For anyone who’s starting to solidify their skincare regimen, finding a good night cream is so in your best interest.
Though you may feel as though one moisturizer tub will suffice, having a thicker, more hydrating and nighttime-formulated product in your arsenal is ideal for days when you don’t have time for a face mask.
Not to mention, you’ll wake up to your skin feeling as smooth as ever.
Speaking of, my skin has never looked more plump, nourished and clear since I began testing dozens — yes, dozens — of the best night creams before bedtime. Oh, and I’ve been consistently reviewing night creams for more than three years.
Along with some of the best facial exfoliants, top-tier vitamin C serums and cloud-like eye creams we tested, it’s safe to say that we vouch for investing in your skincare, though some of the best night creams we reviewed are fair-priced and easy on your wallet.
Before we dive into our 20 favorites, check out our interview with board-certified dermatologist, Aegean H. Chan, MD, FAAD, who specializes in complex medical dermatology, dermatopathology and skin barrier research, for some FAQs on night creams.
Click to jump to the best night cream for you:
- Best Night Cream Overall
- Best Night Creams for Dry Skin
- Best Night Creams for Sensitive Skin
- Best Night Creams for Oily Skin
- Best Night Creams for Mature Skin
- Best Night Creams for Acne-Prone Skin
- Best Night Creams for Balancing the Skin
- Best Budget Night Creams
- Best Splurge-Worthy Night Creams
- Best Clean Night Creams
- Best Brightening Night Creams
- Best Night Creams for Dark Spots
- Best Hydrating Night Creams
Best Night Cream Overall
Alpyn Beauty PlantGenius Melt Moisturizer with Bakuchiol & Squalane
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It has a versatile clean formula that can also be used in the daytime, is super hydrating, gives your skin a nice matte finish, incredible for dry skin
When I used Alpyn Beauty’s PlantGenius Melt Moisturizer for the first time, I knew it was going to be a staple in my routine. It’s creamy without irritating my dry and sensitive skin and I love how it includes five-star ingredients like vitamin C, bakuchiol, squalane and hyaluronic acid.
From protecting your skin from radical damage and targeting age-relating concerns to hydrating the skin’s barrier and brightening the skin, it’s one of your best bets. It’s the lightweight formula your skin needs, simply put.
For more, check out our full brand review of Alpyn Beauty (yes, we’ve tried it all).
Best Night Creams for Dry Skin
Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer
- Recommended skin types: Dry, normal
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It’s clean, cruelty-free, made without parabens or silicones, good for anti-aging and dryness, comes with an included scoop, instantly hydrates the skin
Holy honey halo. Farmacy’s Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer is truly a gift from the hive with its powerhouse blend of buckwheat honey, propolis and royal jelly. As Dr. Chan notes, its soothing and humectant properties make it an effective moisture-restoring formula.
Made with real honey, you’d expect this night cream to be ultra-sticky and ineffective. But, the results are the opposite; the glycerin and shea-butter-infused cream soak into your skin to feel as sweet as honey — especially when you wake up the next morning.
Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It’s exceptional for dryness, has a clean formula, cruelty-, fragrance- and paraben-free, it has a subtle rose scent
Biossance’s vitamin C serum is exceptional, so I wasn’t surprised to find its nighttime repair cream to be the crème de la crème for my dry skin. The buttery whipped formula was like pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete on my flaky skin for good.
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Moisturizer with Ceramides
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It’s velvety smooth, has a clean and vegan formula, great for anti-aging and for making the skin more supple
Drunk Elephant has a cult-following (just ask any Sephora employee, and read our full brand review for more) and its Lala Retro Whipped Moisturizer with Ceramides not only has one of those cool push-down dispensers where the product perfectly comes out but also made my skin look like a radiant Barbie — without the porcelain shine, of course.
I can confidently say that if someone broke into my bathroom and stole this cute pastel container, I would pay $60 for another one. It’s just that hydrating on dry skin (and one of our favorite dry skin products), though effective on other skin types.
Best Night Creams for Sensitive Skin
LANEIGE Hypoallergenic Cica Sleeping Mask
- Recommended skin types: Normal
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, redness
- Why we love it: It’s fragrance- and paraben-free for sensitive skin, hypoallergenic, incredible for dryness and for eradicating slim traces of redness
Much like its popular Lip Sleeping Mask, LANEIGE’s night cream version is the hypoallergenic call-to-skin that’s ultra-curated for sensitive areas. It calms my skin, has never broken it out and gives my skin a fresh start in the morning, thanks to blurring out redness and offbeat skin concerns.
