The 23 Best Facial Moisturizers of 2022 for Hydrated, Healthy Skin
Some people may cringe when they hear the word moist, but when it comes to moisturizers, we've got nothing but love. For many, it's the final step in a skin-care routine, and whether you're looking for a lighter option to wear during the day, or a souped-up version for an overnight glow-up, we've tested countless formulas in our day-to-day work as beauty editors. Whether you've got dry, oily, or combination skin, odds are the perfect face cream for you has passed through our offices.
"Moisturizers are an essential part of every skin-care routine," Shereene Idriss, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Union Square Laser Dermatology in New York City, tells Allure. "Just as our bodies require us to hydrate with water, so does our skin." While our skin appears dewier almost instantly, the real benefits show up in the long term. Idriss says that consistent use of moisturizers slows down the rate and intensity at which fine lines and wrinkles appear.
This daily philosophy applies to all skin types, and not just dry skin. "Overwashing without the appropriate use of a moisturizer will actually trigger an overproduction of oil on your skin," Divya Shokeen, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Torrance, California previously explained. In short, if you don't rehydrate your skin, it will become dried-out and irritated — which then opens your skin up to a cache of troubles.
"People confuse oil with hydration, so they don't properly hydrate the skin," New York City-based board-certified dermatologist Doris Day, MD, noted. "We now have really great ingredients, like hyaluronic acid, which balances oil and water in the skin." Increased hydration supports a stronger barrier, she said, which then helps curb oil production.
Here, we've rounded up the 23 best face moisturizers (the crème de la cream, if you will), including Allure Best of Beauty Award winners and recommendations from dermatologists to help you find the moisturizer of your dreams.
All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
- 1/23
CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
- 2/23
Caudalie's Premier Cru The Cream
Caudalie's Premier Cru The Cream features three active ingredients that are so good that they earned this treatment 2022 Best of Beauty Award. The formula helps minimize wrinkles, followed by hyaluronic acid to replenish moisture, and last but not least, sugars derived from honey locust, which tighten skin in three minutes' time.
- Courtesy of brand3/23
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Moisturizer SPF 30
A common complaint about sunscreens (and even moisturizers with added SPF) is that they can show up ashy on tan to deep skin tones. Not La Roche-Posay's Toleriane Double Repair Moisturizer SPF 30. The thermal water-infused face lotion won't cause makeup to slip and slide and quickly absorbs with a translucent finish.
- 4/23
Ole Henkrisen Strength Trainer Peptide Boost Moisturizer
The Ole Henkrisen Strength Trainer Peptide Boost Moisturizer is loaded with all the good stuff: conditioning peptides, moisturizing ceramides, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and firming collagen. With just a pea-sized amount of this formula, your skin will look glowy, feel softer, and smell fruity (thanks to the addition of mango shea butter).
- Courtesy of brand5/23
Paula's Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer
How do you follow up the success of a fan-favorite serum? By releasing a moisturizer version, of course. Paula's Choice's latest addition to the Omega+ family, Complex Moisturizer, features ceramides, botanical oils, and antioxidant-rich guava and passionfruit to nourish dry skin.
- 6/23
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
If you have eczema or sensitive skin, the award-winning First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream is for you. (It's won a Best of Beauty and Readers' Choice Award, so you know it's legit.) Made with soothing colloidal oatmeal, this thick moisturizer hydrates any dry spots or patches without irritating the skin.
- 7/23
Farmacy Daily Greens Oil-Free Gel Moisturizer
Farmacy's Daily Greens Oil-Free Gel Moisturizer has a feel-good formula in every sense of the word. For starters, its lightweight gel texture is satisfyingly bouncy and glassy when scooped out of the jar, and melts into skin as you apply it. The moisturizer also includes a cocktail of skin-perfecting ingredients like a quadruple dose of hyaluronic acid (for mega hydration), papaya extract (for gentle exfoliation), and moringa seed extract (for removing impurities) which leave skin looking dewy and brighter. The cherry on top: The farm-sourced, cruelty-free formula is bottled up in recycled packaging.
