My Fellow Beauty Editors Always Come to Me for Skincare Help—These Are the 5 Moisturizers I Recommend

When people find out I’m a beauty editor, they love to ask me what the best product is — the best moisturizer, the best vitamin C serum, the best foundation. Regardless of the specific category they’re inquiring about, my answer is the same “well, it depends.” It’s annoying but it’s true. I would never recommend the same moisturizer to my 25-year-old sister living in Arctic-temperature Canada as I would to my nearly 60-year-old aunt with a two-step routine.

That being said, I have been in the beauty industry for a decade and I test hundreds of products every month. I spend my days reading ingredient lists and learning about what’s up and coming in the skincare world. These are my recommendations for the best moisturizers given certain, pretty common skin concerns and goals. 

Tamim's Top 5 Moisturizers

• InnBeauty Project Extreme Cream, $48 at sephora.com
• Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream, $69 at sephora.com
• Tatcha The Water Cream, $68 at amazon.com
• Glo Skin Beauty Bio-Renew EGF Cream, $178 at dermstore.com
• Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré Face Cream, $17 at amazon.com

For combination, breakout-prone, and hyper-pigmented skin:

InnBeauty Project Extreme Cream

$40 at Sephora View on Innbeautyproject.com

I’m pushing 30 and my skin is in a bizarre in-between state. Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Ava Shamban describes this as the age when your skin sees “a dip (rather than free fall) of collagen and elastin production.” I’m dealing with breakouts and the oiliness of adolescence while the faint etch of lines, wrinkles, and deflated skin appear alongside increasing dehydration. I can’t layer on too many serums or get too crazy with active ingredients because my skin is incredibly reactive, sensitive, and easily congested. 

There are three ingredients in Innbeauty Project’s Extreme Cream that make it perfect for me: a retinol alternative, peptides, and ceramides. The retinol alternative is great for someone like me; I got the dead cell sloughing, dark spot fading, skin brightening, and anti-aging benefits of the ingredient without any of the infamous irritation. And thanks to the ceramide peptide combination my skin feels as hydrated at the end of the day as it does when I first apply it at the beginning. 

Read Full Review: This New Cream Gives Me a Gorgeous Glossy Glow

Other Options You Might Like

• BeautyPie Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream, $25 at beautypie.com
• Olay Regenerist Niacinamide+Peptide 24 Hydrating Moisturizer, $30 at amazon.com

For flakey yet oily skin:

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream with 6-Butterlipid Complex

$69 at Sephora $69 at Kohls.com

My 25-year-old sister lives in Toronto, Canada; the temperature is brick and the air is dry. Though she has oily skin it becomes flaky and painfully tight in this environment. It’s a perplexing and contradictory conundrum that makes finding a good moisturizer hard. But, I recently gave her a sample of Drunk Elephant’s new Bora Barrier Repair Cream and she’s loving it. 

There were two main thoughts that led to this recommendation. First, as board-certified dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman explains, “this moisturizer is formulated with glycosphingolipids (sugar lipids) and multiple types of ceramides, which lock in moisture and repair and strengthen the skin barrier.” Second, zinc is an underutilized ingredient with a list of pertinent benefits; it controls oil production, is universally tolerated, soothes inflammation, and speeds up wound recovery. (The latter two points are important for a healthy barrier.) 

Read Full Review: Drunk Elephant's Rich New Moisturizing Cream Will Save Your Flaky Winter Skin

Other Options You Might Like

• Make Beauty Super Cell Deep Moisture Cream, $38 at makebeauty,com
• Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Refillable Face Cream, $54 at sephora.com

For very oily skin:

Tatcha The Water Cream

$72 at Amazon $23 at Sephora $72 at Kohls.com

A few years ago I would have described my skin as very oily but the aging process is sucking out some of that sebum. But I have not forgotten where I came from and for my oily-skinned-brethren I have a wealth of knowledge for you. The solution is a water cream moisturizer. 

A water cream moisturizer is usually oil-free and has the texture of a gel or a gel-cream hybrid. It forgoes thicker occlusive ingredients for lighter but incredibly hydrating humectant ones. There were at least half a dozen launched in the last year but stick with the classic that is Tatcha’s The Water Cream. It’s formulated with oil-controlling botanical extracts, tightens skin, and blurs pores in addition to keeping skin hydrated all day. 

Other Options You Might Like

• Neutrogena Hydro Boost Face Moisturizer, $18 at amazon.com
• Dr. Jart+ Vital Hydra Solution Water Cream, $36 at sephora.com
• Charlotte Tilbury Magic Water Cream, $100 at sephora.com
  

For signs of aging:

Glo Skin Beauty Bio-Renew EGF Cream

$178 at Dermstore $109 at Walmart View on Gloskinbeauty.com

My aunt is in her late 50s and concerned with the typical signs of aging — dry, thinning, sagging skin and existing and worsening wrinkles. But, she’s also very low maintenance and will only commit to two steps — face wash and moisturizer. 

Packing in the benefits of a serum (or two) in one moisturizer is a big ask with very few answers. Thanks to its titular active ingredient, my recommendation to her is Glo Skin Beauty’s Renew EGF Cream. EGF is short for epidermal growth factor, an anti-aging ingredient that is like the maestro to the orchestra that is your skin.

This moisturizer is an all-in-one (which explains the price); Dr. Shamban says this formula is “great for those with lines and wrinkles, fights pigmentation issues, revitalizes skin, reboots cell turnover, and soothes and smooths texture and skin surface issues.” 

Other Options You Might Like

• Decorté Liposome Advanced Repair Cream, $95 at bloomingdales.com
• The Inkey List Bio-Active Ceramide Moisturizer, $20 at theinkeylist.com

For layering under makeup:

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

$17 at Amazon $29 at Dermstore $16 at Embryolisse.com

My cousin is 20 years old and done with the hormonal breakouts of her teenage years and doesn’t have any real skin concerns. She wants a hydrating but plain moisturizer that plays well with makeup. Embryolisse’s Lait-Crème Concentré instantly came to mind. It was my first (moisturizer) love thanks to its affordability, simplicity, and ease. 

Dr. Engelman agrees with my recommendation. She says “it’s a non-comedogenic moisturizer, suitable for all skin types, and made with nourishing, soothing ingredients.” She calls it an “excellent multitasker” thanks to its half-dozen uses that include working as a moisturizer, primer, face mask, and cleansing milk. 

Other Options You Might Like

• Glossier Priming Moisturizer, $26 at glossier.com
• Tula Dew Your Thing Moisturizing Gel Cream, $48 at tula.com