Moisturizers are a crucial step in any skincare routine. They are essential to keep your skin hydrated, your skin barrier healthy, and oil production at bay. However, the hunt for the perfect moisturizer can be time-consuming and stressful.
Most of us can agree that we want a beauty product to work after spending so much money. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, which is why many people struggle to find the right moisturizer.
Moisturizers come in so many formulas and textures. One popular type of moisturizer that is gaining traction is silicone-free moisturizers. Silicones are commonly found in moisturizers and face primers to create a smoothing effect and fill in fine lines, pores, and blur acne or other problem areas.
However, silicones can feel uncomfortable on the skin. For example, they can be heavy on the skin, feel greasy, and cause makeup to slip off. Everyone has opinions on silicones in beauty products, but you can certainly get a moisturizer without them.
What are the best silicone-free moisturizers? The best silicone-free moisturizers should not only be free of silicones but also irritating or greasy ingredients. A moisturizer should suit your skin type so you can reap the maximum benefits and achieve a healthy complexion.
In this article, we’ll talk all about how to choose the best silicone-free moisturizer for your skin and show you a few of our absolute favorites to try out for yourself!
How To Choose The Best Silicone-Free Moisturizer
Finding the right silicone-free moisturizer can be overwhelming. Thankfully, we have considered a few things before making your skincare purchase. First, it’s essential to analyze your skin needs, learn how to use your moisturizer, and include SPF.
1. Truly Silicone-Free
For starters, if you’re looking for a silicone-free moisturizer, it’s essential to read the labels and ingredients list to ensure you get a truly silicone-free product. Usually, silicone-free moisturizers are water-based or are a hydrogel hybrid.
Silicone-free moisturizers should ideally be lightweight or use an alternative to silicones if you want a smoothing cream.
2. Assess Your Skin’s Needs
Next, it’s time to analyze the state of your skin. Are you acne-prone, dehydrated, oily, dry, sensitive, etc.? Digging deep and figuring out what your skin truly needs will help you make the right choice because there are too many moisturizers on the market.
Choosing a moisturizer suitable for your skin type will ensure you’ll see results and achieve the most benefits. Even if you are oily, you need to moisturize to keep oil production at bay.
3. Acne Care
Most silicone-free moisturizers are geared towards acne-prone and oily skin types. This is because silicone-free moisturizers are lightweight and hydrating enough to feel comfortable on problematic skin. They can also contain beneficial active ingredients.
Some moisturizers have salicylic acid that fights acne and produces a more even complexion. However, it will increase your sensitivity to the sun, and you will need to wear sunscreen so as not to damage the skin further.
4. Dry, Normal, & Sensitive Skin
There are also silicone-free moisturizers for all skin types. Most silicone-free moisturizers formulate without other potentially sensitizing ingredients. These moisturizers for dry, normal, and sensitive skin focus on hydration and healthy skin.
For example, they will either plump and firm the skin or protect and maintain a healthy skin barrier. There are even formulations for sensitive skin that don’t contain fragrance, which is a common skin irritant.
5. SPF
Lastly, it’s essential not to forget about SPF. Your moisturizer should not only pair well with your skin type, but it should also pair well with your sunscreen. Sunscreen will only improve the benefits you want to receive from your silicone-free moisturizer.
You don’t want to miss this step if you choose a moisturizer that is formulated with multiple active ingredients. Unfortunately, they can increase your sensitivity to the sun and counteract the benefits you’re supposed to receive from your moisturizer.
So, pick a moisturizer that matches your sunscreen to prevent unnecessary damage or irritation from taking place.
Best Silicone Free Moisturizers
| Rank | Product | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Klorane Laboratories Cornflower Water Cream | Reduces dark circles and puffiness |
| 2. | Good Molecules Silicone-Free Moisturizer | Primer, smoothing, clean formula |
| 3. | Honest Beauty Hydrogel Cream | Gel cream, hyaluronic acid, jojoba oil |
| 4. | Peach Slices Acne Oil-Free Moisturizer | Prevents breakouts, smoothing, hydrating |
| 5. | Peach Slices Snail Rescue Oil-Free Moisturizer | Cruelty-free snail mucin, reduce fine lines |
| 6. | Tata Harper Water-Lock Moisturizer | Use as primer, smoothing, plumping |
| 7. | Olay Hungarian Water Essence Moisturizer | Lightweight, soothing, non-irritating |
| Bonus | Facetheory Supergel Moisturizer | Lightweight, vegan, cruelty-free |
1. Klorane Laboratories Cornflower Water Cream
This moisturizer from Klorane Laboratories is made with organic cornflower and hyaluronic acid to brighten your skin and help it retain moisture.
