Best Skin Tightening Creams for 2023

With cells that turnover quickly and a seemingly endless supply of collagen, youthful skin has all the right stuff to keep you looking fresh. But with each turn of the calendar page, those precious elements begin to dwindle. Over time, skin loses firmness and radiance. Fine lines and wrinkles may also make an appearance. 

But you’ll be happy to know that you don’t necessarily need to yield to the hands of time. A good skin tightening cream can do plenty to restore firmness and a youthful glow. But the sheer number of options can be mind-numbing. To help you make heads or tails of it, we’ve curated a list of the best skin tightening creams for your shortlist. 

Best skin tightening cream overview:

• Best overall: Revitalizing Supreme+ Moisturizer Youth Power Creme
• Best for neck and chest: Gold Bond Firming Neck & Chest Age Renew
• Best splurge: SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream 
• Best for eyes: Lancome Renergie Lift Multi-Action Eye Cream 
• Best gel-cream: Nivea Skin Firming & Toning Gel Cream with Q10
• Best drugstore: Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream Moisturizer
• Best for sensitive skin: Skinceuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2
• Best for instant lift: Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx Temporary Face Tightener
• Best for body: StriVectin Crepe Control Tightening Body Cream
• Best night cream: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream
• Best with sunscreen: Clarins Extra-Firming Wrinkle Control Firming Day Cream SPF 15
• Best for legs: Brazilian Bum Bum Cream

How we chose the best skin tightening creams

To compile this list, we researched manufacturer specifications, including active ingredients, skin type, and more, to create a short list of the top skin tightening creams. Then, we combed through detailed product descriptions, ratings, and reviews to find the best skin tightening cream for each category.

Our picks for the best skin tightening cream

Estee Lauder’s Revitalizing Supreme+ Moisturizer Youth Power Creme is a luxurious blend of unique ingredients. The combination of hibiscus morning bloom extract, moringa extract, cactus stem cell extract, and hyaluronic acid work synergistically to tackle multiple signs of aging, including dullness, dehydration, and loss of radiance. Throw in Estee Lauder’s Collagen Boosting Technology, and you have a skincare powerhouse that leaves your skin feeling firmer and looking more lifted too. 

And you don’t have to take our word for it. Estee Lauder has the clinical results to prove it:

• 89% of consumers said their skin looked more lifted after four weeks of use.
• 95% of consumers said their skin felt firmer after two weeks of use.
• 87% of consumers said fine lines and wrinkles look reduced after four weeks of use.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Hibiscus morning bloom extract, moringa extract, cactus stem cell extract, hyaluronic acid | Size: 1 oz

For Gold Bond’s Firming Neck & Chest Age Renew, it’s all about the numbers. In one tube, users will find a blend of seven intensive moisturizers and three vitamins, a unique formula that penetrates 10 surface layers deep for hydration that lasts all day. The product’s salicylic acid (BHA) gently exfoliates your skin, and its stress response proteins boost your skin’s moisture retention. These ingredients combine to create a luxurious cream for your décolleté that improves smoothness and suppleness with continued use. 

Gold Bond’s Firming Neck & Chest Age Renew is dermatologist-tested, hypoallergenic, and fragrance-free. Even better, it’s non-greasy and fast-absorbing, so you don’t have to worry about ruining that new silk blouse.

Skin type: All, mature | Main ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, Gold Bond’s skin-firming complex | Size: 2 oz

If your budget has some room for a splurge, SK-II’s LXP Ultimate Revival Cream is a worthy contender. This cream improves firmness by drenching your skin in moisture. And while the results look and feel like sorcery, it’s not. 

The ingredients are a true powerhouse, a blend of the brand’s signature ingredient PITERA, a bio-ingredient derived from yeast fermentation that contains over 50 micronutrients, SK-II’s Skin Regenerating ActiV, a complex of PITERA™ with niacinamide, and three types of peptides. The end result is a rich, creamy moisturizer that deeply hydrates, leaving the skin firm and radiant.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: PITERA, Skin Regenerating ActiV, niacinamide | Size: 0.52 oz

The skin around your eyes is the thinnest and most sensitive skin on your body, so the signs of aging often tend to show there first. And, in case you were wondering, the cream you use for the rest of your face isn’t meant for the delicate skin around your eyes. So when you’re looking for an eye cream that visibly lifts and firms your skin while reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles under your eyes, you might consider Lancome’s Renergie Lift Multi-Action Eye Cream.

