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 questionable additives? Which site sells it for the best price? And how do real users rate and describe its effects?
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.
We'll also document which retailer sells this product for the best price, and feature real customer reviews and ratings.
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in CeraVe’s moisturizing cream are shown above.
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 in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells.
This was an in vitro (test tube) study, which makes the data weaker than a trial with human participants.
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.
It’s one of the best-formulated moisturizers for the price, and contains several research-backed ingredients.
We don’t currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of phenoxyethanol.
Real People Try CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
A popular beauty influencer named Abbey Yung reviewed CeraVe Moisturizing Cream in a video including before-and-after images:
A TikTok user named Andrea claims that CeraVe’s cream caused acne. The description to this video is “Cerave moisturizing cream never again”:
@leoqween_ Cerave moisturizing cream never again #acne #acnescars #skincare #darkspots #skincareroutine ♬ som original - starboy
Where to Get the Best Price
CeraVe’s moisturizing cream is sold at a wide variety of online retailers.
Below is a price breakdown at the time of updating this article.
The prices shown are per-ounce to standardize the price comparison, because this product is sold at a variety of sizes:
CVS: $1.25 (plus shipping, link)
Ulta: $1.25 (plus shipping, link)
Target: $0.97 (plus shipping, link)
Walmart: $0.94 (plus shipping, link)
Amazon: $0.94 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream is currently around 35% cheaper at Amazon than CVS when factoring in shipping fees.
The brand has actually reduced the price of this product across-the-board since our initial publication of this article, which is highly uncommon.
Is CeraVe Hiding Something?
A YouTube video from a popular beauty influencer named Cassandra Bankson shares some interesting info about the CeraVe brand:
Customers Rate CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
At the time of updating this article, CeraVe’s cream has been reviewed over 130,000 times on Amazon, and has an average review rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
A top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Jen H.” gave the product a 5/5 rating:
“The moment I put it on it soothed my itchy skin & there was an immediately noticeable difference in the look & feel of my skin. It is instantly moisturizering without feeling thick or sticky - it's almost like it's a whipped moisturizer, light & fluffy even!...It does still itch occasionally but the difference Cereve has made has been HUGE!! No product is perfect but this is the closest I've found! I absolutely recommend it.”
A top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “LoryB” who gave the product a 1/5 rating:
“Rereading the jar, it says keep it away from eyes. This is disappointing to say the least …AMAZON should know about misleading advertising. It may be “OK” for the rest of the body but I would think twice about putting it on your face...CeraVe makes products for the face but this is NOT one of them…I do not like it Do not recommend it. I have 81 year old skin…it does not feel moisturized, only sticky”
CeraVe Skincare currently has a 92% recommendation rating on Facebook.
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream currently has an average review rating of 4.7 out of 5 on Google.
Our Clean Skincare Picks
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.
It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
Ritual HyaCera is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging."
Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream in our opinion:
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
- Brand recently lowered price
Cons:
- Contains phenoxyethanol
