CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Review

Who it is for

It is the best overall pick in our dry-skin guide and the best face moisturizer for dry skin in our face moisturizer guide. Here is who it suits:

The version we reviewed

Several reviews that rank for this cream still print its list from before 2019, with parabens and old ceramide names. This one covers the cream sold in the US today, and every ingredient fact below comes from its current US list.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream ingredients: the full list, mapped

The full list, in CeraVe’s order: Aqua / Water / Eau, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Petrolatum, Potassium Phosphate, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Carbomer, Dimethicone, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cholesterol, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Dipotassium Phosphate, Tocopherol, Phytosphingosine, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin.

CeraVe names its three ceramides, hyaluronic acid, petrolatum and dimethicone as the main ingredients (CeraVe). Below, each ingredient in the order it is printed, colored by what it does. New to reading a list? Start with our guide to reading an ingredients list.

Petrolatum and dimethicone: what holds the water in

Glycerin, 2nd on the list, and sodium hyaluronate, 16th, draw water into the skin. Petrolatum, 7th, and dimethicone, 13th, slow its loss. The AAD names all four among the ingredients to look for in a moisturizer for dry skin. In mice with a damaged barrier, plain petrolatum improved barrier function faster than the skin’s own lipids applied in a solvent (Man, 1995).

Three ceramides and cholesterol, but no free fatty acid on the list

Ceramides NP, AP and EOP sit 9th to 11th, cholesterol 17th and phytosphingosine, a building block of ceramides, 22nd. In the barrier-repair studies behind this idea, done mostly on mice, a single lipid or a pair delayed recovery, while a complete mix of ceramide, cholesterol and fatty acid allowed normal recovery (Man, 1993; Man, 1996). This list names no free fatty acid. The 1996 study found triglycerides could stand in for fatty acids, and caprylic/capric triglyceride is 4th here; the authors of a L’Oréal-funded study suggest skin bacteria can free fatty acids from such triglycerides (Danby, 2022). No study we found tested the finished cream against that idea, and the label cannot show the ratio of its lipids.

The alcohols are fatty alcohols

Cetearyl alcohol, 3rd, and cetyl alcohol, 5th, are waxy fatty alcohols that thicken the cream and soften skin. They are not the drying kind: on a US label, “alcohol” on its own means ethanol (FDA), and this list has none. Some Reddit comments say the cream contains alcohol that burns, or niacinamide; the US list has neither.

MVE: a patent, not a trial

CeraVe says its MVE technology releases the ingredients continuously, and its FAQ says CeraVe products with MVE keep working for up to 24 hours. The patent it prints, US 6,709,663, was filed in 2001 by Healthpoint and describes a “multivesicular” oil-in-water emulsion built on behentrimonium methosulfate, 14th on this list. Its tests were of an antifungal cream and the plain base, not this cream, and Google Patents lists it as expired (US 6,709,663). The closest test of the claim is a L’Oréal-funded study in which one application kept a meaningful rise in skin hydration for 24 hours, which three other creams did not (Danby, 2020). CeraVe’s US product page itself says only “long-lasting hydration”, while Amazon’s listing says 24 hours and some of its images 48.

Is CeraVe Moisturizing Cream good for your face?

For dry or normal skin, yes. CeraVe says it “can be applied anywhere to the skin on your face and body”, day or night, and prints “Non-Comedogenic” on the tub (CeraVe, the tub). It is Wirecutter’s pick for dry skin, which it describes as a “cake-frosting-like cream” with “virtually no aroma”; its testers found it sat well under foundation (Wirecutter). Three things to know before it goes on your face:

• It is rich. CeraVe makes it for normal to dry skin and, for oily skin, suggests its Daily Moisturizing Lotion (CeraVe). Start with a thin layer.
• “Non-comedogenic” is the brand’s word. We found no FDA definition of it, and the FDA has no list of approved cosmetic claims (FDA); we found no published pore-clogging test of this cream either. A 2024 review calls the idea that petrolatum causes acne a misconception (Kamrani, 2024). Still, breakouts are the complaint we saw most on Reddit.
• It can pill. Nine Reddit comments we read say it pills or balls up, some over serums or under makeup (example: 2023 thread). If it does, try a thinner layer.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream vs Daily Moisturizing Lotion

The two are close relatives. The lotion lists the cream’s ingredients except petrolatum, plus two emulsifiers: 23 of the cream’s 24 ingredients are in both. The two lists print them in a different order, and a place on one list cannot be compared with a place on the other:

Moisturizing Cream and Daily Moisturizing Lotion, label against label

Label fact	CeraVe Moisturizing Cream	CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
What CeraVe says it is for	Normal to dry skin, face and body, ages 3 and up	Normal to dry skin, face and body; the one CeraVe suggests for oily skin
In CeraVe’s words	“Rich, non-greasy”	“Lightweight, oil-free”
Ingredients	24	25
Petrolatum	Listed, 7th of 24	Not listed
Only in this one	Petrolatum	Polysorbate 20, Polyglyceryl-3 diisostearate
Ceramides, cholesterol, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E	All listed (three ceramides)	All listed (three ceramides)
Added fragrance	None listed	None listed
Where to buy	Check price at Amazon: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)	Check price at Amazon: CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion (paid link, opens in a new tab)

Which should you buy? For dry skin, the cream: the AAD says creams and ointments add more moisture than lotions. For oily or combination skin, or a lighter body lotion in summer, the lotion, which is CeraVe’s own suggestion for oily skin. On Reddit, 9 commenters we read preferred the lotion and 3 the cream.

