Dry skin

If your skin stings as well as flakes, reach for the Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream, which keeps dry, sensitive skin moisturized. Rough, tight skin that wants a strong barrier and a smooth base for makeup suits the Dr.Jart+ Ceramidin Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream, and the dense Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Rejuvenating Cream Rich plumps dry skin and softens the look of lines. Apply any of them over a hydrating toner.

Give your cream some water to hold on to. After cleansing, pat a hydrating toner such as the Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner onto your face with the warmth of your palms, add a second layer wherever skin still feels dry, then smooth on your cream. If it still feels tight by evening, reach for a richer cream at night.

Dry skin lacks oil and feels rough or flaky; dehydrated skin lacks water and can be oily and tight at the same time. Dry skin wants richer creams, balms and oils. Dehydrated skin wants humectants such as hyaluronic acid under a lighter cream. Most faces are a mix of the two, which is why layering works so well.

An oil suits skin short of lipids: press a few drops, warmed in your hands, over your cream on the driest nights, knowing it adds no water of its own. A sleeping mask such as the LANEIGE Water Sleeping Mask is the thicker, sealing option that hydrates while it holds the watery layers underneath, and it goes on over your night cream two or three nights a week, or every night when skin is at its driest.