The Ultimate Guide to Winter Moisturizing
JENN: If you buy this thing and it sits in your vanity and you never use it, the value is zero. So if the one that you keep using is the one that costs a little bit more, so be it, that’s the one you should use.
CAIRA: I’m Caira Blackwell
ROSIE: And I’m Rosie Guerin and this is The Wirecutter Show.
ROSIE: Hi, Caira.
CAIRA: Hi, Rosie.
ROSIE: Hi, my friend. It’s winter time, isn’t it?
CAIRA: It’s so cold.
ROSIE: It’s cold in New York. It’s cold, cold, cold.
CAIRA: And windy, it’s blistering.
ROSIE: We’re talking moisturizers today, and that’s not incidental. It’s dry.
CAIRA: Yeah.
ROSIE: It’s dry.
CAIRA: My skin is crying right now.
ROSIE: Mine too. I was excited to see Wirecutter’s guide published about facial moisturizers and body lotions, specifically things you can find in the drugstore. I want to know more, because I realize I know very, very little.
CAIRA: Yeah, I’m really excited to learn more too, and I’m excited for the person who’s going to take us on this journey. It’s Jenn Sullivan. She is amazing. She’s a senior editor here at Wirecutter on the beauty team, and she’s been covering beauty for at least 25 years. So she’s going to really walk us through the basics of moisturizer, what you know, what you think you might know, and how to apply them and keep your skin smooth, soft, and hydrated all winter long.
ROSIE: So 60,000 questions for Jenn after the break. We’ll be right back.
CAIRA: Welcome back. With us now is Jenn Sullivan, a senior editor on Wirecutter’s beauty team who’s been covering beauty for at least 25 years. She also hosted her own award-winning podcast, Fat Mascara, so Jenn really is a pro.
ROSIE: Hi, Jenn.
JENN: Hi.
ROSIE: Hi. Today we’re talking moisturizer and we’re going to zoom a way out to start. Can you just first explain what we mean when we say moisturizer? What are we talking about?
JENN: We can mean a lot of things, but I think we talk about topical products you put on your skin to add back in hydration, lock in hydration, prevent water loss, soften your skin. They do a lot of things.
ROSIE: And who is it good for? Who needs to be using moisturizer?
JENN: I would argue all of us at some point in our lives because when you’re young, your skin barrier’s not super strong. You might not be good at holding in moisture. As you get older, your skin gets drier.
ROSIE: And explain what you mean by skin barrier.
JENN: Meaning your cell’s ability to hold in the water that is in your skin is not as strong as someone who’s a little bit older because I was talking about kids in that particular example.
ROSIE: Gotcha.
CAIRA: Jenn, say somebody does the Wirecutter method at home and maybe they buy three different brands to try at once. What should their testing process actually look like?
JENN: Oh, I’m so glad they’re trying to mimic what we do in the office because we put a lot of work into it. If you want to buy three and you want to try it, I mean, I would say buy one, see if it works and then buy the other two.
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: But if you have sensitive skin, I would say patch test first. Just use a little bit to make sure that it doesn’t irritate you right on contact.
CAIRA: On any part of your body?
JENN: Dermatologists say, and by the way guys, I am not a dermatologist, so everything I’m saying, take with a grain of salt. Try your body first and make sure that you like the scent, it doesn’t bother you, all that kind of stuff.
CAIRA: Got it.
JENN: And then I don’t know if people are going to like this, but at least 30 days to see how it works for your skin.
ROSIE: 30 days?
JENN: It takes that long for your skin to turn over and get a new set of skin cells going, so you really want to see how it worked through that whole process.
CAIRA: And you really do have to pinpoint, so if you’re going to add something new to your routine, don’t change anything else. So if you do see something wrong, you can know exactly what the problem is, right?
JENN: Spoken like a Wirecutter editor.
CAIRA: Wow. Super thoroughly.
JENN: Single variable.
CAIRA: Yeah. Can you tell us what people should look for to know if the moisturizer is working or if it isn’t working?
JENN: I feel like a good moisturizer you’re going to forget about. You’re going to find yourself using it because your skin feels comfortable and good. It doesn’t feel like anything. It doesn’t make you feel worse, and your skin is acting the way it should.
