A night cream is one of the best low-effort, maximum-gain additions to your grooming routine. Like a barbecue chicken left to marinade overnight, a simple amount of prep can crank up the results while you’re busy doing other things.
Of course, we’d never compare your handsome face to a turkey for basting, or complex skincare formulas to simple herbs and spices mushed with garlic and oil – but you get the gist.
BBQs aside, here are 12 of the best night creams for men, for every budget.
Harry’s Hydrating Night Lotion
Thanks to Harry’s, lack of spare funds is no excuse for not investing in your nighttime skincare regime. For under £10, you can get the Hydrating Night Lotion.
While admittedly less complex than the more expensive creams, it contains core active niacinamide (Vitamin B3), proven to decrease redness, blotchiness and pigmentation and improve the skin’s elasticity.
Plus, if you prefer lighter textures, this fluid formulation leaves no trace on the skin. Ideal for the more youthful who want to take great care of their skin but don’t require heavy lifting.
Buy now at Boots
Bulldog End-of-Day Recovery Cream
Melatonin can be a helpful sleep aid, and it turns out it’s also a potent anti-oxidant that can work on your skin cells by reducing oxidative stress and repairing environmental damage.
Bulldog use grape-derived melatonin, alongside tiger grass extract and softening shea butter, to create a nourishing night balm laced with the refreshing scent of vetiver, cedarwood and eucalyptus oil.
Buy now at Amazon
CeraVe Facial Moisturising Lotion PM
Hitting that sweet spot between affordable and effective, dermatologist-led brand CeraVe has a dedicated night cream for normal to dry skin containing three essential ceramides, niacinamide and plumping hyaluronic acid.
The tube dispenser keeps the contents nice and clean, while the fragrance-free, non-comedogenic formula ensures it’s kind to sensitive skin and won’t create breakouts.
It feels nice and light on the skin while offering superior hydration for the morning after.
Buy now at Amazon
No7 Men Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Night Moisturiser
Boots’ in-house brand, No7, has a reputation for skincare innovation. The Advanced Night Moisturiser contains Matrixyl 3000, but don’t expect to find Keanu Reeves in a long leather coat.
This futuristic peptide technology effectively reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, while the Double Defence technology offers protection against environmental stress.
It’s hypoallergenic, making it suitable for all skin types, especially sensitive.
Buy now at Boots
Youth to the People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask
This buttery overnight mask has a whipped cream consistency that feels pillowy on the skin.
Infused with Vitamin C, E and B2, squalane and hyaluronic acid, plus a host of natural skin-loving ingredients, including super anti-oxidant, goji berry, maqui berry and prickly pear extract, it sinks in easily.
Apply a thin layer to a clean face before bed and wake to noticeably softer, smoother, and brighter skin.
Buy now at Amazon
Ole Henriksen Dewtopia 5% Acid Firming Night Crème
Face scrubs require elbow grease, so why not let chemical exfoliants do the work instead? This transforming night cream contains 5% glycolic and lactic acid which erase rough texture and dead skin cells to reveal brighter, smoother skin underneath.
Made with Edelweiss cell cultures and conditioning shea butter, it tackles fine lines, dull texture and dark spots in one hit.
Buy now at Cult Beauty
Haeckels Marine Night Cream
Seaweed is a powerful skin protector, and Haeckel’s Marine Night Cream boasts not one but two types: toothed wrack extract and Palmaria serum, otherwise known as dulse extract.
This is harvested locally from the shoreline at Margate, and processed to clean and refine it, and selected for it’s strong anti-oxidant properties.
Blended with apricot kernel oil, raspberry seed oil and sea buckthorn oil, it creates a rich and intensive overnight hydrator that’s easily absorbed.
Buy now at END.
Medik8 Advanced Night Restore Rejuvenating Multi-Ceramide Night Cream
Suitable for all skin types, Medik8’s Advanced Night Restore boldly claims to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in just seven days.
This ceramide-rich, anti-oxidant formula will certainly smooth and soften the surface of the skin, replenish lost lipids and boost the effects of Vitamin A (retinol) in other serums or products that you use beforehand.
