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Whether you’re just starting to notice the first signs of aging or wrinkles, loss of tone, and textural changes have been the new normal for a while, perhaps you’ve been asking yourself, “What’s the best night cream for aging skin?” We’re glad you asked.
Even if you’re on the hunt for the best night cream for dark spots or the best night cream for 40s skin, there’s an anti-aging night cream for everyone. With time (and regular use), fine lines become softened, aging skin spots are lightened, and skin texture and tone improve.
Of course, searching for the best overnight moisturizer can be a bit overwhelming — especially if you have specific needs such as the best anti-aging night cream for 60s-aged skincare enthusiasts and beyond. Even finding the best night cream for 20s skin types can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. Not to worry. That’s where we come in.
Here at Deep Science, we’ve reviewed hundreds of brands under a scientific lens to ensure you’re crafting a skincare routine that’s both safe and effective.
Ahead are 15 of the best night moisturizers for aging skin so you can sleep a little bit easier knowing you’ll wake up to a more refreshed, youthful-looking complexion.
Best Night Creams for Aging Skin: The List
BEST OVERALL
BEST: Carrot & Stick The Moisturizer
BEST NIGHT SERUM: Carrot and Stick The Repair Serum. Use a night serum first.
FULL LIST
Formulyst Anti-Aging Night Cream
Algenist GENIUS Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream
SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream
Grown Alchemist Detox Night Cream
SkinBetter Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream
Korres Wild Rose + Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial
Pacifica Dreamy Youth Day and Night Face Cream
Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Glow
Tula Skincare Beauty Sleep
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask
Lumene Nordic Hydra [LÄHDE] Hydration Recharge Overnight Cream
The Best Night Creams for Aging Skin
BEST OVERALL
BEST: Carrot & Stick The Moisturizer
Save money (and counter space) with The Moisturizer from Carrot & Stick. This cream can be used day and night and does a little bit of everything. It moisturizes and nourishes the skin while also firming and brightening it.
The plant-based formula includes plant proteins, vitamins, peptides, and amino-collagen. A caffeine boost helps perk up the skin, while five distinct coconut elements help with cell renewal and overall conditioning.
Best Bet
Use the best night serum prior to applying a cream: Carrot and Stick The Repair Serum
The Repair Serum by Carrot & Stick helps lift, tighten and firm the look of skin thanks to seven plant-based neuropeptides, while synthesized growth factors help keep skin looking radiant. Perfect for overnight use.
FULL LIST
Formulyst Anti-Aging Night Cream
A long-term anti-aging formulation explicitly developed for mature and devitalized skin, this night cream hydrates, soothes, and visibly transforms your skin while you sleep. Formulated with a nutrient-rich blend of complexes that are high in plant oils, essential fatty acids, and omega oils, this ultra-nourishing night cream with reparative properties gently exfoliates and regenerates the upper layer of your skin.
Algenist GENIUS Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream
As a brand committed to anti-aging, it makes sense that one of the best-selling Algenist products is an anti-aging cream. The Algenist GENIUS anti-aging cream is designed to dramatically reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines while working to boost the skin’s elasticity and vibrancy.
Based on the Algenist brand anti-aging technology, the Algenist GENIUS anti-aging cream utilizes alguronic acid and microalgae oil to help tighten, tone, and revitalize the skin for a brighter complexion and a more youthful appearance. For the best results, apply consistently twice a day.
SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream
While it’s a splurge (a little does go a long way), this luxe night cream for aging skin is formulated with SK-II’s highest concentration of their proprietary PITERA complex for maximum hydration. The skin becomes more firm and radiant immediately and over time.
Grown Alchemist Detox Night Cream
This anti-aging facial cream detoxes and regenerates the skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, resulting in radiant and youthful-looking skin. Some of the key ingredients you’ll find in this formula include peptides, echinacea, and hyaluronic acid.
SkinBetter Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream
As the name suggests, this intense, results-driven night cream harnesses the power of an alpha hydroxy acid and a retinoid to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while improving elasticity and tone. Thanks to SkinBetter’s proprietary retinol technology (and a blend of skin-soothing ingredients), you’ll reap all the benefits minus any irritation. The addition of glycolic acid visibly improves the skin’s texture while stoking the other components to increase efficiency.
Korres Wild Rose + Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial
The Korres Wild Rose Sleeping Facial is perhaps the brand’s most popular product. It is an overnight facial in a jar that addresses uneven skin tone while improving the look of skin texture for a brighter, more luminous complexion in as little as one night. It just may be the best overnight moisturizer.
Pacifica Dreamy Youth Day and Night Face Cream
This budget-friendly yet potent anti-aging facial moisturizer is formulated with powerful peptides, Pacifica’s proprietary Fleuracell Complex, antioxidants, and advanced extracts that join forces to moisturize and profoundly improve skin’s youthful glow.
Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Glow
Love to multi-task? Have a hard time committing to a nighttime beauty routine? This cream pulls double duty as a moisturizer and a gentle exfoliator. It leaves skin hydrated while alpha hydroxy and lactic acids work to gently dissolve dead skin cells while you’re sleeping.