Infused with hyaluronic acid, caffeine, linseed extract, and cocoa seed butter, this cream deeply nourishes dry skin, leaving it smooth, supple, hydrated, and firm. In a clinical study, participants indicated that their skin became firmer and healthier, and their dark circles seemed visibly reduced.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Caffeine, hyaluronic acid, and shea butter | Size: 0.5 oz

If you’re on team “gel-cream,” you might consider Nivea’s Skin Firming and Toning Gel Cream with Q10. This gel-cream formula delivers hydration and moisture to your skin, firming and tightening it. It does this in a fraction of the time compared to an oil-based cream and for a fraction of the price compared to some of our other entries. 

Enriched with Q10, L-Carnitine, and lotus extract, this cream users can expect to see noticeable results in as little as two weeks. And, as you might expect with most gel creams, it’s lightweight and doesn’t feel greasy on your skin.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Q10, L-Carnitine, lotus extract | Size: 6.7 oz

Drugstore skincare can be a lifesaver if luxury brands are out of reach. If you’re looking for a cream that delivers results without hurting your wallet, consider Olay’s Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream Moisturizer. 

Formulated with vitamin B3 (niacinamide), amino peptides, and hyaluronic acid, this cream instantly hydrates your skin, leaving it firm and lifted. It also helps protect your skin’s natural barrier and, over time, diminishes the look of fine lines and wrinkles.

Skin type: Oily, normal, combination | Main ingredients: Vitamin B3, pro-vitamin B5, amino peptide, hyaluronic acid | Size: 1.7 oz

As its name implies, SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 is formulated with a lipid ratio of 2% pure ceramides, 4% natural cholesterol, and 2% fatty acid. These skincare powerhouse ingredients meld together for a deeply nourishing cream perfect for sensitive and mature skin. Like many of the entries on our list, this cream delivers a healthy dose of hydration to firm and tighten your skin. 

Digging a little deeper, we discovered that the cholesterol component works to restore your skin’s moisture while supporting self-repair. Ultimately, users will find that this cream is fast-absorbing and clinically proven to nourish dry skin, improve skin texture, and boost radiance.

Skin type: Mature, dry, normal, oily, combination, sensitive | Main ingredients: Cholesterol, pure ceramides, fatty acids, and vitamin E | Size: 1.6 fl oz

If you’re headed to your high-school reunion and quickly need to turn back time, this unique formula from Peter Thomas Roth might just be the miracle in a tube you need. Instant FIRMx Temporary Face Tightener instantly helps tighten and firm your skin. Plus, it temporarily minimizes the appearance of fine lines, deep wrinkles, and pores. 

Looking under the cap, we find a nourishing blend of Firm-A-Tite — three skin-tightening silicates and seaweed extract that do the heavy lifting for the instant tightening and firming effect. The product also features vitamins C and E, both of which nourish skin and provide antioxidant benefits over time, as well as pro-vitamin B5 to moisturize and soften the skin.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Skin-tightening silicates, seaweed extract, vitamins C and E, pro-vitamin B5 | Size: 3.4 fl oz

Your face isn’t the only part of your body that needs a defense against the hands of time. Dry, crepey skin can happen anywhere on your body. To turn things around, you might try StriVectin Crepe Control Tightening Body Cream. It hydrates and visibly tightens, ultimately improving the look of mature skin. 

While this body cream is formulated with peptides that do the work to lift and firm sagging skin, it also contains turmeric that brightens and evens your skin tone.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Jojoba seed extract, turmeric root extract, butter blend | Size: 5 fl oz

First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream is a rich, buttery night cream that pumps up the moisture for smoother-looking, hydrated skin. 

Under the cap, we find a nourishing peptide blend that helps combat the visible signs of aging, including the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It also contains Glutaline-In-Tense, which tackles firmness, and niacinamide, which works on tone and texture. Colloidal oatmeal and conditioning butters and waxes round out the list of hydrating ingredients that deliver healthy-looking skin. 

Even better, First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Night Cream is dermatologist-tested, noncomedogenic, and suitable for sensitive skin.

