The best overnight masks are more than just a supplement to your skin-care routine. In fact, the Korean skin-care staple is more of a strategic move, delivering active ingredients like hyaluronic acid over the course of several hours while you rest and your skin repairs itself. That timing isn’t just a matter of convenience—in fact, studies show that the skin barrier is more permeable in the evening hours, which may allow these ingredients to more easily absorb into skin. Plus the extended timeline could yield better results too—versus a face mask that, while powerful, you wash off after 20 minutes.
Vogue’s Favorite Overnight Masks
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With that, scroll ahead for the overnight masks that board-certified dermatologists and editors alike count on for skin that looks as refreshed as you might hope to feel.
Best Overall: Laneige Water Sleeping Mask
- Why We Love It: For a burst of hydration, New York–based dermatologist Dr. Arash Akhavan recommends the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask to his patients, since it “instantly plumps and firms their skin overnight,” he explains. “It also contains niacinamide and Saururus chinensis extract for anti-inflammatory purposes.” Dr. Omer Ibrahim, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago, also recommends it for its probiotics and squalane, which lend skin a dewy look by morning, he says.
- Key Ingredients: Squalane, hyaluronic acid, glycerin
- Best For: All skin types, but especially dry skin
- Size: 2.3 fl. oz.
Best for Sheet Mask: Biodance Bio-Collagen Real Deep Mask
- Why We Love It: A runaway hit on TikTok, the Biodance Sheet Mask is known for transforming from a standard sheet mask to a transparent film over the course of several hours (ostensibly indicating that skin has absorbed all of its ingredients). It stands out for its combination of hydrating and brightening abilities, according to Ibrahim. “It’s packed with niacinamide and ceramides, making it great for dull, dehydrated skin,” he says. It has also impressed Vogue’s senior beauty shopping writer, Kiana Murden. “My jaw dropped when I saw my complexion,” she says. “The congestion and enlarged pores I had on my forehead the night before had vanished. My skin felt baby-soft to touch and incredibly bouncy, like I just emerged from my aesthetician’s chair.”
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, collagen
- Best For: Dull or dehydrated skin
- Size: 4 sheet masks
Best for Mature Skin: Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask
- Why We Love It: Ibrahim calls the Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask “luxuriously rich,” and he credits the ginseng extract with revitalizing tired or dry skin. What also sets it apart is the blend of jujube and pomegranate extracts, which help support the skin barrier and supply antioxidants (respectively). Together, they help nourish and plump the skin while you sleep.
- Key Ingredients: Shea butter, ginger extract, jujube extract, pomegranate extract
- Best For: Dry or mature skin types
- Size: 4.05 fl. oz.
Best for Dry Skin: PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Overnight Mask
- Why We Love It: For those who don’t want to sacrifice thorough hydration for a lightweight feel, Akhavan recommends this hyaluronic acid–powered mask. “This is an excellent choice for delivering deep hydration, reinforcing the skin barrier, and calming irritation overnight,” he says. He also appreciates the different molecular sizes of hyaluronic acid, which “allows the hyaluronic acid to penetrate to different depths of skin, improving hydration throughout,” he explains.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, panthenol
- Best For: Dry or sensitive skin types
- Size: 1.8 fl. oz.
Best for Sensitive Skin: EltaMD Skin Recovery Night Mask
- Why We Love It: Formulated with compromised skin in mind—be it naturally sensitive or recovering from an in-office procedure—the EltaMD Skin Recovery Night Mask harnesses a patented blend of amino acids to repair skin-barrier damage and reduce redness. It’s also fragrance-free and non-comedogenic, and contains bush clover extract to support the skin’s natural functions overnight.
- Key Ingredients: Amino acid complex, bush clover extract, bisabolol
- Best For: Sensitive or acne-prone skin types
- Size: 1.7 fl. oz.
Best for Acne-Prone Skin: Noble Panacea Overnight Chronobiology Peel
- Why We Love It: Intended to be used one night a week for eight weeks, the Noble Panacea Overnight Chronobiology Peel uses the brand’s proprietary gradual-release system to deliver a blend of alpha and beta hydroxy acids overnight—effectively optimizing the skin cell turnover that occurs during the evening hours. The combination of ingredients makes it helpful for both breakouts and post-acne hyperpigmentation alike, leaving it smoother, calmer, and more radiant.
- Key Ingredients: Salicylic acid, alpha hydroxy acid, cica
- Best For: Problematic skin
- Size: 8 doses
Best for Redness: RéVive Rescue Balm Overnight Mask
- Why We Love It: The RéVive Rescue Balm Overnight Mask sets out to restore damaged or compromised skin with a thoughtful blend of peptides, adaptogens, and antioxidants. While adaptogens are best known for their role in supplements, their topical application—via mushrooms—help make skin more resilient against environmental stress. The mask also offers the brand’s signature peptide—which effectively directs skin cells to act more youthfully—as well as peptide derivatives, which help strengthen the skin barrier and reduce water loss.
- Key Ingredients: Peptides, shiitake, kale extract, peptide derivatives
- Best For: Stressed or mature skin
- Size: 2.0 fl. oz.
Best Multiuse: Sisley Paris Velvet Sleeping Mask
- Why We Love It: This mask gets its titular velvety texture from a blend of shea and kokum butters, and the macadamia seed oil certainly doesn’t hurt. It comforts and replenishes skin upon contact, leaving it softer, brighter, and more radiant when you wake up. Its gentle profile makes it a strategic way of offsetting the drying effects of retinoids, and it can be used as both an overnight mask or as a faster, 10-minute treatment.
- Key Ingredients: Shea butter, kokum butter, thyme honey
- Best For: Dry or mature skin
- Size: 2.0 fl. oz.
Everything You Need to Know
What is an overnight mask?
As the name implies, an overnight mask is a mask worn during the night, which gives it two key advantages. “The most obvious benefit of leaving a product on overnight is the benefits of prolonged contact between the skin and beneficial ingredients,” says Akhavan. “Ingredients have hours of contact with the skin enhancing their effects.”
Plus, he notes, “another benefit is that the masks can form an occlusive layer that both promotes deeper penetration of ingredients and prevents overnight water loss from the skin,” he says. So in addition to moisturizing ingredients from the mask, you’ll have your own skin’s moisture to rely on.
Do overnight masks actually work?
Yes, they can deliver noticeable results by morning. “The combination of preventing water loss overnight and adding hydration and moisture for all of those hours produces dewier and firmer-looking skin,” says Akhavan. On top of that, consistently exposing your skin to actives like niacinamide and vitamin C overnight can help even out skin tone and improve dullness, he says.
When it comes to tightening effects, however, temper your expectations. “Tightening benefits are usually temporary and more due to hydration and anti-inflammatory effects rather than any structural change,” warns Ibrahim.
What to Look for in an Overnight Mask
It’s hard to beat overnight masks with hydrating ingredients, among them hyaluronic acid, glycerin, squalane, and ceramides, says Akhavan. “If you are looking to even out skin tone and brighten your complexion, you should look for masks with vitamin C, niacinamide, tranexamic acid, and licorice root extract,” he says.
And finally, consider the occasional peel. “Some masks even have low concentrations of AHAs and BHAs and retinol to promote skin cell renewal and mild exfoliation,” Akhavan says.
How often should you use an overnight mask?
It depends on the type of mask, its ingredients, and the recommended usage from the brand. Generally speaking, though, “a hydrating mask can be used as often as nightly if needed,” says Akhavan. “Masks containing exfoliating acids or retinol should be limited to, at most, one or two applications per week.”
