What Are the Best Natural & Organic Face Moisturizers?

Every type of skin needs moisture, even if you feel like your skin is naturally oilier than you’d like it to be. 

Moisturizers are the solution for keeping your skin hydrated, but they do so much more than just defend against dryness. An effective moisturizer can help prevent breakouts, fight the signs of aging, and help keep your skin balanced, especially when combined with the right face washes and serums.

Not all moisturizers are created equally, and it’s essential to do your homework. Lucky for you, we’re letting you copy our homework so you can pick the moisturizer that works best for your skin (and, of course, we’ll give you a few recommendations, too). 

What does face moisturizer do?

A better question is: What doesn’t it do? Your moisturizer keeps your skin hydrated, protects against moisture loss, helps you combat fine lines and wrinkles, and prepares your skin for your makeup. Here’s how.

Helps prevent breakouts

It may seem counterproductive to use face lotion if you already feel like your skin is oily, but using a moisturizer can actually help you avoid blemishes. 

When your skin breaks out, your natural reaction is probably to wash your face excessively, using products that can dry your skin and leave it irritated and dehydrated. However, when your skin is dry, your sebaceous glands go into overdrive, producing more oil than necessary.

That oil clogs your pores and causes more bumps. It’s a vicious cycle that you can stop by using a moisturizer every day. 

Aids anti-aging

We love anything that claims it can stop the hands of time, and some of our favorite anti-aging products are moisturizers. 

Moisturizer is the perfect vehicle for delivering wrinkle-fighting ingredients because it’s able to hydrate your skin deeply and give your skin a dose of age-defying ingredients each time it’s applied. 

Fights wrinkles

Moisturizers usually contain two types of ingredients: emollients and humectants. Both work together to keep your skin hydrated and soft, but emollients are particularly useful in helping ward off deep wrinkles. 

Emollients work by softening the skin and keeping it conditioned. They fill in cracks and wrinkles that can make you look older, softening your skin texture for an overall more youthful look. 

Maintains balance

Dry, combination, and oily skin types all crave moisture balance. Moisturizers with the right ingredients can work synergistically with your skin to help even out your moisture levels, naturally. 

Moisturizers can help your skin retain moisture in dry areas while absorbing oil in others, bringing your skin’s moisture level back into perfect harmony. That means it’s perfect for everyone, whether you have dry skin or not. 

Acts as a primer

Moisturizer doesn’t take the place of a primer, but you should always apply it before a primer. If your skin isn’t properly hydrated, the primer or makeup you first apply to your skin will instantly be absorbed by the skin. 

If your skin is adequately hydrated, your primer will create a barrier that evens out the surface of your skin and allows your foundation to go on more smoothly. 

Why are natural and organic ingredients important?

Moisturizer penetrates your skin and gets applied at least twice daily. Do you really want to risk ingredients that could be harmful to your health? We didn’t think so.

It’s also an unfortunate truth that many traditional moisturizers contain ingredients that involve animals and harm the environment. For that as well as the reasons below, you’ll want to concentrate on natural, organic, cruelty-free ingredients and skincare products.

Reduces irritation

If you’ve never looked at the ingredients in your current moisturizer, it’s time to take a look. You might want to sit down before you take a peek; what you find could surprise you. 

Traditional moisturizers can contain ingredients that aren’t safe for your skin, like parabens. These chemicals are often used as preservatives, but are known skin sensitizers, which means they can cause your skin serious irritation.  

Gets rid of harmful chemicals

Speaking of chemicals, it doesn’t just stop with parabens. Phthalates, BHA, and questionable fragrances can all find their way into traditional moisturizers. These chemicals can disrupt your hormones and wind up in your bloodstream. 

Using organic, natural moisturizers keeps the chemicals off of your skin and out of your body.

Can be kinder to the environment

If you think these chemicals are harsh on your body, you can imagine how harsh they are on the environment. Some chemicals, like triclosan, are so bad for the environment that the FDA banned their use from some products, like hand soap. 

Using natural, organic moisturizers ensures that when you wash your face, the residue that hits the drain won’t harm nature or cause harm. 

If you’re looking for a few recommendations for natural, organic, cruelty-free moisturizers, the Kinder Beauty Team has your back. 

Which moisturizers should I try?

We’ll admit we’re a bit biased when it comes to the best face moisturizers, but these are seriously effective for balancing your skin’s natural moisture levels, combating blemishes, and battling the signs of aging.

Derma E

All of Derma E’s dermatologist-recommended moisturizers deliver proven results for your complexion, but we especially love their fragrance-free Sensitive Skin Moisturizing Cream. Packed with Pycnogenol, an anti-aging antioxidant more powerful than Vitamin C, this face cream is fragrance-free and contains aloe, so it works on even the most sensitive skin types for wrinkle reduction. Their Vitamin C Intense Night Cream is a solid choice as well. 

Osea Malibu

Vegan skincare derived from nourishing seaweed sounds pretty good to us. Osea’s Atmosphere Protection Cream hydrates while creating a barrier between your skin and environmental pollutants. This lightweight moisturizer absorbs rapidly, so you can apply your sunscreen directly on top—yes, we’re bringing up SPF again, and we always will!

103 Collection

The ultimate in antioxidant skincare, 103 Collection’s Antioxidant Facial Moisturizer contains a powerful blend of plant botanicals and extracted oils to help protect your face from environmental stressors, hydrate deeply, and make fine lines and wrinkles virtually vanish. 

Willing Beauty

We love Willing Beauty because they cater to in-between skin. If you’ve got aging skin that is also acne-prone, this is the brand for you. Willing Beauty offers two moisturizers to help skin that’s experiencing breakouts but has also begun to develop fine lines, wrinkles, and sunspots. 

Earth Harbor

Inspired by the ocean, Earth Harbor offers moisturizers that are as fun to use as they are effective. 

Feeling like a mermaid with dry scales? Try Siren Silk Hydration Cream. The whipped formula goes on effortlessly while plumping omega fatty acids and vitamin E keep skin deeply hydrated and feeling firmer.

Dear Self

Dear Self’s I Am Gleaming moisturizer has been a Kinder Beauty favorite for several seasons. Perfect for any skin type, I Am Gleaming contains rosehip and sea kelp to repair, restore, and hydrate your skin. Vitamins A, C, and E help moisturize, protect, and even out skin tone. 

Au naturel

Moisturizing your skin is a given, but picking a natural and organic face moisturizer should be non-optional. The ingredients in your moisturizer matter and the best moisturizers won’t cause your skin irritation or harm your body, animals, or the environment. 

Play it safe; trust The Kinder Beauty Blog to give you all the recommendations and information you need to make the best decisions about all your skincare needs. We feature the best up-and-coming brands that are committed to delivering clean, natural products that outperform traditional cosmetics.

If you’re not a part of The Kinder Club, what are you waiting for? The Kinder Club lets you earn rewards for every kinder, cleaner product you buy. It’s the easiest way to get rewarded for your good deeds. 

Kinder Beauty makes it easy to go au natural with moisturizers from brands that are as committed to the environment and animals as they are to your body. Your skin (and your incredible easy and clean beauty routine) will thank you. 

Sources:

An update on the role of the sebaceous gland in the pathogenesis of acne | NCBI 

What Are Parabens, and Why Don’t They Belong in Cosmetics? | EWG