How many steps do you have in your beauty routine? Are you a skincare enthusiast, committed to cleansing, toning and moisturising as well as adding a selection of serums to meet your skin’s specific challenges?
Or perhaps you are more on the other end of the scale, a dab of moisturiser the extent of your face care.
Many of us are somewhere in between.
Regardless of your approach, using a moisturiser is an important way to keep skin in great shape. It has two key roles – hydration and protection – that enhance skin’s health and function.
Adding moisturiser helps retain water within surface layers of the skin so it remains in healthy condition, looking and feeling smooth, plump and full of life. It also helps keep skin’s natural protective barrier working effectively. This helps prevent infection – an important function as skin is the largest organ of our body.
It’s generally advised to apply moisturiser after cleansing your skin in the morning and evening.
So we’ve established it’s a good idea to use one, but what if that simple habit could give your skin a whole lot more, without adding any extra effort?
That’s the goal of a number of ‘souped up’ moisturisers, formulated not only to help with hydration, but to deliver further skin benefits within the formulation. It means even if moisturiser is the extent of your skincare, your complexion will be receiving extra care. Though these benefits aren’t designed to penetrate as deeply as dedicated serums, they are still formulated to work well.
Here’s our pick of some of the best options:
Atopis Radiant Balance Cream
Formulated by New Zealand cell biologist Dr Iona Weir, this natural moisturiser provides skin nourishment to normal skin types, but also helps revitalise more sensitive or tricky skin, including those battling hormonal breakouts or rosacea. It includes an ingredient, Myrecil, created by Dr Weir that promotes cell renewal and regeneration that helps with these issues and more. Myrecil helps with dryness, texture, reduced wrinkles and improved plumpness but the moisturiser also includes further botanical ingredients to soften, brighten and protect against environmental damage.
L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Laser X3 SPF15 Day Cream
L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Laser X3 SPF15 Day Cream is an anti-ageing moisturiser that visibly reduces wrinkles, re-densifies skin and evens out your skin tone. How it achieves that is thanks in part to an ingredient known as Pro-Xylane. A unique sugar-molecule, Pro-Xylane is derived from the beechwood tree and is used to achieve firmness and plumpness within skin. It is combined with other ingredients including hyaluronic acid for hydration and to preserve skin’s tone and elasticity. It also contains UVA/UVB filters in the SPF15 broad spectrum sunscreen to fight against the rays responsible for premature skin ageing and help prevent the formation of age spots. Wanting to level up your results? Add in L’Oreal’s Revitalift Laser x3 Pure Retinol Night Serum before bed.
Murad Essential-C Firming Radiance Day Cream
If you want brighter, smoother more even-toned skin, you can’t go past Murad’s Vitamin C line. The whole range is fantastic and includes a great daily SPF, cleanser, toner, serum and more, but this moisturiser offers plenty of bang for your buck. Yes, those bucks are on the higher end of the price scale, but it’s a reliable performer. It contains potent and stable vitamin C that helps corrects uneven skin tone and boosts radiance, while bacillus ferment helps visibly increase firmness and elasticity.
Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Cream
The list of things this moisturiser promises to address is long, hence the name. A supercharged anti-aging face and neck cream clinically proven to reduce wrinkles, even skin tone and smooth skin’s texture, it has vitamin A, chaga mushroom, hyaluronic acid and more in a one-step daily moisturiser with a silky feel.
Antipodes Lime Caviar Collagen-Rich Firming Day Cream
Another natural beauty that uses the power of plants to boost skin. The star ingredients are Sepilift DPHP, a concentrated active ingredient that helps to stimulate collagen and improve skin moisturisation, and lime caviar, that has AHAs that improve call turnover. Avocado oil helps smooth and nourish too.
Natio Rosewater Hydration Moisture Balance Day Cream SPF 50+
If you’re not good at applying an extra SPF to protect your skin, this one has an impressive SPF50+ in the formula. Rosewater, rose extract and aloe provide futher toning and hydration in an easy option you don’t have to dip your fingers into.
