Best Moisturizer for Oily Skin? Try One of Our Top 14 Picks
If you have oily skin, you’re probably always on the lookout for mattifying products that promise to zap the grease or hide your pores. But while oily skin may have its struggles (acne, large pores, and a greasy t-zone, to name a few), you still need to moisturize it — best moisturizer for oily skin you ask?
Many people believe there’s no need for an oily skin moisturizer because it seemingly provides its own hydration — why slather cream on a greasy face, right? Perhaps you’ve been misled. The truth is every skin with overactive sebaceous glands can benefit from a face moisturizer for oily skin.
What are the Best Skin Care Products of 2023?
What moisturizers like a good moisturizer for oily skin essentially do is help replenish the water and lipids lost through the natural process of aging as well as environmental factors (e.g. harsh winds that chap your skin). And since the aging process is inevitable, it’s a good idea to start protecting our skin from this moisture loss early on. After all, you don’t want to deal with pimples and wrinkles, right?
Not sure where to start looking for an oily skin lotion? No worries. Here at the Derm Review, we’ve reviewed hundreds of products with a scientific lens to ensure you’re creating a skincare regimen that’s safe and effective. Ahead, 14 of the best facial moisturizers for oily skin to help you promote a healthy, balanced complexion.
Related: Best Face Moisturizer
Best Moisturizer for Oily Skin: The List
BEST OVERALL
Carrot & Stick The Water Moisturizer
FULL LIST
Formulyst Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer
Predire Paris Oil Control Daily Cooling Cream
Averr Aglow Flawless Nourishment Cream
Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Mat Anti-Shine Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin
Dr. Sturm the Face Cream
Predire Paris Oil Control Cooling Serum
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel With Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 15
Murad Acne Control Oil and Pore Control Mattifier Broad Spectrum SPF 45
Dr. Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Marine Oil-Free Moisture Cushion
Olay Regenerist Whip
Kiehl’s Ultra-Facial Oil-Free Moisture
Cetaphil DermaControl Oil Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30
L’Oréal Paris Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care Normal/Oily Skin
Vichy Normaderm
How to Choose a Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin
If your skin is oily throughout the day and large pores and possibly pimples accompany it, it’s likely that you have oily skin and require the best moisturizer for oily skin. Here’s what to look for.
Keywords on Packaging
Moisturizers formulated for oily skin will often include words such as non-comedogenic (won’t clog pores), non-acnegenic (won’t cause acne), water-based (lighter in texture), and/or oil-free.
Examine the Ingredients
- Avoid moisturizers for oily skin formulated with pore-clogging and acne-causing ingredients like mineral oils, lanolin, siloxane, castor oil, cyclomethicone, petroleum jelly, and petroleum-derived ingredients, beeswax, and paraffin.
- Stay clear of alcohol-based formulas because they increase sebum production and disrupt your skin’s protective barrier.
- Every skin type should avoid moisturizers (all beauty products, actually) formulated with the “Suspicious Six,” In other words, essential oils, drying alcohols, chemical screens, silicones, fragrances, dyes, and SLS as these ingredients can cause acne.
- Instead, look for a moisturizer with the best ingredients for oily skin, including hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid, niacinamide, retinol, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, hazelnut oil, and salicylic acid.
Consider Your Age
You don’t have to be a teenager to develop oily skin. Indeed the suggested ingredients mentioned above are good choices for an oily skin moisturizer. However, the same formula for someone in their teens and 20s will not work for someone in their 30s, 40s, and beyond. Be sure to tweak your moisturizer to address signs of aging additionally.
Keep Texture in Mind
Moisturizers come in many different textures and weights. Those with oily skin do best with gels, lotions, and light creams — not heavy formulas.
Consider the Rest of Your Skincare Routine
Since oily skin can also be acne-prone, chances are, you may be using some type of topical acne treatment formulated with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, etc. If that’s the case, avoid moisturizers containing these ingredients as well.
