11 Night Creams That’ll Replenish & Refresh Skin While You Rest

Best For: oily skin types looking for anti-ageing results

Lightweight and fast-absorbing, this anti-ageing night cream works to refine and purify all skin types prone to oiliness and impurities. With AHA + BHA, antioxidants and vitamins, you will say goodbye to dead skin cells, redness and blocked pores, and hello to even skin tone, hydration and glow.

Key Features:

• Contains resurfacing AHA and BHA
• Lightweight
• Perfect for oily skin types looking for anti-ageing results
• Antioxidant-rich
• Vitamin A further stimulates cell turnover
• Convenient pump packaging
• 50ml

02

Jurlique Nutri-Define Supreme Restorative Rich Cream

$150 At Jurlique

Best for: Gentle nourishment

This rich night cream is packed with so many botanical ingredients from horseradish root and spilanthes flower extract you’ll dream of sunny evenings in a flower garden. If these actives sound fluffy though, they’re not. Jurlique Advanced Biosome6 technology ensures the effective delivery of these antioxidant-packed ingredients for effective anti-ageing results, all suspended in a rich but never heavy formula of glycerin, squalane and shea butter.

Key Features:

• Rich base formula with shea butter, squalane and glycerin protects skin from overnight trans-epidermal water loss
• Advanced Biosome6 technology harnesses botanical ingredients for maximum results
• Suitable for those concerned with fine lines, dryness and sensitivity
• 50ml

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Best For: Irritated skin

Red Algae and Rose Geranium combine for a lightweight yet rich night cream that will hydrate, soothe and nourish while also combatting redness, fine lines and irritation.

Key Features:

• Rich moisturiser uses peptides and natural extracts to plump, hydrate and firm skin
• Convenient squeeze tube
• 50ml

Available At:

• $46.77 (usually $58.46) at Adore Beauty
• $65.00 from Sephora

Best For: Dehydrated skin

If you ask us, ‘sleeping mask’ is simply an alias for ‘really, really good night cream’, and this probiotic-rich hydrator definitely supports said argument. A richly hydrating (but beautifully lightweight) gel-cream gentle enough for sensitive skin types, it’s the key to securing a redness-free radiance top-up while you sleep.

Key Features:

• Oil-free
• Antioxidant-rich
• Contains hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and probiotics for lightweight nourishing
• 70ml

Best For: Anti-ageing

‘Beauty sleep in a cream’ is a serious tagline to tout, but this bounciness-boosting balm somehow lives up to the hype. Plumping and smoothing are at the top of its to-do list, with time-released retinol mixed in with the softening vitamin E and brightening vitamin C to ensure every skin concern associated with ‘tired’ is taken care of.

Key Features:

• Co Enzyme Q10 and retinol accelerate skin cell turnover and plump your complexion
• Lightweight gel sinks into skin and provides all-night hydration
• Glamorous jar looks perfect on your nightstand

Best For: Lifting

This purple pot of goodness has a genius plan: hit your skin with it’s ‘multi-tension’ tightening technology under the cover of darkness, when it is at its most receptive to change. Our skin regenerates while we sleep, and this targeted cream works the night shift, fighting fine lines giving your complexion a hydrating boost while you snooze.

Key Features:

• Unique tightening ingredients give an instant effect
• Works overtime on fine lines and deeply hydrates the complexion
• 50ml

Available At:

• $190.00 From Sephora
• $178.00 From Amazon
• $190.00 From David Jones
• $195.00 From Myer

Best For: Oil-free moisture boost

This cream is all about hydration and glow and is supercharged with skin-loving ingredients like hyaluronic acid, electrolytes, and amino acids. Cleverly designed to release moisture over 24 hours, it offers a water-based, oil-free radiance that can’t be beaten.

Key Features:

• 24-hour slow-release moisture
• Hyaluronic acid, electrolytes and amino acids
• Oil-free

Available At:

• $22.69 (usually $38.00) from Chemist Warehouse
• $15.75 (usually $35.00) from Amazon
• $17.50 (usually $35.00) from Woolworths

Best For: Lightweight anti-ageing all-rounder

This hydrating night cream follows the three “Rs” of complexion care: refresh, regenerate and repair. It contains a 10% glycolic acid complex to buff away dead skin cells giving the skin an immediate overnight refresh. You’ll wake to brighter skin, smoother pores and diminished fine lines. Over time, it infuses the skin with neuropeptides that promote elasticity and antioxidants that calm skin and address damage from free radicals. before infusing the skin with neuropeptides that promote elasticity

Key Features:

• 10% glycolic acid
• Neuropeptides and antioxidants from white tea extract and lavender flower extract
• Lightweight texture

Available At:

• $69.50 from Oz Hair & Beauty

Best For: Smoothing
Want your skin to give the sun a run for its money re: which one rises the brightest come morning? Give this firming night cream with 5% acid a go. The edelweiss stem cells enhance elasticity and firmness, while the AHAs ensure you wake up bright-faced and bushy-tailed. With a shea butter base this product is perfect for dry skin types.