Skin type: Dry, normal, Combination | Main ingredients: Colloidal oatmeal, niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate | Size: 1.7 oz

With unique ingredients like kangaroo flower extract and organic mitracarpus, Clarins Extra-Firming Wrinkle Control Firming Day Cream fights aging on three fronts. This silky cream firms, lifts, and tackles wrinkles, leaving your skin radiant and renewed. 

Formulated with Clarins’ Anti-Pollution Complex and broad spectrum SPF 15 sunscreen, it also protects your skin from harmful UVA/UVB rays while fighting the effects of pollution and free radicals.

In a survey of 107 women using Clarins Extra-Firming Wrinkle Control Firming Day Cream for 14 days, 89% said their skin looked visibly firmer, and 87% said their skin looked visibly tighter.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Desert date, acerola, kangaroo flower, mitracarpus | Size: 1.7 oz

Suitable for use anywhere on your body, whether it’s your legs, tummy, or bum bum (pronounced “bum bum”), Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Bum Bum (pronounced “boom boom”) Cream helps hydrate, smooth, and tighten lax skin.   

This fan favorite is chockful of ingredients that are good for your skin, like caffeine-rich guaraná extract, cupuaçu butter for deep hydration, açaí oil that helps prevent environmental damage, and nourishing Brazil nut oil. 

As a little added benefit, Brazilian Bum Bum is scented with the brand’s Cheirosa ’62 — an irresistible fragrance with yummy notes of pistachio, salted caramel, and vanilla.

Skin type: All | Main ingredients: Guaraná, cupuaçu butter, coconut oil, açaí oil, Brazil nut | Size: 8.1 oz

When you need to turn back time

The best skin tightening cream hydrates your skin, leaving it plump and firm. Many are also packed with ingredients like ceramides, niacinamide, and antioxidants that nourish your skin and fight the signs of aging. But like every other product category, it’s a big world out there, and finding the one that works for you can be harder than it looks.

A good starting point would be Estee Lauder’s Revitalizing Supreme+ Moisturizer Youth Power Creme, our pick for the best skin-tightening cream overall. This cream tackles multiple signs of aging, including dullness, dehydration, and loss of radiance, and it leaves your skin feeling firm and lifted — and it has proven clinical results. 

How to pick the right skin tightening cream for you

When you’re looking for a skin tightening cream, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. While you should have a checklist of good ingredients to look for, sun protection is key, and remember that skin firming goes beyond your face. 

Ingredients

Antioxidants are a key category for skin firming. More specifically, vitamins C, B3, and E can boost collagen production, a key ingredient for firmer skin. Ceramides, a type of lipid, boost hydration to maintain your skin barrier. When used consistently, they can do plenty to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Like ceramides, hyaluronic acid enhances the moisture in your skin to firm and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. 

Sun protection

While sunscreens effectively protect against sunburns and skin cancer, they also keep the signs of aging at bay. In fact, plenty of evidence suggests that using sunscreen every day is key to slowing down photoaging (premature skin aging). One study showed that people who used broad-spectrum sunscreen daily experienced 24% less skin aging than those who used sunscreen inconsistently. Based on these results, it would appear that the best firming creams also contain sunscreen, so you might want to tweak your checklist accordingly. 

Location

Most people think of skincare only in terms of their face, but your skin is the largest organ in your body, extending from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Your skin is responsible for protecting everything underneath it, so maintaining its integrity over a lifetime is crucial.

While your focus may be on the parts you can see, it’s important to treat the hidden areas as well. Skin tightening creams are not limited to your face. For example, your décolleté may not always be visible, but you’ll likely see signs of sagging over time. The good news is there are plenty of creams specifically formulated for those areas. Your eyes are another area with some pretty specific needs, so it’s best to look for a cream particularly formulated for the eyes. 

FAQ

Do skin tightening creams work? 

Skin-tightening creams do work, but users should know that the results are only temporary. For long-term tightening and firming, you might try a retinol cream or laser treatments under the care of a dermatologist. 

What’s the fastest way to tighten my skin?

The fastest way to tighten your skin is to use a moisturizer that boosts hydration to plump your skin. Consider creams with antioxidants, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid for best results. Try our pick for the best instant lift, Peter Thomas Roth’s Instant FIRMx Temporary Face Tightener, for more instant results.

Does collagen cream tighten skin?

Collagen doesn’t tighten skin, but it does boost hydration and support your skin, ultimately diminishing the look of saggy skin.