Choose these actives in one product or another but not both to avoid stripping the skin of its natural oils — which will only cause the skin to produce more oil as a self-defense mechanism.
Speak to a Professional if Necessary
Finding the best face lotion for oily skin can be a challenge. If you’re concerned with the amount of oil your skin produces or can’t keep breakouts or blackheads at bay, speak to a skincare professional such as a dermatologist or licensed esthetician.
The Skin Benefits of Moisturizing Oily Skin
For those with oily skin, moisturizing regularly can help improve overall skin texture, making it appear more even-toned. Certain moisturizers can even help control sebum production.
Best Moisturizer for Oily Skin: 14 Top Picks
BEST OVERALL
Carrot & Stick The Water Moisturizer
Perfect for oily skin. This gel moisturizer targets excess shine, blemishes and prominent pores, while helping to support more even-toned skin. Includes 10% niacinamide to balance sebum production, promote elasticity and bring flawless clarity to the skin. The bouncy, jelly-like texture creates a light veil of moisture while brightening dull skin and delivering an even, healthy appearance.
FULL LIST
Formulyst Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer
Formulated with antioxidants and botanicals that support your skin’s defenses, Formulyst’s Ultra-light Gel Moisturizer delivers a light veil of moisture that soothes and refreshes instantly.
Specifically developed for dull, aging complexions, Cloudberry and Vitamins A, C, and E work to replenish and revitalize, while Snow Algae extract helps support cells’ natural resilience against environmental damage. Light-as-air in texture with a soft matte finish, after just one use, your skin will look beautifully nourished with a radiant, youthful glow.
Predire Paris Oil Control Daily Cooling Cream
Our Oil Control line is formulated with a highly-concentrated witch hazel extract to reduce the appearance of excessive oil secretion on the face. This cream relieves acne, skin redness and other skin problems. Shrinks large pores caused by the oil secretion. Finally, the use of high-quality kaolin, the oil field killer, deeply absorbs excess oil and restores to matte skin.
Averr Aglow Flawless Nourishment Cream
The Flawless Nourishment Cream has a balm-like consistency that easily absorbs into skin without feeling heavy or greasy, leaving the skin moisturized and supple. The formula mostly consists of emollients, including shea butter, grape seed oil, jojoba oil, candelilla wax, and pumpkin seed oil.
Pumpkin seed oil isn’t an ingredient we see too often, but we love that it’s included in this cream because it provides multiple benefits. It’s an excellent ingredient for sensitive and acne-prone skin, helping to balance oil production, heal breakouts, and even increase skin firmness.
Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator
An upgrade to fan-favorite, best-seller, Moisture Surge Intense, Moisture Surge 100H provides moisture for an additional 28 hours longer than the brand’s original formula — even after you’ve washed your face.
This oil-free, gel-cream is ideally suited for oily skin due to its lightweight texture and non-pore-clogging ingredients, including hyaluronic acid, aloe bio-ferment, and the brand’s proprietary auto-replenishing technology — activated aloe water and caffeine to trigger the skin’s rehydration system. You won’t find parabens, phthalates, or fragrances.
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Mat Anti-Shine Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin
The most appealing aspect of this oil-free, non-comedogenic moisturizer is that perlite and silica leave a light matte finish, banishing that mid-day T-zone shine. The brand’s Sebulyse Technology (said to be more potent than zinc) is responsible for mattifying excess oil while visibly reducing large pores’ appearance.
Lipo-hydroxy acid, a gentle derivative of salicylic acid that helps treat acne while preventing further breakouts.
Dr. Sturm the Face Cream
Just because the skin is considered oily doesn’t mean it can’t be sensitive, too — especially when acne is present. While it’s a bit on the expensive side, this lightweight gel-cream harnesses the power of lady’s mantle, ceramide 3, and glycerin to promote a healthy, glowing complexion — it’s like a drink of water for the skin. At the same time, skullcap and purslane help calm and reduce visible signs of irritation.
