The best retinol creams and moisturizers you can buy

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The best retinol creams and moisturizers you can buy
  • Retinol is notoriously drying, but formulas that combine the powerful antiaging ingredient with moisturizer can mitigate the irritating effects.
  • Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream is our top pick because it contains a high concentration of retinol as well as peptides, vitamins, and oils to hydrate and nourish skin.
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Retinol is a mixed blessing - the antiaging, acne-fighting effects are real, but so is the sensitivity and redness. Even if you're not super sensitive, retinol can make your skin itchy and flaky if you're using too much too fast, or using it in the a.m. as it can make your skin photosensitive.

There are several ways to mitigate the negative side-effects of retinol while still getting all the benefits.

I have mild rosacea and I find that applying over-the-counter retinol every other night instead of nightly works well. Another tip is to combine retinol with moisturizer - you can mix the two products together, layer retinol on top of moisturizer, or just use a moisturizer with retinol.

These creams and moisturizers often include hydrating ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid to nourish skin while the retinol works its wrinkle- and acne-fighting magic. There's a host of incredible formulas on the market, from the drugstore to higher-end retailers.

Here are the best retinol creams and moisturizers you can buy:

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The best retinol cream overall

The best retinol cream overall
Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream boasts the Clean at Sephora seal, and has peptides, vitamins, and oils to calm and nourish skin.

Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream is one of the newer products from this clean-beauty brand, and it already has more than 600 glowing reviews on Sephora and an average 4.3-star rating.

The Clean at Sephora seal means this product is formulated without potentially undesirable ingredients like essential oils, silicones, and synthetic fragrances that can irritate skin. Instead, A-Passioni is made with 1% retinol, moisturizing and firming peptides, calming vitamin F, and hydrating jojoba, avocado, olive oils.

The formula is housed in a metal tube to protect it from light and air, which can break down the active ingredients — not something you want to happen to a $74 product.

The 1% concentration is very powerful, so according to some shoppers, you may experience flaking when you first start using. The brand recommends starting out once or twice a week, and gradually increasing as your skin becomes more used to the formula. If you find it's still drying you out, top off with another cream or serum, like Drunk Elephant's B-Hydra serum.

"I wear this gentle cream [...] during the day with sunscreen on top. It doesn't irritate at all and is lightweight," Health's Heather Muir says. Town & Country and Cosmopolitan also recommend A-Passioni.

"I have really bad acne I haven't found anything to control. I had heard about retinol and was really hesitant to use it since I'm 21 but I decided to give it a go [...] Only about 2 weeks in my skin is not only clearing up from acne but my scarring as well," writes a Sephora shopper.

Pros: Clean at Sephora seal, strong and effective, vegan, housed in metal tube to protect formula from breaking down

Cons: Need to start slow, may cause peeling, not as hydrating as other creams

The best drugstore retinol moisturizer

The best drugstore retinol moisturizer
Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream is a dermatologist-approved moisturizer and retinol combo that's affordable and effective.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream is a powerful yet affordable antiaging product.

It has hyaluronic acid to balance the effects of the potent retinol, which fills in deep wrinkles and works to even out skin texture. It promises results in just one week of consistent use, though everyone's results will vary.

This is a gentle formula that can be used nightly, but if you've never used retinol before, it's a good idea to start every other night.

"This cream makes my skin feel luxurious and thoroughly moisturized. My dentist thought I had gotten Botox on my forehead as I had no wrinkles. I am 50. This cream miraculously faded the large deep wrinkles I had there, which I never expected a cream could do," writes one Target shopper.

The product has an average 3.7 rating on Amazon based on more than 700 reviews. It's been featured on Harper's Bazaar and Prevention, which also give the product high marks, and shoppers on the product review site Influenster give it 4.3 stars based on more than 140 reviews.

Pros: Affordable, effective, contains moisturizing hyaluronic acid

Cons: Not as potent retinol content as other options

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The best high-strength retinol cream

The best high-strength retinol cream
SkinCeuticals Retinol 1.0 Maximum Strength Refining Night Cream is powerful stuff, but it utilizes a blend of soothing ingredients to make sure your skin stays happy.

