Face Day & Night Creams Price Comparison

Few skincare decisions matter more than your daily and nightly moisturiser — it's the product that stays on your skin the longest, and the one where ingredient quality genuinely shows up over time. Our catalogue spans 612 products, from no-frills drugstore staples to Sisley and Guerlain treatments that push well past 50 £. The spread is striking: the cheapest options start at 7 £, yet the average sits closer to 39 £, which tells you most shoppers are gravitating towards mid-range and premium formulations rather than the budget end.

Clarins dominates the catalogue with the broadest range — 64 products at a sensible average price point — making it the default recommendation for anyone who wants proven French skincare without the luxury-house premium. NIVEA sits at the opposite end of the value spectrum, with 29 products averaging well under 22 £, and they remain genuinely competitive for basic hydration. What's interesting is how Collistar has carved out a strong position in the mid-range: their retinol and lifting creams regularly appear among the most-compared products on the site, and their price-to-weight ratio is hard to argue with. For everyday face moisturisers, the overlap with this category is significant — but day and night creams tend to be more targeted in their formulation, with richer textures and higher active concentrations.

The luxury tier is where the real price variance lives. Estée Lauder averages around £140 per product, Chanel around £127, and Guerlain's Abeille Royale range sits comfortably above 31 £. Sisley tops the brand averages at roughly £188 — though their products are comparatively few. Whether those premiums are justified depends heavily on the active ingredient concentration and delivery system, not just the name on the jar. We've seen retinol night creams from Collistar perform credibly against products costing three times as much. If you're also exploring face oils as a complement to your night routine, or considering BB and CC creams for daytime coverage with moisturising benefits, our comparison tools let you track prices across all three categories simultaneously.

One practical note: prices in this category shift frequently, particularly around Black Friday and the January sales, when Estée Lauder and Clarins counters at John Lewis and Boots tend to run their deepest discounts. Setting a price alert on MagicPrices before those windows is worth doing if you've already identified the product you want.

How to Choose a Face Day or Night Cream: What Actually Matters

With 612 products in this category and prices ranging from 7 £ to 127 £, the choice can feel paralysing. The good news: most buying mistakes come down to a handful of avoidable errors — wrong texture for your skin type, no SPF in a day cream, or paying a luxury premium for a formula that's mostly water and fragrance. Here's what to focus on.

Day vs Night Formulation — Don't Conflate the Two

Day creams and night creams serve fundamentally different purposes. A day cream should be lightweight, non-occlusive, and ideally contain antioxidants or SPF to defend against UV and environmental stress. A night cream can afford to be richer and more occlusive — skin repair peaks during sleep, so this is when heavier actives like retinol, peptides, and nourishing butters do their best work. Using a rich night cream in the morning will likely leave your skin greasy under makeup and may clog pores. Conversely, a lightweight day cream worn overnight won't deliver the repair benefits you're paying for. If a product is labelled 'day & night', check the texture: it's usually a compromise that suits neither use perfectly, though it can work well for dry or mature skin types that need consistent occlusion.

Active Ingredient Concentration — Where the Price Gap Is Justified

This is the single biggest driver of efficacy differences between a 22 £ cream and one over 50 £. Retinol, hyaluronic acid, peptides, and plant stem cell extracts all require meaningful concentrations to produce visible results — trace amounts are essentially marketing. Look for products that list actives near the top of the ingredient list, or that specify concentrations (e.g., '0.3% retinol'). Encapsulated or stabilised retinol is worth paying extra for: it's more bioavailable and less irritating than raw retinol in a jar. Guerlain's Abeille Royale range, for instance, centres on a specific black bee honey complex at a defined concentration — that specificity is a good sign. Generic 'contains retinol' claims without further detail are a red flag.

Skin Type Match — Getting the Texture Right

Oily and combination skin types need non-comedogenic, gel-cream or lightweight emulsion textures that hydrate without adding excess sebum. Rich creams with heavy emollients — shea butter, mineral oil, beeswax — will almost certainly cause breakouts on oily skin. Dry and mature skin, on the other hand, benefits from occlusive formulations that seal moisture in overnight. Sensitive skin is a special case: fragrance is the number one irritant in face creams, and it's present in a surprising number of premium products, including some Clarins and Chanel lines. If your skin reacts easily, prioritise fragrance-free and dermatologist-tested formulations over brand prestige.

