Best Night Cream for Aging Skin (Drugstore to Splurge)

The best night cream for most aging skin is one that measurably adds moisture and firmness without irritating, and in Good Housekeeping's latest lab test that was Philosophy's Miracle Worker+ Line-Correcting Overnight Cream. For a drugstore option, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Night Cream reduced the look of lines by one of the biggest margins GH has measured.

Below are six picks for dry, sensitive and mature skin, plus how to use a retinoid at night without the redness.

Quick picks

What a night cream does (and doesn't)

A night cream is a richer moisturizer with active ingredients, made to sit on your skin for hours without makeup or sunscreen on top. GH Beauty Lab Director Sabina Wizemann says night creams "contain active ingredients that support skin's natural repair process and typically provide deep hydration." She also says "they don't all live up to their promises."

Keep expectations realistic. The AAD says anti-aging products "deliver modest results" and "you cannot get the results of a facelift from a cream." It also calls sunscreen and moisturizer "the two most-effective anti-aging products you can buy."

How GH tested these

GH Beauty Lab Senior Chemist Danusia Wnek measured hydration over six hours, then tracked wrinkles, dark spots and firmness with imaging and skin-elasticity machines over four weeks or more. In total, 426 consumer testers and 26,552 measurements and survey answers fed the results. Most of our picks come from that test.

Philosophy Anti-Wrinkle Miracle Worker+ Line-Correcting Overnight Cream

Best for: most aging skin types that want moisture and firmness without irritation.

What we love

• It was GH's best overall night cream: it "raised hydration by 34% over six hours, and it upped firmness by 29% in four weeks."
• Testers rated it best for smoothing texture and being gentle; almost all said it didn't irritate or cause redness.
• Philosophy pairs Indian gentian extract, vitamin C, peptides and hyaluronic acid, with squalane and glycerin.

Keep in mind

• Some GH testers said it didn't soak in quickly.
• GH describes it as fragrance-free, but Philosophy's current ingredient list includes fragrance. If you're sensitive to scent, check the box.

Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, glycerin, squalane, a vitamin C derivative, peptides.

How to use: on clean, dry skin, smooth a dime-size amount over your face and neck until it's absorbed.

Check price on Amazon

No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Night Cream

Best for: fine lines and wrinkles on a drugstore budget.

What we love

• GH named it Best Anti-Wrinkle. It "reduced lines by 13% and increased firmness 34% over four weeks," one of the biggest wrinkle results the lab has recorded.
• It raised moisture by 32% in six hours, and testers said it absorbed quickly without irritation.
• No7 says it's suitable for sensitive skin. It uses Matrixyl 3000+ peptides with retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A.

Keep in mind

• GH says it didn't do as well at fading dark spots.
• It's fragranced (No7 calls it a "pre-sleep fragrance").

Key ingredients: peptides, shea butter, vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, retinyl palmitate.

How to use: after cleansing (and No7's serum, if you use it), massage it in with upward strokes, avoiding the eye area.

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Avène Retrinal 0.1 Intensive Multi-Corrective Cream

Best for: mature skin ready for a retinoid, including people who've found retinol too harsh.

What we love

• GH's Best Retinol and a GH Beauty Award winner. It contains retinal, "a more potent form of retinol," and "got top scores for making skin feel firmer and more moisturized and look brighter."
• GH testers liked its light texture, and said it soaked in fast and didn't irritate.
• Avène says it's 0.1% retinaldehyde, cushioned with squalane, shea butter and niacinamide. No fragrance is listed.
• GH lists it for all skin types, including mature.

Keep in mind

• GH says it didn't work as well on age spots.
• Like any retinoid, start slowly and wear sunscreen by day (see the tip below).

Key ingredients: retinal (0.1%), hyaluronic acid, squalane, niacinamide.

How to use: apply to your face, neck and chest in the evening.

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Caudalie Resveratrol-Lift Firming Night Cream

Best for: dry or combination skin that wants a rich cream without a retinoid.

What we love

• GH found it raised hydration by 43% in six hours, and it scored best at smoothing texture.
• Testers gave it perfect marks for not being greasy or irritating.
• Caudalie calls it a retinol alternative for all skin types, with resveratrol, hyaluronic acid and grape seed oil, and says it's non-comedogenic.
• The glass jar takes refill pods.

Keep in mind

• Its herbal scent split GH's testers: many liked it, a few found it "off-putting."
• On amazon.com it's listed as a jar plus refill.

Key ingredients: resveratrol, hyaluronic acid, squalane, grape seed oil.

