Have you ever considered incorporating a night cream into your skin care routine? Us too. Luxurious, rich and often infused with targeted ingredients, the best night creams work overnight to ensure your complexion looks rested and radiant without you having to lift a finger.
But with so many formulas on the market, it can be hard to pick the best night cream for you. Not only do you have to decipher which ingredients suit your particular skin goals (looking at you fine lines , pigmentation and dullness.), but you need to ensure the solution seamlessly slots in with the rest of your PM regime too.
With that in mind, here at Cult Beauty, we’ve done the hard work for you and scoured our virtual shelves for the top 10 best night creams – no matter your skin type, texture or concern.
Happy, healthy and hydrated skin incoming!
TOP 10 BEST NIGHT CREAMS:
ELEMIS Pro-Collagen Night Cream
Enriched with an antioxidant blend of sesame and avocado oil, ELEMIS’s Pro-Collagen Night Cream helps not only hydrate your complexion but works overtime as you sleep to maintain your optimal skin barrier condition. Suitable for all skin types, this glow-giver protects against environmental aggressors, helps to clarify your complexion and encourages a supple sign off.
Best for: all skin types
SHOP ALL ELEMIS >>> Medik8 Advanced Night Restore
Ensure your skin looks pillowy plump come the morning time with Medik8’s Advanced Night Restore. Packed with the brand’s powerful Midnight Repair Complex (featuring saskatoon berries, peptides and dragon fruit extracts), this nourishing solution is infused with potent ceramides to protect your moisture barrier, firm your complexion and leave dry skin feeling silky soft and soothed.
Best for: dry skin
SHOP ALL MEDIK8 >>> La Roche-Posay Toleriane Sensitive Moisturiser
Help relieve sensitive skin overnight with La Roche-Posay's Toleriane Sensitive Moisturiser. Enriched with the brand’s iconic Thermal Spring Water and a clever blend of probiotics, this gentle and lightweight lotion comforts stressed complexions without clogging up your pores. What’s more, recommended by dermatologists, this hard-working must-have is infused with niacinamide to target brightness and uneven tone too.Best for: sensitive skin
SHOP ALL LA ROCHE-POSAY >>> Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow AHA Night Treatment
Texture and uneven skin tone your beauty bug bear? Enter: Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow AHA Night Treatment. Supercharged with watermelon extract and a potent blend of, not one, but seven hyaluronic acids, niacinamide, quinoa peptides and a 2% pH-balanced AHA complex, this magical moonlight wonder addresses dark spots, pigmentation and blemishes to unveil brighter, more radiant looking skin.
Best for: oily skin
SHOP ALL GLOW RECIPE >>> Youth To The People Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream
Skin feeling less than its best? Introduce your complexion to Youth To The People’s Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream. Like a superfood smoothie, featuring antioxidant rich leafy greens, green tea and hyaluronic acid, this featherlight formula sinks into skin leaving it revived and restored. Enriched with a heavy dose of vitamin C, E and K in the formula, this nighttime rescue protects your skin as you sleep while simultaneously drawing in as much moisture as it can from the environment. The result? A face that feels plump, hydrated and refreshed.
Best for: tired skin
SHOP ALL YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE >>> Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Rich Hydration Cream
We can’t have a list of the best night creams without mentioning the MVP of brightening formulas, Sunday Riley’s C.E.O Vitamin C Rich Hydration Cream. Formulated with advanced vitamin C (known as 5% THD Ascorbate), soothing bisabol and gentle exfoliating lime pearl, this fast-absorbing hydrator not only levels up the moisture in your skin but protects it from blue light and pollution — ensuring your complexion looks brighter, smoother and much more glowy come dawn.
Best for: brightening
SHOP ALL SUNDAY RILEY >>> Sarah Chapman Icon Night Smartsome A3 X503 Moisturiser
Indulgent, intelligent and ultra-luxurious, Sarah Chapman’s Icon Night Smartsome A3 X503 Moisturiser is carefully crafted with six unique peptides that target mature skin. Harnessing its power to repair cell damage, fight free radicals, increase cell proliferation and increase cell density, this evening essential is infused with a encapsulated retinaldehyde to tackle fine lines and wrinkles quickly and efficiently. And if that’s not enough, this elixir also calls on an exotic blend of jasmine absolute, hyacinth absolute and rose damascene aromatic essential oils that softly lulls you to sleep.
Best for: mature skin
SHOP ALL SARAH CHAPMAN >>> Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream
Protect your complexion from unwanted water loss with Drunk Elephant’s Lala Retro Whipped Cream. Luxurious in texture but lightweight on skin, this daily dose of hydration is powered by antioxidant rich marula oil, mongongo, Kalahari melon and vitamin C rich ximenia. Produced at an optimal pH level of 5.5, this complexion comforting necessity delivers a steady stream of hydration during the day... and night.
Best for: a dose of antioxidants
SHOP ALL DRUNK ELEPHANT >>> Alpha-H Beauty Sleep Power Peel
Eponymously named, Alpha-H Beauty Sleep Power Peel is the plumping and radiance-boosting solution that works wonders while you snooze. Powered by a potent, skin refining cocktail of 14% glycolic acid and 0.5% retinol, this exfoliating treatment works by unclogging pores, encouraging cell regeneration and enhancing and triggering cell metabolism. The result? A complexion that looks firmer, more polished and brimming with vitality once the sun rises.
Best for: refining skin
SHOP ALL ALPHA-H >>> Caudalie Resveratrol-Lift Firming Night Cream
Revitalise your complexion while you indulge in much-needed beauty sleep with Caudalie’s Resveratrol-Lift Firming Night Cream. Packed with 98% natural ingredients, this luxurious formula utilises antioxidant-rich grape seed oil and deeply hydrating olive squalane to nourish and restore your skin overnight. Further enhanced by Caudalie's exclusive Resveratrol Complex, it works tirelessly to smooth and visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles— leaving your skin looking firm, refreshed, and radiant come morning. It's no surprise this potent powerhouse has earned a coveted spot on our top 10 best night creams list.
Best for: a lifting effect
SHOP ALL CAUDALIE >>> BEST NIGHT CREAMS FAQs
Do overnight creams work?
Yes, overnight creams work because they are specifically formulated to work with your skin’s natural repair processes that happen while you sleep. Your skin is also much more absorptive during the night, meaning that the powerful and potent ingredients found in the best night creams are more readily absorbed and are in turn more effective.
Is night cream better than moisturiser?
Whether a night cream is better than a moisturiser is totally dependent on your skin type and goals. If you are looking for just a dose of daily hydration, without the need to tackle a particular complexion concern, then a moisturiser may be the better option. However, if you are trying to tackle fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation or even sensitivity, a targeted night cream may be a better option.
Should you use night cream every night?
Yes, you should use your night cream every night. Consistency is key to ensure you have a steady stream of hydration and that your body’s natural repairing process is supported too.
So, there you have it— a roundup of the top 10 best night creams, each one working its magic while you snooze. So, go ahead, pick your favourite, hit the hay and let these dreamy formulas do all the heavy lifting (or, should we say, smoothing).
SHOP ALL NIGHT CREAMS >>> 
