Buy Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream if you want a moisturizer that works for nearly everyone, in nearly every climate, without drama. It’s built on squalane and glacial glycoprotein, the texture is neither heavy nor thin, and it has stayed essentially unchanged for decades because it didn’t need changing. CeraVe’s Daily Moisturizing Lotion does a comparable job for roughly a third of that, with ceramides doing the barrier work instead. The splurge, Augustinus Bader’s The Cream, is where the honest conversation about moisturizer pricing gets uncomfortable, because the gap in results is nothing like the gap in price.
The verdict, up front
You want one reliable moisturizer that suits most skin types year-round and never causes problems
You want the same everyday hydration with ceramides, in a far bigger bottle, for a third of the price
You want the most researched-feeling luxury moisturizer available and the experience is part of the point
What Ultra Facial Cream actually is
It’s a moisturizer, in the plainest and most useful sense. Squalane provides the emollient softening, glycerin and urea pull in and hold water, and glacial glycoprotein is the brand’s addition aimed at helping skin cope with cold and dryness. There’s no retinoid, no acid, no vitamin C, and none is claimed, which is refreshing in an aisle where nearly everything insists it is also treating something.
That’s precisely why it has survived decades essentially untouched. A moisturizer’s job is to soften the surface, reduce water loss and leave skin comfortable, and this does all three across an unusually wide range of skin types and climates. In a category obsessed with novelty, the most impressive thing about this product is that it never chased any. Moisturizer is a solved problem, and a formula that acknowledges this is more useful than one reinventing itself every other season.
Does it actually work?
Yes, reliably, which is the entire point of it. Skin feels comfortable, stays comfortable through the day, and the formula suits an unusually broad range of people and conditions, from centrally heated winters to humid summers where richer creams become unwearable. It’s one of the few products where the recommendation really doesn’t need heavy qualification by skin type.
The interesting question is what the price buys against CeraVe. Both moisturize well. CeraVe uses ceramides, which have solid evidence behind them for barrier support, and comes fragrance-free in a bottle several times larger for a third of the price. Kiehl’s has the better texture, the nicer experience, and a formula that feels lighter for the same amount of moisturisation. Those are real differences you notice daily. They are not, on any objective measure, a different level of skincare, and anyone claiming otherwise is selling something. Both will keep your skin comfortable through a winter, which is the entire brief.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Suits almost every skin type and climate. Excellent texture that never feels heavy or greasy. Layers cleanly under sunscreen and makeup. Decades of consistency rather than constant reformulation. Available in three sizes.
Cons
- Contains fragrance. Considerably more expensive per ounce than equally effective drugstore options. No active ingredients, so it corrects nothing. The jar format is less hygienic than a tube. Too rich for some oily skin.
Who it’s for
Buy it if
Buy it if you want one cream that handles most situations, if your skin is normal to dry, or if you’ve reacted badly to more complicated products and want to reset. It also works well as the moisturizing layer over more demanding actives, since there’s nothing in it that will conflict.
Skip it if
Skip it when your skin is very oily or acne-prone and you prefer a gel texture, since this is richer than that skin usually wants. Skip it too when you’re expecting it to do corrective work on lines or pigment, because it isn’t formulated to and doesn’t claim to be. And it does contain fragrance, so if that’s a problem for you, CeraVe’s fragrance-free formula is the more sensible starting point.
How to use it
A pea-sized amount on slightly damp skin, morning and night, after any serums and before sunscreen. Damp skin gives the humectants something to work with and makes the whole thing more effective for no extra effort.
In winter or on very dry skin, apply it over a hydrating serum rather than expecting the cream alone to carry everything, and consider the richer jar version. Under makeup, let it settle for a minute before you move on, since applying foundation into a wet cream is how both end up patchy. It layers cleanly under sunscreen, which is not universally true in this category and is worth more than it sounds, since a moisturizer that makes your SPF pill is a moisturizer that quietly costs you sun protection.
The dupe: CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
CeraVe’s Daily Moisturizing Lotion is the dupe because it runs the same mechanism through a different but equally well-evidenced route: humectants to draw in water, emollients to soften, and ceramides to support the barrier that holds it all in. The job and the outcome are the same.
Where it stops is elegance. The texture is thinner and takes marginally longer to absorb, and it lacks the cushioned feel that makes the Kiehl’s pleasant to apply. It’s a lotion rather than a cream, so in honestly cold weather on dry skin you may want something richer over it. But it’s fragrance-free, it’s backed by ceramide research at least as strong as anything in the Kiehl’s, and the difference per ounce runs close to tenfold. On value it isn’t a contest.
The splurge: Augustinus Bader The Cream
Augustinus Bader’s The Cream earns the splurge slot as the clearest example of what the top of this category in fact offers. It’s built around the brand’s TFC8 complex, aimed at supporting the skin’s own repair processes, and the texture and finish are unmistakably lovely in a way that’s hard to convey until you’ve used it.
For 1.0 fl oz it costs five times the Kiehl’s, and per ounce it runs well over a hundred times the CeraVe. We would be doing you a disservice to suggest the results scale anywhere close to that. What you get is a beautiful product, a considered formula, and a genuine sense of occasion. If that’s what you want and you can comfortably afford it, that’s a legitimate purchase. If you’re hoping it will outperform a good basic moisturizer by five times, it won’t.
FAQ
Is it good for oily skin?
It can be, though many oily-skinned people prefer the gel-cream version of the same formula, which Kiehl’s also makes. The standard cream is richer than a gel but far from heavy, so it comes down to preference. If you’re breaking out along the jaw or forehead after starting it, that’s a signal to try the lighter texture.
What does glacial glycoprotein truly do?
It’s a humectant-type ingredient derived from organisms that survive extreme cold, included to help skin retain moisture in harsh conditions. It’s a reasonable ingredient with a good story. It is not the reason the product works; the squalane, glycerin and urea are doing most of the practical lifting.
Is CeraVe really as good?
On moisturizing and barrier support, essentially yes, and the ceramide evidence is strong. The Kiehl’s has a better texture and feels lighter for the same effect, which matters if it’s the difference between using it daily and not. On results alone, at a third of the price and several times the volume, CeraVe is very hard to argue against indeed.
Is Augustinus Bader worth the money?
Not on measurable outcomes against a good drugstore moisturizer, and it would be dishonest to say otherwise. It’s a demonstrably lovely product with a considered formula and an experience that some people value. Buy it as a luxury you’ll enjoy, which is a real reason, rather than as skincare that outperforms by five times, which it doesn’t.
How we picked
A dupe has to run the same mechanism, so CeraVe qualified on function rather than ingredient matching: humectants, emollients and barrier support delivering the same everyday moisturisation. The splurge had to do something the hero can’t, which here is texture, finish and the repair-focused complex rather than a stronger moisturizing effect. We weighted breadth of suitability above ingredient novelty, because a daily moisturizer’s real test is how many people it works for without incident.
Bottom line
Buy Ultra Facial Cream if you want one dependable moisturizer that works across skin types and seasons and never gives you trouble. Dupe it with CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion, which does the same job with ceramides, no fragrance, and many times the product per dollar. Splurge on Augustinus Bader’s The Cream only if you want the experience and can afford it comfortably, and not because you expect it to work five times harder.
It loses half a point for fragrance in a product otherwise built for sensitive, everyday use. More honest verdicts live in our Buy, Dupe, or Splurge archive, and the rest of our skincare coverage sits in Skin.
