Make the most of your beauty sleep with these dermatologist-recommended overnight treatments.
As skin-care lovers, our favorite part of the day is removing every trace of makeup with an indulgent double-cleanse and capping things off with the best night cream we can get our hands on.
Just as people debate the necessity of eye cream, not everyone’s convinced that you should invest in an overnight cream in addition to the face moisturizer you already slather on in the morning. But to all the naysayers, we’ll just let the pros do the convincing. “We lose water in the skin at night, so nighttime is all about locking in moisture,” Mona Gohara, MD, associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, tells Allure.
South Florida-based board-certified dermatologist De Anne Harris Collier, MD, agrees, adding that research has shown that repair of DNA-damaged skin cells peaks, skin cells turn over more quickly, and there are increased rates of skin blood flow and skin permeability at night. “All the more reason to apply a great night cream to take advantage of the skin’s innate repair system,” she says.
Dr. Gohara says that people often layer retinoids before they go to sleep, so adding a night cream on top is the perfect way to really lock it all in while contributing additional beneficial ingredients. And because retinoids can cause sun sensitivity, nighttime is the best time to use them and other photosensitizing ingredients, Dr. Collier adds, like alpha hydroxy acids (AHA). And remember come morning, “you must apply a broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher daily, especially when using retinol as part of your skin regimen,” Dr. Collier says.
Best Overall Night Cream: Caudalie Premier Cru The Rich Cream
Your search for the most luxurious night cream can end right now. Caudalie’s Premier Cru The Rich Cream is stuffed with bio-ceramides, shea butter, and micro hyaluronic acid for visibly calmer, plumper skin. Beloved by multiple Allure editors, the successor to the 2021 Best of Beauty-winning Premier Cru The Cream is every bit as good — and likely even better for those with super dry skin.
When comparing the two moisturizers, cosmetic chemist Ginger King noted that the oils (including grapeseed oil) are listed much higher in The Rich Cream, which means they’re more potent. Despite how rich this formula might sound, you won’t be left feeling like you’ve got a heavy, greasy film on your face — but rather an impossibly dewy complexion that looks hydrated and well-rested.
P.S. Dr. Collier also recommends Caudalie’s Vinoperfect Brightening Glycolic Night Cream, which contains alpha hydroxy acids to “retexturize and moisturize the skin,” she says. Along with papaya enzymes, glycolic acid exfoliates and promotes surface cell turnover, while squalane lends a dose of much-needed hydration.
Dermatologist-Approved Investment: SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2
According to Dr. Gohara, SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 is an investment-worthy option if you’re looking for a good night cream. “It infuses skin-identical fatty acids into the barrier in the exact proportion that naturally exists in our barrier,” she says, referring to the golden 2:4:2 ratio, which indicates the percent of pure ceramides 1 and 3, natural cholesterol, and fatty acids present in the formula.
All this goodness addresses a slew of skin concerns, such as uneven skin tone, rough texture, overall radiance, and pore appearance. Dr. Gohara uses this one personally, applying it nightly on top of her retinoid to wake up with glowy results every day.
Best Lightweight Gel-Cream: Laneige Water Sleeping Mask
We know you love Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask but the Water Sleeping Mask is like a tall glass of H2O for your entire face. This jelly-textured overnight treatment contains ionized mineral water and squalane to deeply hydrate all night. We can attest that you only need a dime-size amount of this cooling formula that layers really well post-toner, essence, serum, and what have you. It dries down matte, so no worries about getting your pillows gooey when you go to bed.
“I can say that I woke up with super plump-looking, hydrated skin — as if I had been dramatically splashing water in my face as I slept (the beauty editor’s version of sleep-walking?),” our tester notes.
Best Fragrance-Free Night Cream: Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Advanced Repair Barrier Cream
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream is as classic as it gets. But, for those who need a richer formula to relieve intense dryness and visible redness, we highly suggest picking up the Ultra Facial Advanced Repair Barrier Cream — especially during harsher-weather months. This buttery formula feels as luxurious as creams twice its price but absorbs surprisingly fast. We also appreciate that it’s packaged in a tube (rather than a tub) for no-mess application.
But what do we have to thank for the morning-after softness? Glycerin, urea, and squalane provide intense hydration, while colloidal oatmeal and beta glucan soothe sensitivity.
Best Night Cream for Sensitive Skin: SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid Peptide Cream
David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Idriss Dermatology based in New York City, describes SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid Peptide Cream as “super creamy and hydrating, and exactly what you need on a cold, dry winter night to restore and repair your skin barrier.” He also adds that it’s great for people with sensitive skin because it’s — like all of SkinFix’s roster — fragrance-free.
Key ingredients worth calling out are moisturizing shea butter, skin-mimicking lipids to restore ceramide and fatty acid levels, and firming peptides — all of which leave your skin feeling as soft as a newborn baby’s bottom.
Best Night Cream for Mature Skin: Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer
The Best of Beauty award-winning Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer and its serum counterpart isn’t just some of the best nighttime skin-care picks you can pick up at a drugstore — they’re some of the best night products period, no matter the price point.
“Not all retinol products are created equal,” Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, says. “The technology used in this product stabilizes the retinol, minimizes irritation to the skin, and enhances efficacy.” More specifically, you can thank the brand’s exfoliating Retinol SA complex that works overtime to promote cell turnover and smoother, wrinkle-free skin. (Remember to wear sunscreen the morning after.)