CeraVe vs Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

People often compare these two, and their lists share less than their jars suggest. Cetaphil reformulated its cream in 2021 with niacinamide, panthenol and glycerin (Galderma, 2021), so comparisons from before then describe a different Cetaphil.

CeraVe and Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, label against label

Label fact	CeraVe Moisturizing Cream	Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream
What the brand says it is for	Normal to dry skin, face and body, ages 3 and up	Dry to very dry skin, face or body
Ingredients	24	23
Ceramides and cholesterol	Three ceramides, cholesterol	None listed
Hyaluronic acid	Listed	Not listed
Niacinamide and panthenol	Not listed	Both listed
Plant oils	None listed	Sunflower seed oil, sweet almond oil
Petrolatum on the list	7th of 24	3rd of 23
Added fragrance	None listed	None listed
Where to buy	Check price at Amazon: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)	Check price at Amazon: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)

A place on one list is not an amount, and it cannot be compared with a place on another: petrolatum 3rd of 23 on Cetaphil’s list does not mean Cetaphil has more of it. Both lists are read from the brands’ US sites (CeraVe, Cetaphil). We found no trial that compares the two. In a 2026 Reddit thread that asked, 6 commenters picked CeraVe, 4 Cetaphil and 14 neither, 5 of them for Vanicream (thread).

Which should you buy? If you want ceramides and hyaluronic acid, CeraVe. If you want niacinamide and panthenol, or a cream without ceramides, Cetaphil, our best budget face moisturizer too.

Did CeraVe change the formula? Yes, in 2019

CeraVe’s US page still showed the old list on October 14, 2019 (archived page) and today’s on November 13, 2019 (archived page). A Reddit user had already found the new jar at Target that September (2019 thread). It came under L’Oréal, which bought CeraVe from Valeant in 2017 (Valeant, 2017). What changed, list against list:

• The parabens left. Methylparaben and propylparaben came off; phenoxyethanol, already there, stays, now with ethylhexylglycerin.
• Vitamin E joined, as tocopherol, 21st on the list.
• New names. Ceramide 3, 6-II and 1 are now listed as Ceramide NP, AP and EOP, and the old list’s hyaluronic acid now reads sodium hyaluronate, its salt.
• A new order. Petrolatum now comes before the ceramides; on the old list it came after them, and after hyaluronic acid and cholesterol (2015 list). The order is a fact about the list, not a measure of how much of each there is.

Since then the list has held: the same 24 ingredients in every archived copy of the page that shows the list, through July 2026 (archived page). Some 2026 Reddit posts say the cream changed again, that “now it layers terribly” (thread) or isn’t good anymore (thread); its list has not, though a list cannot show a change of supplier or process. Old pack photos linger online: an Amazon listing for a 1.89 oz two-pack still shows the pre-2019 tube with parabens (Amazon). On a US pack, a list without methylparaben is the post-2019 list; check it against the list above.

Does CeraVe Moisturizing Cream work? What the studies show

• Against a plain cream, paid for by L’Oréal. Each of 34 adults with dry, eczema-prone skin used “CeraVe cream” and a paraffin-based cream on different areas of skin for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks the CeraVe areas held more water, and after a deliberate irritant they lost less water than the paraffin-cream areas (Danby, 2022). In an earlier study by the same team, one application kept a meaningful rise in hydration for 24 hours, which three other creams did not (Danby, 2020).
• Eczema, paid for by CeraVe’s owners then. In 60 people with eczema on a steroid cream, the paper reports 76% of those who added a ceramide cleanser and cream as clear at 4 weeks, against 15% with a bar cleanser; it does not name the brand, and Coria, which owned CeraVe (Valeant, 2008), funded it (Draelos, 2008). In 151 people with eczema using the cleanser and cream for 6 weeks, eczema scores improved, with no comparison group (Valeant funded; Lynde, 2014). Both used the list from before 2019.
• Diabetes-related dry skin. In 528 people who finished an open, single-arm study with CeraVe listed as an industry collaborator on its registry (NCT04724967), 98.3% met its improvement endpoint over 4 weeks (Kirsner, 2023).
• Not paid for by CeraVe, but pooled. A trial whose registry lists no industry sponsor (NCT01291940), run from 2011 to 2014 on the pre-2019 formula, gave people one of four moisturizers, including this one, and pooled the results (Leshem, 2020). In a large NIH-funded trial, daily moisturizer from early infancy cut eczema by age 2; parents chose from five products, among them a CeraVe moisturizer (the registry says cream, the paper says lotion) and CeraVe Healing Ointment, donated by L’Oréal USA, which had no role in the analysis, and the results were pooled (CASCADE, 2025). A trial of this cream against Vaseline in older adults finished in 2026 with no results posted yet; its registry entry quotes the pre-2019 list (NCT06750653).

