Skincare

We’ve Tested Hundreds of Skincare Brands—These Are the Best of the Best

The investment-worthy creams of the crop.

By Caitlin Clark
Skincare brands like furtuna and goop on a bathroom counter - andrea posadas photography

Trends come and go, but the best skincare brands (usually) last forever. Aside from the occasional shift in ownership or change in formulation, these beauty brands have reached near-mythic status for a reason. Newer brands hitting the market must be exceptional to cut through today’s crowded landscape.

This list has a bit of everything, from the tried-and-true classics well worth the investment to the newer beauty names that are shaking things up for the better. Ahead, we’ve compiled our favorite skincare brands so you can shop with the confidence of a seasoned beauty editor.

Featured image by Andrea Posadas.

Skincare products.
Blonde woman with dewy, glowing skin.

Augustinus Bader

Augustinas Bader, a professor of applied stem cell biology and cell technology, essentially bottled up his research to offer some of the most efficacious products on the market today.

And while not every product in the Augustinus Bader line is essential (the $77 cleansing balm, in particular, could be pretty easily replicated for much less), the Rich Cream is a vanity status symbol well worth the hype. — Caitlin Clark

The Rich Cream Face Moisturizer

One of the hardest-working moisturizers in the game.

$180

Biologique Recherche

If you haven’t tried this French skincare line yet then I highly recommend their masks. I like to multi-mask with the Vivant Masque so I’m hydrating while I’m targeting my t-zones. It’s not cheap, but you don’t need much. Plus, it’s safe enough to use daily or weekly, whenever you like to mask. – Sacha Strebe

Masque Vivant

This mask has a very unique color and smell (if you’re an Aussie, it smells like Vegemite!) but it works. 

$84

Summer Fridays

Beautiful, minimalist branding, effective formulations, and skincare that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. While I’ve noted that Summer Fridays makes my favorite candle, I come first for the widely-loved, cult-favorite skincare. It all began with the game-changing Jet Lag Mask, but the social media darling has expanded into sunscreens, serums, and my favorite eye cream. For that glowy, sun-kissed look, Summer Fridays is your best bet. — Isabelle Eyman

Light Aura Vitamin C + Peptide Eye Cream

I’ve looked long and hard for an eye cream I love, and while many of my favorites are an investment, this brightening, firming formula is the most affordable I’ve found. Without fail, my eyes always appear more awake every time I apply (morning or night!).

$44

Charlotte Tilbury

In 2013, the beloved Youtuber and makeup artist launched her eponymous skincare line (and its well-known Magic Cream) in the UK. A decade later, Charlotte Tilbury’s expertise still shows across her beautifully packaged skincare oeuvre. — Caitlin Clark

Magic Cream Face

Packed with brightening vitamin E and hydrating hyaluronic acid, this popular cream creates the perfect canvas for makeup.

$100

Blonde woman wearing headband applying lipgloss in mirror.
Image by Michelle Nash

Cosmedix

I have been using Cosmedix for over 10 years now because they have high-performance ingredients and do what they say. I swear by their toner and Eye Doctor cream, which also doubles as a highlighter thanks to the brand’s special liquid crystal. – Sacha Strebe

Opti Crystal Liquid Crystal Eye Serum

The brand’s hero product improves damage as it hydrates.

$104

Blue Lagoon Iceland Skincare

Blue Lagoon Iceland Skincare is a relatively new discovery for me, but my skin was changed forever by the first application. The skincare line is an extension of the geothermal spa in Iceland, where treatment offerings include a float in the famed mineral-rich Blue Lagoon, massages, and beauty therapies that harness the transformative elements of geothermal seawater—silica, algae, and minerals.

But for those of us who can’t travel half a world away, the spa has bottled up and applied its healing practices into a beautiful skincare line. From their face cream to the eye serum to the algae mask—everything is thoughtfully formulated to optimize skin health and promote radiance. — Isabelle Eyman

Mineral Mask

This is one of the most moisturizing face masks I’ve found. After wearing it overnight, my skin is hydrated, glowy, and I wake up with a little bounce that wasn’t there before. If you want to make the most of your beauty rest, this is the way to do it.

$45

Dr. Loretta

Honestly, these products are just fun to use. The Intense Replenishing Serum is lusciously viscous, the tightening eye gel depuffs like a dream, and Dr. Loretta’s Detox Mask is breezy (and efficacious) enough to want to slather on every day. 10 out of 10 would recommend it all. — Caitlin Clark

Dr. Loretta Anti-Aging Repair Serum

The pillowy serum plumps skin up and keeps it happy for hours.

