Top Japanese Moisturizers for Dry Skin in 2024

Jan 24 2024 - 5 min read

Updated: January 2024

It’s no secret that Japanese beauty places a heavy emphasis on the ritual and routine of skincare. Double cleansing, followed by emulsions and serums all serve to prime and prep your skin for the final step of moisturizing. Our top Japanese moisturizers for dry skin help ensure that all the serums and emulsions you use get boosted to their maximum effectiveness, protecting your skin from irritants, inflammation, and dehydration.

How to Choose a Moisturizer

The best moisturizers will replenish your skin’s natural hydration, boosting the supple and firm texture of your skin’s outer layer. But of course, everyone’s face is different, in terms of skin types as well as hydration levels. For those with dry skin, finding the right moisturizer is crucial in addressing redness, flakiness, and other signs of dehydration.

Heavier moisturizers, with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, essential fatty acids, and long chain ceramides, can be game changers when it comes to healing dry skin. Vital for skin hydration, ceramides are an important part of skin health, as they maintain moisture while also protecting from environmental aggressors. Moisturizers with harsh ingredients such as colorings and perfumes can cause inflammation and dryness, so it’s best to stick to all natural, gentle moisturizers

What Causes Dry Skin?

Japanese moisturizers are all about restoring and maintaining moisture, as well as preventing moisture loss. The skin on your face is under constant bombardment from environmental stressors, such as uv rays and pollution. These can lead to dullness, premature aging, and dryness.

Of course, colder, dryer weather can also contribute to dry skin on the face, as well as aging. As we age, our skin also naturally produces less sebum (oil), causing it to dry and lose elasticity. By helping your skin to boost sebum production, and protecting against the elements, these top Japanese moisturizers for dry skin help soften skin, while preventing dehydration in the future.

JBeauty Moisturizing Tips

Using a moisturizer alone directly after cleansing is not as effective as you might think. Your skin is not capable of fully absorbing moisture if it is dry, or has been recently cleansed. Think of your skin as a sponge - a dry sponge has trouble absorbing things, but a wet sponge can quickly soak things up. By using a liquid lotion or emulsion on your skin prior to using a moisturizer, your skin is prepped to better and more fully absorb hydration, locking in the essential and nourishing ingredients from products you use earlier in your routine.

After cleansing and using your emulsion or lotion of choice, our top picks for moisturizers for dry skin are:

1. Seiso Ceramide Moisture Milk

With a patented ceramide complex to help maintain and support a healthy skin barrier, Seiso’s Ceramide Moisture Milk is a lightweight moisturizer that helps to improve skin barrier function and moisture retention. Seiso’s ceramide complex, CeraKari-20™ is made of 20+ long-chain human-type ceramides naturally sourced from Japanese Koji, famed throughout Japan for its many nutritional and health benefits. Seiso’s Ceramide Moisture Milk immediately replenishes ceramides and fatty acids lost throughout the day, repairing the skin’s barrier and increasing hydration.

2. Seiso Water Velvet Cream

Seiso JBeauty offers a counterpoint to both trend-driven and harsh/aggressive formulations, which the Japanese believe disturb the skin’s barrier function. Their Water Velvet Cream is a cool drink of healing hydration, smoothing surface layers, sealing in moisture and protecting skin from environmental stressors. Two different weights of hyaluronic acid, combined in a high-suspension glycerin formulation, help to lock in moisture, deliver bounce, and protect vulnerable skin from moisture loss, weather, and pollution. Smooth skin and seal in moisture with a silicone-free, velvety veil of protection against pollution and the elements.

3. Lala Vie Chiffon Cream

An award-winning skin treatment recognized by top Japanese beauty magazines, Lala Vie Chiffon Cream is formulated with natural skin-compatible ceramides and highly-penetrating nanocapsules, which delivers long-lasting moisture. Rich and non-greasy, this highly-moisturizing cream achieves a smooth, soft, and plumping finish after application. It absorbs deeply into the skin offering hydration for an extended period of time while leaving the skin cushiony soft and can be used day or night to treat dry skin regardless of the season.

4. Seiso Experience Kit

Experience Seiso JBeauty's revolutionary collection of ultra-hydrating, restorative formulas available for the first time as a set. Created in Japan, the four-product system helps safeguard the skin’s barrier function and improves overall skin health with its patented, cutting-edge ceramide technology, advanced formulations, and gentle yet effective products.

The experience kit features:

Fuwafuwa Foaming Cleanser: Foams, cleanses, softens, and moisturizes without water, leaving skin with a traceless layer that protects from tap water when rinsing off.
Pure Ceramide Concentrate: Improve skin clarity and brightness with this antioxidant-rich concentrate that brightens and evens skin tone.
Ceramide Moisture Milk: Replenish ceramide loss, and improve barrier function and skin elasticity, all while diminishing signs of wrinkles.
Water Velvet Cream: This deeply hydrating cream prevents makeup, dirt & debris from settling into pores, improving skin elasticity, and acting as a face primer to achieve “glass” skin

5. Lala Vie 7 days trial set Moisturizing

With a perfect fusion of botanical beauty oils alongside lipid-based ingredients that deliver on the promise of deep hydration and gentle cleansing, Lala Vie offers a unique and luxurious J-Beauty experience on every level. This travel-size set is perfect for those looking for a trial size option of the Lala Vie line, or the perfect gift for those on the go, with products that deeply hydrate by delivering the perfect balance of oil and water directly to your skin.

This set includes:

Cleansing Balm: Gently remove dirt, oil and makeup, leaving behind clean, smooth skin, and locking in essential moisture for healthy skin, while reducing the appearance of fine lines caused by dryness. With baobab oil to moisturize skin with an ideal balance of vitamins and omega fatty acids, and nourishing argan and chia seed oils to lessen moisture loss.
Oil in Lotion: Reduce the appearance of fine lines, and lock in essential moisture, leaving skin looking bright & fresh with youthful elasticity. With seven times the vitamin E of Olive Oil sourced from fabled prickly pear seed oil, and potent Coenzyme Q10 and Creatine to boost skin cells to defend against environmental stressors.
Chiffon Cream: Reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles with rich botanical oils that maintain skin’s essential moisture. Lala Vie’s Chiffon Cream protects skin with a veil of moisture that defends skin from exterior irritants and delivers firm, lustrous skin.