Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream for dry skin
6-Butterlipid Complex
Zinc Gluconate
Copper Gluconate
Squalane
Ceramides
High
- HighDry Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- ExcellentSafety
A great choice for dry skin; a few moisturizers fit it even better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with dry skin: flakiness, tightness, dehydration, fine lines, and wrinkles. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers excellent moisturizing treatment for your dry skin due to the presence of Glycerin, Shea Butter, and multiple ceramides, which provide humectant and emollient actions to support barrier repair.
- The formulation also includes Jojoba Seed Oil and fatty acids to further enhance barrier resilience and provide moderate hydration for dry or flaky skin.
- The safety profile is high, with no risks of irritation for your dry skin due to the absence of harsh ingredients and the inclusion of soothing components.
How to apply
- Could be used as part of your AM or PM routine. Start using it 3 times a week and work your way up to daily use.
- Apply your moisturizer after your toner and before your sunscreen in the morning. At night, use it as the final step after your serum.
- Gently press a small amount of the moisturizer into your skin. Avoid rubbing to keep your dry skin happy.
- Apply the moisturizer on slightly damp skin to help lock in extra hydration. This is great for soothing dry and flaky areas .
- Avoid the sensitive eye area and do a patch test before your first use .
People Say
★4.4Overall rating based on 700+ reviewsThis rich cream is highly effective for dry, mature, or compromised skin, providing deep, long-lasting moisture and barrier repair, often noted as a winter savior. Users with oily or acne-prone skin, however, frequently report experiencing congestion and breakouts due to its heavy, occlusive texture.
Highlights
Deep hydration Mostly Mentioned
- “healed dry patches overnight”
- “skin feels quenched all day”
- “saved my skin this winter”
- “no more flaking”
Luxurious texture Often Mentioned
- “buttery and rich”
- “feels like a protective layer”
- “thick but absorbs well”
- “glides on smoothly”
Hygienic packaging Sometimes Noted
- “love the push pump”
- “sanitary and easy”
- “dispenses perfect flower shape”
- “no waste packaging”
Soothing repair Sometimes Noted
- “soothed retinol burn”
- “reduced redness immediately”
- “restored my barrier”
Causes breakouts Sometimes Noted
- “broke me out immediately”
- “caused whiteheads overnight”
- “clogged my pores”
- “too heavy for acne-prone skin”
High price point Sometimes Noted
- “too expensive for the size”
- “pricey for a moisturizer”
- “not worth the money”
- “finished too quickly”
Greasy finish Rarely Noted
- “feels like vaseline”
- “too greasy for day use”
- “sat on top of skin”
- “made me look oily”
Unpleasant scent Rarely Noted
- “smells like old sunscreen”
- “weird chemical scent”
- “unpleasant natural smell”
- “smells like plastic”
Sources: lovi.care, sephora.sg, spacenk.com, ulta.com, drunkelephant.com, reddit.com, and more
Questions and answers
What makes Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream a great fit for dry skin?
This cream is a great fit for your dry skin because it uses glycerin, shea butter, and multiple ceramides to provide deep moisture and support barrier repair. Jojoba seed oil and fatty acids further build up your skin barrier resilience, while soothing components help keep irritation away.
Which ingredients make this cream a good fit for dry skin?
This cream is a great fit for dry skin because it contains glycerin, shea butter, multiple ceramides, jojoba seed oil, and fatty acids. These ingredients help lock in moisture, repair a damaged skin barrier, and keep flaky skin soft and smooth.
What does 6-Butterlipid Complex do for dry skin?
6-Butterlipid Complex helps dry skin by improving skin function and barrier repair, which reduces itch and keeps the skin soft and smooth. Bioactive moisturizers incorporating agents like bioactive lipids and anti-inflammatory ingredients are generally safe and may help reverse oxidative stress to improve overall skin health.
What does Zinc Gluconate do for dry skin?
Zinc gluconate does not directly treat dry skin, as its main role is not to moisturize or smooth flaky areas. To care for dry skin, a product of this type needs nourishing ingredients like ceramides and rich hydrators that lock in moisture.