Predire Paris Oil Control Cooling Serum
The product is formulated with a high-concentration of witch hazel extract to reduce the appearance of excessive oil secretion on the face. It targets, redness, acne, and large pores. At the same time, nicotinamide, oat (Avena Sativa) bran extract, and hyaluronic acid can repair damaged skin’s appearance and give it full moisturization. With no added fragrance but a pleasant mint and eucalyptus scent, it will make skin feel cool and refreshed.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel With Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 15
This gel-cream moisturizer is formulated with hyaluronic acid to keep the skin soft, supple, and smooth all day long without clogging the pores or aggravating acne-prone skin. Since many ingredients that treat breakouts make the skin more sun-sensitive, it contains an SPF of 15.
Murad Acne Control Oil and Pore Control Mattifier Broad Spectrum SPF 45
As previously mentioned, it’s still important to apply sun protection, even when you have oily and (or) acneic skin. According to the brand, this lightweight SPF moisturizer instantly minimizes the appearance of pores by 54%* and delivers 10 hours of oil, shine, and pore control.
Oil-trapping microspheres mattify, smooth and blur imperfections, while avocado and African yellow wood bark extracts visibly reduce pore size and excess oil over time.
Dr. Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Marine Oil-Free Moisture Cushion
Feel as though you’ve tried every moisturizer for oily skin under the sun? Don’t stop now. As with many other moisturizers, this one also contains hyaluronic acid, which delivers moisture without heaviness.
However, the pièce de résistance is Japanese marine algae harvested from the Blue Zone of Okinawa. Otherwise known as “sea grapes” or “green caviar,” you’ll feel the texture of this moisturizer break away into your skin as it turns into a water-like gel-cream. The results? Moisture minus the shine, improved elasticity, and a reduced appearance of fine lines over time.
Olay Regenerist Whip
As the name suggests, this drugstore face cream for oily skin has a whipped and airy mousse-like texture that transforms from a cream to a liquid on contact. An advanced amino-peptide complex II softens fine lines and wrinkles, hydrates, lifts, and improves elasticity and tone without leaving a heavy finish. The skin is left feeling smooth and shine-free. It’s an excellent choice for those with aging, oily skin.
Kiehl’s Ultra-Facial Oil-Free Moisture
This shine-reducing, cooling oil-free moisturizer gel provides 24-hour hydrating power while regulating excess oil production. It’s fast-absorbing, alcohol- and paraben-free, and non-comedogenic, among other skin-friendly benefits. We love how it quickly absorbs into the skin to help visibly reduce shine and visibly minimize pores over time, promoting a complexion that looks and feels hydrated, refreshed, and balanced.
Tatcha The Water Cream
Stunning packaging aside, the Tatcha brand is known worldwide for its results-driven skincare based on centuries-old Japanese beauty secrets. This oil-free moisturizer continues to be one of the brand’s best-sellers. It’s formulated with Tatcha’s proprietary Hadasei-3 blend of algae, green tea, and fermented rice to hydrate, nourish, soothe, and refine pores.
Cetaphil DermaControl Oil Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30
This ultra-lightweight moisturizer features micro pearl technology, which absorbs excess oil, giving the skin a matte finish. It’s non-comedogenic (non-pore clogging), hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, and has the added benefit of broad-spectrum sun protection, which also makes it one of the best drugstore moisturizers with SPF.
L’Oréal Paris Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care Normal/Oily Skin
This lightweight, water-based moisturizer — formulated specifically for those with normal to oily skin — contains soothing aloe water and skin-plumping hyaluronic acid (three different types) that provides 72 hours of instant and continuous hydration leaving skin softer and more supple. It also has a mattifying action to remove unwanted oil.
Vichy Normaderm
Oily skin can be seen as a blessing and a curse because it forms wrinkles less rapidly than dry skin but tends to break out. This oily skin moisturizer is equipped with acne-fighting ingredients to help combat blemishes while providing necessary hydration.
