How to Choose the Right Moisturizer for Your Treatment Room and Retail Shelf
Moisturizer is the product every client uses and the one they’re most likely to rebuy, which makes it the easiest retail sale in your treatment room. It’s also the final step of almost every facial, so the cream you finish with is the one your client feels walking out the door.
Aesthetic Back Bar carries nine moisturizers, creams, oils and balms for the face, plus a firming serum for body treatments. This guide explains what each one does, how they differ, and how to build a moisturizer lineup that fits your business.
The Moisturizers, One by One
1. Light Moisture Cream — Everyday lightweight hydration
- Texture: Light cream
- Key ingredients: Coconut oil, grapeseed oil, glycerin, with a natural citrus and ylang ylang scent from essential oils
- Best for: Normal and combination skin, and clients who dislike a heavy feel
- Use it: As your everyday finishing cream, AM or PM. It’s one of the most affordable options, so it works well as a back bar staple.
- Sizes: 4 oz $19.95 · 16 oz $53.95
2. Rose Hydrating Cream — For dry, thirsty skin
- Texture: Lightweight and silky
- Key ingredients: Rose flower water (the base, in place of plain water), coconut oil, jojoba oil, glycerin, witch hazel water, vitamin E
- Best for: Dry and dehydrated skin, and clients who want a dewy look
- Use it: Morning and night, or as a richer night cream. It’s a great winter retail pick.
- Sizes: 4 oz $36.95 · 16 oz $109.00
3. Vitamin Daily Moisturizer — The nutrient-rich finishing cream
- Texture: Silky and creamy, absorbs without a greasy finish
- Key ingredients: Avocado and jojoba oils, rooibos, aloe, and vitamins A (retinyl palmitate), B5 (panthenol), C (ascorbyl palmitate) and E (tocopherol)
- Best for: Dry, mature and normal skin, and post-treatment recovery
- Use it: As the finishing cream at the end of a facial, AM or PM. It’s also available in a half-gallon for high-volume treatment rooms.
- Sizes: 4 oz $48.95 · 16 oz and ½ gallon also available
4. Daily Balance Moisturizer — Moisture with gentle exfoliation
- Texture: Lightweight cream
- Key ingredients: 5% AHA blend (glycolic, tartaric and malic acids), coconut and apricot kernel oils, shea and mango butters, fruit extracts (bilberry, cranberry, orange, lemon), green tea, willow bark
- Best for: Normal and combination skin with dullness or rough texture
- Use it: As a daily moisturizer for clients ready for a little exfoliation at home. Recommend daily SPF, and skip it in the days right after a peel.
- Sizes: 4 oz $19.95 · 16 oz $53.95
5. Bright Radiance Moisturizer — For uneven tone and dark spots
- Key ingredients: Kojic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C), vitamin B3, green tea, olive leaf and chamomile extracts, aloe
- Best for: Uneven tone, dark spots and dullness (a non-bleaching brightener)
- Use it: Twice daily, with SPF 30 or higher during the day. It pairs well with a brightening facial series as the take-home product.
- Sizes: 50 ml $19.49 · 4 oz $78.95
6. Retinol PM (Anti-Aging Moisturizer) — The nighttime renewal cream
- Key ingredients: Retinol, sodium hyaluronate, hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, sodium hyaluronate crosspolymer, aloe, shea butter, jojoba oil, panthenol, vitamin C (sodium ascorbyl phosphate)
- Best for: Fine lines, loss of firmness, dullness and uneven texture
- Use it: At night only, on clean skin. The hyaluronic acid makes it a comfortable first retinol for clients easing in. Recommend daily SPF.
- Sizes: 50 ml $19.49 · 4 oz $78.95
7. Restorative Hydrating Cream — For sensitive and stressed skin
- Texture: Smooth and creamy, absorbs quickly
- Key ingredients: 25 mg hemp isolate, hemp seed oil, aloe, centella asiatica (gotu kola), panthenol (B5), vitamin E, green tea, cocoa and shea butters
- Best for: Normal, sensitive and dry skin, redness-prone clients, and post-treatment recovery
- Use it: Morning and night. It’s the go-to after peels, dermaplaning or extractions.
- Sizes: 2 oz $28.95 · 4 oz and 16 oz also available
8. Phyto Nourish Face Oil — Nourishing oil for face and hair
- Texture: Lightweight, quick-absorbing, non-greasy
- Key ingredients: Jojoba, chia, camellia, tomato, cranberry and sunflower seed oils, daikon seed extract, sea buckthorn, CoQ10, lycopene, vitamin E, hemp extract, jasmine and rose absolutes
- Best for: Dry or depleted skin, and as a booster under or over any cream
- Use it: A few drops on damp or dry skin. In the treatment room, use it as a massage step or mix a drop into your finishing cream.
- Sizes: 1 oz $20.95 · 4 oz $59.95
9. Lavender Face & Body Lotion — One lotion, head to toe
- Texture: Smooth lotion
- Key ingredients: Lavender flower water and oil, rose flower water, coconut and jojoba oils, aloe, witch hazel water, vitamin E
- Best for: Clients who want a simple, calming lotion for face and body
- Use it: Morning and night, or for hand and arm massage during facials. At $28.95 for 16 oz, it’s the most economical back bar lotion in the line.
- Sizes: 4 oz $16.49 · 16 oz $28.95
For body treatments: Body Smoothing Serum ($20.95, 4 oz). This is a body-only firming serum with caffeine, carnitine, green tea, capsicum and methyl nicotinate. It warms slightly and is designed for hips, thighs, abdomen, arms and glutes, not the face.
Build a Moisturizer Lineup for Your Business
You don’t need all ten. Most treatment rooms do well with three to five, chosen around the clients you see most.
Just starting out? The Core Three
- Light Moisture Cream for normal and combination skin
- Rose Hydrating Cream for dry skin
- Restorative Hydrating Cream for sensitive and post-treatment skin
These three cover most clients who walk through the door.
Anti-aging focus
- Retinol PM for night
- Vitamin Daily Moisturizer for day
- Bright Radiance Moisturizer for tone and spots
- Phyto Nourish Face Oil as an add-on booster
Peels, dermaplaning and corrective treatments
- Restorative Hydrating Cream as the post-treatment finish
- Daily Balance Moisturizer to keep results going once skin has healed
Spa and relaxation focus
- Rose Hydrating Cream and Lavender Face & Body Lotion for a sensory finish
- Phyto Nourish Face Oil for facial massage
- Body Smoothing Serum if you offer body treatments
Back Bar vs. Retail: Buy Smart
- For your back bar, buy the large sizes to lower your cost per application. Light Moisture Cream, Daily Balance, Rose Hydrating Cream, Lavender Lotion, Restorative Hydrating Cream and Vitamin Daily all come in 16 oz, and Vitamin Daily also comes in a half-gallon.
- For retail, stock the small sizes (4 oz, 2 oz, 50 ml) so clients can take home exactly what you used in their facial.
- Use it, then sell it. Clients buy the moisturizer they felt at the end of their facial. Name it as you apply it: “I’m finishing with our Rose Hydrating Cream. It’s what I’d use at home for your dryness this winter.”
Not Sure Where to Start? Try Them First
The Sample Moisturizers set is $11.99. It includes ¼ oz jars of six moisturizers: Vitamin Daily, Daily Balance, Light Moisture Cream, Rose Hydrating Cream, Retinol PM and Bright Radiance. Test the textures on yourself and your team, then stock the ones that fit your clients.
Want your logo on the jar? Moisturizers are part of our private label program.