Key Features:

• 5% glycolic and lactic acid complex for gentle resurfacing
• Edelweiss stem cells for firming
• Shea butter base nourishes
• 50ml

Available At:

• $72.00 (usually $90.00) at Adore Beauty

Best For: Hydration

Craving a classic ‘just plain nourishing’ night cream? This stellar option from Fenty Skin offers hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to dial up visible dewiness by providing hydration as deep as we hope your sleep. With a fresh, sweet scent thanks to Kalahari melon oil, you’re dreamland destination will be tropical island-inspired.

Key Features:

• Absorbs quick – won’t come off on your pillow
  • Hyaluronic acid and niacinamide hydrate and brighten
  • Kalahari melon oil hydrates while giving a natural fresh fruity scent
  • 50ml

10

Bybi Beauty, Night Nutrition Protein Night Cream

$55 at Sephora

Best for: barrier boosting

​​This guy’s big focus (besides looking incredibly vibrant on your nightstand)? Skin strength. Designed to aid your complexion’s natural nightly repair process, it’s packed to the brim with barrier-building fatty acids, ceramides and antioxidants as well as both repairing raspberry oil and moisturising mango seed butter.

Key Features:

• Fatty acids, ceramides and antioxidants derived from raspberry oil and mango seed butter form a protective, nourishing barrier
• Comes with a hygienic spatula
• 50ml

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05

Dr. Dennis Gross Advanced Retinol + Ferulic Intense Wrinkle Cream

$125.00 at Mecca

Best for: Powerful anti-ageing

This night cream is a powerhouse anti-ager combining retinol with brightening ferulic acid and bakuchiol to minimise fine lines, regulate sebum and make your skin glow. Rambutan tree leaf extract boosts collagen regulation working with your skin during the night as it enters repair mode. And, while retinol can be drying dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross has included plenty of hydrating ingredients to offset this effect. Glycerin, shea butter, ceramides and evening primrose oil will keep your complexion cocooned and centella asiatica and arnica to soothe.

Key Features:

• Retinol stimulates collagen production
• Ferulic acid provides advanced antioxidant protection
• Centella asiatica, arnica and hydrating butters and oils offset irritation
• Lightweight texture
• 60ml

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Which is better, night gel or night cream?

If you’re in the market for a night cream, nourishment is the aim of the skincare game, which is why you’re going to want to gravitate towards cream (oil-based) formulas.

However, there are a few exceptions where you’ll want to opt for a gel (water-based) formula. The first is your skin type. If you have very oily skin or are prone to breakouts, you may want to look for gel creams specifically designed for night wear. These products will often contain the same hard-working ingredients in a water-based, absorbent formula, like hyaluronic acid and ceramides.

What is the best night cream for ageing skin?

If you’re looking for a night cream that also targets fine lines and wrinkles, opt for formulas with anti-aging hero ingredients such as AHAs and Vitamin A. These ingredients work to increase cell turnover, stimulate collagen, and smooth skin. However, these ingredients can increase sun sensitivity, so they’re best slept in.

The Skin Sleep Effect: What Happens To My Skin When I Sleep?

Ever come across the phrase “nighttime repair mode” while on the hunt for your perfect night cream? You may have wondered if the phrase means anything, or if it’s just a marketing ploy. We can assure you that the concept of beauty sleep is not just a myth, but a scientifically proven phenomenon.

During sleep, your body undergoes a process of self-repair. This restorative journey impacts various aspects of your body, from your brain to your dermis and muscles. How does it work? Well, your body experiences an increase in blood flow at night, aiding your organs in recovering from the day’s stress; it uses the period of rest to rebuild collagen and repair the damage caused by environmental stressors like free radicals.

Do I Need A Night Cream?

There are several pieces of evidence that make a case for the introduction of a specific night time moisturiser. Firstly, ingredients like hydroxy acids, beta hydroxy acids and retinol can sensitise your skin to sunlight during the day. Fortunately, this means when the sun goes down, you’re safe to dial them up. Secondly, your skin is more prone to trans-epidermal water loss at night. By selecting a cream with a heavier texture; you can create a “seal” that locks in moisture. Furthermore, the positive flip side of this permeability is that your skin is more receptive to active ingredients when you’re asleep, so it’s the best time to incorporate the heaviest hitting ingredients in your routine.

Finally, ingredients are also not fighting an uphill battle against sun exposure and pollution, so they can switch from protecting to “repairing.”

Consider the case closed.

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