Every beauty editor I know swears by this classic face serum—here are my honest thoughts

The beauty world can often be a fickle place—particularly when it comes to face serums. New products launch daily, ingredients fall in and out of favour, and a TikTok-dominated landscape of viral beauty products mean that true efficacy can often be overlooked in favour of hype. However, there are certain products that transcend the beauty buzz entirely to exist in an all-together more reliable beauty hall of fame—timeless products that genuinely deliver what they promise. Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair is one such product. 

First launched in 1982, this iconic serum has been in the homes of beauty editors and skincare obsessives for over 40 years thanks to its reparative and reliable formulation. And while it’s rightly viewed as a classic beauty product now, when it first launched it was revolutionary in nature as the first ever skincare product to use hyaluronic acid—a trailblazing moment for the skincare industry as a whole.

Honestly, I can be a little capricious when it comes to my serum habits—they’re the one skincare product that I dabble with the most—but after Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair cropped up time and time again during a recent chat with fellow beauty ed’s about their favourite skincare products ever, I decided to make it a staple in my daily skincare routine to see it if deserves a more permanent place in my regular rotation.

What ingredients are in Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair?

The claim that makes Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair so popular is that it reportedly acts like seven different serums in one, such is its ability to hydrate, even tone, strengthen your skin barrier, boost radiance and more. But what ingredients give it this ability? Well, it turns out the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair complex is so revolutionary and has so much research behind it that it’s actually been patented until 2033. The star ingredients, however, come in the form of sodium hyaluronate (that’s the aforementioned hyaluronic acid) which attracts moisture to the skin and helps maintain hydration levels and tripeptide-32. This exclusive peptide provides a support network to the skin’s natural ability to renew overnight while protecting skin during the day for brighter, healthier skin round-the-clock.

How does Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair feel on the skin?

The texture of this serum is truly lovely—it’s lightweight without being watery and has an almost gel-like juiciness to it that feels instantly quenching on the skin. As someone with oily skin that’s prone to acne, I was also pleased to learn that it's non-comedogenic so it won’t clog pores, and I really like the way that it sinks straight into the skin without any hint of greasy residue. In fact, there’s no tackiness at all to this formula—your skin is just left feeling silky-soft, smooth and fresh. I think the formula is pretty universal, but I do think that if your skin is extremely dry you’d probably want to layer over a pretty thick moisturiser just to really provide the extra nourishment that your skin might need.

Can Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair only be used in the evening?

I tend to take products marketed as 'night' or 'day' formulations with a pinch of salt, unless they contain specific ingredients like SPF (daytime only) or retinol (for the evening). So while it was initially created to help skin renew overnight, I actually think that ANR makes a particularly good daytime serum thanks to the way it smooths and firms the skin, provides plenty of hydration to boost glow and generally acts as a pretty great base for make-up. And on the evenings where I am using stronger skincare ingredients like retinoids or exfoliating acids, applying a layer of this after can help to combat any dryness in the skin. It’s a great all-rounder.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair results

I have to say, I’m so glad to have been reunited again with this serum as I genuinely look forward to using it each day. Not only do I love how iconic the little brown bottle is—dispensing the product from the pipette just makes me feel quite fancy—but the formula inside truly lives up to the hype. I’ve been using it consistently day and night for a couple of weeks now, and I am already noticing that my skin feels more buoyant and smooth. Yes, it’s expensive (prices start from £65) but the science behind it, the way it makes your skin look and feel and the fact that you’re using a little piece of beauty history each day more than justifies the price in my opinion.