10 Best Facial Moisturizers for Aging Skin

Key Points

• Your lifestyle and environment affect your skin as you age.

• Key ingredients to look for in anti-aging moisturizers include retinol, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, SPF, and ceramides.

• Plenty of effective anti-aging moisturizers are on the market! Check out the ingredients to determine your best fit. 

Looking for a facelift in a bottle is impossible to find — the trick is prevention. Aging skin is normal; however, taking care of your skin and implementing anti-aging prevention methods is key. Using suitable facial moisturizers, the correct ingredients, and continuously using sun protection makes a massive difference in your skin's overall appearance and elasticity.

It can be hard to determine which anti-aging facial moisturizers are the crème de la crème. The good news is there is a moisturizer out there for everyone — whether you're looking for more hydration, a retinol-focused product, or brightening your skin with acids like vitamin C and hyaluronic acid.

What Happens to Skin Elasticity As You Age?

Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Sheila Farhang says, “You lose approximately one percent of your collagen production each year after age 20 and significantly more post-menopause. Similarly, the elastin in your skin also decreases with age, causing the skin to become crepey and sagging.”

Aside from aging, skin elasticity is affected by the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays, smoking and eating habits, stress, hormones, and even pollution. Depending on several factors, aging can happen faster for some than others.

Moreover, even your environment can affect the way you age. Dermatological nurse and aesthetician Natalie Aguilar explains: "G]rowing up in a hot, sunny desert exposes an individual to harmful sun rays and zero humidity. Over time, their skin cells become dry and burn and regenerate slower and slower."

The bad news is that it's impossible to turn back the clock; the good news is that there are solutions! Anti-aging facial moisturizers prevent aging skin, but keeping every other factor in mind and living a healthier lifestyle is beneficial in the long run.

Ingredients To Look For in Anti-Aging Facial Moisturizers

The truth is that only a handful of ingredients truly do wonders for aging skin.

Look out for these anti-aging ingredients and use them correctly and consistently:

Retinol

Retinol is one of those ingredients you find in almost every anti-aging product. According to medical professionals at the Cleveland Clinic, retinol increases skin cell production, helps unclog pores, exfoliates your skin, and increases collagen production. In effect, this helps decrease the appearance of fine lines.

The trick with retinol is not mixing it with alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) or beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs) like vitamin C or benzoyl peroxide. This causes skin irritation, leading to less effective results. If you choose to use all three ingredients, use them at different times of the day. 

Vitamin C

Vitamin C has many beneficial properties for aging skin. It helps even the complexion of uneven skin by getting rid of dark spots and scars, naturally boosts collagen, and helps smooth wrinkles. It’s also very effective in skin brightening, giving your skin a fresh, youthful appearance.

Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is also widely known and used as a powerful ingredient in anti-aging moisturizers. Despite the (slightly terrifying) name, hyaluronic acid is a humectant that aids the skin in retaining water. It helps smooth out fine lines, even out the appearance of wrinkles, and stretch the skin. It also reduces scarring, which helps give a more youthful, clear complexion. 

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects your skin against oxidative damage such as pollution and the sun's UV rays. Protection against the sun is the best form of anti-aging prevention, and looking for this ingredient is profoundly beneficial in the long term. It also helps protects your skin's lipid barrier, locking in skin moisture.

Titanium Dioxide or Zinc Oxide

Titanium Dioxide — or Zinc Oxide — is the main active ingredient in sunscreen. The more exposure you get to the sun, the more damage your skin endures. That's why sun protection is a critical component in preventing aging skin. Doctors recommend using a minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30, blocking about 97 percent of UV rays. SPF is a critical component in daytime-specific moisturizers.

Ceramides

The skin's barrier comprises a few essential compounds that protect your skin from external damage and loss of water. In time, age affects your skin barrier working correctly. Your barrier becomes weaker and less hydrated, causing dryness and dull-looking skin. Ceramides are a type of lipid (and ingredient) naturally found in the skin and can help manage aging skin.

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream 

The Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream is a hydrating moisturizer with multiple anti-aging benefits and ingredients. It includes ingredients like hyaluronic acid, vitamin B3, and amino peptides, keeping the skin firm. The cream has a thick consistency, making it an excellent nighttime moisturizer.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Moisturizer

 

The Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Moisturizer is a lightweight moisturizer that smoothes fine lines and wrinkles using critical ingredients like retinol, sodium hyaluronate, and vitamin E. The product's thick consistency is great if you're also looking for hydration in your moisturizer. It has thousands of reviews on Amazon and is popularly known to be an incredibly effective product for aging skin!

RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer

 

If you are looking for another retinol-infused moisturizer that firms and smoothens skin, RoC has a Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer made with a powerful formula recognized by beauty industry leaders and dermatologists. It is known for its lightweight quality, not being too heavy or greasy on the skin.

La Roche-Posay Redermic R Anti-Aging Concentrate

 

La Roche-Posay Redermic R Anti-Aging Concentrate is a non-greasy moisturizer with retinol and antioxidants that firm and plump the skin. It is a great product to apply around your eyes, increasing collagen production for the sensitive, thin skin that makes up undereye bags. 

StriVectin SD Advanced Plus Intensive Moisturizing Concentrate 

Another moisturizer that improves skin elasticity and reduces fine lines and wrinkles is the StriVectin SD Advanced Plus Intensive Moisturizing Concentrate. This product includes hyaluronic acid and all-natural and plant-based ingredients such as proprietary sea salt ferment and white water lily extract. All ingredients come together to increase moisture and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream

 

The CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream is a thick, nighttime moisturizer that replenishes and restores skin's protective barrier. This fragrance-free option is incredibly gentle, using a non-irritating formula for sensitive skin. It is known for its Ceramides ingredient, a natural substance found in skin, making up about 50 percent of the lipids in the skin barrier.

SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 

SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 is a corrective anti-aging moisturizer made with a concentration of lipids; two percent ceramides, four percent natural cholesterol, and two percent fatty acids. This dermatologist-approved, lipid-based moisturizer nourishes and plumps up aging skin.

Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate

Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate is an excellent option to focus more on skin brightening. The hydrating serum includes vitamin C and hyaluronic acid, improving skin texture, uneven tone, and loss of elasticity. This is a strong acidic product, so it’s important not to use AHAs and BHAs to keep your skin’s pH balance stable. 

Murad Hydro-Dynamic Ultimate Moisture 

Using plant-based ingredients, the Murad Hydro-Dynamic Ultimate Moisture is another attractive option to enhance water retention within your skin’s surface, using their key ingredient, hyaluronic acid. This moisturizer also uses plant-based ingredients like coconut extract, shea butter, avocado, sunflower, and olive oil fruits to restore skin hydration. 

Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar

 

Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar is a lightweight moisturizer, great for the daytime. Its formula includes SPF 30, which protects your skin against harmful sun rays. It also has a significant ingredient in the anti-aging world of moisturizers: hyaluronic acid. This improves your skin's texture and radiance. Unlike many other anti-aging moisturizers listed, this one guards the skin and prevents further wrinkles and fine lines.

Choosing the Best Moisturizer for You

Learning the ins and outs of anti-aging moisturizers is essential in determining which is best for your skin. It all depends on what you are looking to improve or prevent: aging skin elasticity, fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, or skin tone dullness. The perfect product is out there for you — you just need to look for the most effective anti-aging ingredients to determine your best fit. 

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