How to use: every evening on your face, neck and chest, after serum.

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Cetaphil Healthy Renew Night Cream

Best for: sensitive skin that can't tolerate retinol, on a drugstore budget.

What we love

• NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin calls it her go-to: "I find it richer than the moisturizer I use during the day, and it leaves my skin soft and hydrated."
• Cetaphil uses peptides instead of retinol and says they "don't increase sensitivity to sun."
• It's fragrance-free, paraben-free and hypoallergenic, according to the brand, with niacinamide and panthenol.

Keep in mind

• We didn't find a lab test of this cream; the pick rests on an editor's regular use and the formula.
• The "fine lines in 2 weeks" claim is the brand's own.

Key ingredients: peptides, niacinamide (vitamin B3), panthenol (vitamin B5), glycerin, shea butter.

How to use: apply to your whole face at night, after cleanser and any serums.

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Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Hydrating Mask

Best for: very dry or dehydrated skin, a few nights a week or every night in winter.

What we love

• It won GH's overnight mask test and raised skin hydration by 36% over six hours. GH says to apply it like a night cream, as your last step.
• GH's beauty director said she "really noticed a difference the next morning" in her very dehydrated skin.
• Origins says it's vegan and made for normal and dry skin, with avocado, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. It's fragranced.

Keep in mind

• GH warns it may be too heavy for oily skin.
• It's mainly a hydrator. If lines are your main concern, one of the creams above is the better buy.

Key ingredients: glycerin, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil.

How to use: massage onto clean skin at bedtime and tissue off any excess.

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Best night cream for aging skin: what to look for

Dermatologists Howard Sobel, MD, and Tonya McLeod, MD, gave GH a shortlist by goal:

• Fine lines and wrinkles: "peptides, retinol, epidermal growth factors, and hydroxy acids (like glycolic)," plus antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and niacinamide.
• Dry skin: a richer cream or balm with hyaluronic acid, ceramides, squalane, and plant butters and oils.
• Sensitive skin: esthetician Tiara Willis told NBC Select to avoid fragrance and pore-clogging ingredients. Cetaphil and Avène fit.

Price isn't a guide. "More expensive is not necessarily better," dermatologist Serena Mraz told NBC Select, and the AAD agrees that effective anti-aging products "come in all price ranges."

Night cream vs. night moisturizer

Willis says "'night cream' is a marketing term," and any moisturizer can work as one. The difference is mostly texture and actives. Mraz says day creams are designed "to be light and compatible with makeup and sunscreen," while night creams "provide supercharged moisturizing." If your skin is oily or sensitive, a simple night moisturizer may be all you need.

How to use a night cream

1. Cleanse, then apply serums and eye cream first. Sobel told GH the night cream goes on after them.
2. Use a pea-sized amount. McLeod says to smooth it over your face "in a thin layer."
3. Bring it down your neck and chest. Mraz recommends face, neck and décolletage.
4. Introduce one new product at a time. The AAD says using several anti-aging products at once can irritate skin. Patch-test on your inner forearm twice a day for four to five days first.
5. Give it six weeks. The AAD says moisturizer can plump fine lines in days, but most products take at least six weeks, and sometimes three months.

Comparison table

FAQs

What's the best anti-aging cream for your 50s?

For skin in its 50s, look for a night cream with a retinoid or peptides plus rich moisturizers. Avène Retrinal 0.1 scored top marks in GH's lab for firmness and moisture and is listed for mature skin. If retinoids irritate you, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced or Cetaphil Healthy Renew use peptides. Our lotion guide for aging skin covers more options, including body lotions.

What's the best drugstore night cream?

No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Night Cream, which reduced the look of lines by 13% in GH's four-week test. For sensitive skin, Cetaphil Healthy Renew is fragrance-free and uses peptides instead of retinol.

Do you really need a night cream?

Not strictly. Any good moisturizer can do the job at night, and the AAD says moisturizer and sunscreen matter most. A night cream earns its place if you want richer moisture or an active like a retinoid that's best used at night.

Can I use a retinol night cream every night?

Eventually, maybe. The AAD advises starting with the mildest formula every other night and building up as your skin allows. Stop if it stings, burns or tingles, and wear sunscreen daily, since retinoids can make skin more sensitive to the sun.

Should night cream go on your neck too?

Yes. Dermatologist Serena Mraz recommends applying it to your face, neck and décolletage, and Avène and Caudalie both direct it there.

One well-chosen night cream, used consistently for six weeks alongside daily sunscreen, will do more than switching products every month.