Where does this cream go in a skincare routine for dry skin?
This cream goes in the morning routine after your hydrating toner and before your sunscreen, and in the evening routine as the final step after your treatment. Daily moisturizing helps significantly improve visual dryness and keep dry skin comfortable.
Can I use this cream with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this moisturizing treatment with retinol by applying it before your retinol in the evening routine. Barrier-enhancing moisturizers like this help reduce irritation and dryness while supporting your skin during retinization.
How often should I use this cream?
You can use this moisturizing treatment twice a day to keep your dry skin soft and well-hydrated. Regular daily application helps improve skin barrier strength and is unlikely to cause irritation.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Health Science Reports, 2021
Can this cream clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for dry skin?
This cream is unlikely to irritate dry skin, but some reviewers do report that it causes breakouts. The formula uses rich ingredients like shea butter and plant oils which may feel heavy or lead to clogged pores for some users.
Can I use this cream around the eyes or on my body?
You can use this moisturizing treatment around the eyes and on the body because its gentle formulation is very safe and unlikely to cause irritation. Its rich blend of glycerin, shea butter, and ceramides helps keep dry or flaky skin feeling soft and smooth anywhere you apply it.
Is this cream fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol, which soften the skin.
What the research says
A single application of a moisturizing fluid containing hyaluronic acid 1%, glycerin 5%, and Centella asiatica stem cells extract significantly increased skin hydration by 29% and reduced transepidermal water loss at 24 hours compared to baseline and an untreated control site in twenty healthy women.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017Application of Body Lotion for 5 weeks on cosmetic dry skin improved barrier properties, increased levels of cholesterol, ceramides, and long-chain fatty acids, increased beneficial skin bacteria, and enhanced microbiome functional potential compared to baseline.
Scientific Reports, 2022A dermocosmetic cream containing Punica granatum Pericarp extract, Salicylic acid, Niacinamide, Zinc gluconate, and Aqua Posae Filiformis significantly decreased inflammatory, non-inflammatory, and total lesion counts in subjects with mild to moderate acne compared to untreated hemi-faces after 15 days.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2026Daily use of a deep cleansing gel containing salicylic acid 2%, zinc gluconate 0.2% and lipohydroxy acid 0.05% significantly reduced total lesion count by 56.3% after 84 days in 35 subjects with mild to moderate truncal acne.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2023Different strains of Propionibacterium acnes modulate cutaneous innate immunity with varying pro-inflammatory potentials, with P. acnes type III showing the highest and P. avidum the weakest, and zinc gluconate down-regulates the expression of most induced immune markers.
Experimental Dermatology, 2013Zinc gluconate induced alpha2, alpha3, alphaV, and alpha6 integrins, copper gluconate induced alpha2, alpha6, and beta1, and manganese gluconate induced most studied integrins in cultured keratinocytes.
The British Journal of Dermatology, 1999Squalane at 0.005-0.015% counteracts UVA-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and collagen metabolism inhibition while stimulating fibroblast migration in human dermal fibroblasts.
Molecules, 2025Plant-derived squalane protected human dermal fibroblasts against UVA-induced damage by counteracting ROS formation, suppressing apoptosis-related proteins p53, caspase-3, caspase-9, and PARP, and restoring the pro-survival p-Akt/mTOR pathway.
Antioxidants, 2025
Ingredients
Water, Glycerin, Propanediol, Ethylhexyl Olivate, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter Shea Butter, C10-18 Triglycerides, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Beta-Sitosterol, Oenothera Biennis Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Oleic Acid, Squalane, Butylene Glycol, Glucosyl Ceramide, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Glycosphingolipids, Rosa Canina Oil Fruit, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Alpha-Glucan, Resveratrol, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Sodium Pca, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Sorbitan Isostearate, Astaxanthin Extract, Quercetin, Astaxanthin, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Ceramide Ap, Ceramide Np, Ceramide Eop, Dextrin, Palmitic Acid, Coco-Glucoside, Sodium Lactate, Stearic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Brassica Campestris Seed Oil, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Xanthan Gum, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol, Polysorbate 60, Carbomer, Ethylhexylglycerin
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
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