Tula Skincare Beauty Sleep
Before we get into why this night cream truly lives up to its name, let’s talk a little bit about Tula’s mathematics: probiotics + superfoods = glow. All of the brand’s products are formulated with these ingredients to ensure that your skin’s microbiome remains balanced. Beauty Sleep is Tula’s most potent cream.
This anti-aging night cream is also formulated with alpha hydroxy acids and vitamin C to soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improve texture and tone, and brighten the skin’s appearance. While nothing truly replaces a solid 7-8 hours of sleep, this night cream comes pretty darn close.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask
This bouncy, breathable sleeping mask smoothes and perfects overnight. All skin types can use it to address acne, dullness, dark spots, and signs of aging. Star ingredients include hyaluronic acid, watermelon extract, and alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), which work to reveal a fresh complexion. It could be considered as the best night cream for 40s skin.
LumeneNordic Hydra [LÄHDE] Hydration Recharge Overnight Cream
Finns have been hooked on this Nordic brand since it launched back in 1970, but beauty fanatics in the States had to wait until 2006 to see what all the buzz was all about. The brand’s formulas embrace Finnish women’s beauty rituals — who manage to have flawless skin despite frigid temps and whipping winds come wintertime.
With that said, you’re going to want to get your hands on this night cream that supports continuous hydration due to Lumene’s Hydra-Technology. Other vital ingredients include pure Arctic spring water to balance the skin’s pH, organic Nordic birch sap to nourish and hydrate, and shea butter to heal and tone.
This serum-like formula provides deep hydration while increasing your skin’s firmness and elasticity. It’s perfect for those who live in warmer, humid climates or as a part of a summer skincare routine. It absorbs on contact, so skin immediately feels smooth, tighter, and renewed. You can use the Anti-Aging Hydrator after applying the Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion or on its own.
Best Night Cream for Aging Skin: The Bottom Line
What’s the Best Night Cream for Aging Skin? Overall, our suggestion is Carrot & Stick The Moisturizer.
We recommend using the best night serum first Carrot and Stick Repair Serum. Serums have a higher concentration of actives and penetrate deeper.
When treating aging skin, don’t be fooled by any common myths. You can’t wholly “reverse” the signs of age, stress is not the leading cause of wrinkles, and there’s no such thing as a miracle cream. However, when you’re sleeping, the skin is in a reparative state, working hard to regenerate and rebuild the damage precipitated by daily activities and habits. It’s the optimal time to restore your complexion with the best night cream for aging skin.
When you’re sleeping, the skin is in a reparative state, working hard to regenerate and rebuild the damage precipitated by daily activities and habits. It’s the optimal time to restore your complexion with an anti-aging night cream. Fine lines and wrinkles become softened with regular use, aging skin spots are lightened, and skin texture and tone are improved. Look for a formula that contains vital ingredients like retinol, hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, and alpha and beta hydroxy acids.
Remember, no anti-aging night cream in the world can replace the effects that come with a good night’s sleep!
What’s the best night cream, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below!
Best Bet
FAQs
Essentially, a night cream provides a deeper level of moisture to your skin because it’s thicker — a texture you wouldn’t want to wear during the day, especially if you wear makeup or tend to perspire a lot during the day.
The active ingredients in night creams have been specifically chosen to work in conjunction with your skin’s nightly reparative process, which is important because your skin absorbs around 15% more of what you put on it at night than during the day.
Yes. As mentioned, the skin loses water while you sleep. Night creams are thicker and designed to hydrate and support aging skin. These P.M. creams are formulated with ingredients that hydrate and repair over several hours — like hyaluronic acid and encapsulated retinol, for example. These ingredients work better at night when sunscreen doesn’t interfere.
The best anti-aging night cream will result in skin that appears hydrated, plump, and nourished upon waking up. Who knows? You may find yourself wearing less makeup as your complexion approves.
No — that’s why we have the best drugstore night creams like Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 Night Moisturizer on this list! Luxury brands can afford fancy packaging, splashy advertising, and marketing via an influencer or celebrity spokesperson.
However, many of the products these brands carry rely on fragrance and ingredients that only temporarily make the skin look and feel better. Don’t equate the best overnight moisturizer with a high price tag. Read the ingredient label instead.
Both serums and night creams provide anti-aging and reparative benefits. However, even though moisturizers are heavier in texture, serums are more concentrated, and their molecular structure is more diminutive. Serums can penetrate the skin at a deeper level and can be more effective in treating skincare concerns — but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a moisturizer. The two go hand-in-hand.
For example, you can pair your night cream with Drunk Elephant’s TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum, SK-II GenOptics Aura Essence Serum, or Sunday Riley’s A+ High Dose Retinol Serum. Make sure your night moisturizer doesn’t contain the same active ingredients as your serum to prevent irritation.
Sources:
”How Chronic Stress is Harming Your DNA,” American Psychological Association, October 2014.
”Wrinkles: Symptoms and Causes,” Mayo Clinic.
Study Reveals the Face of Sleep Deprivation,” JAmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine.
“Circadian Rhythm and the Skin: A Review of the Literature,” U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, September 2019.