Drunk Elephant F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial Mask
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, loss of firmness and elasticity, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It’s great at plumping the skin, includes vitamin F for reducing irritation and niacinamide for targeting dullness and loss of firmness
Drunk Elephant’s F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial Mask will make you say “wow, that’s good.” It’s filled with humectant ingredients like coconut water, sodium and magnesium PCA and prickly pear extract to make every dermatologist applaud from afar.
It’s a lightweight formula that’s a joy to use in the evenings. So, if you’re on the hunt for a unique night cream that’s versatile and good for sensitive skin, D.E. is a solid option, though it wasn’t as nourishing as some others tested.
Best Night Creams for Oily Skin
Fenty Skin Instant Reset Brightening Overnight Recovery Gel-Cream with Niacinamide
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, fine lines and wrinkles
- Why we love it: It has a clean formula, infused with hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, incredibly hydrating due to its gel consistency, refills available
Gel-packed and hydration-activated, Fenty Skin’s Gel-Cream is a delight to apply. Though effective on all skin types, it’s especially great for oily skin because of its radiant, bouncy texture that’s like throwing jiggly water bombs on your face.
Aside from nourishing and anti-aging ingredients like hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, this night cream also contains aloe to help soothe and condition the skin, along with Kalahari Melon Oil that’s rich in antioxidants and helps lock in moisture.
Best Night Creams for Mature Skin
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It has a clean formula, it’s cruelty- and fragrance-free, it’s especially good for dark circles and targeting unfirm areas on the skin
First Aid Beauty has one of my favorite day creams of all time (a tub of perfection, may I add) and its night cream is the ultra-repair I need for nighttime.
It’s infused with colloidal oatmeal to calm and relieve dry skin and is a godsend for dark circles, thanks to hyaluronic acid and niacinamide thrown into the mix.
Best Night Creams for Acne-Prone Skin
Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial AHA + BHA Mask
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles, pores
- Why we love it: It has a 25% AHA blend (glycolic, tartaric, lactic and citrus acids) to exfoliate dead skin cells and promote cell turnover
Incredible at blurring pores, Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial Mask is a rich blend of skin-loving ingredients that are targeted toward any skin type, though an answered prayer for acne-prone skin.
Targeting dark spots that may be left behind from acne scarring and mitigating pores, it’s an all-around great night treatment to boost your skin’s morale.
Best Night Creams for Balancing the Skin
Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Moisturizer
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, loss of firmness and elasticity, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It has a clean formula and is great for anti-aging, dryness and “building the skin back up”
As one of the brand’s most popular selects, Drunk Elephant’s Protini Polypeptide Moisturizer is a must-try if you want a feel-good, versatile product that doubles as a sufficient daytime cream. And, it has that press-down dispenser we all know and love.
Best Budget Night Creams
CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily, sensitive
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It’s dermatologist-tested, great for all skin types, affordable, contains hyaluronic acid and essential ceramides to deeply moisturize
CeraVe is a standout in the drugstore skincare game. At a less than $30 price point, the Skin Renewing Night Cream is one I’ve used for years (along with the brand’s eye cream) and it’s always a douse of good hydration whenever I use it.
Mario Badescu Seaweed Night Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dullness, dryness
- Why we love it: It leaves the skin fresh, supple and hydrated, it’s affordable
Sure, we love Mario Badescu’s face mists. But it’s night cream? Next level.
I’m convinced anything that contains seaweed is a miracle worker and, mixed with collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid, it’s a dermatologist’s thumbs-up for less than $25.
SEPHORA COLLECTION Firming Sleeping Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It has a clean formula, it’s vegan, has exceptional anti-aging, dark circles and firmness powers within the formula for the price
Drop everything RN and go to Sephora for this less-than-$20 night cream. It’s an all-around good option if you want a humectant-packed formula without breaking the bank.
Plus, it’s a great hydrator.
Best Splurge-Worthy Night Creams
Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream Rich
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal
- Skin concerns it targets: Dullness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It’s velvet-rich and ultra-smoothing, it has a clean and cruelty-free formula, it’s gluten-free, it’s a gem for dark circles
Much like its incredibly working vitamin C serum we love, Dr. Barbara Sturm’s Face Cream Rich is a bit heavier than its original moisturizer (and more than $200) but wow, is it worth it.
Since you don’t have to use a night cream every evening, it’s a surefire staple to consider. Plus, water is its primary ingredient and it contains vitamin E for anti-aging and smoothing benefits. I couldn’t help myself for slathering it on and telling my BFF on FaceTime to go splurge on it.
