The 11 Best Moisturizers for a Brightened and Hydrated Complexion, Tested & Reviewed

Best Overall

Paula's Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer

View On Amazon $38 View On Sephora $38 View On Paulaschoice.com $38

Our Ratings

• Feel/Consistency
  4/5
• Absorption
  5/5
• Dryness
  5/5
• Appearance
  5/5
• Value
  4/5

Paula’s Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer isn’t just a quick fix — it’s here for the long run. While we were initially impressed with the intense hydration it pumped into the skin after its first use, we were further blown away by how it trained the skin to retain moisture over time, smoothed out fine lines, and balanced out combination skin.

At first, we were a little skeptical about the thicker consistency of the cream. There was also some visible texture, possibly from the chia or the flaxseed, that we didn’t know how it would play out on the skin. However, once on, we were instantly soothed by the calming effects of the lotion, and the little texture melted away. Yes, it is thick and it takes some time to fully absorb. But it’s exactly what made it an ideal night cream, or a post-exfoliant cream. When we woke up the next day, our skin looked so hydrated and well-rested that our own reflection blew us away. After three weeks, we could even skip a day or night application and the skin remained unfazed.

Anyone with sensitive or dry skin would especially benefit from the rich and gentle formula. It’s densely packed with non-irritating omega-rich foods like chia seeds, passion fruit, guava, and flax seeds, without being too oily or congestive. On normal to oily skin, however, the product felt a little too thick in the morning, especially when we combined it with sunscreen.

Key Ingredients: Chia seeds, passion fruit, guava, flax seeds | Size: 1.7 fl.oz. | Scented: No

Best Budget

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

View On Amazon $29 View On Dermstore $29 View On Walmart $29

Our Ratings

• Feel
  5/5
• Absorption
  5/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  5/5
• Appearance
  4.8/5

You won’t have any trouble finding a plethora of specialty moisturizers promising unlimited capabilities nowadays, but if you just want a good ol’ everyday cream to plump up the skin day and night, then this is it. The lightweight and milky formula spread like a dream against our sensitive skin without irritating it, weighing it down, or leaving a greasy and cakey feel. Instead, it invited our parched skin to open up and breathe again.

It didn’t take long for the skin to drink up the cream. In about seven minutes, nearly everything had been absorbed into the surface, leaving it feeling moisturized and calm. We even noticed how the rough patches around our eyes and nose were alleviated. The skin utilized everything that was given to it, leaving no residue on the surface — even our blotting paper couldn’t pick up any grease. When we stepped outside the house and began sweating a little, the cream remained fixated inside our skin and didn’t begin dripping into our eyes to sting it.

We found the shea butter found in the formula to be ideal on our sensitive skin, while the added aloe vera felt soothing after a day spent in the sun. It did have a very faint medicinal and pleasant scent to it, but we noticed it became undetectable within a matter of minutes. There are no added perfumes, so it felt very gentle on our easily triggered skin. For people with particularly dry skin, however, the formula might not be rich enough to last through the day. Anyone with normal, combination, or sensitive skin however would find much pleasure in this moisturizer.

Key Ingredients: Shea butter, aloe vera, glyceryl stearate | Size: 1.01 fl.oz. | Scented: Officially no, tested yes

Best Splurge

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream

View On Nordstrom $96 View On Dermstore $300 View On Sephora $96

Our Ratings

• Feel
  4.9/5
• Absorption
  4.5/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  4.8/5
• Appearance
  5/5

With so many promising moisturizers out there, a splurge-worthy cream really needs to go above and beyond in order to be worthy of our coins. We were skeptical at first, but this Augustinus cream proved its worth, not only with its hydrating capabilities but with how it enhanced our appearance. Consider us properly converted into one of their over 500 five-star reviewers.

Our skin was as reluctant as we were, and it took a good few minutes for it to fully accept the thin and lightweight formula into its membrane. During those ten to fifteen minutes, the cream came off as a bit shiny and sticky on our cheeks. Soon enough, however, it was absorbed fully, making it feel completely natural — no oily or greasy feel to be noticed. It taught us that a little goes a long way, and we shouldn’t over-cream our faces. With this moisturizer on, our skin felt triumphant, and the barely-there cream made us believe it was all our own doing. That feeling lasted the entire day — even in the evening when we flushed the dirt and grime from the outdoors off, our skin had that soft and supple touch to it.

