Is there anything more brutally honest than the world of skin-care product reviews? Spending hours reading shoppers’ first-hand encounters with every formula under the sun remains one of the best ways to narrow down a shopping cart, but only one thing beats it: sales data.
Here, the top five hydrators shoppers can’t stop—and won’t stop—buying.
The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% +B5 ($7)
Retailer: Ulta
Benefits: Ringing it at just under $7, this lightweight serum delivers a serious flood of moisture with its blend of low, medium and high molecular-weight hyaluronic acid.
SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 242 ($128)
Retailers: Dermstore and Lovely Skin
Benefits: This rich, velvety cream is brimming with 2 percent ceramides, 4 percent cholesterol and 2 percent fatty acids to replenish depleted hydration levels in aging skin for a younger, bouncier complexion.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ ($28)
Retailer: Macys
Benefits: Light enough for all skin types, this hyaluronic acid–boosted lotion is beloved for its ability to check all of the better-skin boxes in one pump, leaving skin softened, smoothed and visibly brightened.
La Mer The Treatment Lotion ($155)
Retailer: Saks Fifth Avenue
Benefits: It may be designed to act as a prep step before applying your main moisturizer, but this milk-meets-water lotion delivers its own immediate flood of hydration to parched skin.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream ($265)
Retailer: Violet Grey
Benefits: Powered by stem cells, this luxe hydrating cream counts skin-loving oils, lipids and vitamins as main ingredients to quiet irritation, fortify the skin’s natural moisture barrier and transform its appearance over time.