In the skin-care competition, last year’s options for the best face moisturizer for your skin type might not make 2022’s list. Why? Formulas change (even the most coveted) as brands constantly update recipes and star actives to make them cleaner, better, faster, and stronger. “New products are continually released onto the skin-care market, some of which contain more potent combinations of ingredients, and sometimes even entirely novel actives,” says Jessica Weiser, MD, assistant clinical professor of Dermatology at Columbia University. She adds that rotating tried-and-true favorites intermittently helps “to ensure that your skin continues to respond to its source of hydration.” Changing seasons often cue a swap. In a heatwave, lightweight gel (basically the halter top of summer hydration) might tap in for an ultra-rich cream.
Of course, consumer demand is a powerful thing. Now that Big Beauty is finally catching on to customers asking for nontoxic ingredients and do-it-all recipes, there’s a new wave of natural multitaskers. “With endless innovative moisturizers, the hydration market is more abundant than ever, and there are products suitable to all skin types and needs,” Dr. Weiser says. To help narrow the search and edit the noise, we tapped experts for their recommendations on 34 of the best face moisturizers.
Best Drugstore Moisturizer
In 2022, the French pharmacy holds the drugstore secrets everyone wants to know. Embryolisse’s best-selling (one is purchased every ten seconds) Lait Crème Concentré is the do-it-all natural moisturizer that can be found everywhere from backstage at Paris shows to boyfriends’ Dopp kits, much like Weleda’s oft-sold-out Skin Food. And even if Amazon is the drugstore of Americans today, these can be found at the closest corner counter for under $30. Dr. Weiser likes La Roche Posay’s Toleriane (which now comes in a new gel formula) for a basic moisturizer as it is “soothing and calming to even the most sensitive.” Makeup artist Daniel Martin (who works with classical pianist Chloe Flower one day and TikTok’s Charli D’Amelio the next) agrees that it’s “great for sensitive skin,” and prebiotics are a barrier bonus. To restore protective barrier function, “look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and ceramides in a non-comedogenic formula,” says facial plastic surgeon Yael Halaas, MD. She likes CeraVe for its broad-spectrum SPF that “won’t clog pores or cause acne flare-ups.”
Embryolisse Lait Crème Concentré Daily Face and Body Cream
Weleda Skin Food
CeraVe Ultra-Light Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer
Best Lightweight Moisturizer
Lightweight moisturizers are a first choice for many who fear breakouts. Free of fungal blemish triggers, Skinfix’s newest launch also sports Sephora’s Clean + Planet Positive seal of approval, along with clinical results showing that it improves skin barrier function in just one hour, and it can lock in moisture for up to three days. Similarly lightweight and clean, Glow Recipe’s refillable Watermelon Plum Plump Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer caters to multiple skin types, incorporates hyaluronic acid (which holds a thousand times its weight in water), and sits in adorable packaging. Martin says Tacha’s Water Cream is “hands down my go-to for the summer or anywhere you’re dealing with humidity and heat.” As global director of artistry and education for the brand, he’s tested it everywhere. He says to apply before makeup—even long-wear.
Glow Recipe Plum Plump Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer
Skinfix Barrier+ Skin Barrier Niacinamide Restoring Gel Cream
Natura Chronos Aqua Auto-Replenish Gel Hydrator
Tatcha Water Cream Oil-Free Pore Minimizing Moisturizer
Best SPF Color-Correcting Moisturizer
The viral green jar of Dr. Jart+ tiger grass SPF cream seen on TikTok has been building a reputation for mysteriously natural coverage for years, and its color-matching abilities on light to medium skin tones. For something that caters to a larger range of tones, BareMinerals Complexion Rescue has swept its category for a reason: Its clean mineral SPF recipe protects from blue light with just the right buildable texture for beginners. When Vogue staffers would ask for something to polish up before an event, I’d hand them a tube in their skin tone—the next time, they’d bring a friend. A certain accessories editor once raved, “It looks like you’ve had your makeup professionally done.”
BareMinerals Tinted Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid and Mineral SPF 30
Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30
Best Age Support Moisturizer
This is the kind of category typically labeled as antiaging, though in 2022 that terminology is dated. What was once the industry standard now sounds like “anti the natural course of life itself,” and Allure announced it would stop using it in 2017. Brands are updating packaging with more realistic terms along the lines of “age support” and “pro-aging.” Kiehl’s new cloud cream (sealed with Sephora’s clean stamp) has clinical results that show over 90% of those tested saw more refined, renewed, and rejuvenated skin in one month. Mutha notes that their newest nontoxic cream is pregnancy-safe (a rare find in this category), and Augustinus Bader’s “clean science” now comes in a mini version for those that want to test drive the industry favorite. Martin keeps iS Clinical Reparative Moisture Emulsion in his kit (also marked as Amazon’s Choice for the category), which “brightens up tone while protecting skin and diminishing wrinkles over time.”
Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Omega-Rich Cloud Cream
Augustinus Bader Mini The Rich Cream with TFC8® Face Moisturizer
MUTHA Cream
iS Clinical Reparative Moisture Emulsion
Best Moisturizer for Dry Skin
Dry skin can benefit from modern plant-based formulas and scientific breakthroughs. Make Beauty uses the water-trapping powers of desert plants, like aloe vera, to create a light-yet-powerful hydrator. Dior’s new paraben-free Hydra Life Intense Sorbet Crème Moisturizer hydrates with 93% natural ingredients, like mango butter and hyaluronic acid. Martin likes Good Light’s Moon Glow featuring snow mushroom, another ingredient that holds a thousand times its weight in water. It layers well. “I’m truly obsessed with their milky lotion,” he says of his new hot-weather basic. “It’s an awesome pre-moisturizing lotion for dry skin that needs more hydration without added weight.”
Make Beauty Succulent Skin Gel Cream
Dior Hydra Life Intense Sorbet Crème Moisturizer
Topicals Like Butter Mask for Dry, Sensitive & Eczema-Prone Skin
Good Light Moon Glow Milky Toning Lotion
Best Moisturizer for Extremely Dry Skin
Extremely dry skin calls for a buttery balm-like Nopalera’s botanical bar, part of the waterless skin care eco-revolution. Inside of a reusable (and way cute) recyclable aluminum tin, it looks solid at room temperature, but it melts into skin. Otherwise, consider a thicker cream. Glowbar founder Rachel Liverman (a third-gen esthetician) likes Avène Cold Cream for a “rich and creamy moisturizer that provides intense hydration, leaving even the driest skin feeling smooth and supple,” and its modern update to the old-school favorite comes in the form of sensitive skin-friendly Hydrance Rich Hydrating Cream, which can reveal skin that’s up to four times more hydrated after a month of use.
Avène Thermale Hydrance Rich Hydrating Cream
Nopalera Moisturizing Botanical Bar
Best Moisturizer for Acne-Prone Skin
For inflamed and acne-prone skin, balance is key, and so is hydration. “Acne is often a reason patients avoid using proper moisturizers, but in fact moisturizing acne-prone skin can help suppress oil production and speed healing of the skin,” Dr. Weiser says. She likes this “dewy” Biossance gel that “leaves skin radiant without causing occlusion that can lead to skin congestion and blemishes.” It features squalane, “a plant-derived, excellent emollient to keep skin hydrated.” Soothing niacinamide blends with moisture-trapping humectants in Bubble Level Up balancing moisturizer. Plus, its touch-pump dispenses single servings to keep bacteria out of the mix.
Bubble Level Up Balancing Moisturizer
Biossance Squalane + Probiotic Gel Moisturizer
Best Moisturizer for Dull Skin
Dr. Weiser shares that a mild exfoliant can help encourage skin turnover to “eliminate dead skin cells that contribute to dullness,” which translates into a “glow.” She recommends Sisley Paris Phyto-Blanc La Lotion for its brightening effect and ability to “continually even tone to yield bright, radiant skin while eliminating dryness.” RéVive’s new Moisturizing Renewal Lotion can be applied as a final step at night (while skin does some of its best work) as it gently exfoliates skin while you sleep.
Sisley Phyto-Blanc Brightening Hydrating Lotion
RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Lotion
Best Anytime-Anywhere Moisturizer
For anytime, anywhere moisture, creams that let skin breathe and skip the kind of SPF that needs to be washed off at the end of the day are at the front of the line. Industry-beloved brand Lord Jones soothes with CBD. Grown Alchemist smartly wraps their rosehip oil Hydra-Repair cream in a recyclable tube.
Lord Jones Acid Mantle Repair Moisturizer With 250mg CBD and Ceramides
Grown Alchemist Hydra-Repair Day Cream with Rosehip Oil
Best Eye Cream
Scarlett Johansson’s new clean line The Outset bottles the ingredients of the moment—vitamin C and hyaluronic acid—to create a multitasking eye cream that can be used to plump expression lines across the face as well. For Tata Harper’s refillable eye cream, Spanish lavender relaxes and smooths fine lines, and Dabberlocks seaweed firms delicate skin.
Tata Harper Restorative Plumping + Brightening Eye Cream
The Outset Smoothing Vitamin C + Expression Lines Cream
Best Hand Cream
Hands do as much work as (or more than) our expressions. “Our hands take a punishing even more than our faces,” Dr. Halaas says. “As a surgeon, I wash mine innumerable times and use drying, irritating antimicrobial hand sanitizer.” Many can relate. She suggests finding a moisturizer you like and committing to “frequent application—nighttime gloves can be a help.” Clarins makes a kit for both hands and feet that could be worth the investment. Mario Badescu’s costs less than $10 for a non-slip finish.
Mario Badescu Hand Cream with Vitamin E
Henne Luxury Hand Cream
Best Body Moisturizer
“Body skin doesn’t have the reparative ability that facial skin has, so it needs more support from protective creams,” Dr. Halaas says. Flamingo’s offers squalane on a drugstore budget, and it’s hard to describe the heavenly-yet-sharp botanical scent of Agent Nateur’s holi(body) serum. Martin chills out with CBD-powered Prima R+R Cream for “any aches and pains—its eucalyptus, lavender herbal blend of botanicals is actually refreshing and cooling on the skin for the summer.”