CAIRA: Yeah.
ROSIE: And if it’s not, you’re itchy, you’re maybe a little red.
CAIRA: Maybe you’re getting a little bumpy.
ROSIE: Yeah. Well then definitely change things up. Change it up. Okay. So this guide, specifically this facial moisturizer guide, we have seven picks and eight in the body lotion guide. Can you first explain the difference between facial moisturizer and body lotion? Because I think many people use them interchangeably. Some people use them interchangeably.
CAIRA: Or at least want to.
ROSIE: Or at least want to.
JENN: The difference between face moisturizer and body moisturizer is marketing.
ROSIE: No way.
JENN: Yes.
ROSIE: Talk about it.
JENN: I mean, there are body products you can use around your face, face products you can use on your body. It depends on you and your particular skin needs. But by and large, it’s a lot of the same ingredients in both those types of products. I will say that the body skin tends to be drier so those products tend to be richer formulas, a little bit thicker, maybe more occlusives, which are those skincare protecting, they protect the barrier of the skin.
ROSIE: Like a Vaseline?
JENN: Petroleum jelly is an occlusive, yes, but there are lots of others. But some people don’t like the feel of a thicker product on their face. It feels greasy, and your face has more oil glands, so it’s got its own moisture going on that you might not always find on your body. But by and large, if a product works for you all over, you only need one product.
ROSIE: Live your life.
CAIRA: Is there a cheat sheet for people to know or remember where they know that they have a skin type? What kind of moisturizer will match with that skin type? How do you make that decision a little bit easier?
JENN: It’s all preference, it really is. That’s why we have so many choices because we want to give you options. There’s no set math equation of, dryer skin needs more of X ingredient.
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: It’s different for everybody. We’re unique people. We have a whole microbiome that’s completely different than the person next to us. We like different things, how they feel, how they smell, all of that, so that’s why we have so many choices. I will say, if you tend to be on the dryer side, our testers found this, a dermatologist would say that thicker, more occlusive, more hydrating, richer might be the word that I’m trying to use. Those are the products you might want to look for. If you have oily skin and you put that on, a lot of people come away being like, “That made me greasy.”
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: So you don’t want that.
CAIRA: Yeah, okay. And when it comes to moisturizing, what do you think is the most misunderstood skin type?
JENN: I mean, I would talk to a dermatologist to really get into this, but for me it’s probably sensitivity in general, the idea of sensitive skin. I think a lot of people think they’re inherently just so sensitive, but what’s really going on is something in their environment or some product that they’re using, not even a skincare product. It could be the laundry detergent or the air was drier.
ROSIE: Cleaning products.
JENN: Yeah, and then we try and fix the problem. We use more stuff to fix the problem, and pairing back and making things simpler might be the fix. So I think that’s a misunderstood concept.
And the thing to be careful of with this moisturizer that we didn’t touch on yet is the idea of active ingredients. These are the treatment ingredients. They might be in your face lotion, but they’re for treating things. These are retinols, peptides, sometimes alpha hydroxy acids. If you’re just looking for moisture, don’t pick something with actives. Just look for the hydrating ingredients because those actives can set up that situation where you’re building sensitivity
ROSIE: What are people doing wrong when they’re applying moisturizer?
JENN: I would say-
ROSIE: Let’s call some people out, ideally by name, if you have any.
JENN: Rosie.
ROSIE: Examples.
JENN: Oh, we could get into that. But I think that the thing they’re doing wrong is waiting till they’re dry to apply the moisturizer. Most people, you want to do it before you got in a cycle of my skin is dry and flaky and itchy. So you want to apply it when your skin is just acting normal and you want to upkeep the hydration, and also do it when skin is damp.
And I went through years of being a beauty editor being like, “Oh, every time I try to apply moisturizer to damp skin, it gets all slimy or filmy.”
You’ve all heard this tip, right? “Make sure your skin’s damp when you apply your moisturizer to lock in that water that’s already there.” So I talk to all these dermatologists who’ve finally come to realize the word damp is different for many people. I was picturing got out of the shower, didn’t towel off yet. I am damp.
