No matter your age, winter is hard on our skin. But it’s especially rough the older we get, since the skin becomes naturally dryer as we age. This dryness is not only uncomfortable but it makes wrinkles and fine lines appear deeper than they really are. When our skin is optimally hydrated and moisturized, it’s plumper so lines are less visible.
The super lightweight moisturizers of the world aren’t enough to really support and nourish mature skin. So to make sure you’re using the best of the best, we tapped five dermatologists aged 50 and up to share their absolute favorite winter face moisturizers for mature skin that keep their skin soft and radiant.
The best winter face moisturizers for mature skin
Heidi A Waldorf, MD
“Alastin Ultra Nourishing moisturizer is ideal for skin over 50,” says Dr. Waldorf. “It helps maintain the epidermal skin barrier with water-absorbing glycerin and smoothing lipid hydrators. Oat kernel extracts calm sensitive skin. Proprietary peptides help the underlying dermis to remove damaged collagen and elastin and produce new.”
Dina Strachan, MD
“This year I am loving Cerave AM. It has sun protection and hyaluronic acid which is great for skin over 50, which is drier,” says Dr. Strachan. “I also love that it doesn’t leave a white cast.” It’s a mineral sunscreen that, like all CeraVe products, is packed with ceramides to restore the skin’s protective barrier.
Mary Lupo, MD
“I love its ultra-rich yet fast absorption formula,” says Dr. Lupo. “It contains great ceramides that older skin needs and a well-known collagen-stimulating signal peptide to increase collagen, and a DNA-repair ingredient to reduce risk of skin cancers.”
Lynn McKinley-Grant, MD
“When it comes to caring for your skin in our 50s and beyond, you want to look for a moisturizer that relieves some of the dryness that we start to experience as we get older,” says Dr. McKinley-Grant, dermatology advisor at Namesake. “I love Namesake’s daily moisturizer because it leaves your skin hydrated throughout the entire day without that end-of-day dryness that I have experienced with other moisturizers. If you wear makeup, you likely want your foundation to look natural. This daily moisturizer creates a dewy surface for your makeup to adhere to and creates a lit-from-within look.”
Loretta Ciraldo, MD
“After 41 years of dermatology practice, I have a very keen sense of what over-50 skin needs. My own personal favorite, Dr. Loretta Anti-Aging Repair Moisturizer, fulfills that need for me,” says Dr. Ciraldo about this moisturizer from her eponymous line. “On the one hand, mature skin needs a moisturizer with hard-working actives that will give us visible improvement in our texture and tone and help to mitigate wrinkles. On the other hand, since the living layers of skin are slightly more sensitive over 50, we need very skin-friendly active ingredients. This moisturizer has the strongest of all antioxidants, Lipochroman, paired with brightening and skin-firming actives. I use it twice a day all year long and find my skin smiles right back at me even in the colder, drier months.”