This formula can not only be used to plump, hydrate, and revitalize your skin but also to reduce the appearance of dark circles and puffiness under your eyes.
You’ll instantly feel its hydrating effects, but after around 21 days, you’ll also begin to notice a fresh and youthful texture to your skin.
Not only is it silicone-free, but it is also vegan and paraben-free. 98% of its ingredients are naturally derived as well. For the best results possible, pair this moisturizer with their revitalizing water sleeping mask, which is also silicone-free.
2. Good Molecules Silicone-Free Moisturizer
Meet The Ordinary’s vibrant and colorful little sister, Good Molecules. This brand is affordable, accessible, and offers high-quality formulas that work for the skin.
The Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer will ensure your skin is smooth and hydrated. It will also prime your face so you can have a flawless makeup application. You’ll also be getting a clean formula with ingredients your skin will love.
This moisturizer is plant-based, and it instantly absorbs into the skin so you won’t feel greasy or heavy. It will immediately minimize the appearance of pores, fine lines, and texture without layering the skin with silicone.
Good Molecules has found a plant-based alternative to silicone, and they have infused this moisturizer with various skin-loving ingredients. For example, this cream has a blend of macadamia seed oil, vitamin E, and shea butter.
This cream has fatty acids derived from olive oil as well. These components promote skin cell renewal, keep the skin barrier healthy, and offer hydration. The Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer is ideal for all skin types, and it’s simple to use.
After cleansing or any serums, use this moisturizer to prep the skin for makeup or sunscreen in the morning.
3. Honest Beauty Hydrogel Cream
Jessica Alba is the genius behind her brand Honest Beauty, which focuses on safe, clean, and practical lifestyle products. From babies to beauty, Jessica Alba offers a clean alternative for everyone. One product to check out is the Hydrogel Cream.
The Hydrogel Cream will offer hydration and rejuvenate the skin. This cream will suit all skin types, especially oily skin. Gel creams are ideal for oily skin because it keeps the moisture barrier intact with clogging pores or feeling heavy.
Honest Beauty formulated the Hydrogel Cream with two types of hyaluronic acid, squalane, sodium PCA, and jojoba. This water cream will give your skin a youthful glow. This cream is formulated to firm the skin and leave a dewy glow.
You can rest assured that Honest Beauty’s Hydrogel Cream is formulated without potentially sensitizing ingredients. You won’t find parabens, silicones, petrolatum, mineral oil, dyes, and synthetic fragrances. So say hello to irritation-free skin!
The Hydrogel Cream can be used day or night to quench your skin’s thirst. This cream from Honest Beauty will hydrate dehydrated skin and smooth out fine lines and firm the skin. You can apply it to the face and neck for rejuvenation.
Honest Beauty is a dermatologist-tested, cruelty-free, and vegan brand.
4. Peach Slices Acne Oil-Free Moisturizer
Finding a beautiful moisturizer for acne or blemish-prone skin can be tricky.
However, it’s crucial to moisturize, no matter your skin type. Thankfully, Peach Slices, a Korean Beauty brand, has created the Acne Oil-Free Moisturizer.
The Acne Oil-Free Moisturizer is crafted to prevent breakouts, reduce the appearance of pores, and offer a natural satin skin finish. In addition, the texture is lightweight. It will soothe the skin and offer hydration without causing more blemishes.
Peach Slices makes sure to incorporate ingredients your skin will love.
For example, this cream contains 0.5% salicylic acid to prevent acne and niacinamide to control oil and even the skin tone. It also contains cica, cucumber, and hyaluronic Acid.
Peach Slices is Leaping Bunny certified, vegan, and cruelty-free. In addition, they don’t use irritating components like silicones, fragrances, parabens, and gluten. So you can rest assured knowing no animals were harmed in making this cream.
This cream can be used daily, but Peach Slices advises pairing this cream with sunscreen. Because this moisturizer contains salicylic acid (a form of BHA), it can increase your sensitivity to the sun and cause redness, irritation, and other side effects.
Overall, this is the ideal moisturizer for acne-prone skin that needs to soothe redness, irritation and boost hydration.
5. Peach Slices Snail Rescue Oil-Free Moisturizer
Another option from Peach Slices is their Snail Rescue All-In-One Moisturizer.
Peach Slices mainly gears their brand towards treating acne, blemish, and problematic skin types, but they are suitable for many other skin types.
Like the Acne Moisturizer, this one is also extremely lightweight, offering hydration and seamlessly absorbing into the skin. However, this silicone-free moisturizer is formulated with 95% cruelty-free snail mucin, providing multiple skin benefits.
Snail mucin will lock in moisture and reduce the appearance of dark spots, wrinkles, and fine lines. The Snail Rescue All-In-One Moisturizer also contains cica. Cica will soothe and calm the skin and help promote an even and healthy complexion.