Best Clean Night Creams
Pai Skincare Bonne Nuit BioPeptide Renewal Overnight Cream
- Recommended skin types: Sensitive, dry, normal
- Skin concerns it targets: Dullness, loss of firmness and elasticity, dryness
- Why we love it: It’s like coating your skin in a nourishing blanket that doesn’t feel too heavy but seeps into your skin just right
While the Pai Skincare Bonne Nuit BioPeptide Renewal Overnight Cream may be a splurge, it’s so worth the hype. Listen, if you’re keen on clean ingredients and want to ensure your ultra-sensitive skin won’t irritate easily, this formula is the real deal.
Namely, it’ll leave your skin juicy with moisture without feeling greasy, oily or sticky. It’s semi-dewy glow is on par with other night creams that claim to do the same, but this one is a magician that helps pull moisture to the skin in the gentlest way possible.
Best Brightening Night Creams
Youth to the People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask with Vitamin C
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, fine lines and wrinkles, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It has a clean formula, is heavily infused with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C for brightening, it makes your skin less dull
Containing L-Ascorbic Acid — a.k.a. the “good” and “raw” form of vitamin C, Youth to the People’s Superberry Overnight Mask is a dream to apply. Plus, the addition of squalane, hyaluronic acid and an antioxidant-rich blend of rare superberries make it lusciously hydrating and hard to stop using.
And, if you want to kickstart a good regimen, the brand’s Superfood Cleanser ($39) is just as hydrating and jaw-dropping.
Best Night Creams for Dark Spots
Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Brightening Vitamin C Moisturizer
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dark spots, dullness, fine lines and wrinkles
- Why we love it: It has a thick, emollient formula and its vitamin C ingredient is a “superhero” to brighten skin instantaneously, leaving you with a natural glow
Hats off to Peter Thomas Roth for its Potent-C Brightening Vitamin C Moisturizer. Because it contains 10% THD Ascorbate Vitamin C (the best form, according to derms we’ve spoken to), it leaves an instant glowing effect — ideal before bedtime to leave your skin radiant come the next morning.
It has a thicker feel than most, so I prefer to use this when I’m unwinding in the evening, though it’s suitable for morning use as well. However, because its results are so powerful, I say “less is more” and stick to once daily use whenever I dollop some onto my skin (note: less is definitely more).
Best Hydrating Night Creams
ELEMIS Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily
- Skin concerns it targets: Dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity
- Why we love it: It quickly absorbs into the skin, it contains red and brown algae to hydrate and improve the overall appearance of the skin
I’ve used Elemis’ face masks in the past and its Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream is just as cooling and nourishing. With traces of calcium, magnesium and zinc, it was like feeding my skin a nighttime supplement.
And, though a splurge, the tub will last you for quite a while. There’s nothing better to invest in than your skin, too, right?
IT Cosmetics Confidence in Your Beauty Sleep Night Cream
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily, sensitive
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness
- Why we love it: It’s great for all skin types, it has a bouncy feel when applied
Enter the TLC of night creams that’ll give your skin a nice boost. IT Cosmetics Confidence in Your Beauty Sleep Night Cream has the most divine packaging that makes you want to go to bed, too.
But, back to the formula: It’s an elevated version of your daytime moisturizer but infused with glycerin, jojoba oil and hyaluronic acid for nourishment.
belif Aqua Bomb Sleeping Mask
- Recommended skin types: Combination, dry, normal, oily, sensitive
- Skin concerns it targets: Dryness, dullness, redness, uneven texture
- Why we love it: It’s great for all skin types, it’s incredibly refreshing, it’s well-priced for the hydration level attained
The belif Aqua Bomb line is much like wrapping my skin in a thirst-quenching blanket that makes my skin do a happy dance. Got that image in your head? Good, now it’s just time to buy — enough said.
It truly is effective on all skin types (just read all the rave reviews). And, the selling point: it’s irritation-proof on sensitive skin.
An FAQ on Night Creams
What exactly is a night cream?
“Night creams are facial moisturizers that are formulated to be more occlusive and hydrating,” Dr. Chan told The Post. “This includes occlusive ingredients like petrolatum, mineral oil, and silicones, which act as a seal to your skin barrier, encouraging skin barrier repair.”
Humectants (like glycerin and hyaluronic acid) help to draw in water and add additional hydration to the skin, she adds.
How does a night cream differ from a moisturizer?
“Because they typically contain occlusives and humectants, they often have a heavier texture and maybe too greasy for some to wear during the day,” Dr. Chan adds.
How often should a night cream be applied?
“You should apply a heavier, more occlusive cream whenever your skin feels dry or irritated,” Dr. Chan said. “The extreme of this is the trend of ‘slugging,’ which is applying a layer of pure petrolatum over your skin at night.”
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