Cyber Monday 2024: I tested 300+ anti-aging skin care products this year — here are my top deals

While it's not exactly meant as a face cream, this ultra-rich moisturizer is used for that purpose by most every seasoned beauty expert I know. It's extremely hydrating, packed with nourishing plant-derived ingredients and is especially good as a nighttime treatment for faces, hands, feet, necks and even the décolleté.

Puffiness, bags and dark circles are no match for these No. 1 bestselling, vitamin-infused under-eye masks. All you do is place one under each eye, leave them on for 20 minutes, remove and admire your firmer, brighter-looking skin! No one needs to know you were up scrolling through Instagram instead of getting your eight hours of sleep. This is one of the best prices we've ever seen for this pack — just 50 cents per pair!

"These are by far the best eye patches I've used," raved a bright-eyed reviewer. "I'm 64 years old and, due to multiple major life stressors over the last three years, have gone from looking 20 years younger than my age to looking every minute of my years. I've tried everything and have spent a small fortune trying to look less haggard and puffy. These patches are amazing. The box says you'll see a difference in a few days, and I really did. No wrinkles under my eyes, and it lasts through the workday rather than the 10 minutes I've seen with some other patches. Put them in the fridge; they feel extra good!"

This beloved snail mucin from CosRx is excellent for evening skin tone and making your face look softer and brighter overall. It's also won multiple awards, has over 54,000 five-star reviews on Amazon and has impressed most every beauty editor I know.

After using it the first time (here's my full review), my face was noticeably dewier. Other reviewers have boasted about its ability to soothe, hydrate, repair and improve dull skin — all of which helps wrinkles look less deep and crepey. 

If you'd like to complement your serum stick with another TRULY AMAZING Tatcha product, this rice polish is a beloved favorite of celebrities and skin-care experts alike. Meghan Markle once told Allure that she loves it because "it just sort of foams on your face and gives you a really subtle exfoliation.”

Every beauty editor I know uses this to cleanse their skin at night — it's especially good for those of us who are post-50. 

If your lashes have become fine and thin due to aging or hormonal changes, it's worth checking out the wildly popular Grandelash, which has been a favorite of aestheticians and makeup artists since it appeared on the scene in 2008.

Since, both Grandelash (and Grandebrow) have become the go-to for those looking for reliable, efficient, affordable hair-growth solutions. The "lash enhancing serum," which is 30% off for Black Friday, has racked up more than 35,000 5-star reviews, all along the lines of "This product works GREAT for me — and FAST!!!" and simply "Wow!!!!"

There are loads of pricey treatments and potions meant to decrease facial puffiness, promote collagen growth and improve the texture of aging skin, but the ancient art of face rolling is the easiest, least expensive and arguably the most relaxing. 

This high-quality jade roller and face massager tool set has over 26,000 five-star reviews and, right now, it's nearly 40% off.

This Jennifer Aniston-fave serum stick is the ideal delivery system for softening fine lines, prepping skin for makeup and targeting dry patches. Made of 80% squalane — a known skin fortifier — it's fragrance-free, cruelty-free and dermatologist-tested. We've tried this ultra-silky balm and it leaves behind a dewy finish plus it's beyond-amazing for smoothing the undereye area before applying concealer, to avoid makeup settling into fine lines.

Incredible deal alert! These gilded, Jessica Alba-approved eye masks incorporate hyaluronic acid, amino acids and sea moss to hydrate the delicate under-eye area, reducing dark circles and puffy bags and blurring fine lines as they go.

They're also paraben- and sulfate-free, vegan and gentle enough for most skin types. The luxe packaging makes them an excellent gift. 

If I could, I'd buy every person I know a bottle of CosRx snail serum — it's truly a favorite product, one of the most effective skin-care items for complexion smoothing, skin softening and dark-spot lightening I've ever tried. But, because handing over a bottle of snail mucus on a major holiday might seem a wee but strange, these sheet masks are a quality alternative. 

They contain the award-winning snail slime, are highly hydrating and work for most any skin type. Users report they help with skin inflammation and even rosacea, and this pack of 10 is a solid entry point into the famous K-beauty line — and you can't beat the price.

Albolene's inconspicuous, no-frills moisturizing face cleanser is one of those in-the-know beauty secrets, a product you'd never think to buy for yourself until a friend said, "YOU MUST GET THIS. IT'S CHANGED MY LIFE." Well, I am that friend, telling you this lush, velvety, mild, no-fragrance cream is about to transform your entire nighttime skin-care routine and make your face a whole lot softer and happier in the process. 

The gentle, century-old cleansing product removes makeup effortlessly, without water (though you can choose to take it off by using a damp washcloth or cotton pad). It's particularly effective for older women concerned with damaging delicate under-eye areas and causing fine lines by scrubbing away mascara and eyeliner. It's also safe for all skin types. Trust me, if you buy it now (for just $10!) it will become a can't-live-without beauty staple on your bathroom shelves and — if you're a good friend — those of every woman you know.    

Lowest price ever! Want to take boost collagen, even skin tone and make your complexion brighter overall? This beauty-editor-favorite Solawave wand is a more affordable way to try red light therapy than pricey (and often awkward) LED face masks. In just 10 minutes this easy-to-use device uses noninvasive LEDs to reduce signs of aging, redness and inflammation.

If you want to try it for yourself, this 45% off price at Amazon is the best I've seen.

This is the cream you want if you're, like, "I think tightening creams are BS but I also want to believe they are true because I currently hate my neck." The Gold Bond firming cream is no frills but gets the job done (the job being tighter jowls and a less reptilian neck). The formula is lightweight and on the thin side but the product absorbs well and is gentle enough not to irritate sensitive skin. 

