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at AboutSkin Dermatology in Englewood, Colorado, tells SELF. She notes that certain night creams also contain occlusive ingredients (like mineral oil, squalane, or silicone), which create a “seal” over the skin to help it retain moisture. As slugging fans already know, combining ingredients that attract and trap water can help you maximize your skin care routine’s hydrating effects.
Night creams are also meant to be restorative and may contain ingredients like ceramides that help repair and strengthen your skin barrier. It’s important to show this protective, outermost layer of your skin some love, because when it’s healthy, your face will be less prone to irritation and dehydration. If you want to address fine lines and other signs of aging, look for night creams with retinol or peptides, which can help make your skin look smoother and brighter with consistent use.
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