The 15 Best Face Moisturizers for Men of 2020

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No matter the season, all skin types need a little extra help in the hydration department to stay healthy. After cleansing your skin with the best face wash for men, follow up with a top-notch moisturizer that'll reintroduce any lost moisture and address your skin concerns—be it acne, dryness, excess oil, or even signs of aging.

Below, we rounded up the best face moisturizers for men that are universally adored.

Best Overall: Ursa Major Fortifying Face Balm

Ursa Major makes a streamlined selection of vegan, cruelty-free products that just work, and work well. This lightweight, fast-absorbing, fortifying face balm is packed with potent natural active ingredients that calm, nourish, and hydrate skin. It works without clogging pores, absorbs quickly, and improve the skin's firmness and elasticity.

The serum-like formula—loaded with carrot, kendi, myrtle, and birch—is also completely unisex, earning a fan out of Byrdie Senior Social Media Manager Kelly Gallagher, so you can share it with friends, roommates, and loved ones (though you probably won't want to). As a bonus, the mildly herbaceous aroma of lavender, lime, spearmint, and rosemary is extremely indulgent.

Best Budget: Bulldog Original Moisturizer

Loaded with good stuff for your face, at a price that’s great for your wallet, this vegan, cruelty-free face moisturizer from eco-conscious Bulldog stands leaps and bounds above others in its price category. Aloe vera hydrates and soothes, green tea fights off environmental stressors (we call those “free radicals”), and camelina oil, rich in vitamin E and omega oils, helps improve skin tone and prevent further free radical damage.

If that’s not enough, the entire Bulldog brand has moved to sugarcane plastic, instead of plastic made from fossil fuels, which is a renewable source that needs little more than natural rainfall to grow. This is saying a lot for a moisturizer that won’t even set you back the cost of lunch.

Best Drugstore: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Gel-Cream

Neutrogena has long established itself as one of the leading skincare brands on a mass scale. Dermatologists have loved it for years, and this lightweight, hard-working face moisturizer is just one more reason why. Loaded with hyaluronic acid—a substance found naturally in our skin and that holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water—this is all bang for just a few bucks.

Best Splurge: Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream for Men

Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream Men — Courtesy of Nordstrom

This lightweight and fast-absorbing cream from renowned aesthetic medicine specialist Dr. Barbara Sturm—the mastermind behind the Kardashian-approved “vampire facial” as well as the popular “blood cream”—is nothing short of magical. Gallager agrees as it is her pick for the best cream to drop some major cash on.

As an orthopedic surgeon, Sturm developed a new way to recover from major inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis, using proteins produced by the patient’s own blood cells. This science and knowledge, in addition to efficacious ingredients including purslane and skullcap, are concentrated down to boost skin, soothe irritation, and protect men’s skin from harsh influences. This is why Sturm’s skincare selection stands apart from most others and is worth the investment.

Best for Oily Skin: Kiehl's Oil Eliminator 24-Hour Anti-Shine Moisturizer

Men’s skin is thicker and more oily than women's skin. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. So a lot of men find themselves wanting a facial moisturizer that helps to curb the pending grease slick that is in their future. Kiehl’s has long been satisfying that need, and it’s been doing it well. In addition to mattifying silica, this lightweight face cream uses totara wood extract, which has powerful antimicrobial and antioxidant benefits and fights against acne-causing bacteria.

Best for Dry Skin: Milk Vegan Milk Moisturizer

Great for just about any skin type, the lightweight delivery of intense hydration makes it a perfect addition to the skincare routine of men who have dry skin but aren’t looking to use their mother’s heavy moisturizer. “My boyfriend likes it and it leaves a velvety-matte finish instead of being super shiny,” says Byrdie Editorial Director Faith Xue.

The clean, fragrance-free formula uses vegan milk including proprietary Desert Milk, a unique blend of Kalahari melon, baobab, jojoba, and aloe vera which thrive in dry, arid, desert-like environments. Additional good-for-you ingredients include fig milk and shea butter to soften and soothe skin, oat milk to calm and comfort irritation, and argan milk, grapeseed oil, and olive-derived squalane to strengthen skin’s barrier and seal in moisture.

Best for Acne-Prone Skin: Dr. Jart+ Teatreement Moisturizer

Less is often more when it comes to acne treatments, and guys typically want to do the most to fight the all-too-common dermal affliction. Well, get ready for the best of both worlds guys, because this lightweight moisturizer is loaded with tea tree leaf extract—81.5% to be exact—that works overtime to balance skin's pH and moisture levels without irritating and drying out surrounding unconcerned areas.

The cooling sensation paired with the herbaceous scent of tea tree are the telltale signs it’s working but since the blend found in Dr. Jart’s Teatreement is a natural alternative to benzoyl peroxide, it works with your skin in harmony. You can’t overdo it with this one.