Best Retinol Cream for Beginners: Eau Thermale Avène RetrinAL 0.1 Intensive Cream
Eau Thermale Avène RetrinAL 0.1 Intensive Cream is one of the best retinol creams for beginners, especially if you have very sensitive and dry skin, and was previously recommended by Mamina Turegano, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Instead of retinol, this nourishing repair cream is formulated with retinaldehyde to promote cell turnover, elasticity, and collagen production. Plus, the brand’s famous Thermal Spring Water (which is listed as the very first ingredient, so you know it’s a comparatively high concentration) acts as a soothing counterpart to any potential vitamin A-related irritation.
Best for Soothing Irritation: Dr.Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask
Sensitive skin types, allow us to introduce you to one of the most hydrating night creams for dry irritated skin: Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask, a 2021 and 2022 Allure Best of Beauty winner. This gel leave-on mask holds a special place in many of our editors’ hearts for its cica-, niacinamide-, and glycerin-spiked formula that soothes redness and plumps skin. Our tester said that her skin “instantly felt soothed,” as if there was “a veil of calm coating her skin.”
Best Brightening Night Cream: Goodal Green Tangerine Vita-C Dark Spot Cream
We love pairing Goodal’s uber-popular Vita-C Dark Spot Serum with its sibling, Green Tangerine Vita-C Dark Spot Cream — day or night — for maximum brightening effects. Like the serum, this cream’s key active ingredient, vitamin C, is derived from green tangerines grown on Jeju Island, South Korea. Vitamin E then further boosts and stabilizes the vitamin C, representing one of our favorite antioxidant-rich vitamin combinations that minimizes hyperpigmentation and dark spots over time.
Its lightweight texture is ideal for oily and combination skin, and additional plant extracts such as green tea and licorice root aid in soothing and rejuvenating skin.
Best Serum-Moisturizer Hybrid: Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair
Jenny Liu, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, vouches for Tatcha’s Indigo Overnight Repair, which she describes as a “serum-in-moisturizer treatment that visibly calms irritation, strengthens the skin’s barrier, and balances the microbiome for a healthy, hydrated glow.”
Its healing powers are derived from dryness-soothing Japanese indigo extract, moisture-locking hyaluronic acid and ceramides, and mondo grass root, a plant-based humectant. Because of these ingredients, commerce writer Jennifer Hussein, who has overall sensitive skin, says that Indigo Overnight Repair is kind and calming to her pores.
Best Antioxidant Formula: Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Face Cream
Quench your skin overnight with Fresh’s Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Face Cream and wake up to rested-looking skin by morning. Sound too good to be true? Jessica Wu, MD, Los Angeles-based board-certified dermatologist and author of Feed Your Face, gives this product two thumbs up, thanks to its inclusion of what the brand calls Super Lotus. According to Dr. Wu, it’s a “strong antioxidant that helps fight free radical damage at night when skin repairs DNA damage.”
Other ingredients that bring on the moisture include glycerin, shea butter, peach leaf extract, and vitamin E — resulting in one well-rounded night cream that feels as luxurious as it looks.
Best Night Cream for the Entire Body: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
CeraVe’s award-winning Moisturizing Cream is as classic and affordable as it gets. Priced at $18 for a hefty 19-ounce jar, this treatment is chockful of ceramides to maintain hydration and softness, according to Dr. Kim. Safe for eczema-prone skin, as well as all-over body application (and not just the face/neck), Dr. Kim tells us that this drugstore option is great for calming down irritated or inflamed skin.
CeraVe’s Skin Renewing Night Cream is also backed by derms for dry and mature skin. This also-affordable pick is “rich and nourishing with peptides that can help to plump skin [and] ceramides [that] improve the skin barrier,” Dr. Liu attests.
Best Peptide Cream for Firmer Skin: Peach & Lily Peptide Pro Firming Moisturizer
Peptides work their magic by visibly firming skin and Peach & Lily doesn’t take that lightly. That’s why its Peptide Pro Firming Moisturizer is packed with 12 types of peptides to stimulate the production of protein for smoother, plumper skin. “This gel-cream texture is surprisingly rich and nourishing without the grease,” Dr. Liu attests.
You’ll also find hyaluronic acid (comprised of short, medium, and long-chain molecules), vegan collagen, and tremella mushroom to further draw moisture into the skin and boost radiance overnight.
P.S. For an even richer treatment, Dr. Wu recommends Peach & Lily’s Overnight Star Night Cream. A star-studded concoction of jojoba, squalane, and macadamia plays an essential role in boosting hydration levels, as Dr. Wu notes that “skin loses more water at night.”
Best Night Cream for Acne-Prone Skin: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream
Sensitive-skinned Allure editors are big fans of First Aid Beauty, as the brand’s products are extra gentle, and more importantly, fragrance-free. The Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream is no exception and melts into the skin like butter without a trace of irritation.
It’s notably made with colloidal oatmeal to calm redness, sodium hyaluronate to attract moisture, and niacinamide to even out the skin’s tone (looking at you, dark spots) and texture. And, because this is a water-based formula that’s paraben-free and noncomedogenic, this lotion is a great option for those with dry skin and acne-prone skin alike.