ROSIE: You’re wet.
JENN: No. No. They’re like, “You can towel off.” It’s just within the three minutes of toweling off, there’s still moisture in your skin that hasn’t started evaporating out of your skin yet. They consider that to be damp skin.
ROSIE: Oh.
JENN: So if you start trying to put moisturizer on wet skin or just out of the shower not towel dried, haven’t you noticed it gets all weird and slimy?
ROSIE: It’s really gross.
CAIRA: It does get slimy. I still do it though.
JENN: And you’re thinking in your head, “Oh, the derms told me I got to do it while it’s wet.” You’re mixing your moisturizer with the water on your skin. You’re watering it down. So by damp, what they mean is the skin has an inherent dampness still in its epidermis, but it might be dry to the touch. Does that make sense?
CAIRA: It does. And I learned something new today.
JENN: Yeah. We’re talking about moisture here, but the idea is hydration. So there’s things other than moisturizer that you can do to make sure you’re more hydrated. And one of them is the shower temperature. Hot water really does dry out your skin.
CAIRA: No, you can’t take my hot water showers away from me.
JENN: I know. And nobody likes to hear that.
CAIRA: Hot water dries out your skin?
JENN: It absolutely does. It softens the lipid layer so that your body loses moisture more quickly.
ROSIE: The most incomprehensible thing to me, maybe in all of the world is the idea of getting out of the shower, drying off and then just going about your day. Can you imagine?
JENN: There are millions of us that do that.
ROSIE: Can you imagine?
CAIRA: Dozens.
JENN: Some days I am that person.
CAIRA: It’s our producer, Abigail.
ROSIE: Our producer’s raising her hand.
CAIRA: And you?
ROSIE: What? Why?
CAIRA: What and why?
ROSIE: Some people don’t feel dry and some people don’t have it. It’s like a muscle memory thing. That’s your habit. You’re used to it, but there’s plenty of people that just go about their day.
How do things like age, pregnancy, menopause change people’s skin, I guess, number one, and moisturizing needs?
JENN: Yeah. Generally the older you get, the drier your skin gets, and they say that the most hydrated we’ll ever be is before age 40. So after that, you’re starting to get drier. Your skin doesn’t retain moisture as well. And then as far as how hormones affect your skin, this is something that happens to all genders. If your hormones are fluctuating, that affects how your skin looks and feels. So if you have changes that are sudden, I would say talk to a dermatologist, something could be going on.
ROSIE: That’s interesting. I feel like, when you’re 10, maybe turn down the temperature of your shower. And then when you’re 20, turn it down a couple more degrees. And when you’re 30, turn it down. And then by 40, you’ll be tepid.
CAIRA: And used to cold water.
ROSIE: You’ll be used to cold water.
CAIRA: You’ll be saving your skin’s moisture.
ROSIE: And then you don’t have to, yeah, worry about that moisture.
ROSIE: All right. I’m going to recap here. Moisturizer is important. And if you are going to test out a moisturizer, maybe test it out, certainly your body before face. Facial moisturizer, body moisturizer, oftentimes it’s marketing language that’s differentiating the two. But put this moisturizer on when your skin is damp. Just do it.
We are going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we’re going to do some myth busting with Jenn. Plus we’ll talk about some key techniques you may not know when it comes to really locking that moisture in. Stick around.
CAIRA: Welcome back. Our guest today is Jenn Sullivan, a senior editor on Wirecutter’s Beauty Team. Today’s episode is all about moisturizer. So Jenn, when you’re walking down a drugstore aisle, there’s so much to take in. You look left and right, and there are all these marketing terms and all these really pretty labels, and you just don’t know what to pick. So in your guide, it mentions that every dermatologist who was interviewed recommended looking for three key ingredients, and that’s humectants, emollients, and occlusives. Can you just break down quickly what each of these are and basically what they do?
JENN: Humectants attract moisture to the skin, either from deeper in the skin or from the environment. Occlusives lock in moisture. And then emollients are actually skin softeners. Some of the humectants can be an emollient. Some of the occlusives can be an emollient, but these are the things that sort of make your skin feel better.
