Dr Dray has reviewed 74 products for mature skin, approving 48 and skipping just 9. Her Guru Score in this category is 65%, and she named three products as her top picks. If you want a dermatologist's view to build your routine around, she has done a lot of that groundwork already.
What does Dr Dray recommend for mature skin?
The through-line in Dr Dray's approvals is vitamin A. She rates retinaldehyde, retinol, and adapalene as the dependable actives for mature skin, and all three are forms of topical vitamin A. She is most positive about products that also carry barrier-supporting ingredients like niacinamide and ceramides. A formula that hydrates as well as treats is one people can actually stick with. Consistent use is where the results come from. Her three category winners cover a wide range. The eye-focused Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal is one. The affordable Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Body & Face Lotion is another. The third is the investment-level Omnilux LED devices, which she notes only deliver results if used regularly.
In their words
"One of my all-time favorite retinal topicals is from the brand Beauty of Joseon, it is their Revive Eye Serum with Ginseng and Retinal. Retinal is just sort of shorthand for retinaldehyde. In addition to retinaldehyde, this has niacinamide, so it's a great ingredient for addressing the needs of the moisture barrier alongside a form of topical vitamin A. Retinaldehyde is a pretty gentle form, generally well tolerated, but having barrier supporting, moisturizing, hydrating ingredients in this formula really makes it an excellent option for a retinaldehyde in the drier winter months. It also has ceramide, that's going to help with the needs of the moisture barrier, and it has palmitoyl tripeptide-5, that is a peptide which can help improve skin firmness and elasticity by improving moisture in the skin. This product is marketed as a serum for around the eyes, which is excellent because a lot of people are looking to use this ingredient around the eye to improve the appearance of fine lines, for example, but a lot of forms of topical vitamin A end up being irritating to the overall formula for delicate eyelid skin. This one is safe enough to use around the eyes."
"They suggest using the Half and Half as a moisture sandwich with their retinaldehyde, which I 10 out of 10 recommend. That has to be one of my favorite Prequel products and they have a lot of great gems. Retinaldehyde can be a little irritating in the beginning, although it's generally well tolerated, and [...] I find the base of that retinaldehyde is amazing as a moisturizer, it's beautiful. [...] That has to be one of the best products I have tried out this year, I'm not exaggerating. It's going to make an appearance in my best of series most likely towards the end of the year."
"I always recommend the Omnilux devices. That's what I use. They're fantastic. They're the ones who make the in-office devices. They put their devices through a lot of safety testing. So that's why I always recommend them over a cheaper device. They are an investment and I tell people this all the time. They only work if you use them. If you keep them in a drawer and you only use them on a spa night every so often, they're not going to do anything really. So they have to be used consistently."
"I personally started my topical retinoid journey with Differin Gel. I really started to notice several months into using it improvement in sunspots. And over time I noted that the skin was getting plumper, smoother and I was seeing quite a decrease in some little fine lines. [...] I maintain that as far as an accessible affordable and generally well tolerated retinoid, it is a stellar option for not only of course acne but for anti-aging purposes."
"This is a cult favorite, the Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex from Estée Lauder. I have an older video where I talk about it."
"SkinMedica TNS Advanced+ Serum is really expensive. That said, you will find SkinMedica TNS serum users out there who will cut your throat if you take that stuff away from them, so clearly it does something for some people. Is it going to do anything for you? I don't know, and the reason I don't know is not because I'm an idiot, it's because we don't have good data to predict who's going to respond to these things and who's not. You've got to stay consistent with something like this in order to begin to turn a corner and see meaningful change. People who claim they saw results after a week: [...] pull over to the rest stop and keep going with it, then talk to me, because stuff doesn't really happen that quickly. I'm not so sure about the anti-sag claims either. You're telling me not only is it going to boost collagen to improve wrinkles, but it's also going to reposition stuff and rebuild the underlying bone and supportive framework that has been lost as a result of the aging process? I am skeptical. My experience using this product is that it is very uneventful, it is a thin, clear, colorless liquid, doesn't really have an odor to it or a tingle."
How many products has Dr Dray reviewed for mature skin?
Dr Dray has reviewed 74 products for mature skin, for a Guru Score of 65%. 48 approved, 17 mixed, and 9 skipped.
What has Dr Dray skipped for mature skin?
Dr Dray was firm on growth factors. She reviewed The Ordinary Growth Factor 15% Solution and said they do not hold up. At most, she said, they may be doing the work of a plain moisturizer. Spicule-based products like VT Collagen Reedle Shot 100 were also a skip. Her concern is foreign body granulomas, a skin reaction that can take decades to appear and is very difficult to treat. She also flagged retinyl palmitate, which is sometimes sold as a gentler retinoid option. In her view, it acts only as an antioxidant and does not deliver the collagen-boosting effects of a real vitamin A.