- Courtesy of brand8/23
The Inkey List Peptide Moisturizer
With its one-percent peptide complex and special smoothing royal jelly protein, The Inkey List Peptide Moisturizer's price seems like a typo. For just $15, this shea butter-rich cream does the heavy lifting of moisturizers 10 times the price, deeply moisturizing and smoothing skin while absorbing quickly for a non-heavy feel.
- 9/23
Aveeno Calm + Restore Redness Relief Cream
Soothe your skin with a pea-sized amount of the Aveeno Calm + Restore Redness Relief Cream. This moisturizer is loaded with vitamin B5 and ceramides to relieve redness and calm your complexion. Plus, it has oat flour that smooths down any textured skin.
- Courtesy of brand10/23
Glow Recipe Plum Plump Refillable Moisturizer
Glow Recipe is known to be one of the Internet's buzziest brands with the brightest formulas, and the skin-perfecting goodness of its Refillable Plum Plump Hyaluronic Cream is further proof. The whipped gel-cream gets its gorgeous lavender color from three different types of plums (kakadu, illawara, and Burdekin) and its intense moisture-replenishing powers from five weights of hyaluronic acid. Slather it on your face and neck twice daily for a radiant glow and healthy bounce that leaves skin looking plump and dewy. The brand also upped the ante on its sustainability pledge, offering replacement pods that pop into the glass jar when you need to restock.
- Courtesy of brand11/23
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream for Extra-Dry Skin
The Neutrogena Hydroboost Water Gel moisturizer is a cool, bouncy gel-cream that feels delightfully cushiony on skin. That's only one of the many reasons we love it. It also boasts exceptional hydrating benefits. "Although it feels gel-like, it's packed with glycerin and dimethicone which add moisture to the skin, seal it in, and help the product go on smoothly," notes Dr. Sarkar. As an added bonus, she notes that it doesn't cause breakouts even among her acne-prone patients.
- Courtesy of brand12/23
Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Calming Gel Cream
Extremely lightweight in texture and feel, Dr. Jart+'s Cicapair Tiger Grass Calming Gel Cream contains glycerin, niacinamide, cica, and the brand's proprietary microbiome complex to not only moisturize skin and soothe irritation, but strengthen your skin's defensive abilities as well. Dr. Jart's Cicapair line is a favorite among skin-care enthusiasts, but the Calming Gel Cream takes the cake in terms of no-fuss, daytime moisturizers, which is why it won a 2020 Allure Best of Beauty Award.
- 13/23
SK-II Skinpower Cream
SK-II Skinpower Cream is the definition of a splurge-worthy skin-care product, especially since it took the honor of a 2022 Best of Beauty Award in the — you guessed it — splurges category. SK-II's famed (and proprietary) pitera complex comes from a yeast fermentation process that almost mimics that of sake and is packed with over 50 vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and acids to intensely moisturize and condition skin.
A bouquet of floral extracts including calla lily extract, dokudami extract, and peony extract supercharges the plumpness of your skin — in addition to fan-favorite ingredients like glycerin, niacinamide, and shea butter. Give your skin a quick massage by working the cream into your forehead, cheeks, chin, and neck, and call it a day.
- 14/23
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream
The price tag on Augustinus Bader’s widely adored Rich Cream may make you do a double-take, but so will the unbelievably impressive results. The formula is anchored by the brand's patented Trigger Factor Complex (TFC8), which is rooted in 30 years of clinical research and includes over 40 powerful natural ingredients — like peptides, hyaluronic acid, rice proteins, and shea butter — that intensely hydrate and support cellular turnover. The buttery cream feels decadent as you apply it and pampers the heck out of skin, soothing dry patches, making skin appear visibly smoother, and brightening an uneven skin tone.
We love the Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream so much we added it to our March 2022 Allure Beauty Box lineup. You can score the Allure Beauty Box here for access to even more editor favorites — for just $23.