It was around the four-week mark, however, that we began to notice the more dramatic results. Our nose, which was once plagued with a grainy sandpaper texture, was completely smoothed out. Our cheeks, which lost a little bit of life after pushing a literal life form out (aka we just gave birth), became more hydrated and plump, almost as smooth as the newborn baby. It was the magical missing piece that rejuvenated our skin into its former glory, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Ingredients: Primrose oil, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, argan oil, avocado oil | Size: 1.7 fl.oz. | Scented: No

Best for Acne Prone Skin

Tatcha The Water Cream

View On Amazon $72 View On Sephora $23 View On Kohls.com $72

Our Ratings

• Feel/Consistency
  5/5
• Absorption
  5/5
• Oiliness
  5/5
• Appearance
  5/5
• Value
  4.5/5

Clogged pores are the enemy of acne-prone skin. And while many products make lofty promises about minimizing breakouts, this one actually reduced our pimples and red spots — a truly liberating feeling.

With the help of Japanese wild rose and Japanese leopard lily, the formula minimizes pores and reduces oil production. The natural turnover of the skin is improved, revealing an overall fresher, more balanced visage. With continuous use of this moisturizer, we noticed our breakouts subside, and reduced the end-of-the-day shine on our oily T-zones.

From start to finish, the Tatcha oil-free pore-minimizing cream is a delight. There is a very faint and delicious floral scent that enters the nose upon application. The consistency of the cream is very smooth and lightweight, spreading so easily that you only need a droplet to cover the whole face. In fact, it’s almost bewitching how such a small blimp of product could contain such hydrating powers, spreading and stretching like a yoga instructor. Although we will say, it did take a good ten minutes to fully absorb, and we had to wait that time to continue layering on any other products. Once finished, our faces held a beautiful and healthy glow to it.

Ingredients: Japanese wild rose, Japanese leopard lily, green tea, rice, algae | Size: 1.7 fl.oz.  | Scented: Yes

Best for Dry Sensitive Skin

SK-II Skinpower Cream

View On Amazon $166 View On Sephora $255 View On Sk-ii.com

Our Ratings

• Feel
  5/5
• Absorption
  4.9/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  5/5
• Appearance
  5/5

For decades, skincare brand SK II has been hailed as the holy grail for youthful skin in Japan. The label’s secret potion? Pitera, an-ingredient derived from yeast fermentation that contains over 50 micro-nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and more. To put this unique mixture to the test, we smeared the soft cream over our faces for four weeks and observed as our dull skin re-awakened and began to glow.

As someone with really dry, combination skin, we were pleased to find that the consistency of the cream was on the thicker side, but not heavy. The signature red tub came with a spatula to spread the luxurious cream evenly across the surface. The second it touched our faces it miraculously felt delightfully light, while plumping up the skin with much needed hydration. Almost immediately (okay, after the ten minute soak-in process), our dry patches around the nose and chin felt silky and soft — and this sensation lasted the entire day (!!).

With time, the results kept improving. Blemishes actually began to disappear, as our overall complexion brightened and evened out. There was life in our cheeks again, as we looked visibly more radiant. We woke up looking forward to applying more of the delicious cream over our faces, knowing how it kissed the skin with moisture and skin-enhancing benefits. The lack of fragrance also made it very gentle for sensitive skin. It even layered nicely under other products like sunscreen or makeup, blending seamlessly and never pilling, although we do recommend waiting the full ten minutes for it to fully absorb. It’s on the pricier side, but at 2.7 ounces you get a lot more product than the previous options.

Ingredients: Pitera, calla lily, dokudami, peony, niacinamide, glycerin | Size: 2.7 fl.oz. | Scented: No

Best for Sensitive Skin

Estee Lauder Soft Creme/Mask Moisturizer

View On Ulta $48 View On Esteelauder.com View On Selfridges.com

Our Ratings

• Feel
  4.9/5
• Absorption
  4.8/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  5/5
• Appearance
  4.7/5

Finding the right moisturizer for sensitive skin can feel like a tricky dance when you have two left feet. Don’t worry, we waltzed for you, and found this fantastic gentle moisturizer that not only didn’t irritate our skin, but actually calmed existing blemishes.

