Estée Lauder is one of the most popular cosmetics brands, and their anti-aging night cream is their most popular product. The brand describes Advanced Night Repair Serum as “The #1 prestige serum in the U.S.” and containing “the power of 7 serums in 1.”
The product is certainly priced as a prestige serum at over $100 for under 2 ounces (oz).
But does Advanced Night Repair Serum contain ingredients proven to have anti-aging effects? Does it contain any questionable additives? Which retailer sells it for the best price? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Advanced Night Repair Serum to give our take on whether or not it’s likely to be effective for anti-aging, and whether or not it's healthy.
We’ll also provide a cost comparison documenting which retailer sells this product for the best price, as well as feature real customer reviews.
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum are shown above.
This serum contains a number of active ingredients shown in clinical studies to have an anti-aging effect, and other benefits to skin.
Bifida ferment lysate is a probiotic bacteria shown in a clinical trial published in the Experimental Dermatology journal to significantly reduce skin irritation and dryness.
Tripeptide-32 is part of a class of chemicals called peptides, and this type of ingredient was shown in a 2020 clinical trial to cause “significant improvements in skin wrinkles.”
Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most well-studied anti-aging ingredients.
As we documented in our CeraVe vs Cetaphil review article, sodium hyaluronate is clinically shown to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Caffeine is clinically shown to reduce skin roughness when applied topically.
It is a powerful antioxidant and has also been shown to decrease puffiness in the skin by constricting blood vessels.
Lactobacillus ferment is another probiotic ingredient shown in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science to repair the skin barrier and reduce acne.
Hydrogenated lecithin was described in a 2013 clinical trial as a “penetration enhancer,” which means it can increase absorption of other active ingredients in a skincare serum.
There are several inactive ingredients in this cream that we consider to be questionable from a health perspective.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells.
Red 4 is an artificial dye, and we know from research studies that artificial dyes can be absorbed through the skin.
Yellow 5 is another artificial dye, which may be damaging to human DNA as referenced in our Nailboo reviews article on another cosmetic brand containing this ingredient.
Triethanolamine is used to balance the pH of a formulation, but was shown in a 1999 clinical trial to be irritating and potentially damaging to the eyes, making it a strange choice for an eye serum in our opinion.
BHT is a synthetic preservative, and one of the chemical compounds it’s broken down into by the body was described as a “tumor promoter” in a clinical trial published in the Carcinogenesis journal.
Overall, we consider Advanced Night Repair Serum likely to be effective for anti-aging and improvement of skin quality.
However, we don’t currently recommend this product due to the inactive ingredients discussed above.
Real People Try Advanced Night Repair
A YouTube creator named Trevor Ritchie reviewed Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum after one full year of use:
A TikTok video from the “skinhydration” channel tested whether this serum could actually hydrate skin based on a measurement device:
@skinhydration Estée Lauder advanced night repair serum did moderately well at hydration. Cost $185. #skincare ♬ Made You Look - Meghan Trainor
Our Clean Skincare Picks
There are skincare products containing ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality.
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.
It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
Ritual HyaCera is our top skin supplement.
It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging."
Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Dermatologist Review
A dermatologist and popular cosmetic influencer named “Dr Dray” reviewed Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum to give her thoughts on whether or not it’s worth the money:
Where to Get the Best Price
Advanced Night Repair Serum is sold at a variety of online retailers.
Here’s a price breakdown for a one-time purchase of the 1.7 oz version at the time of updating this article:
Sephora: $128 (free shipping, link)
Ulta: $128 (free shipping, link)
Brand website: $128 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $45.83 (free shipping – link to Amazon listing)
This product is listed at a massive discount on Amazon, but it’s sold by a third-party and we’re unsure of the legitimacy of the listing.
This big of a price break is a red flag in our opinion, and we'd recommend purchasing directly from the manufacturer to ensure product quality and safety.
Advanced Night Repair Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Advanced Night Repair Serum in our opinion:
Pros:
- Should reduce wrinkles
- Should improve skin hydration
- Many research-backed active ingredients
- Favorable online customer reviews
- Free shipping from brand's website
Cons:
- Extremely expensive
- Contains artificial dye
- Contains synthetic preservatives
- Doesn’t appear to be clinically tested
