The Best Night Creams To Invest In Now
By
3 weeks ago
Trust us, you won't want to sleep on these skincare heroes
It’s said that nighttime is the perfect opportunity to recharge your skin, giving it a chance to repair and rejuvenate itself. During the day, your skin is battling pollutants like dirt, oil, wind and sun damage, which can clog your pores – so those eight hours where you sleep become super important in assisting your skin in its restoration process. And at the top of your evening skincare routine? An ultra-hydrating night cream. Here’s our pick of the best.
Night Creams To Try Now
Elemis
Pro-Collagen Night Cream, £110
Best For: Hydration boost
Elemis’s Pro-Collagen range is a favourite amongst skincare fanatics all over the world – and for good reason. The brand’s clinically proven night cream delivers instant hydration (that lasts for up to 24 hours), while reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles so that skin looks and feels smoother than ever. Comprised of a blend of laminaria digitata and red algae for skin maintenance, padina pavonica for elasticity and firmness, and antioxidant-rich sesame and avocado oils, this is a hero cream that covers all of its bases.
You’re Looking Well
Night Cream, £115
Best For: An all-in-one skin boost
Keen to try retinol, but nervous about how it will fare with your sensitive skin? Try this powerhouse cream from pioneering skincare company You’re Looking Well. One of four hero products, the Night Cream is designed to turbocharge the skin’s nightly renewal processes. The ingredient list reads like a dermatologist’s wishlist: hyaluronic acid for hydration, beta-glucan for soothing, and a bio-retinoid formula to help minimise fine lines and improve skin tone. You can notice results after just a few uses, without the side effects that come with harsher retinoid products.
Caudalie
Vinoperfect Dark Spot Correcting Glycolic Night Cream 50ml, £39
Best For: Colour correction
Recommended for mature skin, this overnight treatment acts as a gentle peel – targeting dark spots and uneven texture to unveil brighter skin in the morning. Expect smoother, fresher and more evenly luminous skin as soon as you wake up.
Elizabeth Arden
Retinol + HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin-Renewing Water Cream, £75
Best For: Retinol cream
Delivering a powerful hydration boost, this night cream from Elizabeth Arden is infused with enough retinol and ceramides to leave skin feeling nourished, revitalised and firmer. Ideal for first-time retinol users, this is a lighter cream that promises to improve skin tone and texture.
Murad
Essential-C Overnight Barrier Repair Cream 50ml, £86
Best For: Skin barrier repair
Murad generously enriches its Essential-C cream with (you guessed it) vitamin C, making it an antioxidant-rich moisturiser that protects against environmental damage while fortifying skin barrier health. It’s also vegan and certified cruelty-free.
Neostrata
Skin Active Cellular Restoration Cream for Mature Skin 50g, £99
Best For: Mature skin
Neostrata’s night cream packed with high-performing ingredients like peptides, glycolic acid and fruit stem cell extracts, which come together to achieve plumper, smoother and firmer looking skin – while remaining gentle on application. This is also a lighter cream, meaning it won’t feel heavy on skin or leave any stickiness in its wake.
Charlotte Tilbury
Magic Night Cream, £100
Best For: Plumping
Charlotte Tilbury has already won the world over with its ultra-hydrating Magic Cream – so it only makes sense that the brand’s nighttime edition offers results that are just as (or even more) impressive. The cream, which blends plant stem cells, retinol, vitamin E and co enzyme Q10, feeds you skin with moisture throughout the night so that it appears plump, dewy and bouncy come morning.
Clarins
Multi-Active Night Cream, £52
Best For: All skin types
One buzzy ingredient making waves in skincare is niacinamide, an ingredient proven to help minimise pores and uneven skin tone while softening fine lines and wrinkles – and now Clarins has taken it on board with its latest night cream, which combines niacinamide with organic Sea Holly extract to reduce the signs of ageing, stress and fatigue on skin.