The lovely cream was less dense, more watery than other creams we’ve tried. It’s mixed with coconut water ferment, a bio-ingredient packed with minerals and vitamins, that our skin simply drank up. We found the very light scent of coconut to be very refreshing, and it never had any harmful effects on our easily irritated skin. As a matter of fact, our sensitive skin typically always reacts dramatically whenever we switch up a cream, but this one only brought positivity into the room, gently embracing our reactive skin and kissing away any blemishes.

The super lightweight formula glided on in a silky and smooth manner, before it fully absorbed under ten minutes. A quick touch to the face revealed that all the nutrients were already eagerly accepted by the surface. We were left feeling wonderfully refreshed, cooled, and smooth, which was further evidenced by the glowy reflection staring back at us from the mirror.

Because the formula is so gentle and lightweight, we found it to be ideal for the summer. The moisturizing effects were more or less gone by the end of the day, but our skin felt like it was in its best neutral state — not dry, not oily, simply at peace.

*Keep in mind that sensitive skin acts as a catch-all phrase for a plethora of underlying issues, says board-certified nurse practitioner and founder of Bare Aesthetic, Vanessa Coppola. Depending on the underlying cause of sensitive skin, your reaction may differ from ours. “Sensitive skin can often occur from a disruption in the protective layer on the external surface of our skin, which helps to protect our skin from irritants in our environment. This can occur when it gets damaged or weakened by simple everyday actives such as frequent bathing or handwashing, outdoor exposure, and the normal changes that occur as part of the aging process.” On the other hand, “sensitive skin can also occur from an underlying process such as eczema, rosacea, or psoriasis.” Some people, on the other hand, are simply “born with more delicate thinner skin, and as a result, can experience more sensitivity.”

Ingredients: Red algae ferment, coconut water ferment, glycol, glycerin | Size: 1.7 fl.oz. | Scented: Slightly

Best for Dry Skin

Caudalie Premier Cru Moisturizer

View On Nordstrom $129 View On Dermstore $129 View On Sephora $109

Our Ratings

• Feel
  5/5
• Absorption
  4.9/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  5/5
• Appearance
  5/5

We’re convinced that some kind of sorcery is involved in this moisturizer, as when we scoop out the product it feels thick and rich but when we apply it onto our skin, it feels light and breathable. In other words, it’s ideal for people with dry skin, thanks to its strong moisturizing capabilities and lack of oily and greasy feel. Immediately upon skin contact, we felt supreme hydration, bringing forth a smooth and soft texture (particularly around our nose and cheeks!).

Maybe it’s because our skin was that thirsty, but it guzzled down this moisturizer within a matter of minutes. When we touched our faces with blotting paper, barely any oil came off. It made layering on makeup or other products a breeze, and we never experienced any transfer issues. We also noticed a gentle natural scent on the product — somewhat earthy and very much luxurious. It’s unnoticeable after the initial application, however, and it never irritated or caused redness.

We love a product that does more than just one thing (i.e. only moisturizing), and this product gets five stars for evening out texture on top of pumping hydration into the surface. Fine lines and bumps along the surface were reduced, to our surprise. Our complexion simply looked awakened, refreshed, and clean — pulled together in a sense. Whenever our skin felt dry or parched, it instantly soothed the tightness and invited a healthy glow onto our expression. Because it truly works double duty, we think the higher price tag is well worth it.

Ingredients: TET8, bio-ceramides, shea butter, micro hyaluronic acid | Size: 1.6 fl.oz. | Scented: Yes

Best for Oily Skin

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel with Hyaluronic Acid

View On Ulta $28 View On Target $20 View On Riteaid.com $27

Our Ratings

• Feel
  5/5
• Absorption
  4.7/5
• Wear
  4/5
• Hydration
  4/5
• Appearance
  4.5/5

How do you find a moisturizer for oily skin? You want to reduce the natural build of sebum and still feel fresh and moisturized. A lightweight, watery moisturizer (made without oils) is the answer to your woes. We noticed visibly less oils, particularly on the forehead, at the end of the day while using this product.

