The Ultimate Night Cream Guide

Do you use a night cream? If not, you’re not alone. With more baffling, advanced skincare available than ever, it can be hard to determine whether you really need to go that extra mile with a night cream – or if just using a daily moisturiser will cut it. The dazzling range of night creams for dry skin and night creams for oily skin can make choosing the best product for your skin type even more daunting. 

We spoke to Dr Maryam Zamani to find out about the benefits of night creams and how best to apply them, to help you make your mind up. 

What is night cream?

A night cream is usually a heavier, thicker moisturiser that works to hydrate, nourish and revive the skin overnight. They can be used to help enhance your nightly skincare routine as they often contain additional skin-loving actives that aren’t suitable to use during the day. Night creams also tend to be richer in texture so that they prevent moisture loss overnight.  

What does a night cream do?

It may sound basic, but it’s not always completely clear what a night cream does, or why you might need one. “At night our skin, minds and bodies self-repair and restore,” says Dr Zamani. “A night cream gives a higher, more intense dose of active ingredients that penetrate the skin more deeply whilst we sleep to help this regenerative process,” she continues. “While asleep we can bolster collagen and elastin production, help improve skin hydration and reverse signs of ageing, and a night cream supports this.” 

What are the benefits of night creams?

A night cream has many benefits, including giving deep hydration as you sleep. When we sleep, skin can lose hydration through evaporation, and a night cream can help lock in skin hydration for a more supple, radiant complexion in the morning. Controlling sebum in oily skin is also one of the benefits of night cream– using ingredients like nature’s retinol to help with sebum production – as well as improving collagen and elastin production. 

Why use a night cream?

Skin has the perfect opportunity to regenerate during the night while we are asleep. While your body is rested and your skin is not exposed to any harmful elements, skin regeneration is triggered and activated at around 11pm, and reaches its peak by 1am. During sleep, your skin cells renew around three times faster than they do during the day due to boosted blood circulation – making it the perfect sweet spot for deeply nourishing the skin with a night cream.

Best night creams for each skin type

Best firming & anti-ageing night creams

If you want to target signs of ageing, including firmness and fine lines while hydrating your skin, you might need a firming night cream that can radiant and supple skin. 

Clarins Extra-Firming Night Cream, with ingredients such as kangaroo flower and moonstone hydrated silica, helps skin cells regenerate overnight. This is the best firming night cream that makes your skin plump and firmed as it contains Moonstone Hydrated Silica which encourages night-time regeneration to maintain the skin’s youthful qualities.

Best hydrating night creams for dry skin

Clarins Hydra-Essentiel [HA2] Night Cream is probably the top and best hydrating night cream that we want to mention.

Packed with hyaluronic acid and organic leaf of life extract, this powerhouse hybrid is one of the most hydrating night time formulas around. Apply a generous helping after cleansing and serum application.

The cream also includes line-filling pearls to noticeably smooth dehydration wrinkles and plant-based squalane to reinforce the hydrolipidic layer, because the skin's barrier function is less efficient and water evaporates more quickly at night. When you wake up, your skin looks beautiful because of the light and creamy texture that quickly melts into it.

If you want a lighter texture, you can explore our Clarins Hydra-Essentiel [HA2] Silky Cream or Light Cream that melts instantly into the skin.

Clarins Super Restorative Night Cream for Very Dry Skin This night cream is another great option for dry skin to be enriched with ingredients that boost radiant and glow. With service tree bud extract as the main ingredient, this cream is ideal for anyone who needs to add extra nourishment and hydration to their complexion.

Best night creams for oily skin

Clarins Multi-Active Night Cream is the perfect night cream for combination skin, this revitalising night cream works to plump, firm and hydrate during sleep. Our Multi-active night cream contains 92% natural ingredients and niacinamide, designed to renew the skin and smooth the complexion. The skin's youthfulness, brightness, and barrier function are all enhanced. As you sleep, the potent tetrapeptide aids in skin renewal, leaving your complexion softer, more moisturised, and refreshed when you wake up. For those in their thirties, the nutritious mix is great since it helps to counteract the early indications of ageing. 

FAQs

Can You Use Night Cream During the Day?

Depending on the formulation, a day and night moisturiser can be used for both. “Some like a richer, deeper product in the evening to really nourish and enhance skin while they sleep, and prefer a lighter moisturiser in the day that can be layered with SPF and other ingredients,” says Dr Zamani. “Others just prefer the same texture night and day, or want a lighter product if they are more prone to blemishes,” she adds. But, Dr Zamani has one word of warning if you’re thinking about doubling up your day cream as a night cream too. “If you use the same moisturiser in the am and pm, remember to find one without SPF, and just apply your SPF separately during the day.”  

Can You Use Your Day Creams at Night?

According to Dr Zamani, it all depends on which skin concern you’re trying to target. “Depending on what you are targeting, the same cream can be used in the day and the evening,” she says. “In the evening, we have skincare targets of cell renewal which would usually mean using a thicker texture in order to provide better long-term hydration,” she continues. Ultimately, it depends on the formula of the product and what you hope to achieve. 

For day cream, it usually has a lighter texture, even with SPF. Brows our day cream now.

Can You Use a Serum and a Night Cream Together?

You can layer a night cream or a day cream over a serum – and this can be done in the morning and evening to target specific skin concerns. “In the evening, I recommend using a serum to assist in regenerating the skin (such as one filled with antioxidants and other regenerative ingredients), followed by a night cream,” says Dr Zamani. 

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