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Beauty of Joseon vs Kiehl's

Rated by Lovi · Unbiased, science-based skincare AI trained on real user outcomes · How the Fit score works

Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's are two celebrated skincare lines, with the Korean brand founded in 2016 and the American one tracing back to 1851. Beauty of Joseon is loved for thoughtful serums, masks, moisturizers, and sunscreens featuring niacinamide, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid, suiting dry and sensitive skin best. Conversely, Kiehl's is beloved for dependable moisturizers, serums, toners, and eye products incorporating nourishing glycerin and squalane, serving mature skin and skin with dark spots best. While both rely on glycerin to increase hydration and barrier function, the former emphasizes gentle daily care with ingredients like centella and rice, whereas the latter utilizes squalane to counteract oxidative stress.

Beauty of Joseon is a Korean skincare brand founded in 2016 and owned by Goodai Global Inc. since 2019.

kbeautywiki.combeautymatter.comprnewswire.comgoodai-global.com

Kiehl's is an American skincare brand founded in 1851 and owned by L'Oréal S.A. since 2000.

loreal.comen.wikipedia.org

This page compares some of the most popular Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular Beauty of Joseon vs Kiehl's products

People Say

Beauty of JoseonKiehl's
  • Unique or Pleasant Texture and Absorption Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “feels like a light moisturizer — Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics”
    • “sinks in instantly — Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water”
    • “feels like nothing — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “Absorbs quickly — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Deep Hydration and Moisture Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “Saved my dry winter skin — Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream”
    • “doesn't dry my skin like other cleansers — Beauty of Joseon Radiance Cleansing Balm”
    • “Keeps skin moisturized for 24+ hours — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Feels like a drink of water — Kiehl's Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate”
  • Gentle and Non-Irritating Formulation Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “no irritation at all — Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum”
    • “cleansed my face gently without making my skin feel irritated — Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser”
    • “doesn't irritate my sensitive skin — Beauty of Joseon Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel”
    • “experienced zero irritation — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
  • Radiant Skin and Glow Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “gives a glass skin look — Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum”
    • “Gives me that chok-chok dewy look — Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream”
    • “woke up glowing — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “Skin looks radiant — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
  • Gentle Exfoliation and Texture Smoothing Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “leaves skin feeling silky — Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate”
    • “skin feels smoother — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “skin looked & felt smoother — Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Cream”
    • “skin feels baby soft — Beauty of Joseon Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel”
  • Pore and Oil Control Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “less shiny by noon — Beauty of Joseon Red Bean Water Gel”
    • “pores look cleaner — Beauty of Joseon Red Bean Refreshing Pore Mask”
    • “pores look smaller — Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum”
    • “keeps my oils at bay — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”
  • High Price Point Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “pricy daily staple — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Causes Breakouts and Acne Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “caused cystic acne — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “cystic acne for some — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “dealing with cystic acne — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “Broke me out in cystic acne — Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream”
  • Scent and Fragrance Issues Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “smells clinical — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “faint lab smell — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “smell is overpowering — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “smells like cooking oil — Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Cleansing Oil”

Beauty of Joseon vs Kiehl's routines for dry skin

Buy Beauty of Joseon routine · $128.39 · 87% fitBuy Kiehl's routine · $382.00 · 82% fitSee multi-brand routine · 99% fit

Beauty of Joseon vs Kiehl's routines for oily skin

Buy Beauty of Joseon routine · $210.39 · 80% fitBuy Kiehl's routine · $343.42 · 80% fitSee multi-brand routine · 98% fit

Beauty of Joseon vs Kiehl's routines for combination skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · $339.90 · 83% fitBuy Beauty of Joseon routine · $209.39 · 81% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Questions and answers

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's: which is better?

Beauty of Joseon is better for gentle, non-irritating formulas and acne-prone skin, while Kiehl's is better for mature skin and gentle exfoliation. Both brands offer equal routine fits for dry, oily, combination, sensitive, dark-spot, dry-sensitive, and oily-acne-prone skin types.

What is the difference between Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's?

Beauty of Joseon is noted for gentle and non-irritating formulas and pore and oil control, whereas Kiehl's is noted for gentle exfoliation and texture smoothing. Beauty of Joseon tends to be more affordable, while Kiehl's features a higher price point and a greater number of products mentioning fragrance issues.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for dry skin?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's are a High fit for dry skin on the products on this page. Beauty of Joseon relies on key ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerin to help provide deep hydration and moisturization.

Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's: which cleanser is better?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's offer effective cleansers, but Beauty of Joseon is better for gentle, non-irritating formulas while Kiehl's is better for gentle exfoliation and texture smoothing.

Which is more affordable, Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's?

Beauty of Joseon is more affordable, as high price points are frequently noted by reviewers for Kiehl's but not for Beauty of Joseon.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for oily skin?

Both brands offer a High routine fit for oily skin. Reviewers note that Beauty of Joseon helps with pore and oil control, while Kiehl's provides lightweight, non-greasy moisturizers.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's: which moisturizer is better?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's offer moisturizers that help provide deep hydration. For dry skin, the products on this page provide an equal fit level for both brands.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for sensitive skin?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's have a High routine fit for sensitive skin on this page, but Beauty of Joseon does better for gentle and non-irritating formulation.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's: which sunscreen is better?

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics helps deliver high fit levels across dry, sensitive, oily, and combination skin on this page, while Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum fits mature skin, combination skin, and skin with dark spots at a High level.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for acne-prone skin?

Beauty of Joseon is a better fit for acne-prone skin, achieving a High fit level compared to Kiehl's Average level.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for mature skin?

Kiehl's is a better fit for mature skin, achieving a High routine fit level compared to Beauty of Joseon's Average level. Retinol helps stimulate collagen accumulation in naturally aged human skin.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2000

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for skin with dark spots?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's are a High fit for skin with dark spots. Reviewers sometimes note brightening and fading dark spots as a benefit for both brands.

Beauty of Joseon or Kiehl's for dry sensitive skin?

Both Beauty of Joseon and Kiehl's achieve a High Lovi fit for dry sensitive skin. Reviewers note that Beauty of Joseon provides particularly gentle, non-irritating formulas with zero fragrance across the products on this page.

Research behind their key ingredients

Behind this comparison

Lovi compares products by their fit scores, calculated 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.

  • Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Co-founder, Medical Director

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer

  • Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Co-founder, CEO and CTO

    PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex

  • Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Medical Board

    Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine

  • Aishani Shah, MD

    Aishani Shah, MD

    Medical Board

    Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD

  • Asya Zubkova, MS

    Asya Zubkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member

  • Hanna Kurets, MD

    Hanna Kurets, MD

    Medical Board, Medical Advisor

    Dermatology MD

  • Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Medical Board

    Dermatology and diagnostic consultant

  • Victoria Derkova, MS

    Victoria Derkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist

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