Best moisturiser for dry skin

Dry skin (as opposed to dehydrated skin, which anyone can have for a week) is short on the lipids that hold the outer layer together — mostly ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids. With those depleted, water evaporates faster than it is replaced, which is why the tightness comes back an hour after a light lotion.

So the useful question isn't "how hydrating is it?" — almost everything is hydrating for twenty minutes. It's "what stops the water leaving again?"

1. 1

   Humectants pull water in

   Glycerin, hyaluronic acid, urea, panthenol, betaine. Glycerin high on the list is a better sign than hyaluronic acid on the front of the carton — it is cheap, unglamorous and very well evidenced.
2. 2

   Emollients make it feel smooth

   Squalane, plant oils, esters, fatty alcohols such as cetearyl alcohol. These fill gaps between skin cells so the surface feels soft. Pleasant, but on their own they don't stop water loss for long.
3. 3

   Occlusives seal it in

   Petrolatum, dimethicone, shea butter, lanolin, mineral oil. This is the part dry skin usually lacks. Petrolatum remains the most effective occlusive there is, and it is non-comedogenic despite its reputation.

Ceramide-led creams sit slightly apart: they replace the barrier lipids themselves rather than sealing over them. They are worth paying for when the dryness is chronic rather than seasonal — see our ingredient decoder to check whether a formula actually contains them or just says "ceramide complex" on the box.

• Barrier support

  High

  Ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids present in a sensible order — not a token pinch at the end of the list.

• Occlusive load

  Medium to high

  Enough film-forming to slow overnight water loss. This is the axis that separates a real dry-skin cream from a summer lotion.

• Price per ml

  Checked in your currency

  We compare GBP, EUR and USD so an import-inflated price can't make a cheap formula look premium.

• Fragrance

  Your call

  Not harmful for most people, but if dryness comes with itching or eczema, fragrance is the first thing worth removing.

Put it on damp — within about a minute of washing — so there is water at the surface to trap. In cold, dry months, a thin layer of something frankly occlusive over the top at night (the "slugging" trick) does more than moving up a price bracket.

If you use actives, the moisturiser goes after them, and a retinoid on top of a cream rather than under it is a normal way to make it tolerable.

Brands rarely publish how much of each ingredient is in the jar, so nobody — us included — can tell you a cream contains a "clinical" level of ceramides from the label alone. Where the amount isn't disclosed, we say so on the product rather than inventing a score.

Long-term barrier repair also depends on things a formula can't control: washing temperature, surfactant strength, indoor heating, eczema. A good cream helps; it isn't a diagnosis.

Related: moisturiser for oily skin, moisturiser for acne-prone skin, sunscreen for dry skin.