CeraVe’s moisturizing cream is one of the most popular products on the market. The brand describes it as “developed by dermatologists” and “supporting your protective skin barrier.”

But does CeraVe’s moisturizing cream contain research-backed ingredients for moisturizing? Does it have any unhealthy ingredients? And is this product better or worse than other popular moisturizers like Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in CeraVe’s facial moisturizing cream to give our take on whether or not the product is likely to be effective, and whether or not it's healthy.

We'll also compares CeraVe Moisturizing Cream to other popular moisturizing creams from a formulation quality perspective to pick our winners (and losers).

Key takeaways:

• Contains many research-backed active ingredients for moisturizing skin
• Contains a preservative combination we consider unhealthy
• We do not currently recommend CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in CeraVe Moisturizing Cream are shown below:

Petrolatum is a jelly-like substance that’s commonly used in moisturizers.

It’s the same active ingredient as in Vaseline, and it’s been shown in a 2016 clinical trial to provide skin barrier repair and antimicrobial effects.

Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP and Ceramide EOP are all ceramides, and as we documented in our review of CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum, this class of compounds (from which the brand gets its name) are clinically shown to improve skin hydration and repair the skin barrier.

Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most well-studied anti-aging ingredients. A medical review published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules found that this ingredient can significantly increase skin tightness and significantly reduce wrinkles.

Tocopherol, also known as vitamin E, is another effective ingredient. It’s clinically proven to have photoprotective effects, which means it can help protect the skin from the damaging effects of UV exposure.

While there are clearly a number of effective ingredients in CeraVe facial moisturizer cream, there's also one questionable additive ingredient.

Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown to be toxic to human cells in a 2020 clinical trial.

Ethylhexylglycerin is another synthetic preservative that's clinically shown to enhance the toxic effect of phenoxyethanol.

Overall, we consider CeraVe Moisturizing Cream to be well-formulated and likely to be effective for the improvement of skin quality and increase of skin moisture content.

However, we don't currently recommend this product due to the preservative combination described above.

Is CeraVe Hiding Something?

A YouTube video from a popular beauty influencer named Cassandra Bankson shares some interesting info about the CeraVe brand:

CeraVe vs. Popular Moisturizers

Here's how CeraVe Moisturizing Cream compares to other popular moisturizing creams in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

While this cream should effectively moisturize the skin, it contains seven inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy, including synthetic dye Violet 2.

Artificial dyes are clinically shown to be absorbed through the skin, and can harmful effects on health when in the bloodstream.

Winner: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Byoma Moisturizing Rich Cream

Byoma sells a facial moisturizer which is one of the best formulations we've reviewed in the category on Illuminate Health.

This cream contains research-backed active ingredients and is entirely free of unhealthy ingredients.

Winner: Byoma Moisturizing Rich Cream

Tula Moisturizing Cream

Contains a synthetic fragrance ingredient which is clinically shown to be toxic to human cells.

We consider Tula's inactive ingredients to be worse for health than CeraVe's.

Winner: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Our Clean Skincare Pick

MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.

It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.

This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."

This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Contains research-backed moisturizers
• Contains research-backed skin barrier protecters
• Contains research-backed anti-aging compounds
• Highly affordable
• Highly positive online customer reviews
• Reputable brand
  

Cons:

• Contains phenoxyethanol
• Contains ethylhexylglycerin

Conclusion

CeraVe’s moisturizing cream for the face is one of the most effective formulations we’ve come across at its price point.

CeraVe is a leading skincare brand for a reason: they make effective products with research-backed ingredients, and user reviews of this product online are very favorable.

We don’t currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of a synthetic preservative combination, but we do consider it to be superior to most moisturizing creams that we've reviewed to date from an efficacy perspective.

We consider CeraVe Moisturizing Cream to be a healthier moisturizer option than Tula Moisturizing Cream and Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream, but a less healthy option than Byoma Moisturizing Rich Cream.