Face moisturizer protects your skin and fortifies its natural moisture barrier, making it a critical part of your daily skin care regimen. Niche luxury beauty products, which can cost as much as $100 or more, make big, tempting promises about anti-aging, brightening or ultra-plumping properties, but are they any better than what you can find in a drug or big-box store — for far less? Skin care experts say that, in most cases, probably not. On first glance, the ingredients of three top-selling Sephora moisturizers — Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Moisturizer (1.
6 oz., $56), Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream (1.69 oz.
, $69) and Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream (1.7 oz., $39) are remarkably similar to drugstore staple Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer (3 oz.
, $13) — with glycerin, hyaluronic acid, water, cetearyl alcohol and ceramides. “The base ingredients in drugstore and luxury brand facial moisturizers are the same. The differences are additives and packaging,” says Michele Green, a cosmetic dermatologist in New York who spent five years as an industry consultant.
Even so, she adds, “luxury brands do tend to be formulated with more potent, unique skin care ingredients.” But while the quality and amounts of the active ingredients may differ, it’s not enough to make a difference for most people. The exceptions, she says, are people who have a skin condition such as rosacea or eczema.
“Fundamentally, this is all about hydrating your face and locking in moisture,” says Michelle Henry, a dermatologist in New York. “All those peptides, oxidants, essential oils or exotic ingredients, which are harder to source and more expensive, are fine if you want to spend more, but unnecessary for great results in general.” Even if you can decipher the label, there’s no way to determine concentration or proportion for most of the ingredients, Henry says.
“Ingredients that constitute one percent or more, typically only water and sometimes glycerin, are listed in order of concentration. Everything else can be listed randomly.” Mary Alice Mina, a dermatologist in Atlanta and the host of “The Skin Real” podcast, favours drugstore brands for personal use.
“The fancier products have many botanicals and fragrances, which can be irritating to the skin,” she says. Major companies that make brands sold at supermarkets and drugstores have massive budgets for research and development, Mina adds. That’s how L’Oreal or Procter & Gamble, for example, are able to make great products at an affordable price, Henry says.
When shopping, it helps to understand a few basics. First, know the terminology. There are three broad types of moisturizers.
Creams, which are thicker than lotion and contain more oils, are best for dry skin. Lotions contain more water and are good for normal to oily skin. Gels have an even lighter consistency than lotions and work well on oily skin.
It also helps to understand what’s in a product. Facial moisturizers typically contain humectants, emollients and/or occlusives. “Humectants pull moisture from the environment to hydrate the skin.
Emollients soften and smooth the skin. Occlusives create a barrier on the skin to trap moisture and prevent water loss,” Green says. Read the ingredient list on the label to learn more.
You’ll typically find: It’s also important to match your moisturizer to your skin type. For instance, choose one that has intense hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid if you have dry skin, or one that is non-comedogenic or oil-free if you have oily skin. “Avoid moisturizers with parabens, fragrances, dyes, alcohol, or phthalates, as these ingredients are known skin irritants,” Green says.
And ignore words or phrases such as “medical-grade,” “natural” or “clean.” Those are unregulated marketing terms and have nothing to do with a product’s efficacy. And to avoid wasting money on the wrong product, Henry suggests asking your dermatologist for recommendations and samples.
To help you sort through the options, we asked experts for some of their favourites. These moisturizers all cost about $25 or less..