Bottom line: its list includes four of the ingredients the AAD names for dry skin, and studies paid for by its owners found it hydrates and protects the barrier better than plain creams, but we found no independent trial of this cream alone. Wirecutter notes that CeraVe lists no trials of it on its website.

What the label can’t tell you

• How much ceramide there is. The ceramides sit above the preservative, so they could be over or under 1%; CeraVe does not say.
• Whether a fatty acid the list does not name matters. The triglyceride may stand in for one, as in mice; no study we found tested the finished cream that way.
• What MVE releases, and for how long. The patent tests other formulas, and the 24-hour study measured hydration, not release.
• How it will feel on your skin. We did not test it on skin. What people who used it say is below.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream reviews on Reddit

We read 1,136 Reddit comments about it: every archived comment in 49 threads about this cream, and the r/SkincareAddiction comments that named it from January to early October 2026 (three five-day windows could not be fetched). Several threads were chosen because their titles reported a problem, so the counts show what people raise, not how often it happens. Opinions are not evidence, but they show what to expect:

• Body yes, face split. 18 comments say it works on their face, and 15, from 14 people, say body yes, face no: “No way that’s touching my face! I slather it all over my body every day though” (2026 thread). In that thread, we scored all 74 top-level comments: 21 positive, 30 negative, 17 mixed and 6 with no verdict.
• Breakouts are the top complaint. 50 comments report or suspect breakouts, 5 of them blaming CeraVe products in general, and 13 say it did not break them out; one user wrote that it “fixes all barrier-related problems, and doesn’t break me out” (2026 thread).
• Heavy for some, not enough for others. 39 comments call it heavy, greasy or waxy, or say it sits on top of the skin, and 10 like how it absorbs. And 33 say it does not moisturize them enough or leaves skin tight, 6 of them among the 39.
• Stinging on broken skin. 27 comments report stinging or burning, many on eczema or a damaged barrier (2022 thread), and 8 replies put it down to a damaged barrier, several saying almost any cream stings on broken skin.
• Eczema: more good reports than bad. 23 comments say it helped their eczema and 16 say it did not, 15 of those in r/eczema, mostly from 2020 to 2023 (example: 2023 thread). One r/SkincareAddiction commenter called it “the only moisturizer that has helped my eczema” (2026 thread).
• The pump puzzles people. 9 of the 10 pump complaints we saw are in one 2026 thread asking how to open it (thread); 7 comments worry about fingers in the jar.
• Other creams. 10 commenters prefer Vanicream and 3 prefer CeraVe over it; 9 prefer the CeraVe lotion and 3 the cream.

How to use CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

1. On damp skin, right after washing or a shower. The AAD says to apply moisturizer immediately, while skin is still damp; that traps water in the skin (AAD).
2. On your face, a thin layer, after serums and, in the morning, before sunscreen; our skincare order guide has the full routine.
3. On your body, liberally and as often as needed, as the tub says, day or night, as CeraVe’s page adds.
4. With a retinoid that dries you out, moisturize first: right after washing, then the retinoid 20 to 30 minutes later, as the AAD suggests.
5. Keep it out of your eyes, as the tub says.
6. Clean, dry fingers in the tub, or buy the tube or the pump: the FDA says fingers add bacteria and fungi that preservatives have to control (FDA).
7. If it burns or stings, tell your dermatologist, as the AAD advises, and see one for eczema that keeps flaring (AAD).

Alternatives worth a look

• 

  CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion

  Lighter: the cream’s ingredients except petrolatum, plus two emulsifiers, 25 in all, and the one CeraVe suggests for oily skin.

  Check price at Amazon: CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion (paid link, opens in a new tab)
• 

  Vanicream Moisturizing Cream

  For very sensitive skin: 10 ingredients, no fragrance and no ceramides. Our best for very dry, sensitive skin.

  Check price at Amazon: Vanicream Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)
• 

  Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

  Niacinamide and panthenol instead of ceramides, with petrolatum and dimethicone. See the comparison above.

  Check price at Amazon: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)
• 

  CeraVe Intensive Moisturizing Cream

  For very dry, rough skin: shea butter 3rd and hydroxyethyl urea, a humectant, 4th on its list. Our best for very dry, rough skin.

  Check price at Amazon: CeraVe Intensive Moisturizing Cream (paid link, opens in a new tab)

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