Most women start their day with a cleanse, tone and moisturise routine – but your morning cream has likely worn off by lunchtime, according to a new study.
Experts tested four popular moisturisers and found that the measurable hydration boost they gave skin generally wore off within three to five hours.
They warned a twice-daily routine may leave afternoon gaps where hydration has dropped.
And it could mean moisturising three times a day is the secret to maintaining youthful skin.
‘This study demonstrated that the hydration effects of…moisturisers are time-limited and vary by formation,’ the team wrote in the journal Skin.
‘Widely available creams require reapplication every three to four hours to maintain above-baseline hydration.’
Moisturiser is essential for maintaining a healthy complexion as it provides hydration, reinforces your skin’s protective barrier and shields the face from environmental irritants.
A product that wears off quickly could, in the long run, lead to excess oil production, sensitivity and dullness.
For the study the team, from Nova Southeastern University in Florida, recruited 30 healthy adult volunteers and dabbed four store-bought moisturisers along their forearms.
The products included popular, affordable moisturisers – CeraVe Moisturising Cream, Cetaphil Moisturising Cream, Eucerin Advanced Repair Crème.
They also included a more expensive SkinMedica HA5 serum, which retails for more than £150.
Skin hydration was tracked at the start, then at one hour, four hours and 24 hours after application.
Using a statistical model, researchers estimated the point when each product’s hydration benefit fell back to the level of untreated skin.
Analysis revealed the more expensive serum offered the longest moisturising effects of nearly five hours.
However, the other, more affordable options – the Cetaphil and Eucerin products – provided shorter-lived benefits of 3.5 hours or less.
This suggests these products ‘need more frequent applications to maintain increased hydration effects,’ the team wrote.
Moisturisers were measured against the hydration levels of untreated skin (yellow). The CeraVe moisturiser (blue) closely tracked untreated skin, the Cetaphil (green) and Eucerin (red) brands provided more hydration for 3-3.5 hours, and the serum lasted the longest at nearly 5 hours
Analysis revealed the more expensive serum (left) offered the longest moisturising effects of nearly five hours. However, the other, more affordable options (right) provided shorter-lived benefits
They also found that untreated skin initially lost hydration before it slowly rose again over the course of the day.
This could be down to naturally fluctuating levels of hydration in our skin, which can be caused by sweating, blood flow and environmental conditions.
Surprisingly, the hydration provided by the CeraVe moisturiser was found to closely track that of untreated skin throughout the study.
The researchers said this could be because it may help stabilise the skin barrier instead of producing a measurable hydration spike.
