8 Best Night Creams

The winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s most recent night cream test, Olay’s light formula featuring gold-standard anti-aging ingredients retinol, niacinamide and peptides outperformed the rest at making skin look brighter and more lifted and feel softer. Backed by the Good Housekeeping Seal, it increased skin firmness by 27% according to measurements with the Lab’s Cutometer device, which measures skin laxity. An impressive 100% of testers agreed it made skin feel softer. “This seemed to work as well as my prescription retinoid,” a tester marveled. “My face was firmer and smoother when I woke up each morning,” a second said. Plus, even Jennifer Hudson is a fan!

• Key Ingredients: Retinol, niacinamide, peptides
• Main Benefits: Brightening, firming, softening
• Best For: Dry, aging skin
• Size: 1.7 oz.

This lightweight gel cream from L’Oréal Paris, containing plumping hyaluronic acid, is a heavy hitter and GH Beauty Lab night cream test top performer. Ranked among the highest tested for firming and hydrating, it offers good bang for your buck. In Lab testing, it boosted skin’s firmness 36% and hydration levels 40%. “I could see a real difference in my skin after just a few uses,” one said. “My husband even commented on how good my skin looks!” a second revealed. Most appreciated the tube’s convenience, though one noted that the opening seemed big and the cap became messy.

• Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, caffeine
• Main Benefits: Hydrating, firming
• Best For: Dry, aging skin
• Size: 2 oz.

Packed with a powerful trifecta of illuminating vitamin C, hydrating hyaluronic acid and smoothing retinol, this GH Seal star night cream from No7 is a top-tested formula for giving skin a radiant glow. Thanks to its powerful ingredients, it helps smooth and firm skin, while also evening skin tone. After using the cream for four weeks in our tests, 83% of testers said their wrinkles were visibly reduced, 78% said their skin looked lifted and 81% said their skin tone looked more even.

• Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, retinol
• Main Benefits: Illuminating, evening skin tone, reducing wrinkles, lifting
• Best For: Dull, aging skin
• Size: 1.6 oz.

Despite its featherweight, gel-like formula, Exuviance was a strong performer in GH Beauty Lab testing, winning for minimizing the look of lines on aging skin. The treatment, loaded with actives like glycolic acid, peptides and retinol, gave faces a “lift” too, rating at the top both in Lab evaluations and with testers for making skin look and feel firmer. According to digital imaging with the Lab’s Visia Complexion Analyzer device, it improved the look of wrinkles by an impressive 10% in four weeks and raised skin’s firmness 31% in Cutometer measurements. Several testers reported that they noticed fewer lines too.

• Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, peptides, retinol
• Main Benefits: Reducing wrinkles, firming
• Best For: Aging skin
• Size: 1.75 oz.

Wake up glowing with Algenist’s rich formula, which uses the regenerating properties of microalgae: It received high scores in GH Beauty Lab night cream testing for diminishing hyperpigmentation, as well as evening and brightening skin tone. The cream reduced the appearance of dark spots by 11% and raised skin hydration 33% in Lab measurements. Shining tester comments included, “People said I was glowing!”; “It’s really removing my dark spots”; and “I could go to work without wearing makeup.

• Key Ingredients: Vitamins C and E, peptides
• Main Benefits: Dark spot reduction, brightening, moisturizing
• Best For: Dry, hyperpigmented skin
• Size: 2 oz.

This Philosophy formula, packed with skin-softening, nourishing hyaluronic acid, glycerin and squalane, was the hero hydrator of all the GH Beauty Lab test winners. It raised hydration by 34% over six hours, and it upped firmness by 29% in four weeks. The cream rated best for smoothing texture, being gentle on dry skin and its subtle scent; it also earned high marks for firming. Almost 100% of testers said it didn’t irritate or cause redness. “My skin looked better after the first night,” one remarked.

• Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, squalane, glycerin
• Main Benefits: Moisturizing, firming
• Best For: Dry, aging skin
• Size: 2 oz.

Skin that suffers from breakouts still needs hydration: Enter this lightweight gel night cream from No7, a GH Seal star. GH Beauty Lab data analysis confirmed that 86% of users found it had a weightless texture, 90% that it instantly absorbed into skin and 93% that it didn’t leave skin feeling sticky after use. In the morning after the first application of the glycerin and vitamin E formula, 76% of testers said their skin looked refreshed.

• Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, glycerin
• Main Benefits: Hydrating, refreshing
• Best For: Oily, combination and acne-prone skin
• Size: 1.69 oz.

Mary Kay’s night cream, a GH Steal star, was formulated specially for oily and combination skin types. Made with anti-aging vitamin B3 and peptides, it’s non-comedogenic, meaning it won’t clog pores. The formula also absorbs quickly and feels non-greasy, GH Beauty Lab evaluations found. After five weeks of use, 85% of testers found it enhanced skin’s youthful glow, Lab data analysis confirmed.

• Key Ingredients: Niacinamide, peptides
• Main Benefits: Radiance-boosting, hydrating
• Best For: Oily and combination skin
• Size: 1.7 oz.