SkinCeuticals Retinol 1.0 Maximum Strength Refining Night Cream blends a high concentration of 1% retinol with soothing ingredients like chamomile-derived bisabolol and frankincense-derived boswellia serrata extract to cut down on skin sensitivity.

The air-tight metal tube packaging is designed to keep the ingredients potent and fresh for as long as possible. It's also non-comedogenic and fragrance-free, and is ideal for slightly sensitive skin that has already adjusted to a lower-strength retinol.

"Biggest bang for your buck as far as addressing cell turnover, brightening skin and refining pore size. Non- irritating but start with 0.5 before 1.0," writes one Dermstore shopper.

The product has a perfect 5 out of 5 rating on Dermstore based on 300 reviews.

Pros: Strong OTC retinol, contains soothing ingredients, air-tight packaging

Cons: Expensive, can be irritating if your skin is not used to retinol

The best retinol moisturizer with antioxidants

The best retinol moisturizer with antioxidants
StriVectin-AR Advanced Retinol Intensive Night Moisturizer minimizes sensitivity with hydrating hyaluronic acid and shea butter, and antioxidant-packed resveratrol.

StriVectin-AR Advanced Retinol Intensive Night Moisturizer manages to be both a highly effective OTC retinol and a super hydrating moisturizer in one tube.

The key is the brand's patented Nia-114 technology which claims to help minimize sensitivity to retinol with ingredients like hyaluronic acid and shea butter to hydrate, copper tripeptides to boost collagen, and resveratrol to defend against free radical damage.

"If you want to wake up to instant smoother and brighter skin, this is the moisturizer for you," writes Harper's Bazaar. Editors at Town & Country and Allure are also big fans.

The Intensive Night Moisturizer has a 4.6 star rating on Ulta, based on more than 140 reviews. One shopper writes, "Love this! Just a few drops of star light oil and this on my face at night after cleansing. Has helped clear acne, milia, and blackheads with minimal redness, irritation and flaking. Can't wait to see the results after a few more weeks!"

Pros: Hydrating, works to minimize retinol sensitivity, cruelty-free

Cons: Expensive

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The best retinol cream for sensitive skin

The best retinol cream for sensitive skin
Clark's Botanicals Retinol Rescue Overnight Cream with Calming Colloidal Oatmeal is a potent blend of retinol and oatmeal that make it suitable for sensitive skin.

Retinol is tricky when your skin is highly reactive to just about anything, but Clark's Botanicals Retinol Rescue Overnight Cream with Calming Colloidal Oatmeal is formulated for sensitive skin.

This moisturizer contains vitamin E, and colloidal oatmeal, an ingredient known to help combat the effects of skin conditions such as eczema and rosacea. And of course, retinol — except, in this case, the ingredient is "released" over time and when it gets applied onto skin so it remains potent even in the jar packaging.

"LOVE this cream! I've seen amazing results - evening out of my skin tone and minimizing my fine lines and wrinkles. Very gentle with the colloidal oatmeal - doesn't dry out skin like other retinol products," writes one Amazon shopper. Overall, the product has a 4.4 average rating out of more than 30 reviews.

The cream has been featured on The Derm Review and Allure.

Pros: meant for sensitive skin, time-release form of retinol, contains colloidal oatmeal

Cons: expensive might not be strong enough for more experienced retinol users

What else we considered

What else we considered
  • The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% in Squalane ($9.60): This affordable serum mixes retinol with squalane oil to hydrate the skin and is very highly-rated (4.7 stars out of 5 at Sephora), but since it's technically not a cream it didn't quite fit on this list.
  • Dermalogica Overnight Retinol Repair ($90): This two-step product comes with a Buffer Cream to protect skin and allow you to alter the ratio of retinol to moisturizer as your skin adjusts. It's highly rated, but we didn't love the fact that it's a multi-step process.
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