- Courtesy of brand15/23
Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream
Kiehl's best-selling Ultra Facial Cream has been a beloved skin-care staple for years and with good reason: It works. "In the winter my skin needs moisture but can't take too much fragrance," notes Boston-based board-certified dermatologist Papri Sarkar, MD. "This cream, packed with glycerin, squalane, and plant oils (like apricot and avocado) hydrates and helps to seal in moisture without irritating." All you need is a dime-sized amount to seal your entire complexion in comforting hydration.
- Courtesy of brand16/23
E.L.F. Holy Hydration! Face Cream Fragrance Free
If you like E.L.F.'s Holy Hydration! Face Cream but your nose or skin prefers moisturizer without added scent, you will love the fragrance-free version. You still get all the plumping, brightening, and hydrating benefits of hyaluronic acid, peptides, and niacinamide — just without the fragrance frills.
- Courtesy of brand17/23
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream
A winner of our 2016 Best of Beauty Award and three-time Readers' Choice Award winner, the Lala Retro Whipped Cream by Drunk Elephant is the ultimate fancy-but-not-too-fancy, unscented moisturizer that, despite being packed with nourishing ingredients, doesn't feel the least bit heavy. It'll wrap your skin in an airy blanket of plant-derived ceramides and moisture-boosting oils (e.g. green tea, soybean, etc.) that guard against water loss for all-day (or all-night) relief.
- Courtesy of brand18/23
Eminence Organics Mangosteen Gel Moisturizer
If you're on the hunt for a lightweight gel-cream moisturizer that'll immediately sink into your skin without a trace, we have a hunch Eminence Organics' Mangosteen Gel Moisturizer could be your perfect match. This 2021 Best of Beauty Award winner hydrates skin without leaving a greasy finish. Inside you'll find a formula packed with antioxidant-rich mangosteen to promote radiance, red clover flower extract to refine pores, and ribose (from corn seeds) for an overall smoother complexion.
- 19/23
Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream Moisturizer
The second you slather on this Allure Best of Beauty Award-winning airy cream, you know it's a hit. It's really lightweight and moisturizing, full of some of the best hydrators out there like squalane, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid.
We love it so much we added it to our September Allure Beauty Box lineup. You can score the Allure Beauty Box here for access to even more editor favorites — for just $23. Check out beauty's top subscription box on TikTok at @allurebeautybox.
- Courtesy of brand20/23
BeautyStat Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Cream
Leave it to the work of a cosmetic chemist to develop a product that strikes the fine balance of achieving a rich, pampering texture, with a lightweight feel. Ron Robinson formulated BeautyStat's soothing Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Cream to deliver on both, with a healthy dose of hyaluronic acid and ceramides that replenish moisture to skin and leave a healthy, glowy finish.
- Courtesy of brand21/23
Murad Intense Recovery Cream
For dry to severely dry skin, you want to bring the heavy (hydration) hitters into your nighttime skin-care routine. Murad Intense Recovery Cream, a rich, seafoam-green-tinted cream, is a 2021 Best of Beauty Award winner because it puts a stop to redness and visibly calms signs of stressed skin. Star ingredients include shea butter, macadamia oil, redness-soothing mirabilis jalapa plant extract, and fine-line-smoothing microalgae extract, making it the ideal nightcap for your skin.
- Courtesy of brand22/23
Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion
Looking for a drugstore pick that holds up to its pricier counterparts? Cetaphil's Daily Hydrating Lotion contains hyaluronic acid, a dream ingredient for anyone with dry skin.
- Courtesy of brand23/23
Skinfix Barrier+ Lipid-Peptide Cream
If your skin is thirsty for some serious hydration, look no further than this 2019 Allure Best of Beauty Awards winner. The super-rich Skinfix Lipid-Peptide Cream has it all: emollient shea butter, sodium hyaluronate, and a triple-packed blend of fatty oils that feed even the most dehydrated skin. And protein-packed peptides help strengthen skin barriers against environmental damage.