CAIRA: Okay. Will it say that on the label for each moisturizer?
JENN: It won’t, but a humectant, again, the things that attract moisture are things like glycerin and hyaluronic acid.
CAIRA: Okay.
JENN: An occlusive, those are the locking in ones. This kind of makes sense to me. They’re like the oils. They’re the thicker ones. They’re the plant oils, the shea butters, the petrolatums. The ones that like if you slathered it on, it would make like a protective barrier. Those are the occlusive ingredients. And then the emollients, those skin softeners, again, some of the things I just mentioned can also be emollient, but something like squalane is like a true emollient.
CAIRA: Got it. And usually you don’t have to look at the label and look for any one of these things because the odds are that they always have all three.
JENN: Yes. And you can just go to our Wirecutter guide because all of our picks have all three.
CAIRA: Right. And you do the work for us.
JENN: Yeah.
CAIRA: Thank you.
ROSIE: What a cheeky plug. What are some other popular marketing buzzwords that you might see or hear in the drugstore beauty aisle? Things that might sound important, but actually maybe aren’t.
JENN: How long do we have?
ROSIE: As much as time as you want.
JENN: Some of the names of these products, they’re like 15 words long and they have a complex and it brightens. And then we’ve got essences and we’ve got this and that. And it’s all marketing. The majority of those terms are not regulated. The one that gets me is medical grade. A cosmetic is a cosmetic. It is not a medicine. Medical grade means nothing with regards to skincare. Natural is another one. Natural means nothing. Glycerin feels like, ooh, it feels like chemistry class, can be from a natural source.
But I get our instinct to want something that feels more natural, feels like I’m not putting an unnecessary product on my body. So I think that’s why companies use that word so much. And they might themselves define it as something that came from a plant-based source, but there’s no regulation in the government as to what that means. So it depends on how the company is defining the word themselves.
ROSIE: Right. Plant-based is another thing that you see, I feel like. And without regulation, it’s hard to know unless you go digging, right?
JENN: Correct. Like squalane can be plant-based. It can come from olives. That’s plant-based. Doesn’t really sound like something like coconut oil, which sounds truly plant-based.
ROSIE: Right.
CAIRA: Jenn, most of the picks in our guide are affordable drugstore brands. They’re very affordable, like you won’t feel bad about buying them on the regular because you’re not spending a bunch of money. But there are a couple that just aren’t. They are maybe $100 more. You have one, I think it’s the Augustinus Bader Rich Cream, which sounds expensive and it’s like $300. Why would somebody pay that much for something that they could get for much cheaper?
JENN: Because they can afford to. Truly. I think the moisturizer you want to use and that you like is based on, “What is my budget? What am I looking for? What am I going to know I reach for again and again?” I will say the testers that tried that product pretty much all loved it. It’s a luxurious experience.
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: And you want to feel good. It’s the same with your food or your clothes or whatever. There’s all levels that you can pay for. It’s based on your own budget, your own choices, where you want to put your money. So I mean, I wouldn’t judge that. And that product is quite lovely.
CAIRA: But what makes it lovelier than the rest?
JENN: The story that they’re telling about it. The bottle that it’s in. It has some proprietary ingredients you might not find in others. And maybe one of those when you put it on your skin, you were like, “This is the thing that solved all my problems.” And if that’s you and that product is making your life better, go for it.
CAIRA: I like that. Okay. I’m not doing that, but I appreciate people who can.
ROSIE: And the testing is brand concealed, right?
JENN: It depends on the guide. We sometimes do two levels of testing. We first have our guide writer test it themselves and they know what the brands are and then they brand conceal it for others. So it all depends on which guide we’re talking about. The body lotions, we also have a shower gel, soaps. I mean, soaps was kind of hard to brand conceal.
ROSIE: Yeah. This $300 moisturizer though, I mean, I feel like if it’s brand concealed and people are loving, it’s compelling.
JENN: Yeah.
ROSIE: If you have $300 to drop.
