DewscopeMoisturizers & Cleansers4 min read
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Review: Still the Best Cheap Barrier Cream
A ceramide tub that costs about a dollar an ounce in the big size and works on face and body. It is thick, jarred and wrong for oily skin in humid weather, but for dry skin nothing cheaper does more.
Our verdict
For dry and normal skin on face or body this is still the best-value barrier cream we know of: three ceramides, glycerin, hyaluronic acid and an occlusive base for roughly a dollar an ounce in the big tub. It is heavy for oily skin, the jar is less hygienic than a pump, and it does nothing fancy.
Best forDry, eczema-prone or normal skin, face and body
What we liked
- Three ceramides plus glycerin, hyaluronic acid and petrolatum
- Fragrance-free and carries the National Eczema Association seal
- Cheap per ounce, especially in the 19 oz tub
- One cream for face and body, day or night
What held it back
- Too heavy for oily skin, especially in warm, humid weather
- Jar packaging means fingers in the product, unlike a pump
- Absorbs slowly and can feel sealed rather than silky
- Contains preservatives that a few reactive users report disliking
Most moisturizers are a promise wrapped in a price. This one is a short ingredient list in a tub, and it has barely changed since 2005. If your skin is dry, tight or flaky, and you want one cream for your face and your elbows, CeraVe Moisturizing Cream is the cheapest thing we would point you to. If your skin runs oily, put the jar back.
We did not run a laboratory trial. What follows combines CeraVe's own formula and claims, an independent ingredient analysis from DermFND, and the complaints that keep appearing in user reviews, weighed against what the formula should do.
What is in the jar
The brand page lists three ceramides (NP, AP and EOP), hyaluronic acid, petrolatum and dimethicone. The ingredient list opens with water, glycerin, cetearyl alcohol, caprylic/capric triglyceride and cetyl alcohol. In plain terms: humectants to pull in water, fatty alcohols and triglycerides for body, and petrolatum and dimethicone to keep the water from leaving.
That combination is old-fashioned in the best way. Ceramides are lipids the skin barrier already contains, and replacing some of them makes sense for skin that has been stripped by hot showers, harsh cleansers or winter air. The patented MVE delivery system is meant to release ingredients slowly over time. CeraVe says 24 hours. We cannot verify that number, and the reviews we read do not hinge on it.
