Best moisturizers for men: Tested and reviewed

There are plenty of excellent men’s moisturizers on the market, yet most guys take a lax approach to skin care routines, preferring the drugstore bargain bin to Sephora, if they use anything at all. But that’s changing.

Dermatology nurse practitioner Catie Boucher at the SavvyDerm clinic said guys are “breaking the age-old stigma that men shouldn’t put any thought into their skin health.” Male patients, she added, “simply need direction as to what they should be using and in what order.”

I’m here to provide that direction. Along with five other fellas at CNN Underscored, I tested 12 of the most widely available face moisturizers so you don’t have to. After two weeks of slathering, spreading and smearing — plus a few interviews with skincare experts — I settled on two great options that you can ship to your door.

Best moisturizer for men

Clueless about skin care? With its lightweight, quick-to-absorb ingredients, pleasant aroma and accessible price, Harry’s Hydrating Night Lotion is the best moisturizer for most men.

Best moisturizer for men with sensitive skin

If fragrances are a deal breaker or you prefer a richer consistency, The Ordinary also offers a high-quality moisturizer that provides all-day hydration on a budget.

When I asked fashion and beauty editor Sophie Shaw to critique my product pool, I was surprised she added Harry’s. What could a men’s razor company know about skin care? Quite a bit, it turns out.

Harry’s skin care launched in 2021 to positive reviews, and five years later, our testing confirms its products hold up, with the line’s nighttime moisturizer pulling ahead of formulas five times its price.

The light, easy-to-absorb lotion hydrated associate testing writer Joe Bloss’ combination skin without feeling heavy. “If anything, it was a soothing layer that felt natural,” Bloss said. But superb moisturization is half the story. With the added niacinamide, the formula addressed Bloss’ main concern: enlarged pores. “Having [niacinamide] included in a soothing night lotion like this fits perfectly in my routine,” he said.

The best part is that it’s a steal. At just over $5 an ounce, it’s the third-cheapest moisturizer we tested and way more affordable than premium formulas from Kiehl’s, Malin+Goetz and Paula’s Choice (which also performed worse, by the way).

The only downside I found was the added chamomile and palo santo fragrances. According to Dr. Brendan Camp, a double board-certified dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology, men with sensitive skin should steer clear of fragrances and dyes. But men who can tolerate scents, like Bloss and senior tech writer Mike Andronico, will welcome the pleasant aroma, which Bloss said was “not overpowering at all and quite nice.”

The Ordinary takes a different approach than most, favoring science-backed ingredients and affordability over flashy packaging and in-your-face branding. The strategy pays off.

In my testing, the formula locked in moisture and hydrated my skin for the entire day. If anything, I found it too heavy for my oily skin, especially in the summer when sweat and grease conspire to turn my nose and forehead (aka the T-zone) into an oil field. But once I started using less of the buttery formula, it hydrated without adding excess heft or irritation with fragrances or oils. Guys like me should use less, while those with drier skin can be more liberal with their application.

That’s why it’s our second pick. With its clean ingredients and first-rate hydration, it’s a moisturizer anyone can use, even men with sensitive skin who need to avoid fragrances and dyes. It’s simply a matter of calibrating the dose based on your skin type.

But it’s The Ordinary’s price that gave it an edge over other moisturizers on our list. Costing as little as $4 an ounce, this moisturizer isn’t just cheap; it’s the second-cheapest formula we tested. And considering a little goes a long way, I could see stretching a tube of this stuff for months.

You can’t properly test skin care products on your own, so I teamed up with five guys at CNN Underscored to test each moisturizer featured. Not only did this ensure I could include a variety of skin types but it also allowed for a larger testing pool.

The setup was simple. Using an intake form, I assigned two moisturizers to each tester, tailoring products to skin types. We then spent around a week using each moisturizer, applying it twice per day and evaluating products based on the criteria fashion and beauty editor Sophie Shaw established in her guide to the best moisturizer for dry skin.

The four experts I spoke to said all agreed that before you can find the right moisturizer, you have to know your skin type. The American Academy of Dermatology Association (ADA) lists five common skin types:

Beyond tailoring your moisturizer to your skin type, consider your needs. Men who want to reduce wrinkles should look for anti-aging products that feature ingredients like vitamin C and ceramides. Want the simplest routine possible? Find a moisturizer that includes sunscreen, so you have one fewer step in the morning.

Whatever you pick, don’t limit yourself to men’s moisturizer. “This may not be a popular opinion, but in my experience, companies that market their products to men specifically are simply using masculine packaging and marketing tactics to grab the attention of the male audience,” Boucher said.

Don’t be fooled by Geologie’s placement in this guide. Though I wish it were cheaper, it’s a great 2-in-1 moisturizer that felt hydrating and light on my oily, acne-prone skin.

