How to Choose the Right Night Cream: A Complete Guide

Choosing the Right Night Cream for Your Skin Type

While you’re busy catching Z's, your complexion’s hard at work repairing and rejuvenating itself. Adding a night cream to your routine supercharges your beauty sleep and kicks your A.M. glow into hyperdrive.

But with so many options, learning how to choose the right skincare products can feel like a tedious task. You know the feeling — standing in front of the skincare aisle overwhelmed by the sea of products staring back at you. We’ve all been there.

At MD GLAM, we’re passionate about helping you get the most from your skincare. Today, we’re dishing all the insight you need to choose the ultimate night cream for your complexion. 

So cozy up, set that alarm, and get ready to wake up to your best skin yet!

Day Cream vs. Night Cream: What’s the Difference?

Wondering what makes a night cream different from a day cream? It comes down to how your skin cycles throughout the day.

Day creams (like our luscious DMAE Antioxidant Day Moisturizer) act as barriers between your skin and the environment, shielding it from outside stressors like pollution or UV radiation. They’re lightweight, fast-absorbing, and formulated with antioxidants and SPF.

Night creams, on the other hand, reinforce your skin when it’s in repair mode. Ingredients like retinol or hyaluronic acid support your skin’s rejuvenation process by boosting hydration and nourishment. Unlike day creams, they’re richer and more emollient, soaking up slower so they can work their magic while you sleep.

As for the question, “Which night cream should I use?” — the answer depends on your skin type.

What is the Best Night Cream to Use for My Skin?

Skincare isn’t one-size-fits-all, and night creams are no exception. The good news? Navigating that daunting skincare aisle is so much easier when you know your skin type.  

Understanding your complexion and what ingredients work best for your skin goes a long way in helping you pick the right products for achieving your goals. 

Ready to demystify skincare and upgrade your beauty sleep? 

Keep reading for our foolproof tips for choosing the right night cream according to your skin type.

The Best Night Cream for Dry Skin

If you have dry skin, you might notice your skin always feels tight or rough, forming flaky patches or dry spots. You may even find your makeup constantly pills or flakes, despite how perfectly you prime your base.

Sound familiar? Then you need a night cream that delivers a healthy dose of hydration as you snooze. 

Dry, dehydrated skin results from a lack of natural oils. It can be influenced by genetics, age, or environmental factors (like cold and dry weather). When it comes to dry skin, products that compensate for lack of moisture are a must.

As you explore night creams, you’ll want to look for ingredients that quench your skin’s thirst, such as:

• Glycerin: a powerful humectant that attracts and retains moisture, making it an excellent ingredient for dry skin.

• Hyaluronic acid: another potent humectant that can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, making it ideal for skin in need of extra hydration.

• Squalene: a natural oil derived from olives that acts as an excellent emollient for moisturizing and soothing dry, rough skin.

Imagine waking up to a beautifully hydrated complexion that radiates from within — that’s the power of a night cream that complements dry skin.

The Best Night Cream for Oily Skin

Feel like your skin’s perpetually greasy, no matter how often you cleanse your face? 

Are blotting papers and setting powder your holy grail beauty staples?

If this sounds like you, chances are you’ve got oily skin. Unlike dry skin that lacks moisture, oily skin overproduces oil (or sebum). As a result, your skin always feels greasy or looks shiny, despite your best efforts at combating it. 

Incorporating a night cream may seem counterintuitive, especially when you learn that skin produces more oil as you sleep. However, the right ingredients can balance your complexion’s natural oils and counteract overproduction.

The key? Lightweight formulas with ingredients that don’t clog pores or exacerbate oiliness, such as:

• BHA and AHAs: beta-hydroxy and alpha-hydroxy acids help exfoliate your skin, unclog pores, and regulate oil production.

• Witch hazel: a natural astringent that helps tone and tightens your skin, regulating oil production and reducing inflammation.

With a night cream that plays well with oily skin, you'll wake up to a complexion that looks more balanced and less shiny.

The Best Night Cream for Sensitive Skin

If you have sensitive skin, you know firsthand how challenging it is to find products that work with your skin, not against it. 

Your skin is easily irritated, resulting in redness, itchiness, or discomfort. You might have even tried products that promised to soothe and improve skin, only to have them backfire. Oy, vey. 

And if you’re thinking, “Finding a daytime moisturizer that doesn’t make my skin wig out is hard enough — now I have to find a night cream?” We get it.

The truth is that incorporating the right night cream may just be the trick your sensitive skin needs to thrive. 

Think about it: your skin undergoes the same nightly rejuvenation as everyone else, so why wouldn’t you help it along with the right nourishment?

You just have to choose a formula with gentle, non-irritating ingredients, like:

• Hyaluronic acid: night creams formulated with HA help hydrate and plump up the skin without irritating it.

• Aloe vera and chamomile: two natural anti-inflammatories that help soothe and calm irritated skin.

• Vitamin E: a powerful antioxidant that helps protect and nourish sensitive skin.

Investing in a night cream that works harmoniously with your sensitive complexion is a simple yet powerful way to deliver the TLC it deserves.

The Best Night Cream for Anti-Aging

As skin matures, it loses collagen and elastin, leading to fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging. You might find that your skin feels drier. Perhaps, your skincare isn’t delivering the same results as before.

We believe in embracing every stage of life and loving your skin through it all. So shift your perspective and skincare routine to focus on nourishing your ever-evolving complexion.

Aging skin needs a potent night cream to reinforce its natural regenerative process. Two ingredients that work synergistically, delivering powerful anti-aging benefits for the skin are:

• Vitamin C: a potent antioxidant that protects skin from free radicals and stimulates collagen production. This reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improves skin texture and tone, and promotes a youthful-looking complexion.

• Vitamin E: another powerful antioxidant that protects your skin from free radical damage while moisturizing and soothing the skin.

• Retinoids: These powerful compounds born from vitamin A deliver an anti-aging punch, and help to smooth fine lines and wrinkles while promoting supple, youthful-looking skin.

Your skin’s gotten you this far, so why not return the favor with a nourishing night cream that repays you in radiance?

Rise and Shine with MD GLAM

When you take the time to understand your skin’s needs, you’re granted everything you need to find products that truly deliver.

Want a night cream that ticks all these boxes and beyond? Give your skin the overnight pampering it deserves with MD GLAM’s Overnight Beauty Set.

And if you want to build a personalized skincare routine that makes your skin glow from dawn to dusk? Shop luxurious, medical-grade skincare from MD GLAM.