JENN: I mean, it’s about texture for a lot of people too. Sometimes with a bit more money, a company could create a better texture because they’re using ingredients that cost more at raw material level. I won’t say that difference is from $10 to $300.
ROSIE: Sure, yeah.
JENN: But, again, these companies are paying not just for the raw materials that are in the product, all that marketing, maybe you heard about that product because you saw it on Instagram, that didn’t get there out of nowhere, there was a marketing budget put behind it.
So, oftentimes, for a more expensive product what you’re paying for maybe slightly is the cost of goods being more, but definitely the packaging because the packaging is heavier, it’s glass, or it looks more beautiful. And, definitely, the marketing of like, “Oh, I heard so-and-so uses it,” or “Why is it always on my feed?” And that is what you’re paying for.
ROSIE: So, texture is a consideration for folks. Another thing is how something smells. So, what I imagine is fragrance. How did that factor into the testing and what are your thoughts there?
JENN: Huge factor for a lot of people. Generally speaking, if you have sensitive skin, dermatologists say to look for fragrance-free products, which means there’s no added fragrance. If you turn them over you won’t see the word, parfum, or fragrance on the ingredient label, because these can be irritating.
They’re not irritating for all people, though. So some of us like a scent because it encourages us to use it so they might have fragrance in them. And that doesn’t mean it’s bad for you. There’s no inherent problem with it unless it causes you irritation.
So, we have picks that are both fragrance free and those that also are just traditional and might have fragrance in them.
ROSIE: And I imagine unscented is not fragrance free.
JENN: Oh, no. There’s a big difference. Fragrance free means like no fragrance additives in there, which means, actually, sometimes when you smell the product, you’ll smell something because you’re smelling those moisturizers.
Shea, for example, has a scent to it. And if you didn’t add extra fragrances or masking fragrances, you’re going to smell the shea but it will still be fragrance free.
Unscented is different. That’s like they might only add a fragrance that masks that shea smell to get them to a neutral place so it kind of doesn’t smell like anything, but that doesn’t mean its fragrance free. There is that additive in there and it can still be causing irritation.
ROSIE: Got it. I think it is important, back to this idea that fragrance might not be an issue. Like you might not have sensitive skin. It’s sort of narrowing down what your skin wants and what it doesn’t want.
And sometimes the only way to do that is to sort of do that consistent testing for 30 days and figure out what’s going on.
JENN: Exactly. And different fragrances affect people differently. So, if you try one scented or fragrance product and you don’t like it, it doesn’t immediately mean anything with fragrance is bad for you, or it won’t be good for you.
ROSIE: I love it.
CAIRA: Which one do you use? What’s your favorite moisturizer?
JENN: From our guide, the Outset’s moisturizer is my favorite.
CAIRA: And how much is it?
ROSIE: Face and body?
JENN: No, it’s a smaller bottle, so I would not use it on my body. It’s $44 when it’s not on sale.
CAIRA: Okay.
JENN: Actually, I started at Wirecutter just six months ago, and I was so thrilled when I got here that that was already a Wirecutter pick. And I was like, “Yes, justified.”
But it has squalane in it. It feels right down middle of the road not too light, not too greasy, it’s a nice glass bottle, pump, simple packaging, I use it every day.
JENN: So, it’s another reason I would not use it on my body, but I really like it.
CAIRA: Love.
JENN: For a less expensive option, Vanicream.
CAIRA: Yeah, we love a Vanicream.
ROSIE: Shout out to Vanicream.
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: Yeah, for me, personally. Yeah.
ROSIE: What about body oils? I’ve seen these in the drug store. I’ve seen these on Instagram. I’ve seen these in bathrooms of fancy people.
CAIRA: I mean, I’ve seen full TikTok videos about like the steps that you should take in just your moisturizing routine.
JENN: Yeah.
CAIRA: You have to do creamy and then you have to lock in with an oil. And then you have to do it all while you’re damp. Like, yeah, what about that?
JENN: Oils are not hydrating. I think there’s a lot of people also that look at moisturizer like, “I can just use petroleum jelly.” Or, “I can just use olive oil from the bottle.”