Cetaphil
PRO Moisturising Night Cream 50ml, £14.50
Best For: Calming redness
This affordable night cream is ideal for those who struggle with sensitivity and redness; dermatologically tested, it uses liquorice extract, allantoin and caffeine to soothe skin, support the skin barrier and deliver moisturisation throughout the night.
Night Cream 101: Everything You Need To Know
What Is Night Cream & What Does It Do?
‘A night cream should help hydrate, strengthen and restore your skin as you sleep,’ explains Aruj Javid, Group Pharmacist at LOOKFANTASTIC. ‘Night creams often have a rich texture and are formulated with antioxidants and peptides alongside moisturising ingredients to help replenish your skin barrier, which get to work overnight.’
How Does It Differ From Day Cream?
‘Where a day cream usually has a lighter texture and can help to protect your skin from environmental aggressors such as UV rays, pollution and weather changes, night creams are thicker and can help to provide extra moisture to dry skin as a more intense hydrator,’ says Aruj, who also tells us that one of the biggest questions she’s been asked is whether you can use night cream during the day.
‘Your night cream may not be suitable to use during the day especially if it has a thick moisturising texture (which may cause your face to look shinier), it is formulated with night-time ingredients such as retinol and exfoliating acids and, most importantly, it has no daily SPF protection,’ she explains. ‘Therefore, for daytime, apply a day cream with added SPF broad-spectrum UVA/UVB to help protect your skin indoors and outdoors against those pesky all-year UVA rays.’
When To Apply Night Cream
And when it comes to applying night cream, Aruj tells us that the best time to whack it on is ‘during your evening skincare routine after cleansing, applying a toner and then your serum, eye creams and any other treatments. Apply your night cream as the last step to help lock in hydration whilst adding a veil of moisture to your skin – don’t forget to apply it to your neck as well.’
We’ve also heard concerns around applying night cream over retinol, as it’s been said that some cream combinations can irritate the skin. Aruj assuages our worries, however, as she says that you can apply a night cream over retinol: ‘However, opt for a soothing and calming night cream. To help minimise any irritation you can also opt for a cream that is fragrance-free and formulated without exfoliating ingredients.’
Some also come with retinol already in the mix, putting any worries around skincare layering to rest. ‘There are night creams formulated with the powerhouse ingredient retinol to help hydrate your skin alongside to help minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles; this is a great option if you are a beginner to retinol.’
How To Find The Right Night Cream
Aruj advises that we keep our skin type in mind when picking up any new skincare product. ‘Choose a night cream that is suitable for your skin type – normal, dry, oily, sensitive or combination,’ she says. ‘You may prefer something that also helps with skin concerns such as dark spots, redness-prone skin or dryness. There are also many formulations available to help comfort and soothe your skin during the evening, which is great if you struggle with inflammation.’
Ingredients To Look Out For
If you’re stuck for choice, take a gander at the ingredients label to help narrow down your search. ‘Generally, moisture-rich ingredients, such as humectants like hyaluronic acid and glycerin, can help to boost and support skin hydration whilst you sleep,’ explains Aruj. ‘Emollient ingredients such as shea butter and lipid-replenishing ceramides can also help to reduce dryness for soft supple skin.
‘Antioxidants such as vitamin C best known for the role of a radiance booster working to brighten dull-looking skin,’ she continues. ‘Other skin-beneficial ingredients to help revive dull skin such as alpha-hydroxy acids like glycolic acid can help to gently exfoliate your skin to help smooth the appearance of a coarse skin texture.’
Are Night Creams Worth It?
According to Aruj, night creams are indeed worth having in your skincare routine. ‘They help to provide extra hydration to your skin, as well as fortify and plump your skin barrier with replenishing ingredients and antioxidants,’ she explains. ‘A night cream can also help your skin retain moisture alongside appreciably helping to recharge your skin after a long day.’ So, there you have it.
Featured image: Lauren Sepsi, Unsplash