So say goodbye to red, irritated skin, and let’s welcome a bright and healthy skin tone!
In addition, this moisturizer doesn’t contain potentially sensitizing ingredients like oil, silicone, fragrance, parabens, and more. Use this cream day or night or before SPF.
This moisturizer from Peach Slices is ideal for dry, sensitive, acne-prone, and anyone in between. It doesn’t have BHA like the Acne Moisturizer, so it will be more soothing rather than focusing on treatment. Instead, it focuses on hydration and healing.
Overall, snail mucin is a beautiful ingredient to incorporate into your skincare routine to keep your skin barrier healthy and happy.
6. Tata Harper Water-Lock Moisturizer
If you want to invest in your skincare, check out the Water-Lock Moisturizer from Tata Harper. This is the ideal cream if you’re looking to keep the skin plump while also adding a sense of luxury into your beauty regimen.
Like the Good Molecules moisturizer, this one from Tata Harper will also moisturize and prime the skin simultaneously to prepare for makeup. In addition, Tata Harper has mastered their water-locking technology to keep hydration from leaving the face.
Tata Harper has found an alternative to using silicones in their moisturizer to offer a smooth and texture-free finish. Instead, they use orange peptides and pomegranate spheres to aid the skin barrier and leave the skin with an airbrushed finish.
This cream is ideal for dull, dry, and textured skin types that need to minimize the appearance of imperfections. Because there aren’t silicones, this cream won’t feel greasy or slippery on the face. Instead, it will absorb seamlessly into the skin.
Tata Harper recommends using the product day and night and states to skip using a makeup primer if you’re using this moisturizer. Another benefit from Tata Harper is that their products are made with care in Vermont, and they don’t outsource.
Overall, this cream will plump and hydrate the skin while smoothing out problem areas.
7. Olay Hungarian Water Essence Moisturizer
Olay is an iconic drugstore skincare brand, and they offer a familiar skincare line. So, say hello to Olay’s Hungarian Water Essence Calming Face Moisturizer.
This Calming Face Moisturizer is a beautiful cream for anyone on a budget. It is ultra-lightweight and the perfect match for all skin types; even sensitive skin due to the soothing formulation. It will also protect your skin barrier.
Olay’s inspiration for this moisturizer is Hungarian Water Essence. So the Calming Face Moisturizer has a blend of hydrating components like cucumber, white tea, and aloe to rescue dehydrated skin. It’s a beautiful universal cream for the day and night.
The Hungarian Water Essence Calming Face Moisturizer checks all the boxes. It’s affordable, lightweight, hydrating, and non-irritating. Olay formulated this product without silicones, fragrance, oil, and parabens; you’re only getting the best!
In addition, this cream is easy to use. You can apply it to the face and neck after cleansing and serums. Or, you can apply a thin layer whenever your skin needs a pick-me-up. As a result, your skin will feel soothed, relaxed, and revitalized.
You can’t go wrong with Olay; they have been around for decades, and for a good reason too. So, if you want to pick up a nostalgic product with a modern formula, here is your perfect match!
Bonus: Facetheory Supergel Moisturizer
We know we said we’d only give you 7 recommendations, but this one product is just too good to pass up!
Meet the UK’s rising skincare brand, Facetheory. Facetheory offers an expansive product range, so everyone has a product and solution.
One of their top-rated products is the Supergel Oil-Free Moisturizer M3 for acne, blemishes, and oily skin.
According to Facetheory, this moisturizer is explicitly formulated for combination, oily, and acne-prone skin. So, it contains effective and acne-fighting ingredients to keep your skin healthy and oil at bay. It’s also lightweight and absorbs quickly.
This moisturizer shares similarities with the Peach Slices Acne Moisturizer because they both contain salicylic acid to prevent acne. Facetheory has also formulated this moisturizer with niacinamide, chamomile, green tea, aloe vera, and vitamin C.
You won’t find any yucky ingredients like silicones, PEGS, SLS, SLES, etc. Facetheory is also a vegan, cruelty-free brand that produces all its products in the United Kingdom. Overall, this cream will solve your biggest skin woes.
Another positive about this moisturizer is that it’s fragrance-free, which will minimize the chances of irritation. Facetheory’s Supergel Moisturizer can be used day or night, and it pairs well with sunscreen, which is a crucial step in any beauty regimen.
Because this moisturizer contains actives, it’s essential to wear sunscreen daily to avoid unnecessary irritation from the sun.
The Takeaway
Incorporating a silicone-free moisturizer can be beneficial for multiple skin types. So whether you want to treat acne or increase the firmness of your skin, there is a moisturizer for you.
Will you be using a silicone-free moisturizer in your skincare routine?
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