Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums for Every Skin Type

Whether your skin is oily, dry, sensitive, or uneven, once you hit a certain age, there’s one guarantee, whatever your type: You’ll be concerned with your skin looking its best. (And, realistically, looking its youngest, too.)
When it comes to anti-aging cream and serums, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Does your skin type really matter? Is retinol worth the hype? And is more expensive always better? (Answers: yes, definitely, and sometimes but not always.)
Here’s my research into a few of the best anti-aging creams and serums for each skin type, designed to help your skin look flawless and fabulous.

Best for Deep Wrinkles:

While Botox is, hands-down, the best solution for truly deep wrinkles, the second best fix is a night cream featuring a plumping ingredient like hyaluronic acid (which holds 1000 times its weight in water).
TRY: (1.) Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Moisturizer ($22), which contains slow-acting retinol SA, plus plumping hyaluronic acid. Or try a foundation with hyaluronic acid, such as (2.) Jane Iredale Liquid Minerals Foundation ($50) or (3.) Almay Age Essentials Foundation Makeup ($15).
Best for Dry Skin:

While all skin needs moisture, those with dry skin especially require a nighttime cream that helps lock in hydration and protect the skin’s fragile—and all-important—stratum corneum barrier. TRY: (4.) Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Night Cream ($18), with beeswax, moisturizing clary sage, glycerin, and jojoba oil, or (5.) Juice Beauty Nutrient Moisturizer ($36), with organic shea, jojoba, aloe, algae, and linseed oil.
Best for Oily Skin:

Think your oily skin doesn’t need moisturizer? Think again! While, no, you shouldn’t exactly be slathering yourself in La Mer, you do still need to lightly hydrate your skin. By denying yourself moisture, you run the risk of overproducing oil and, paradoxically, breaking out. (Ironic, we know.) TRY: (6.) Philosophy When Hope Is Not Enough ($45) contains Pentapeptide-3 for elasticity and firmness, vitamin C and vitamin E to fight free-radical damage, and sodium hyaluronate for very light, gentle hydration. Or try (7.) Kahina Argan Oil ($82), which is super lightweight and won’t make you breakout, while still providing a necessary dose of nutrition.
Best for Sensitive Skin:

It’s hard to give sensitive skin proper anti-aging treatment because it’s so easily inflamed and irritated. Look for a product that contains gentle, non-irritating ingredients, and do a patch test before applying to make sure your skin won’t react negatively (test on the inside of your arm first). TRY: (8.) Dr Hauschka Melissa Cream ($25), which uses only natural ingredients, including balancing lemon balm, pore-purifying witch hazel extract, and hydrating sunflower and jojoba, or (9.) Indie Lee Squalene Facial Oil ($32), which was created following the brand founder’s struggle with cancer and is free of environmental toxins and triggers.
Best for Uneven Skin Tone:

A skincare rock-star ingredient, retinol has all sorts of amazing benefits, including helping to fight wrinkles. Less well known—but no less dramatic—are its abilities to even out skin tone and combat hyperpigmentation. TRY: (10.) Sonya Dakar Beauty Bootcamp Retinol Radiance ($135), which combats fine lines while evening skin tone and overall texture with a luxurious texture. Or (11.) Yes to Grapefruit Correct and Repair Even Skin Tone Moisturizer ($6), which also features SPF 15 to prevent future discoloration.