Best for Combination Skin: Embryolisse Hydra-Mat Emulsion

Embryolisse Hydra-Mat Emulsion tones and balances your skin's sebaceous glands—also known as oil glands—as it delivers plenty of hydration without any of the grease. Cornstarch absorbs excess oil all day while squalane and allantoin soothe inflammation from aggressors such as shaving. Antioxidant-rich vitamin E helps strengthen the skin's lipid barrier to support pH levels and encourage healthy skin.

But let’s go back to that cornstarch, the unsung hero in this truly mattifying moisturizer. The tapioca starch and sugar derivatives work like a sponge, absorbing excess oil, while apricot oil balances out and tones the skin. Basically, this cool gel keeps the oily spots shine-free and the dry spots hydrated. Win-win.

Best for Sensitive Skin: Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion

Cetaphil is the gold standard when it comes to keeping the most sensitive skin happy and irritation-free. This classic formulation is a lightweight, oil-free gel-like moisturizer that provides instant hydration thanks to the generous helping of hyaluronic acid (the same kind already found naturally in our skin). It absorbs in record time, it’s fragrance-free, and dermatologist and clinically tested to be gentle, hypoallergenic, and non-comedogenic on just about every type of sensitive skin.

Best Anti-Aging: Dr. Dennis Gross Ferulic + Retinol Anti-Aging Moisturizer

What’s a roundup of moisturizers if it doesn’t include something that helps reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Well, buckle up, because we’d say this one actually delivers on its claims. In this formula, two potent ingredients do most of the heavy lifting while the proprietary ECG Complex just seals the deal.

Plant-derived ferulic acid works to boost the effects of other antioxidants while the retinol promotes cell turnover, smoothing out lines and wrinkles and improving skin elasticity. In just the right balance, the two work together with the ECG Complex to further reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots. Dr. Dennis Gross has formulated this retinol product, often to be put to work strictly at night, to be worn day and night, making it one the best anti-aging hydrators you can buy.

Best Lightweight: Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream

It’s hard to say enough about this featherweight yet forceful cream. Oil-free yet loaded with two advanced forms of hyaluronic acid to hydrate and potent papaya enzymes to refine, the result is skin that can only be referred to as radiant. Other key ingredients include brightening alpha-arbutin (a skin-safe relative of hydroquinone), tamarind seed extract to provide further hydration, and horse chestnut seed extract to tone and tighten skin.

Best Tinted Moisturizer: Perricone MD Face Finishing & Firming Tinted Moisturizer

We have been using this for years, and until we find a better tinted moisturizer (for men, remember) then we are just going to keep on singing its praises. What makes it stand out from any other tinted moisturizer for men that we’ve tried is that it is literally undetectable. If you’re a man who is proud to flaunt your fabulous beat, go ahead, but for those of us who prefer to keep the face looking a bit more natural, this is going to be the way to go.

What’s more? The addition of titanium dioxide renders this not only a tinted moisturizer worthy of the red carpet (or Instagram, whatever) but also a broad spectrum SPF 30. We haven't even gotten to the skincare benefits that go beyond the basics yet, of which, there are plenty. Alpha-lipoic acid, a powerful plant-based antioxidant, reduces the appearance of lines, wrinkles, and the look of enlarged pores over time. Still not enough? It’s cruelty-free and 100% vegan. Bam.

Best With SPF: Supergoop! Superscreen Daily Moisturizer

If we’re being honest, we flip flop between the Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen (perfect for bearded bros who want a great daily sunscreen) and this Superscreen Daily Moisturizer, but what made us land here this time was the fact that this Unseen is a sunscreen that provides a little added moisture, and this is a moisturizer that provides an excellent sunscreen. You catch the difference?

This moisturizer uses safflower, glycerin, and blue-green algae to fight pollution, helps the skin get and stay hydrated, and acts as the perfect final step in the moisturized man’s skincare routine.

Best for Overnight: Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream

At night, we wear retinol. Or at least, we should. Sometimes a strong retinol formula can be really really irritating. Well leave it to Drunk Elephant to come up with a vegan retinol formula that can be used every night without irritation, and in a great package too. Of course, that package serves a purpose—to protect the stability and potency of its light and air-sensitive ingredients. It’s even good for sensitive skin thanks to it being free 100% of essential oils, silicones, and unnecessary fragrance.

The clean formula combines 1% vegan retinol with nourishing, rich ingredients such as vitamin F, passionfruit, apricot, jojoba, and the DE signature marula oils to replenish essential lipids and moisture. If you haven’t learned by now, always expect a little something extra when it comes to Drunk Elephant. This superpowered night cream is no different.

Best Natural: Kypris Puff of Love Nurturing Anytime Moisturizer

Kypris was founded in 2011 still has a limited number of SKUs, but with this being one of its latest, we couldn’t be happier. The products are built to be used by anyone and everyone, including those with sensitive skin. That’s because Kypris leaves harsh irritants behind in favor of 100% natural, organic, wild-crafted, cruelty-free, sustainably produced, vegan ingredients. In Puff of Love, you’ll find algae, plankton, and seaweed full of nutrients and minerals, hemp oil to nurture the skin’s barrier, and the powerful antioxidant glutathione, which helps brighten and even skin tone.

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