Those are occlusives, which we talked about earlier. They’re skin protectants, lay down on the top of the skin and keep the moisture in there.
But if you put them on dry skin what moisture are you keeping in? You never put the moisture in to begin with. So now you’ve just locked in dry skin.
You’re protecting your skin, so it might seem softer and it might have an emollient factor so it looks softer, feels softer. But inherently, underneath that occlusive it’s dry.
So what I think what you’re seeing is marketers would like you to put the moisturizer on and then lock it in with an oil.But going back to a good moisturizer, it’s going to have some of those occlusive ingredients already in it.
CAIRA: I like to do something with jojoba oil because it’s very cheap and I always have access to it even when I’m traveling.
JENN: That particular oil, and this is where it gets confusing, is both a humectant and an occlusive. And I’m sure you’ve probably noticed that it has an emollient property because it’s softening your skin.
But, when you use multiple different kinds of these ingredients we talked about, you’re getting a longer lasting kind of hydration. And I think it would be more effective, so it definitely works. And if it’s working for you, keep doing it.
I love a body oil, and especially when I’m outdoors, I like skiing, I like hiking in the winter, I will put on moisturizer and then put a layer of an occlusive, such as Aquaphor or Vaseline, since we’re taking about petroleum jelly, or a face oil. The Outset has a face oil I add in in winter, or the body oils you were talking about.
And I think a lot of people feel more comfortable, their skin just feels nicer to them. They don’t have that itchy tightness when they do that extra step.
ROSIE: And, theoretically, you are kind of locking in whatever you’ve put on as a moisturizer. It’s an additional step and it might not be needed necessarily, but it is-
CAIRA: Can’t hurt.
ROSIE: … an extra lock. Right?
JENN: Yeah, and it’s a value proposition in a way because it keeps in that moisture you put in. And instead of applying moisturizer seven times throughout the day, “Because I keep getting dry and I don’t know why and I put it back on,” if you locked it in in the morning with the oil on top, that might work for you.
CAIRA: And I don’t want to fly by something that you’ve been pointing out throughout this episode, which is that Aquaphor or petroleum jelly is not a moisturizer.
JENN: Yeah, Aquaphor isn’t pure petroleum jelly. It has some other ingredients. But those skin protectants, they’re called, they don’t moisturize inherently. They lock in the moisture like we said. So…
ROSIE: On my gosh. I’ve just been putting Aquaphor on my daughter’s body after like bath time and thinking that that is the moisture that she needs, the moisturizer that she needs.
JENN: She might have water in her skin from that bath. And she has her own, like, skin has oil glands. It has its own lipid barrier and layer.
There’s moisturizers in our skin naturally, natural moisturizing factors, they’re called. So you are locking in something. But I think for a lot of people if they’re still dry and they keep slathering on-
ROSIE: She is.
JENN: … an Aquaphor, yeah.
CAIRA: Just letting your baby be ashy.
JENN: No, then moisturize her first.
CAIRA: Now we know.
ROSIE: Put that into my back pocket. Can we talk order of operations? We spoke about getting out of the shower, getting out of the tub, whatever, damp skin, and then a moisturizer.
But, what are the options in terms of a routine? And what order is recommended?
JENN: The basic way to think about is thinnest to thickest. Thin products first, treatment products first. If you use a retinol, that would be like lower down, earlier in the process.
Then your thicker products like a moisturizer. And then at the end, maybe if you wanted the oil, that’s thicker than a moisturizer like a lotion. And then the last one’s always sunscreen.
But, again, I don’t know how many people, I mean I use two things a day, so I don’t know how many…
CAIRA: I have like six.
JENN: This gets more complicated the more…
ROSIE: You have six?
CAIRA: I do.
JENN: And do you follow that from thinnest to thickest?
CAIRA: Yeah, I do.
JENN: Yeah, that’s…
CAIRA: Yeah.
ROSIE: You have fantastic skin.
CAIRA: Thank you. I work really hard at it.
ROSIE: It’s working for you.
JENN: I think people get worried, like, “Oh, if I do it in the wrong order it’s going to negate the effects of the other one.” That’s not really a thing. I wouldn’t worry about that.
