Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

Ren has recently reformulated one of its most popular serums in its evercalm range and we’ve been impressed after using it for weeks in our skincare routine. It’s a lightweight cream that doesn’t absorb instantly, but after 30 minutes to one hour after application, we saw a decrease in redness every time. It’s a great long-term solution and quick fix to skin that’s suffered a reaction, taking away signs of sensitivity including tightness, burning and itching. Our skin felt and looked calmer after just the first use and, while it is one of the more expensive options in our list, if you’re looking to invest in a daily serum that will tackle irritation and redness all in one, it’s well worth the splurge.

Best: Anti-redness cream

Rating: 9/10

Having gone viral on TikTok for its redness-reducing effectiveness, you will see immediate results with this cream. It’s a skincare-makeup hybrid product that can be worn after you’ve applied moisturiser and SPF alone or as a complexion product. It’s quite a thick cream that suits most skin types, except for very oily, with only a few dabs needed in the affected areas. Massage the product in with your fingers or, if you prefer to keep your hands clean, you can use a make-up brush to apply it instead. The cream is bright green, which counteracts red, and once applied to skin it transforms into a subtle beige tint to help even out areas of redness, leaving skin looking glowy and neutralised.

Best: Anti-redness serum

Rating: 9/10

This super-lightweight gel serum is quick to soothe irritated skin while adding hydration and moisture to dehydrated complexions. We used three drops across our whole face and found that it improved skin texture and, over time, reduced discolouration and redness, particularly around our nose and cheeks. It’s gentle, calms flare-ups and is a serum we like to keep on standby for when unexpected irritation and sensitivity occurs. It’s also perfect for use after chemical peels or retinol creams that can sometimes cause skin flaking.

Best: For oily skin

Rating: 8/10

Clinique’s redness solutions range is the OG of anti-redness skincare products, with a small line-up dedicated to calming complexions. This oil-free moisturiser is perhaps the most well-known product and for good reason. It’s lightweight, improves blotchy areas and can be used all over your face, rather than just affected areas. You don’t need much either and, once applied, skin quickly begins to look more soothed with less visible redness. Simply use as you would any face moisturiser. It’s very simple to make it part of your daily skincare routine and it tackles dehydration and redness all at once. A great all-rounder if there ever was one.

Best: For sensitive skin

Rating: 9/10

The gel texture of this serum is lovely and lightweight, absorbing quickly which makes it speedy to apply. It leaves skin soothed immediately and with daily use over a fortnight, we saw areas of redness reduced, especially on our cheeks. It’s a very minimal formula, free from colourants, fragrance and alcohol, but it’s also packed with neurosensine, an active ingredient that soothes skin. Once massaged in, skin feels soft, supple and smooth. We found it particularly helpful for treating areas of red flare-up that came with our “maskne” – irritation and breakouts caused by continuous wearing of a face covering.

Best: For dry skin

Rating: 7/10

This is a much thicker consistency and a great moisturiser for dry or combination skin where your cheeks tend to be on the drier side. It takes a little longer to rub in so if you’re planning to wear make-up, we’d recommend letting it fully absorb and waiting five minutes before applying foundation to avoid any slip. The formula is rich in licorice extract and symsitive, which soothes hypersensitive skin and calms any redness. The pump is a bit stiff but a little goes a long way and it’s a handy tube to have if your skin is prone to bouts of redness.

Best: Budget option

Rating: 8/10

While this 40ml tube is on the smaller side, it’s a nourishing cream that can be used daily. It’s a blend of enoxolone, allantoin and canola, which are ingredients that not only improve areas of redness but help reduce the overheating sensation that can often come with inflamed and irritated skin. If you have sensitive skin, this will give you no issues. We were especially impressed with how well it treated sore areas of spots on our chin that are typically more red than the rest of our face thanks to continuous hormonal acne.

Best: For under make-up

Rating: 9/10

Niod is The Ordinary’s sister brand and full of luxurious, scientific led, high-performance skincare. It’s akin to a serum, except it’s designed to apply after your skincare, where it has a subtle tint that evens out skin tone and leaves a glow while covering up redness. It’s extremely lightweight and can be applied to skin as you would any other serum – we used three drops and found it to be plenty to cover our whole face. Thanks to the radiant finish, it makes for a lovely make-up base that can be layered beneath your concealer during warmer months, or worn on its own if you just want a quick fix for redness-prone skin.

Best: Anti-redness primer

Rating: 9/10

If you want to have a calm, soothed and even complexion, this is a winning product from the Korean skincare brand. It’s a green cream that adapts to your skin tone with a luminous finish that gently conceals inflammation, blemishes and dark circles, while being extremely lightweight. It’s ideal if you want to conceal any redness without wearing a lot of make-up. It also makes for a great base, as once massaged with your fingers, skin is left soft and smooth while pores appear smaller.