Geologie’s face cream wowed me with its sunscreen-infused formula, and had I picked more winners, it would have made it on the podium. Its ability to hydrate was excellent, leaving my skin moisturized and happy without adding grease to my oily, acne-prone skin. The skin-soothing niacinamide and sun protection were nice touches too. Though SPF 15 is lower than the ADA’s recommendation of SPF 30 or higher, it’s enough to block some harmful rays and a shortcut for men too lazy to complicate their routine with a dedicated face sunscreen.

It’s hard to say whether the azelaic acid brightened my skin or reduced acne, however. During the week I used the formula, I had a breakout. I don’t pin this on the moisturizer — sometimes blemishes just appear — but I don’t think this formula will radically clear up acne. (For that, I recommend an exfoliating cleanser like Neutrogena’s Stubborn Texture Cleanser.)

Its price also disqualified it from earning a number-one spot. Yes, $9 an ounce isn’t unfair or expensive — you do get a lot of active ingredients — but it’s around double the price of our winners’ per-unit costs. Even so, men with oily, acne-prone skin should absolutely try this moisturizer, which is one of the best I’ve used.

If anti-aging ingredients are a must, Jaxon Lane’s pricey moisturizer is a quality product that pairs well with serums.

If you’ve started counting gray hairs, it might be time to switch to Jaxon Lane’s Anti-Aging Moisturizer. While expensive, associate programming editor Kevin Martinez said it was the best moisturizer he tested for this piece, complimenting its lightweight, niacinamide-infused formula, which paired well with his vitamin C and retinol anti-aging serums.

“I used this as a daily moisturizer, and even after spending a day at the beach, it delivered an instant cooling, hydrating feeling,” Martinez said. “My skin felt and looked more supple after using this just a couple of times.”

He wished the price were lower and that it came with SPF for daytime use, however. But the complaints ended there. The only caveat he added was that the moisturizer left a “dewy finish,” though it quickly “melted” into his skin.

Still, the $18 per ounce price invites the question: Does Jaxon Lane’s moisturizer perform three times as well as The Ordinary’s excellent fragrance-free moisturizer? Probably not, unless reducing or preventing wrinkles is your main concern.

Want to moisturize your skin and smell great? Jack Black’s sun-protective moisturizer will do the trick, especially if you don’t mind paying top dollar.

You’d be forgiven for thinking “School of Rock” star Jack Black had something to do with this company. (After all, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson launched Papatui men’s skin care in 2024.) But the similarities are in name only. Even so, the brand’s moisturizer deserves attention for its easy-to-absorb, SPF 20 formula.

“I’m not a big ‘skin care routine’ guy, so anything that lets me knock out all my layers with as few products as possible is a big plus, especially in the middle of a brutal New York summer,” Andronico said. That’s true of a lot of men, making Jack Black’s 2-in-1 solution a compelling option for guys who need an easy-to-absorb moisturizer with SPF. Fans of fragrances will also appreciate its blue algae extract and sea parsley smell, which Andronico loved and said “made the process of applying [it] that much more refreshing.”

As much as Andronico liked the formula, he said the price seemed high. “The addition of the sunscreen certainly ups the value, but I’d want a bigger moisturizer if I’m paying $32,” he said.

Malin+Goetz’s fragrance-free moisturizer is excellent, particularly if you have sensitive skin, but it’s priced far higher than drugstore products.

Senior testing editor Rick Stella had high praise for this premium moisturizer from trendy skin care and fragrance brand Malin+Goetz. Not only did Stella’s dry skin look great immediately after application but it remained hydrated for hours, if not the whole day. The moisturizer also delivered on its promise to accommodate sensitive skin types, thanks to its fragrance-free formula, which caused zero issues for Stella’s irritation-prone skin. “I often have to be quite careful with what I put on my skin, but this didn’t harm my skin at all,” he said.

But there’s no getting around the moisturizer’s price, which starts at $54 for 4 ounces, or around $14 per ounce. To be sure, the product is good, but $50 is probably too expensive for most people. My advice? Save this for the occasional self-care splurge or gift idea.

Like Malin + Goetz’s formula, Kiehl’s excelled at moisturizing our tester’s skin. (It’s also a product Shaw “truly can’t live without.”) It’s just way too expensive at $23 an ounce.

Despite the “ultra” moniker, Stella found Kiehl’s Facial Cream light enough that he didn’t mind reapplying it in the evening. “It absorbed quite quickly and never felt too slimy or like it took longer than a few seconds to settle in on my skin,” he said, adding that its appearance was matte.

Its hydrating power also earned his approval, keeping Stella’s skin feeling and looking healthy for most of the day without irritating his sensitive skin. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Kiehl’s packs its formula with moisturizing ingredients while avoiding parabens and fragrances, earning it a Seal of Acceptance from the National Eczema Association.

But at $23 an ounce, this moisturizer is the most expensive formula we tested, and it doesn’t even offer sun protection, anti-aging ingredients or other bonuses you’d expect from a top-shelf product. Nevertheless, Stella said it’s “still a great moisturizer” that he might splurge on now and then.