$110

Furtuna Skin

The game-changing skincare line earns its hefty price tag with organic ingredients grown on a private estate in Sicily and a team that’s in full control of the product—from plant to packaging. — Caitlin Clark

Furtuna Skin Biphase Moisturizing Oil

I have tried so many oils and they’re either too fragrant or too heavy and they sit on top of the skin. This oil from Furturna is neither of those things. I have been through three bottles of this already and I can’t get enough. — Sacha Strebe

$225

iS Clinical

I was introduced to iS Clinical a few years ago and have slowly been developing an obsession ever since. Its Hydra-Cool Serum is the ultimate glass of water for your epidermis, the SPF is the best I’ve tried, and the Active Serum is simply a must-have. – Sacha Strebe

iS Clinical Extreme Protect SPF 30

As an Aussie, I have literally had 100s of sunscreens applied to my face and body and there are a lot of bad ones out there. This one is the best I’ve tried. — Sacha Strebe

$80

Renée Rouleau

When my skin is feeling hormonal or blemish-prone, I bring out the big guns. Renée Rouleau is renowned for her arsenal of acne-fighting products—her cleanser, in particular, really nails it. It packs a punch in the acids department mixed with gentle biodegradable jojoba beads which reduce acne, bumps, blackheads, and clogged pores while lifting away red discoloration and scarring leftover from blemishes. – Sacha Strebe

Renee Rouleau AHA:BHA Blemish Control Cleanser

I use this cleanser about three times a week. It’s a reminder to focus on prevention rather than scrambling to undo the damage.

$37.50

Revision Skincare

Ask a dermatologist for their favorite skincare brands and you’re almost guaranteed to hear Revision Skincare. What the packaging lacks in flash, its products more than make up for with efficacious ingredients. — Caitlin Clark

Revision Skincare Nectifirm Advanced

A mix of peptides and diglucosyl gallic acid smoothes fine lines and leaves skin feeling firmer.

$154

Bottle of Vintner's Daughter serum.
Image by Belathée Photography

Vintner’s Daughter

I first heard of Vintner’s Daughter at a Goop pop-up in 2015. The brand, launched in 2013 by Napa Valley winemaker April Gargiulo, had already become a mythical elixir in the beauty world almost purely through word of mouth—a powerful, nutrient-dense serum that could work wonders for every skin type.

The brand lived up to the hype then and continues to do so 10 years after its debut. The Active Botanical Serum’s newly launched companion pieces, the Active Essence Treatment (a super efficacious spray that preps your skin for serum) and Active Renewal Cleanser (a killer double cleanse in one), make up an untouchable trifecta that gives me the balanced, glowing skin I’d always dreamed of. — Caitlin Clark

SkinBetter

Honestly, the amount of times aestheticians and dermatologists have recommended this science-backed brand would feel like overkill if we weren’t all so obsessed with it ourselves. Sascha Strebe loves AlphaRet’s unique blend of retinoids and AHAs (which surprisingly never causes irritation) while Isabelle Eyman can’t get enough of SkinBetter’s undereye cream (clearly she has a thing for eye creams). It’s not cheap—and not always easy to find IRL—but SkinBetter is one of the most unique, efficacious brands on the market right now.

SkinBetter AlphaRet Overnight Cream

I use this on the nights I don’t use my prescription tretinoin and have never had better skin. — Sacha Strebe

$135

SkinCeuticals

The science-backed luxury skincare line is another derm and physician go-to. Launched in the early 90s after the brand’s founding scientist Sheldon Pinnell’s research on topical antioxidants led to the first vitamin C patent, the entire SkinCeuticals portfolio remains innovative and excellent. — Caitlin Clark

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

Given that the brand essentially launched the vitamin C category in the early 90s, you can expect its antioxidant-packed serum to deliver.

$182

Tatcha

Tatcha’s blotting papers have always been a must-have, but when the Japanese brand’s Indigo Overnight Serum in Cream Treatment turned out to be the one thing to cure my perioral dermatitis in 2020, I became a devout disciple of all things Tatcha. — Caitlin Clark

Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair Serum in Cream Treatment

This silky cream tackles dry skin and redness for sensitive skin.

$88

U Beauty

When Tina Chen Craig, an OG blogger known to many as “The Bag Snob” channeled her skincare obsession into creating a singular, all-in-one “smart product,” U Beauty was launched and a cult favorite was born. — Caitlin Clark

U Beauty Resurfacing Compound

The resurfacing compound from U Beauty is exactly what it sounds like. I use this after toning before layering on other serums because it’s very thin. It acts as a nice base serum for other products, helping them to seep in even deeper. I do notice that my pores and skin texture look more evened out when using this regularly. — Yola Robert

$88