CAIRA: Yeah.
JENN: It’s more for comfort of skin and to make sure that they don’t pill, which is when they get that little gummy, like rubber cement balls, I think of it in my head.
CAIRA: Yeah.
ROSIE: I don’t like that.
JENN: Yeah, nobody likes that. So if that’s happening, you want to slow down, as well. You put something on, let it fully absorb and wait to put on the next.
ROSIE: That was going to be my other question. There’s not like a standard amount of time? You just got to let it absorb?
JENN: It’s not really standard. I’ve heard like, “Oh, wait a minute between every product.” I’m not sitting in front of a mirror for 60 full seconds. Do you know how long 60 seconds is? No. I think it’s only if you’re having that pilling issue. Again, even waiting might sometimes not fix that issue. If you wear makeup, that might throw a wrench in things. You might want to play around with that. Generally if you wait, you’ll be less likely to have that pilling effect. Other than that, you don’t necessarily have to wait a long time between these steps.
ROSIE: I don’t know if this is a fair question, but does makeup often come after this moisturizing routine?
JENN: For most people, I would say. They’re doing their skincare routine or moisturizing, because moisturizer makes a nice base for something like a foundation. We just came out with our foundation guide, and we had everybody test them after they did their regular skincare routine, whatever that meant to them. Yes, it would come afterwards.
ROSIE: Got it. Okay.
CAIRA: Jenn, what if you are using the right moisturizer for your skin, supposedly, but you feel like you’re just not hydrated enough? What are some other things that you could do?
JENN: This is a great question, because I think we often just reach for a product to fix whatever’s going on with us. But like eating good fats, making sure you’re hydrated. That will help with it. Taking a slightly cooler shower, I’m not telling you to …
CAIRA: No.
JENN: Yeah. Okay, that might help, but these environmental factors. Adding a humidifier at night. If the air around you is dry, more moist air, a humidifier, could really help as well.
CAIRA: Okay. Let’s do a little myth-busting. True or false, you should switch up your moisturizer based on the season.
JENN: I’m going to go with depends.
CAIRA: What?
JENN: On you and your skin. Some people might not need to do that. I tend to find a thicker moisturizer in the winter because my skin gets dryer, but it’s all depending on your preferences and your skin type.
CAIRA: Got it.
ROSIE: All right. True or false? You should buy a separate eye cream, because facial moisturizer doesn’t do enough to firm up that area on its own.
JENN: One quick clarification. Firm up isn’t something that a moisturizer does. It moisturizes and hydrates. It’s not necessarily like making skin feel firmer and tighter.
ROSIE: What is an eye cream doing?
JENN: An eye cream, so if your moisturizer can go around your eye, so you have dryness around your eyes and you can get your moisturizer up there without any sort of irritation, you might not need an eye cream. Some people can’t. They need a gentler formula. A lot of the eye creams … and we’re actually working on testing eye creams and treatments right now … a lot of them are for specific concerns. I have a little bit of fine lines and texture. I have a darker under-eye circle. I have puffiness. I have sagginess. Those are the things that you’re going to need actives, I talked about earlier. It’s your moisturizer, but with a little extra something in to address that need, and one of those needs could be hydration. I need extra moisture in my eye area. Then maybe, yeah, you would need an eye cream.
CAIRA: True or false, you cannot over-moisturize your skin.
JENN: I mean, you can’t drown your skin, but I would say false, because if you’re putting on too much moisturizer and you’re feeling greasy or you see your skin is breaking out, maybe you’ve caused some clogged pores there and you’re getting some acne-type bumps. You might be over moisturizing, so that could be possible.
ROSIE: All right, true or false. If it tingles when you apply it to your skin, that’s how you know it’s working, it’s cranking.
JENN: I’m going to say false, because I think people think it does nothing unless they can feel it doing something. In some cases it’s fine to have the tingle, but in many cases, the tingle is a sign that you are irritating your skin. That’s what that tingle is, so it might actually be a bad thing.