Men who want a lightweight formula should consider gel moisturizers — but not this one. It left our tester’s skin dry, even right after applying it.

Gel moisturizers tend to be lightweight and fast-absorbing, so they’re a good choice for men who don’t want a rich, caked-on feeling. That said, Bloss said this scentless formula was thick and “jarring at first,” though “not in the way a really heavy, creamy moisturizer would be.” Because it was so dense, absorption took longer, but it was ultimately hydrating, making the skin “ultra smooth and not shiny.” Later in the day, however, hydration waned, leaving Bloss with slightly drier skin as the hours passed.

Considering that middling performance, this moisturizer didn’t impress despite including all the right ingredients, from niacinamide to hyaluronic acid. That’s especially true when you factor in its $20 per ounce price.

Oars + Alps deserves praise for including SPF 37, which provides ample protection from harmful UVB radiation. But our tester said it felt more like a creamy sunscreen than a daily moisturizer.

This 2-in-1 formula felt more like a sunscreen than a moisturizer, Martinez said, who described the consistency as thick and rich. It came with the same frustrations of cream-based sunscreens too, occasionally leaving a residue and white cast on Martinez’s skin. Yet, he still appreciated the double-duty formula, which he said would come in handy on a trip.

“For under $20 and as a 2-in-1 moisturizer with SPF 37, I’d surely buy this again as a travel moisturizer or for days when I just want to apply moisturizer and go out the door without worrying about applying SPF,” he said.

Even if they’re mattifying, moisturizers should moisturize. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t hydrating enough for our tester’s combination skin, though it might work for oily skin types.

French skin care brand La Roche-Posay is a favorite among derms for providing first-rate products at drugstore prices. Yet, our testers found both La Roche formulas lacking. Outdoors, sustainable living and pets editor Kai Burkhardt said the mattifying, gel-like formula felt heftier than other lightweight moisturizers he’s tested, though it did absorb quickly.

His main complaint was that it wasn’t hydrating enough, even with the addition of skin barrier-strengthening ceramides. “This one says it’s for combination skin, and I think that’s pretty true, but I personally would want an even more moisturizing formula,” Burkhardt said. “Even though I have combo skin, I’m on the drier side, so I wanted a bit more out of this one.”

This formula was full of contradictions. It applied quite thick and creamy, while its moisturization was lacking. I’d skip it as a face moisturizer, but consider it if you need a versatile skin protectant.

Andronico had some of the same complaints about La Roche-Posay’s balm as Burkhardt had about the Toleraine Double Repair. He said the balm “felt very dry,” which is strange because the balm “felt very thick,” lingering on Andronico’s face even after he tried rubbing it in. If a moisturizer is thick and creamy, you’d better hope it moisturizes.

Admittedly, this product is marketed more as a multipurpose skin protectant than a face moisturizer, and perhaps it excels more in that regard. The fragrance-free formula is certainly great for sensitive skin, making it suitable for babies as young as one week, chemotherapy patients and people with eczema, according to the brand.

Cetaphil’s formula was bad on all accounts, dehydrating our tester’s skin and failing to improve his acne. The silver lining is its dirt-cheap price.

Cetaphil’s Mattifying Moisturizer has all the trappings of a great product. It’s got salicylic acid to clear pores, a gel-like texture suitable for oily skin and clean ingredients. Sadly, the formula dried Burkhardt’s skin, leaving a “flaky spot” on his face after the first few days of use.

Burkhardt speculates that it might work for “very oily skin” — the gel-like formula was mattifying and absorbed quickly — but its 0.5% salicylic acid formulation didn’t do anything for his acne. “I had some small blemishes,” he said, “and they didn’t clear up faster than normal.” That’s unfortunate because this moisturizer was the cheapest we tested, costing around $4 per ounce.

The following FAQs have been answered by dermatologists Dr. Brendan Camp, Dr. Marisa Garshick and Dr. Noah Gratch, as well as dermatology nurse practitioner Catie Boucher.

To determine which men’s moisturizers worked best, we gathered a testing panel of six male CNN Underscored staffers with various skin types, concerns and existing skin care routines.

Skin care can be complex, so I spoke to three dermatologists and one dermatology nurse practitioner to learn more about men’s moisturizers.

CNN Underscored thoroughly tests the products in our testing guides and provides full transparency about how we test them. We have a skilled team of writers and editors who have many years of testing experience and ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when relevant to make certain we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item.

To find the best moisturizer for men, associate updates writer Maxwell Shukuya interviewed qualified dermatologists and a dermatology nurse practitioner to learn more about men’s skin care. He then worked with fashion and beauty editor Sophie Shaw to come up with a strong product pool, evaluation criteria and an intake form for panel testers. Six product testing experts, including Shukuya, tried moisturizers for a week before submitting feedback, which Shukuya used to crown our winners.