Best Face Moisturizers for Each Skin Type
We tested 19 moisturizers from Aveeno, CeraVe, Cetaphil, Clinique, Dieux, La Roche-Posay, Rhode, Vanicream, and more to find the best options for dry, oily, normal, and combination skin
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We have a house rule in my family: “In this house, we moisturize.” My husband, my toddler, and I all have sensitive, ultra-dry skin, with various skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, keratosis pilaris) that come and go depending on environmental conditions—and, of course, how well we’re taking care of our skin.
- Moisturizers We Tested: Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Face Lotion Biossance Squalane + Probiotic Gel Moisturizer Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer Byoma Moisturizing Gel-Cream CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Cetaphil Deep Hydration Hydrating Water Gel Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel Dieux Instant Angel Lipid-Rich Firming Moisturizer Dr.Althea 345 Relief Cream Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Moisturizer Paula's Choice Barrier Repair Advanced Moisturizer Prequel AM / PM Modern Moisturizer Rhode Barrier Restore Cream Skinfix Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream Tower28 SOS Daily Barrier Recovery Cream Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer
- How We Tested Moisturizers
Our tests confirmed what we already knew—that face skin care is very, very individual. We had next to no consensus in our results—what Lisa liked, I didn’t, for example—so instead of choosing overall winners that didn’t align with our results, I’ve highlighted individual testers’ favorites to tell the true story and the most important feedback about each. Moisturizers that nobody especially loved are below in the “Other Face Moisturizers” section. Choose the evaluator whose skin type is most like yours to find the moisturizers that may work best for you.
Meet the Testers
Photos: Brian Vines, Lucy Huang, Lisa Fogarty, Angela Lashbrook (Consumer Reports) Photos: Brian Vines, Lucy Huang, Lisa Fogarty, Angela Lashbrook (Consumer Reports)
Brian Vines, oily T-zone, mature skin. Jump to Brian’s Top Picks.
He is a deputy editor of special projects at Consumer Reports.
About his skin: “The real estate from my sizable forehead down to my nose is usually an oil slick by the time noon rolls around. I was a zitty teenager, but have been pretty clear since my twenties,” he says. Now with more mature skin, he is mostly blemish-free, but “I still have a gnarly T-zone that I regularly dab with a tissue every time I wash my hands.”
His ideal moisturizer: For daytime, it “should be light but substantial, absorb fast, not be smelly, and send me out the door feeling hydrated.”
Daytime skin care products he used daily while testing moisturizers:
• The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum
• EltaMD UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46, Tinted
His nighttime skin care products:
• The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Light Cleansing Oil
• The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum
Lucy Huang, oily, acne-prone skin. See Lucy’s Top Picks.
She is an editorial researcher on the fact-checking team at CR.
About her skin: She has oily, acne-prone skin that experienced significant breakouts during this moisturizer testing.
Her ideal moisturizer: “Not greasy, hydrating, and absorbs into the skin quickly.”
Daytime skin care product she used daily while testing moisturizers: Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen
She did not use nighttime skin care.
Lisa Fogarty, normal/combination skin. Jump to Lisa’s Top Picks.
She is a senior writer and product tester at CR.
About her skin: “It can get drier along the cheeks and oilier in my T-zone, especially at certain times of the month. But, for the most part, it behaves itself, and as long as I don’t use a lot of products with fragrances and harsh ingredients, it rewards me by not turning red and raw,” she says
Her ideal moisturizer: “Really moisturizing. I like to wake up in the morning and feel like my skin is as soft as a baby’s,” she says. “I don’t like anything that’s sticky or has a gel texture."
Daytime skin care products she used daily while testing moisturizers:
• EltaMD UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting Sunscreen, Broad Spectrum SPF 50
• SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum
• Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Concealer
Her nighttime skin care products:
• Prescription tretinoin
• Prescription azelaic acid
Angela Lashbrook (that’s me), dry skin. See my Top Picks.
I am a senior writer and product tester at CR.
About my skin: It is dry and ordinarily clear but as I tested these products during pregnancy, my skin was wilding out and experiencing hormone-related eczema and acne.
My ideal moisturizer: Rich, creamy, hydrates all day, doesn’t pill under makeup or sunscreen, and doesn’t come in a jar that you have to dip your fingers into.
Daytime skin care products I used while testing moisturizers:
• CosRX Low pH Niacinamide Micellar Cleansing Water
• Vacation Crystal SPF 50 Invisible Face Gel
• Refy Skin Base skin tint
• Refy Concealer
• Dior Backstage Glassy Glow Stick
• Benefit Precisely, My Brow Wax