Note: You'll need to use it consistently for about a month to see results, and it won't, of course, magically make you appear 25, but being able to snag this ample size for less than 10 bucks makes this product worth a go.

If I had to pick one desert island beauty product (outside of sunscreen), it would have to be Sunday Riley's Good Genes. The lactic-acid treatment gently yet effectively exfoliates dull surface skin, promoting cell turnover and giving even the dreariest complexion a healthy, vibrant glow.

It also smooths and plumps rough texture and clarifies an uneven tone. My skin never looks better than when I use this every night and, while this sale price still isn't cheap, a little goes a long way — I've had mine for months. 

Since we lose moisture and elasticity as we age, the humectant hyaluronic acid, an ingredient which binds to water — and can hold a whopping 1,000 times its weight in water — is key to any quality anti-aging skin care regimen.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better hyaluronic acid serum than this award-winning version from Grace & Stella, especially at this discounted Black Friday price. 

This is THE moment to pick up Kiehl's long-standing cult-fave eye cream, which utilizes a unique oil-in-water formula to bring extra, ultra hydration to dry, crepe-y lips and crinkly under-eyes. This 50% discount is the best price I've seen all year. 

This classic, good-for-all-skin-types face moisturizer is the ultimate mom gift — a beloved cream that's luxurious and she may have already been using for years.

If you're looking for an all-over tightening, brightening, hydrating, complexion-smoothing night cream for the face, neck and decolleté, you can't do much better than this clinically proven version by trusted brand RoC — especially at this price. 

The popular cream is nongreasy and noncomedogenic and beloved by both dermatologists and celebrities alike (Sarah Jessica Parker is a fan). And, according to the more than 4,000 five-star reviews, ordinary folks are all over it too: "I'm in my 70s and this cream has been my go-to for years. It works on my skin!"

We know retinol works reliably to reduce wrinkles but this Swedish brand's Dark Spot Fix does double duty: It's a skin-lightening treatment containing retinol 8, a stabilized vitamin A complex meant to be eight times more effective than conventional retinol but half as harsh. There's no data to support the company's claim here, but I can tell you this from experience: The formula is creamy, gentle and lightened a stubborn brown spot on my cheek I'd been annoyed by for years in just three weeks. 

Though no results will be as effective as a visit to the dermatologist, if you're dealing with mild hyperpigmentation, this is an at-home skin-care win — especially at this price.

While we're talking retinol, this Sarah Jessica Parker-favorite brand is a drugstore skin-care legend for a reason: It's proven. In a clinical study, 97% of those who tried RoC's Retinol Correxion night serum reported smoother skin after just a single night. Users said their skin was 63% more hydrated after a week and visibly firmer after a month. 

RoC's retinol serum is also recommended and tested by dermatologists. And, it's among Amazon’s highest-rated skin care products with more than 13,000 five-star reviews. 

Stubborn blackheads weirdly don't discriminate — they're often prevalent no matter if you're old or young. But these truly revolutionary patches help solve the problem fast, all while you sleep. Just apply, shuffle off to bed and let it do the hard work of clearing your pores while you sleep. In the morning, you'll be astonished when you see all the grime that was trapped inside.

"Amazing" and "miraculous" are common themes among five-star reviewers.

One happy reviewer said, "I was amazed! It was slightly annoying to have on at night, but when I woke up, all of those problem blackheads on my nose were either gone or loosened up. ... The patch is easy to remove and doesn't hurt at all, like some of the other nose strips. I'm so impressed!"

Another reviewer called it "Seriously an unexpected miracle. ... Pore strips have always pulled a few [blackheads] out, but mostly just left a white film behind. I applied this clear plastic patch and went to sleep. [In the morning] I could see that about 75% of my blackheads/sebum were gone."

If your skin is dry and dull, look no further than this near-perfect, Tik-Tok famous overnight face mask which works to deeply penetrate and hydrate skin as you sleep so you wake up with a dewy glow. At this super-low Black Friday price, you can pick up a few to give as gifts. 

I am not an empress, a socialite, a CEO or the "real housewife" of a wealthy man. Therefore, I despise buying products I'm not sure I'll like unless they cost less than a sandwich. However, I was willing to make an exception for this rich, hydrating, dark-circle-eradicating eye cream because I've only heard amazing things about it and because I have the shadowed under-eyes of a mourning Italian widow. I also know enough about the best eye creams and how vitamin C works to ascertain that this one — formulated with 5% encapsulated L-ascorbic acid and moisture-infusing hyaluronic acid — could actually soothe my orbital woes.

But lo! My conflict has been resolved by the bargain gods! BeautyStat's brightening potion is on sale for more than half off, which means it's in my cart as I type.

"Feels like velvet," raved one five-star reviewer. "This eye cream is such a game-changer. The bottles last me about six months so it's great for the money. And I can see a definite change in my crow's feet since using it for nine months."

This skin-soothing, color-correcting cream is made specifically for disguising angry, red post-blemish skin (essentially the period between when you pop a pimple and it heals), but I find it works well for any redness or dark spots on my face — especially broken capillaries around my nose, my weird red chin and brown-ish sun damage too. 

It has the texture of a lightweight, silky serum, absorbs fast and leaves areas where you want a "color correction" primed for your normal foundation or concealer. I can't guarantee it will work for your skin as well as it does mine, but at $6 (half off!) it's certainly worth a try.

It's not just industry experts recommending you shop beauty appliances this month — I myself invested in this gold-standard at-home microcurrent device during Black Friday last year. It's a noninvasive way to tone and firm sagging skin on the face and neck — and, if used consistently (which, ahem, I’m guilty of not always doing!), it’s clinically proven to work. Plus, it's nearly $40 off on Amazon.