Treating your skin with a night cream as you sleep is the ultimate form of multitasking: you’re taking advantage of your body’s natural renewal process while doing, well, nothing. “At night, accelerated skin rejuvenation and repair occurs,” explains Dr. Blair Murphy-Rose, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. “It is believed that the rate of skin renewal doubles, collagen production speeds up, and cell damage reverses.”
A good night’s sleep, in and of itself, does more than a topical product ever can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your skin doesn’t need a little help from a hydrating cream along the way. “Water loss through the skin is thought to be high overnight, so locking in moisture while sleeping is important,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose. “At night, a moisturizer that is well-balanced for your skin and that will keep your skin hydrated through this period of increased transepidermal water loss is ideal.”
That’s why it’s crucial to find the best night cream with the right ingredients for your specific needs. Here, we break down which night cream is the best for aging skin, dry skin, sensitive skin, blemish-prone skin, and beyond.
Best drugstore night cream
Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 + Peptide Night Moisturizer ($29.99)
“Retinol stimulates production of collagen, supports healthy skin-cell turnover, increases elasticity, treats fine lines, improves texture and tone, and minimizes the appearance of pores,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose. This fast-absorbing cream pairs the nighttime go-to ingredient with skin-strengthening vitamins and peptides, and its fragrance-free status means the formula plays nicely with even sensitive skin.
Pacifica Wake Up Beautiful Overnight Retinoid Cream ($28.49)
Max out the benefits of your beauty sleep with a vegan, cruelty-free moisturizer that deeply hydrates and tackles signs of aging, thanks to free radical–fighting melatonin and an advanced form of retinol found to be less irritating than the average.
Best night cream for aging skin
Skinbetter Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream ($130)
“This is a dermatologist’s anti-aging favorite,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose. “It blends a proprietary mix of a retinoid and alpha hydroxy acids with other skin renewing ingredients, to prevent and fight signs of aging while sleeping. Start with one pump every other night for one to two weeks and increase to nightly use as tolerated.”
Versed Recovery Mode Advanced Night Cream ($29.49)
Potent antioxidants (like fermented purple tea, green coffee, and microalgae); proven hydrating ingredients (including shea butter, squalane, and hyaluronic acid); and a price tag that won’t make you form any new worry lines: this night cream has it all.
BYNACHT Nocturnal Signature Anti Age Cream ($205)
Every product from this brand—whose name aptly means “at night” in German (bei Nacht)—is designed specifically to harness the power of the skin’s nighttime restorative processes, so it follows that this impossibly luxe, real gold-infused cream does not mess around.
Best night cream for dry skin
Ursa Major Golden Hour Recovery Cream ($52)
“For the driest skin, look for a combination of humectants and rich moisturizers like emollients to bind and then lock in moisture to the skin,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose. The pale orange—or, rather, golden—tint of this surprisingly lightweight moisturizer comes courtesy of sea buckthorn, an antioxidant-rich herb that works to strengthen and preserve the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 ($136)
“Containing ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids, this rich face cream is a perfect fix for dry or irritated skin,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose. “Apply overnight, to wake up with more hydrated and healthier-appearing skin. It can be used like an overnight mask for repair and for regular nightly use for dry skin.”
Kate Somerville HydraKate Recharging Water Cream ($76)
This lightweight hydrator’s star ingredient—blue-light-activated algae extract— combats visible signs of skin dehydration (dullness and more pronounced fine lines) and helps protect against photo and digital aging. Just a pump or two before bed is all you need to wake up with softer, plumper-looking skin.
Naturium Intense Overnight Sleeping Cream ($25)
Even the thirstiest face will find solace in this cushiony cream, which combines powerful plant-based actives like squalane and kakadu plum with readily absorbed, biocompatible lipids to nourish the skin where it needs it most.
Best night cream for acne-prone skin
Plantkos Phyto A Face Lotion ($67)
Formulated with Ayurvedic herbs, adaptogens, and clinical actives, to fight hyperpigmentation, soothe irritation, and reduce the appearance of pores, this moisturizer nails the delicate balancing act of providing deep hydration without heaviness.
Payot Pâte Grise Nuit Purifying Beauty Cream ($34)
This featherweight face cream made specifically for oily and acne-prone skin feels deceptively light, but glycerin, Chilean mint, and cannabis seed extract ensure skin stays cocooned in hydration overnight, while polyhydroxy acid gluconolactone gently exfoliates to buff away breakouts and uneven texture. “Exfoliators are best used at night and will aid skin renewal while sleeping,” says Dr. Murphy-Rose.
Best night cream for sensitive skin
Dieux Skin Instant Angel ($45)
This bland-in-the-best-way formula contains hydration heavy hitters like ceramides, fatty acids, glycerin, and squalane to coddle even the most reactive skin and moisturize as effectively as the richest, most indulgent cream—while leaving nothing but a little glow behind.
BeautyStat Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Boost Cream ($50)
Probiotics and reishi mushroom extract are great smoothie add-ons, but they’re even better when used in tandem with hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and plumping pomegranate sterols to hydrate, heal, and defend skin against whatever life throws at it.
Kate Somerville Kateceuticals Total Repair Cream ($140)
A night cream that’s gentle on sensitive skin while still packing in heavy-hitting wrinkle-smoothing benefits is hard to come by, but this one—which supports the skin’s natural barrier defenses while combating signs of aging with a peptide-and-ceramide complex—more than fits the bill.
Best night cream under $20
The Inkey List Ceramide Night Treatment ($14.99)
Don’t be fooled by the lightweight, liquid texture of this unique treatment: hyaluronic acid, jojoba oil, glycerin, ceramides, and squalane, among other proven hydrators, work hard to plump, protect, and bind moisture into the skin while you sleep.
Buttah CocoShea Revitalizing Cream ($19)
Formulated especially for melanin-rich skin (but a solid choice for just about anyone), this deeply hydrating pick claims rich, creamy cocoa and shea butters as its moisture-sealing star ingredients plus vitamin E and hyaluronic acid, to plump and replenish dry skin.
Best luxury night cream
Furtuna Skin Rinascita Delle Olive Replenishing Balm ($185)
Featuring a super-concentrated blend of wild-foraged ingredients, including olive fruit oil, kokum seed butter, wild organic hawthorn, dandelion, and more, a little bit of this rich balm goes a loooong way.