Salicylic acid helps to exfoliate dead skin cells and reduces clogged pores that can often lead to breakouts. Meanwhile, airlicium, a mattifier, minimizes the appearance of pores.
Best Moisturizer for Oily Skin: The Final Word
A good moisturizer for oily skin can neutralize dehydration and sensitivity from various acne ingredients like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. While they do often treat breakouts, they can lead to overdrying. Overly dry skin triggers the skin into producing even more oil, which ultimately results in even more pimples. It’s one of those vicious cycles.
When looking for a moisturizer for oily skin, carefully examine the ingredients, consider your age and current skincare routine, and keep texture in mind. Consider speaking with a skincare professional if you’re concerned with the amount of oil your skin produces or you can’t keep breakouts or blackheads at bay.
What’s the best face moisturizer on the market?
Overall, we suggest Carrot & Stick The Water Moisturizer.
FAQs
How do skin lightening creams work?
Skin lightening creams or skin brightening creams are formulated with specific ingredients that help lighten skin color. They work by decreasing the amount of melanin, the pigment produced by skin cells that determine how light or dark our skin appears. These products can be used as a spot treatment or for a lighter complexion overall.
What’s the difference between brightening and lightening?
The term brightening typically means lightening, fading, or even bleaching. Brightening is also used to describe products that may block pigment production and/or remove pigment from the skin associated with sun or acne scars.
Does vitamin C lighten skin?
Vitamin C inhibits melanin production in the skin, which helps to lighten hyperpigmentation and brown spots, even out skin tone, and enhance skin radiance. Additionally, C is an antioxidant, protecting skin cells from damaging free radicals caused by environmental aggressors such as pollution and sun UV exposure.
How can I prevent discoloration on my face?
Sun protection and limiting your time in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun is the strongest is the best defense mechanism against discoloration and sun damage.
Here at The Derm Review, we recommend EltaMD SPF 46 (It was actually formulated for those with skin prone to discoloration), La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Clear Skin Dry Sunscreen, and Dermalogica Pure Light Powerbright TRX SPF 50 it’s formulated to protect from the type of UV light that causes skin discoloration. Check out our entire list of the best sunscreens for the face.
Why does the sun cause dark spots?
Age spots are caused by overactive pigment cells. Ultraviolet (UV) light speeds up melanin production, a natural pigment that gives skin its color. On the areas of the skin that have had years of sun exposure, dark (age) spots appear when melanin becomes clumped or is produced in high concentrations.
How to Apply a Skin Lightening Cream?
Potent prescription-strength skin lightening creams are typically applied at night and only in the areas where there’s discoloration. The same can be said for spot treatments — even over-the-counter formulas.
But our list of the best skin whitening creams also includes moisturizers to take the guesswork out of the application process. As a general rule of thumb, sunscreen by day (the ultimate skin discoloration and anti-aging product) and lightening cream or corrector by night.
Thoroughly cleanse your skin and remove all traces of makeup.
Apply your serum. If you’re using multiple treatments, apply lightest to heaviest.
Wait 2-3 minutes for your serum to fully absorb.
Since moisturizers and creams penetrate more efficiently when applied to damp skin, mist your face with a soothing toner or floral water first.
Using clean fingertips, start by dabbing on a nickel-sized amount of lightening cream on your forehead, cheeks, chin, and neck. Next, use an upward and circular motion to massage the cream into your skin.
If you’re using a lightening cream that’s not a moisturizer or is a prescription, follow the instructions on the package and make sure you understand the application instructions administered by your doctor. As with any new product, conduct a patch test first — even if it’s over-the-counter — especially if you have sensitive skin.
Sources:
“How to Control Oily Skin,” American Academy of Dermatology Association.
“Safety Evaluation of Topical Applications of Ethanol on the Skin,” US National Library of Medicine National Center for Biology.
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