"It's the Augustinus Bader Rich Cream. Right now at Nordstrom you can get a one-ounce pump and a half-ounce pump for the low, low price of two hundred dollars, yikes, versus two hundred and seventy-two dollars. I've never used this before. Objectively speaking, there's nothing wrong with the ingredients. I do imagine that people who use this and love it appreciate an improvement in moisture content, skin luminosity, and radiance. Do I think you need this cream versus any other moisturizer to get those types of results? No. This is not something I would ever buy myself. It also has a peptide in it, palmitoyl tripeptide-8. Peptides probably just mostly act as humectants. We rely on manufacturer studies, which are obviously going to be biased; it's not like they're testing these peptides in rigorous double-blind placebo-controlled trials. This particular peptide, at least in cells-in-a-dish type models, shows a reduction in inflammatory markers after UV radiation. In skin explants, so a model, not on an actual human, this peptide has been shown to be associated with a decrease in dilated capillaries. And when used on actual humans who have the skin condition rosacea, this particular peptide is associated with a decrease in persistent facial redness. However, that particular study on rosacea patients was using a product that not only had this peptide but also had caffeine, and caffeine can likewise help in minimizing redness, so whether it was the peptide or something else in this cream like the caffeine is hard to determine."
"Foreign body granulomas [...] can take a really long time to show up, [...] in some cases 60 years, and they're really, really challenging to get rid of. [...] That's one of my major reservations with this. Once I saw this had spicules in it, it was an immediate no for me. I was not interested in using it. [...] I'm not going to use spicules on my skin. [...] I haven't actively used it in my skincare routine, I haven't put it on my face, I have no interest in doing that. [...] I'm really nervous about spicules, call me paranoid, but I would just like to see more long-term safety data with these. You might say, well, you use those microneedle dart patches, how is that any different? Those dissolve. What else is in this product, a lot of really good ingredients, which is why I was so excited when I first opened it up and glanced over the ingredient list. It has things that I love, it has niacinamide, which is great for redness, hyperpigmentation."
"Growth factors are like in skincare as a marketing hype, a precursor [...] to PDRN and exosomes nonsense claims that don't hold up at all. Putting growth factors on your skin, that's not going to do anything. They're not doing anything in skincare. Maybe they're moisturizing."
"A313 is a cream that contains retinyl palmitate. Retinyl palmitate is a retinyl ester, which is a vitamin A derivative that doesn't do what tretinoin, retinol, retinoic acid, retinaldehyde, [tazarotene], or trifluorotinene does. It doesn't do the collagen boosting. It just acts as an antioxidant. In other words, using a retinyl topical is not going to prime your skin for getting used to a topical retinoid. It's not a gentler version of that. It really just acts as an antioxidant. It's no different than using any other antioxidant. It may be helpful for warding off oxidative stress, but it's not going to help you deal with the retinization process or get primed for the retinization process."
What should you take from Dr Dray's picks?
Dr Dray's record here is most useful when you are deciding whether a trending ingredient is actually worth it. Her three category picks show that she rates genuine retinoids and proven devices over novelty. They are the Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal, Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Body & Face Lotion, and Omnilux LED devices. What comes through in her takes is a preference for ingredients backed by real evidence. She also favors formulas that are tolerable enough to actually use long-term.
Watch Dr Dray say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + RetinalNamed a winnerWatch at 9:40
- Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Body & Face LotionNamed a winnerWatch at 15:05
- Omnilux LED devicesNamed a winnerWatch at 10:38
- Augustinus Bader Rich CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:49
- VT Collagen Reedle Shot 100Skipped itWatch at 8:30
- The Ordinary Growth Factor 15% SolutionSkipped itWatch at 7:55
- A313 Vitamin A PommadeSkipped itWatch at 9:51
- Clarins Double SerumSkipped itWatch at 9:05
- Medicube Collagen Jelly CreamSkipped itWatch at 12:38
- BellafillSkipped itWatch at 10:54
- Lancôme GénifiqueSkipped itWatch at 19:44
- Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One AHA Lactic Acid TreatmentSkipped itWatch at 18:24
- Prequel RetinaldehydeRated itWatch at 9:56
- Differin Adapalene Gel 0.1%Rated itWatch at 1:44
- Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery ComplexRated itWatch at 13:55
- SkinMedica TNS Advanced+ SerumRated itWatch at 10:18
- Timeless Coenzyme Q10 SerumRated itWatch at 7:01
- RoC Retinol CapsulesRated itWatch at 4:34
- Olay Micro-Sculpting CreamRated itWatch at 11:31
- Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive CreamRated itWatch at 9:41
- Shark Beauty CryoGlow LED Face MaskRated itWatch at 0:54
- Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Probio-Cica Enrich CreamRated itWatch at 15:33
- CeraVe Skin Renewing Vitamin C Eye CreamRated itWatch at 13:35
- L'Oreal Caffeine Eye CreamRated itWatch at 6:53
About this expert
See everything Dr Dray has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Dr Dray said across their videos about 74 products for mature skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.