Moisturisers: Matching the Texture to Your Skin (and the Season)
The right moisturiser is the one you look forward to putting on. Too heavy and it feels greasy and can clog pores. Too light and your skin is tight again by lunchtime.
By Dr Amber Halliday, MRCGP MBBS BSc (Hons) | Blue Bird Aesthetics, Worthing | Last reviewed October 2026
Your skincare plan, section by section
A moisturiser holds water in the skin and supports the barrier, so everything else you use is better tolerated. Nine are listed on your card, and most people only need one, sometimes with a richer option for winter or for evenings. The main thing I look at is texture. Roughly, from lightest to richest:
Light
HydraClarité
HydraLight
Stress Defence
Medium
HydraCalm
Hyaluronic Cream
Rich
HydraDew
HydraRich
Collagen Restore
Recovery Balm
A blue dot means CellDerma. Everything else is AlumierMD.
Which sounds like your skin? Tap to open
Oily, shiny, or prone to breakouts
HydraClarité: ultra-light, non-comedogenic and antioxidant-rich, with a matte finish. It includes hinokitiol and poria cocos to help calm redness, which often goes along with breakouts.
Oily skin still needs moisturiser. Skipping it often makes skin feel tighter and look shinier.
Normal to combination, and I dislike heavy creams
HydraLight: lightweight, with peptides, niacinamide and aloe. Hydrating without feeling greasy.
Or CellDerma’s Stress Defence, a light, non-comedogenic daily layer, if your routine is mainly CellDerma.
Sensitive, flushes easily, or reacts to products
HydraCalm: formulated for sensitive, redness-prone skin, with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and peptides. It pairs naturally with SensiCalm Cleanser and Calm-R.
Related: rosacea and repairing the skin barrier
Normal to dry, and a bit tight by the afternoon
HydraDew: niacinamide, aloe and sodium hyaluronate with a peptide. It draws water into the skin and supports the barrier.
Or CellDerma’s Hyaluronic Cream for straightforward hydration.
Very dry, flaky or rough, especially after menopause
HydraRich: AlumierMD’s richest cream, with emollients, hydrators and a firming peptide.
Related: perimenopausal and menopausal skin
I want one simple step at night
CellDerma’s Collagen Restore, a night cream with peptides and resveratrol for skin that looks tired, dull or less firm. It is greyed out for the morning on your card, so use it in the evening only.
I have just had a treatment
Recovery Balm: a soothing balm with antioxidants and a copper peptide, for sensitive or post-procedure skin. After microneedling or a peel, your Post Procedure Kit includes Rescue Balm Pro for the first days, and Recovery Balm is the full-size balm I most often tick to carry on with afterwards. After NeoGen, do not moisturise for days 1 to 5; follow your aftercare card.
Related: skincare around your treatment
Moisturising through a Worthing year
Living by the sea has upsides for skin, but the wind, salt air and summer sun all take moisture out of it. It is normal for the right moisturiser to change with the seasons, and I often tick a lighter one for summer and a richer one for winter on the same card.
Spring
Skin recovering from winter. A good time to start a retinoid, with your winter moisturiser still to hand.
Summer
Lighter textures, and often an oilier T-zone. Sunscreen does more of the work. See summer skin strategy.
Autumn
Holiday sun damage shows up now. Peels and needling often suit this season. See back-to-work skin reset.
Winter
Wind and central heating. A richer cream, especially at night. See winter skin repair.
For more on how coastal living affects your skin, read the Worthing skin guide. And if your skin feels tight but also gets oily, it may be dehydrated rather than dry, which changes what helps. My guide to dry versus dehydrated skin explains how to tell.
A few tips that make a difference
- Apply to slightly damp skin after your serums. It locks in more water.
- Take it down the neck. Most people stop at the jawline.
- Your moisturiser is not your sunscreen, even if it says SPF on the pot. You need a proper sunscreen on top in the morning.
- Starting a retinoid? A richer moisturiser at night helps with the early dryness.
Commercial disclosure: Blue Bird Aesthetics sells AlumierMD and CellDerma products and may earn commission on purchases made in clinic or through our links. You are free to buy elsewhere, or not at all. Our clinical advice does not change either way.
Common questions
Do I need a different moisturiser for day and night?
Not necessarily. Most of the moisturisers on the card work morning and evening. A separate night cream is useful if your skin is dry or you are using a retinoid.
My skin feels greasy but still flaky. What does that mean?
Often a stripped barrier, or dehydrated rather than dry skin. Switching to a gentler cleanser usually helps more than changing moisturiser. Bring it up at your review.
Can I mix moisturisers from the two brands?
Yes. There is no problem using an AlumierMD cleanser with a CellDerma cream, for example. Just avoid doubling up on actives without realising.
Your skin changed, so should your plan
If the season, a treatment or a new stage of life has changed how your skin feels, a review takes a few minutes.
One Comment