“Oil-free moisturizers are typically less thick and non-comedogenic, meaning they don’t clog pores but still provide hydration to the skin,” says cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Claire Wolinsky. They frequently come in a gel or water-based form, like this option from Neutrogena. At first, the cream felt almost viscous on the fingers, somewhere in between a serum and a moisturizer. However, it spread thin and was easy to move around. Because of its lightweight properties, it got absorbed almost instantly, and had a very refreshing cooling effect. The boost of hydration it gave us was very noticeable, but it did so without any clumpy or sticky feelings.

It was also very easy to layer our makeup on top, and we noticed how we basically didn’t need to use setting spray to set our makeup anymore — the moisturizer successfully reduced the production oils to the point that our face art stayed decently put throughout the day. At the end of the day, we were impressed with how much less of a shine existed on our forehead. On days we were feeling a little more dry than usual, however, we felt that the moisturizer did not hydrate enough. We craved a second application of the cream as the evening started to settle in.

Ingredients: Glycerin, dimethicone, phenoxyethanol | Size: 1.7 fl.oz  | Scented: Yes

Best for Aging Skin

La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream

View On Nordstrom $100 View On Sephora $100 View On Bloomingdales

Our Ratings

• Feel
  4.4/5
• Absorption
  4.7/5
• Wear
  4.3/5
• Hydration
  4.8/5
• Appearance
  5/5

It seems like every celebrity, from Chrissy Teigan to Kim Kardashian, uses and swears by La Mer. The ultra luxurious face cream retails at about $380 for a two ounce bottle, which is surely not as freely spent by the average person. But more than just hydrating, the cream claims to soften fine lines for a more youthful glow. Naturally, we had to put the elusive cream to the test, and these were our results:

At a first glance, we were impressed by the luxuriously soft and plump feel of the cream. It’s on the richer side, so it does take some time to fully absorb. We observed at least two hours until every last bit of the cream soaked deep into the surface, during which it can feel a little heavy. However, once it was in, it was astonishing how it plumped the skin — it was evident that the product did not just work on a surface level, but from deep within the skin. Our entire face seemed to radiate health, looking as smooth as butter, and these effects lasted well through the day and night. Rather than going back to a dry face after a day, the skin kept its hydration, making it look like its natural best self. 

After the four week testing period, we did notice those anti-aging claims to come into effect. Fine lines were astonishingly plumping out. It wasn’t just us who noticed, but friends and family who would stop and comment on how youthgul our skin looked. Be aware however that the cream does come with a scent, and it’s not subtle. We happened to like it, so it didn’t bother us, but if you’re sensitive to fragrances perhaps this isn’t for you.

Ingredients: Lime tea, sea kelp | Size: 2 fl.oz. | Scented: Yes

Best Drugstore

BYOMA Moisturizing Gel Cream

View On Amazon $20 View On Ulta $16 View On Target $10

Our Ratings

• Feel
  4.8/5
• Absorption
  4.7/5
• Wear
  5/5
• Hydration
  5/5
• Appearance
  5/5

Drugstore brands sometimes don’t get the recognition they deserve. Behind the glitz and the glam of specialty brands and their hefty marketing budgets, drugstore brands might get muffled out in the background. This BYOMA Moisturizing Gel Cream however is too good to be silenced.

The lightweight gel cream spread over our skin in a silky and velvety feel. It’s so gentle, that it almost feels airy, which makes the application process a joy. Because of the gel, however, it did feel mildly sticky while we waited the ten minutes for it to fully absorb. On days where it was especially humid, it took a little longer as well (and the sticky sensation was more noticeable). Once the skin fully drank up the formula, it felt perfectly plump and well hydrated. Thanks to its oil-free nature, it didn’t clog pores and cause any breakouts either. Instead, it created a dewy and refreshed appearance. We found that it made for a fantastic primer underneath sunscreens and makeup. It actually helped foundation glide over our skin better, and didn’t cause it to run or look cakey. With consistent use, our skin looked much more hydrated and healthy.

For people with dry skin, however, this formula might be a little too watery or lightweight. It’s a little serum like, and at the end of the day we felt the magic had already run its course, and we were ready to reapply for the night.

Ingredients: Glycerin, caprylic triglyceride, panthenol | Size: 1.69 fl.oz. | Scented: No