Which moisturizer is best for dry skin?
Moisture is essential for healthy skin. If you have dry skin, though, you need some extra help to hydrate your skin. Unfortunately, that means any old moisturizer just won’t do.
When you’re buying a moisturizer for dry skin, you want a heavier formula with ingredients that attract moisture to the skin and seal it in, such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, dimethicone and urea. Providing adequate hydration can help smooth the skin, fight fine lines and wrinkles and leave you with a glow even if it’s naturally dry.
Need a high-quality moisturizer to boost your skin’s hydration? Here are some of the best moisturizers for dry skin that can leave you a bright, healthy complexion year-round.
Best moisturizers for dry skin 2021
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Moisturizer with Ceramides
With six African oils and a ceramide complex, this rich moisturizer helps provide intense hydration and strengthen your skin’s protective barrier. It also helps combat the visible signs of aging and protects against environmental stress. The formula is also vegan.
Avene RICH Revitalizing Nourishing Cream
This intensive moisturizer cream provides plenty of hydration without clogging your pores. It helps strengthen your skin’s natural protective barrier and fights damage from pollution and other environmental stressors with red fruit extract. Formulated to reduce the risk of irritation, this moisturizer is safe for sensitive skin.
Sold by Ulta
Cetaphil Deep Hydration Healthy Glow Daily Face Cream
This affordable moisturizer can restore your skin’s hydration for up to 48 hours but is still lightweight and non-greasy. It contains hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5 and vitamin E to help moisturize and soothe the skin. It helps strengthen sensitive skin over time and leaves your complexion with a healthy glow too.
Clinique Smart SPF 15 Custom-Repair Moisturizer for Very Dry Skin
If you want a moisturizer that can help fight fine lines and wrinkles and firm the skin, this is an excellent option. It doesn’t contain any oil but features ingredients that help draw and retain moisture in the skin. It also provides SPF 15 for sun protection during the day and is non-acnegenic.
Sold by Amazon, Macy’s, Sephora and Ulta
For highly dehydrated skin, this intensive moisturizing ointment is usually your best bet. It provides a protective barrier for the skin that locks in moisture and helps soothe irritation and redness. It’s preservative and fragrance-free too.
Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer
This rich cream can restore moisture to dry, stressed skin and plump its appearance to reduce the look of fine lines. It contains fig fruit extract to help bind moisture in the skin and a ceramide blend that prevents moisture loss. It’s also cruelty-free and comes in recyclable packaging.
Sold by Sephora
This creamy moisturizer doesn’t contain any fragrance, dyes or parabens, so it’s a good option for sensitive skin. It’s dermatologist-tested and non-comedogenic, too, which reduces the risk of breakouts. Despite the rich texture, it absorbs quickly, preventing any greasy residue.
Sold by Amazon
Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer
An intense moisturizer, this formula is full of antioxidants and hydrating, plumping ingredients, which leave the skin with a healthy glow. The hyaluronic acid attracts moisture to the skin, while the botanical extracts help retain the moisture. It can help restore firmness and elasticity and boost luminosity too.
Sold by Amazon, Sephora and Violet Grey
Keys Soulcare Skin Transformation Cream
Developed by a board-certified dermatologist, this moisturizer is a clean, cruelty-free formula. It contains ceramides to hydrate and plump the skin and antioxidants that help improve tone and texture. It also adds instant radiance to the skin.
Sold by Ulta
Youth To The People Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream with Ashwagandha + Reishi
This vegan, cruelty-free cream provides rich hydration with squalane, jojoba and shea butter. It won’t clog the pores and can help improve fine lines, wrinkles and redness. It doesn’t contain any parabens, phthalates or sulfates either.
Sold by Sephora
This highly affordable, dermatologist-recommended moisturizer is an ideal option for dry skin. It contains hyaluronic acid and ceramides to provide 24-hour hydration. It absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave behind a greasy or sticky residue. The formula is also fragrance-free, paraben-free and non-comedogenic.
Sunday Riley ICE Ceramide Moisturizing Cream
Another ceramide-rich moisturizer, this formula helps strengthen your skin’s natural protective barrier to lock in moisture. The included beetroot and coconut help draw moisture to the skin, while its vitamin F and pomegranate sterols seal it in. It helps diminish fine lines, wrinkles, uneven texture and dullness too.
Sold by Macy’s, Sephora and SkinStore
Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream
This rich moisturizer can hydrate and smooth dry, rough-looking skin, leaving you with a luminous complexion. It features a blend of plant-based ingredients that help nourish and soothe the skin. It’s dermatologist-tested, too, so it’s usually a safe option for sensitive skin.
Sold by Ulta
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Cream
This anti-aging moisturizer doesn’t just help improve existing fine lines and prevent future wrinkles. It also delivers intense moisture that lasts for up to 24 hours. Because it absorbs so easily, you don’t have to worry about a greasy residue. It doesn’t contain any sulfates, parabens or phthalates either.
e.l.f. Cosmetics Holy Hydration! Face Cream SPF 30
This lightweight moisturizer delivers a surprising amount of hydration to leave the skin looking plump and supple. It includes hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and peptides to help boost collagen production for firmer-looking skin. It also provides SPF 30 to protect your skin from sun damage.
Olay Regenerist Ultra-Rich Moisturizer
This fragrance-free moisturizer instantly hydrates the skin and leaves it looking firm and plump. It also features vitamin B3+ peptides that help strengthen and nourish the skin. The formula is extremely thick and creamy, but it doesn’t leave a greasy residue behind either.
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Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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