11 best night creams your skin will thank you for, according to a beauty editor

If you’re struggling to find a solution for your combination skin and need a cream that is rich enough to tackle dryness while lightweight enough that it doesn’t leave oilier areas feeling greasy, this ticks every box. While it’s not strictly a night cream – drier skin types could use this in the mornings, too – if you’ve got combination or oily skin, the texture feels refreshing, and I found it improved areas of dehydration on my cheeks.

The formula contains hydrating ingredients (think peptides and encapsulated ferulic acid) and left my skin feeling plumper, smoother and nourished. If you are on the oily side, this cream’s sister moisturiser, the Naturium multi-peptide (£21, Spacenk.com), is a brilliant option for your morning skincare routine, and I’d recommend supplementing with this richer cream in the evenings.

When it comes to affordable, hardworking skincare, Simple is hard to beat. This night cream is designed with sensitive skin in mind, and it also has an anti-ageing-focused formula, but pretty much everyone could get on with this.

It’s a basic unscented cream that does the job of improving moisture and keeping skin soft thanks to the inclusion of glycerin, green tea and mushroom extract within the formula. The formula is lightweight and can be used on all skin types, including those with sensitive skin. For less than £10, I can’t fault it.

With a soft, supple finish and ability to smooth and improve areas of texture, this moisturiser made a marked improvement on dry patches around my nostrils, without the cream being so heavy as to leave combination oily skin feeling greasy. As with other formulas I reviewed, this one is packed full of hydrating ingredients. Here, the vitamin E, rosehip, baobab, marula, African mahogany and peptides create a glow-giving, hydrating cocktail that my skin lapped up.

The tube packaging is great for travel, too – it’s a much more compact size than many of the other options on test, yet it holds the same amount of product.

In my opinion, SOS is a very underrated brand – I have used its range of basic but brilliant products on a regular basis over the past three years. This night cream makes a recurring appearance in my skincare routine, especially when experiencing a flare-up of breakouts, rosacea or general sensitivity.

The formula is a blend of natural botanicals such as cranberry extract and red algae sea moss, which retain moisture, promote healthy cell renewal and leave skin feeling plump and healthy. The cream melts into the skin quickly, with a comforting but non-greasy texture and feels like a light layer of hydration after each application. It’s suitable for use on all skin types, even sensitive ones, and is very reasonably priced.

The latest addition to La Roche-Posay’s wildly popular effaclar acne range, this product has been designed specifically to target blemish-prone skin with four key ingredients: azelaic acid, salicylic acid, hyaluronic acid and zinc. Combined, they gently exfoliate to remove dead skin and unblock pores, regulate sebum production, and smooth skin texture.

The gel-cream hybrid formula has a velvety finish and, despite being marketed as a night cream, I found that it worked well under make-up, especially when focusing on concealing spots. The texture is lightweight and takes seconds to rub in. Overall, it makes for a hardworking addition to your evening skincare routine if you have acne-prone skin.

Herbar is a small (but growing) skincare brand with a carefully curated edit of products featuring fungi and adaptogenic formulations, thanks to their anti-inflammatory powers and ability to protect the skin from environmental factors.

As for the brand’s barrier cream, it has a balmy texture that instantly soothes tight, dehydrated skin and areas of irritation caused by a damaged skin barrier. If you’ve over-exfoliated and your complexion is in need of some TLC, this is the cream to try.

A luxury skincare brand that comes from the Sisley Paris family, Neuraé first launched in 2024, underpinned by neuroscientific research exploring the mind-skin connection. As you’d expect, the brand’s serenity balm moisturiser is everything you could possibly want from a luxury cream.

The balm-like formula features a light scent designed to relax the brain, making this the perfect bedtime treat. It performs well, too, leaving skin feeling supple and silky soft – this is like a drink of water for when your skin is craving moisture.

This formula features a key blemish-busting ingredient: salicylic acid, which is a beta-hydroxy acid that exfoliates to slough off dead skin cells that clog pores, thereby reducing unwanted spots. As such, this night cream is another great option if you’re acne-prone.

It has a lightweight texture, so it doesn’t feel heavy on the skin, and it has a dewy finish. Simple, smart and effective, it’s a great value option for blemish-prone skin. It won’t break the bank but will help clear up your complexion.

If your skin lacks elasticity and you want a night cream that will help hydrate and firm, I’d recommend this formula. No, it’s not sleep in a jar, nor is it a replacement for botox, but I found that it did improve radiance, plump the skin and smooth fine lines and wrinkles. This is thanks to bio-fermented hyaluronic acid, omega fatty acids, neuro-peptides, green tea extract and sea buckthorn.

This antioxidant-rich formula evens skin tone and supports your skin’s collagen production. It’s quite a thick texture, which dry skin will drink up, and it has a subtle, luxurious scent. My only gripe is the price, considering the pot only contains 40ml of product.

This relatively budget-friendly moisturiser has amassed thousands of fans, and it’s not hard to see why. The formula features a selection of clinically beneficial ingredients, including shea butter (great for treating dryness), bio-active ceramides (strengthen skin barrier) and the lesser-known gransil blur (creates a blurring finish on skin). The white cream looks unsuspecting in the jar but our tester found herself reaching for this when her skin was showing signs of mild irritation after using retinol (small amounts of flaky skin can be a common reaction to exfoliating products such as retinols and other acids). A little goes a long way, so, this pot will last you months, and, while it may look too thick to be suitable for oily skin types, it’s actually a silkier, lighter texture than you might expect.

If you haven’t heard of Aestura, the Korean beauty brand is well worth your time. Its atobarrier 365 cream is the superstar of its range, thanks to a whipped, creamy texture and ceramide-rich formula. If you have dry and sensitive skin, this is a great all-round moisturiser that hydrates, smooths and soothes, and can be enjoyed in your morning or evening skincare routine.

It’s also a great option to sandwich with stronger ingredients such as retinol or vitamin C in your serums and exfoliating acid, to reduce redness and leave skin feeling plump and soft. It’s also free from any fragrances or colourants, which are common irritants. While it’s a bit too rich for oily skin types, it’s ideal if you have dry, combination or sensitive skin.