ROSIE: Keep an eye on the tingle. I’m not going to let you ask this last question, Caira, because I already know the answer to it from carefully listening to Jenn throughout this episode. The question was going to be true or false, Aquaphor is the best moisturizer. Not only is it not the best moisturizer, it’s not a moisturizer at all.
CAIRA: It’s not a moisturizer. We all learned something here.
JENN: We all learned something here today.
ROSIE: Okay. We’ve gotten to our last question, Jenn. Before we wrap, we always ask our guests one final question, which is what’s the last thing you’ve bought that you’ve really loved. Does not have to be a Wirecutter pick.
JENN: It’s actually these shoes I’m wearing right now. This is the part of the show where I’m just going to complain about my feet hurt. My feet hurt all the time.
CAIRA: Get it.
JENN: In the summer I’m a Birkenstock person, but you can’t wear Birkenstocks in the winter. I also like FitFlops.
CAIRA: FitFlops?
JENN: FitFlops.
ROSIE: What is a FitFlop?
JENN: A FitFlop is a brand name for this orthopedic-looking kind of sandal. This is a FitFlop. It has the FitFlop base under my foot so it’s real comfortable, but then it looks like …
CAIRA: It looks like a Doc Marten.
JENN: Yeah, which is another shoe that … Doc Martens are heavy, though. This is ridiculous. I’m getting my shoe off right now. Feel this thing, for how big and chunky this is.
ROSIE: Yeah, it is chunky.
CAIRA: It’s got a two-tiered sole.
ROSIE: It’s really light. It’s light as a Croc, almost.
CAIRA: FitFlops. Also, if you have feet that are always in paint, try them. What’s the model?
JENN: The model of this FitFlop is the F-MODE Leather Flatform Chelsea Boot. It looks like a Chelsea boot with a chunky platform sole, and this is FitFlop.
ROSIE: It’s going to give you some height too.
JENN: Yeah.
ROSIE: Yeah. I love that for you. Jenn, thank you so much for joining us. This was very illuminating for me personally, but I hope will be helpful for our [inaudible 00:32:28].
CAIRA: Thanks so much.
JENN: Thank you.
ROSIE: Caira, what did you learn today at school?
CAIRA: Oh, my gosh. Well, I’ve learned that I don’t have to be soaking wet to put on my moisturizer.
ROSIE: No, you don’t, my friends.
CAIRA: I’ve been struggling. I really have. I track water all through my house, because I’m like, “I’ve gotta put on my moisturizer before I dry out.” Yeah, so I’m going to firmly towel off before I start my entire skincare routine, and I feel freer for that.
ROSIE: It’s a game changer for you, buddy.
CAIRA: Huge. What about you?
ROSIE: For me, I think when picking a moisturizer, you want to look for hydrating ingredients. You want to look for things like humectants, which attract moisture, so like glycerin, hyaluronic acid. You want to look for occlusives that lock in moisturizer, so that might be plant oils and ceramides. Then you also want to look for emollients and those are going to soften skin, like squalene. That was a big learn and a big takeaway for me. The other that’s turning things upside down for me is that occlusives are not moisturizers.
CAIRA: That one’s going to haunt you, huh?
ROSIE: Said in a different way, Aquaphor is not a moisturizer. Vaseline is not a moisturizer.
CAIRA: Yeah. Now you know.
ROSIE: If you want to find out more about Wirecutter’s coverage, if you want to check out our guides for facial moisturizer, body lotion, or any of Jenn or Jenn’s team’s reporting, head to our website, or you can find a link in the show notes.
CAIRA: All right. Thanks so much for listening. Bye.
ROSIE: Bye.
CAIRA: The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Maddy Masiello and Nick Pitman. Today’s episode was mixed by Katherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, Katherine Anderson, Rowan Niemisto, and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter’s deputy publisher and general manager. Ben Frumin is Wirecutter’s editor in chief. I’m Caira Blackwell.
ROSIE: I’m Rosie Guerin.
CAIRA: Thanks for listening.
ROSIE: I like to pat down instead of a full rub, towel down, and then I’m damp.
CAIRA: Yes.
ROSIE: Then the moisturizer goes on.
CAIRA: Well, not that anybody asked.
ROSIE: This is going to be R-rated.
