Is there a difference between day and night creams?
The main difference between day and night creams is the sun protection factor. Your day cream has protecting SPF and night cream does not. Day creams also tend to be more lightweight which makes for better wear under makeup. While your day cream should also contain anti-aging ingredients, your night cream needs to pack a powerful punch.
**You can use an anti-aging moisturizer and a separate SPF if needed for the day.
Why is night cream important?
I used to think the day and night cream were basically the same thing with SPF being the only difference, so not true! At night is when your skin does its recovery, repair, and cell regeneration is maximum, so using a night cream that works with and boosts these processes makes it a substantial part of your nighttime routine.
How to choose a night cream
First of all, your night cream is going to have a heavier texture than your day cream. It should also include ingredients that will nourish, help cell renewal, replenish hydration, and treat the skin to help further repair. The ingredients to look for in a night cream include peptides, retinol, hydroxy acids, and antioxidants like niacinamide, Coq10, and vitamins C & E.
You will want to look for ingredients that also suit your skin type whether dry, sensitive, oily and acne-prone, or mature.
For dry skin, you want a cream that contains a humectant, such as hyaluronic acid, and an emollient, such as squalene. Cetaphil Rich Hydrating Night Cream would be a good choice.
Sensitive skin needs a soothing cream that will help in repairing the skin barrier such as CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream.
If you have oily or acne-prone skin, Paula’s Choice Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator is recommended.
Mature Skin Night Creams
When it comes to the word “mature”, it is being used very loosely because even someone in their 20s can benefit from an anti-aging night cream. Mature can simply mean it is prone to fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots. However, you may have more of a concern about collagen loss and lack of firmness. So for the best anti-agers is where you will want to pack as many of the ingredients listed above into your night cream.
Lucky for you, I have compiled a list!
1. Juice Beauty Stem Cell Anti-Wrinkle Overnight Cream–
2. Olay Retinol 24 Max Night Cream
3. Skinceuticals Triple Lipid Layer Restore ( Even though I have tried all of these and this is a bit pricey, this one is my favorite and when you try it, you will see why!)
4. No. 7 Hydra luminous Overnight Recovery Gel Cream
5. L’Oreal Revitalift Pressed Night Cream
Should Vaseline be used as a moisturizer?
Also known as slugging, petroleum jelly does have many skincare uses according to some dermatologists. It can soothe dry skin, alleviate itching, assist in wound healing, and can even seal in other skin treatments.
However, sealing in the skin treatments can also increase the potency and absorption of tretinoin, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, retinol, and retinoids which could cause irritation.
It is non-comedogenic but if you have oily or acne-prone skin, you may want to practice some precautions.
You may have seen this done on Tik Tok but it doesn’t take a very thick layer to enjoy the benefits. Applying a thin layer, in conjunction with your other nighttime products, will do for the best benefits.
In Conclusion
Adding the right night cream to your nighttime routine will have your skin looking and feeling well-hydrated, more youthful, and even glowing every morning you wake up. Even though it may take a little trial and error to find the one perfect for your specific concerns, using the list above will have you off to a tremendous start.
I would love to hear from you and your experiences below!
Hello Siobhan, Thank you for sharing your lovely article about night beauty care. I think there is no question about it being true. This is a topic that many women will relate to. A lot of women don’t take care of their skin at night and sometimes during the day, and then they are wondering why come to 30 they start to have wrinkles. I’m lucky I never had this issue because I started to use face creams when I was 15years old mainly because it is part of my profession, and also watching out what you eat and exercise regularly. I’ll be sure to come back to your website for some more tips on beauty care!
All the Best!
I agree that many women and men don’t take care of their skin the way they should. It is also very important to care for yourself from the inside out so I am glad to hear you do that as well! I am glad you enjoyed the article, thanks.
I really like what your article is about. In the last couple of years, I have been more conscious of my face. How I wear my make-up, not using cheap stuff for my face, using more creams and facial toners. Reading your article helped me understand exactly the difference between the day and night cream and how differently they work for you. I have used Revitalift and thought it was ok, I think I want to try the one you are recommending.
It may take some trial and error, as I said in the article because different creams are going to work differently for each individual. Let me know how my recommendation works out for you.
Very interesting blog. I do not wear any skin creams. But I do love lotions! As long as there are no carcinogenic properties in them. This is a really good topic to really have a sit down discussion about. Never knew about the different kind of properties that makes up skin cream. I wonder if skin creams and lotions are some what similar. They seem to serve the same purpose. Awesome blog glad I came across this.
Ms. Kida 🙂
Actually, a lot of lotions tend to have alcohol in them which can be drying. You should check the ingredients on the label to make sure and if it does contain alcohol, I would switch to something else.