Very lightly scented and comforting in texture, the extra hydration is noticeable the morning after, in a firmer, brighter skin tone.
Buy now at Amazon
The Grey Overnight Sleeping Mask
Thanks to its gel consistency, this mask can be used as a quick pick-me-up or overnight treatment. It’s rapidly absorbed, so it won’t rub off onto your pillow or sheets.
Formulated for all skin types, it will calm stressed, dehydrated and dull skin as you sleep, using a cocktail of Vitamin E, sodium hyaluronate and two ingredients that sound like Roman Emperors: zizyphus jujube seed extract and vitex agnus castus extract, strengthen the skin’s internal structure to improve firmness and restore glow.
It smells great and leaves the skin feeling super hydrated.
Buy now at The Grooming Clinic
Grown Alchemist Regenerating Night Cream
This intense cream promises to repair and restore skin tone and texture using an advanced blend of Vitamin A, C and E, antioxidants, fatty acids, hyaluronic acid and water-binding neuro-peptides to boost collagen and elastin levels.
Green tea extract, seabuckthorn berry, grapeseed oil, violet leaf extract and boswellic acid work together to clear the skin tone, improve moisture retention, and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
Lightly scented and rich in texture, this cream works effectively across all skin types – even oily and acne-prone.
Buy now at John Lewis
Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Night Cream
Retinol is clinically proven to reduce signs of wear and tear on your face. With its super hygienic push-down and pump dispenser, Murad’s light green gel cream is pristine when it emerges because grubby fingertips are not permitted to dip.
The combination of Murad’s retinol tri-active technology, niacinamide and dipeptide visibly minimises fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation.
With a fresh scent and light and nourishing consistency, it offers soothing hydration and strengthening of the skin barrier to improve and firm the skin tone and texture of all skin types.
Buy now at John Lewis
Dermalogica PowerBright TRx Overnight Cream
Are you noticing dark patches or hyperpigmentation? Fade out blemish scars and dull skin tone and hydrate parched skin with this visibly brightening treatment.
Vitamin C, niacinamide and zinc glycinate club together to control melanin production, while cranberry and raspberry seed oils nourish and hydrate, leaving the skin feeling super soft in the morning.
Buy now at Amazon
What does a night cream do?
Bulldog
Katharine Mackenzie Paterson, Aesthetician and Founder of KMP Skin says, “Night creams tend to be calming and restorative to the skin, to help repair the skin and rest the skin from environmental aggressors such as pollution and sun exposure.
“There are also night creams with gentle exfoliating ingredients that can help improve skin tone and texture and potentially reduce finer lines and pigmentation.”
How does sleep improve the function of a night cream?
“Good sleep will affect your general skin function more than a night cream itself, so if you sleep more and sleep better, skin has a longer time to allow repair and regenerate skin cells,” explains Katherine.
This means that your ‘sleep hygiene’ – your sleep schedule and habits – is more crucial to your skin health than what you put on it.
What’s the difference between a day moisturiser and a night cream?
Haeckels
“Night creams may have richer textures, with more occlusives to allow for more hydration and to lock in moisture whilst you sleep,” explains Katherine.
“It depends on what the night cream is designed to do. Some night creams may be more about providing exfoliation, which you wouldn’t want during the day as this can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight.”
How to choose a night cream?
Harry’s
“It depends on your skin type and what you’re looking to target. If your skin is quite dry, I recommend a richer, nourishing night cream. If you suffer from shaving irritation I would recommend something soothing. Mature skin? Choose something anti-ageing.”
What can we expect from using a night cream regularly?
“The main benefits of using a dedicated night moisturiser are softer, smoother skin, which may look more healthy and rested when you wake up in the morning,” says Katherine.
How to use a night cream
Harry’s
It’s simple: massage into your face and neck, sleep and repeat. Your night cream routine requires clean skin (preferably shaved or with light stubble), so if you don’t currently wash your face every night, at the risk of sounding like your mum, it’s time to start.