SPF in Day Creams — Non-Negotiable for Anti-Ageing

If your day cream doesn't contain at least SPF 30, you're leaving the most effective anti-ageing tool off the table. UV exposure is responsible for the majority of visible skin ageing — fine lines, uneven tone, loss of elasticity — and no amount of retinol or peptides will compensate for daily unprotected sun exposure. SPF 15 is insufficient for UK conditions; SPF 30 broad-spectrum is the minimum, SPF 50 is preferable if you spend time outdoors. Note that many luxury day creams — including several in the Guerlain and Chanel ranges — omit SPF entirely, which means you'd need a separate sunscreen layered on top. Factor that into your total skincare spend.

Packaging — Jars vs Airless Pumps

This matters more than most people realise, especially for retinol and vitamin C formulations. Every time you open a jar, you expose the contents to air and bacteria, which degrades active ingredients and shortens shelf life. Airless pump packaging preserves efficacy significantly longer and is more hygienic. If you're spending over 31 £ on a retinol or antioxidant cream, jar packaging is a genuine drawback — look for tubes or airless dispensers. Budget creams in jars are less of a concern because their active concentrations are typically low enough that oxidation isn't a critical issue.

Cost Per Application — The Real Price Comparison

A 50ml jar used twice daily lasts roughly 50–75 days, depending on how much you apply. That means a cream at 50 £ costs around £1–£1.35 per application — less than a coffee. At 127 £, you're looking at £5+ per use. Neither figure is inherently unreasonable, but it reframes the decision: a mid-range cream at 31 £ used consistently will outperform a luxury cream used sparingly to make it last. Don't stretch a product beyond its intended lifespan to save money — you'll lose efficacy and risk contamination.

• Budget picks (From 7 £ to 22 £) : NIVEA dominates here, alongside own-brand options from Boots and Superdrug. Expect basic hydration with glycerin and simple emollients — perfectly adequate for young, healthy skin or as a body-to-face crossover. Don't expect meaningful anti-ageing actives at this price point. Fine for a secondary or travel product, less ideal as your primary skincare investment.
• The sweet spot (From 22 £ to 31 £) : This is where Collistar, Sesderma, and the entry-level Clarins range sit. You start to see genuine active ingredients — retinol, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid at workable concentrations. Collistar's retinol night cream and Clarins Multi-Active are strong performers here. Good value for most skin types, and the quality jump from the budget tier is noticeable.
• Premium performance (From 31 £ to 50 £) : Clarins' upper range, Annemarie Börlind, and the entry point for Estée Lauder and Guerlain. Formulations become more sophisticated — higher active concentrations, better packaging, more targeted textures. Estée Lauder's Advanced Night Repair sits in this bracket and remains one of the most consistently well-reviewed night treatments on the market. Worth it if skincare is a priority.
• Luxury tier (Over 50 £) : Guerlain Abeille Royale, Chanel Sublimage, Sisley, and Dr Irena Eris at their upper end. You're paying for proprietary complexes, exceptional textures, and brand heritage. The Chanel Sublimage at nearly 127 £ is an outlier even within this tier. Genuine efficacy improvements over premium products exist but are incremental — the luxury experience and sensory quality are a significant part of what you're buying here.

Top products

• Guerlain Abeille Royale Honey Treatment Night Cream 50ml (Guerlain) : One of the most consistently praised luxury night creams on the market — the black bee honey complex is a genuine differentiator, not just a marketing story. Rich texture suits dry and mature skin well; oily skin types should look elsewhere.
• Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Overnight Treatment 65ml (Estée Lauder) : The benchmark night repair treatment for good reason — backed by more independent clinical data than almost anything else in this category. The 65ml size offers better value per ml than the standard 50ml. Not the most exciting formula, but it delivers.
• Collistar Attivi Puri Crema Retinolo + Floretina Night cream Face, Neck 50 ml (Collistar) : The standout value pick in this category. A retinol night cream at a price point that undercuts most competitors by a significant margin — excellent for anyone wanting to introduce retinoids without committing to a luxury budget. Expect some initial adjustment period.
• Clarins Multi-Active Night cream Face 50 ml (Clarins) : A reliable all-rounder from Clarins' most accessible range. Suits normal to combination skin well; the plant extract blend is thoughtfully formulated. Not groundbreaking, but consistently well-reviewed and widely available at John Lewis and Boots.
• CHANEL Hydra Beauty Cream Day & night cream Face 50 ml (CHANEL) : The most-compared product in this category, and the price shown is suspiciously low for a Chanel product — worth verifying merchant details before purchasing. The Hydra Beauty line is genuinely hydrating but unremarkable for the brand's prestige; the Sublimage range is where Chanel's real skincare expertise sits.

Related categories

• Face Moisturizers
• Face BB & CC Creams
• Face Oils
• Face Mists
• Face Gels
• Face Lotions & Tonics