🇩🇪Germany

La Roche-Posay vs Kiehl's

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

La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are heritage skincare houses rooted in clinical science and botanical traditions. The French brand offers targeted serums, nourishing moisturizers, gentle cleansers, and soothing eye products formulated with glycerin, thermal water, and niacinamide, suiting mature and dry skin best. Meanwhile, the American brand provides thoughtful moisturizers, serums, toners, and eye products featuring glycerin and squalane, which suit skin with dark spots and combination skin best. While both brands utilize hydrating glycerin, the former emphasizes thermal water and niacinamide to restore barrier function and soothe irritation, whereas the latter relies on squalane to counteract oxidative stress and stimulate cellular repair.

La Roche-Posay is a French skincare brand founded in 1975 and owned by L'Oréal S.A. since 1989.

laroche-posay.com.aufr.wikipedia.org

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 La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular La Roche-Posay vs Kiehl's products

People Say

La Roche-PosayKiehl's
  • Texture Improvement and Skin Softness Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “skin feels incredibly soft afterwards — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”
    • “feels like nothing — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “absorbs instantly without residue — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream”
    • “lightweight and absorbs quickly — La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum”
  • Skin Sensitivity and Irritation Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “Great retinol for beginners — La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum”
    • “Only cream that doesn't sting — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Eye Cream”
    • “experienced zero irritation — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “works on dark skin — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
  • Hydration and Moisture Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “absorbs instantly — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”
    • “skin feels plump — La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum”
    • “Keeps skin moisturized for 24+ hours — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Feels like a drink of water — Kiehl's Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate”
  • Brightening and Dark Spots Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “Acne marks are gone — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “woke up glowing — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “Skin looks radiant — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “skin looks brighter — La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum”
  • Tint and Makeup Compatibility Rarely NotedSometimes Noted
    • “concealer glides on smoothly — Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado”
    • “no pilling — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “no pilling — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “makeup sits perfectly — La Roche-Posay Anthelios”
  • Value and Pricing Sometimes NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “expensive for the size — La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum”
    • “Too expensive for the size — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Eye Cream”
    • “Tube is tiny for the price — La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5”
    • “pricy daily staple — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Texture and Pilling Issues Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “pills like crazy — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”
    • “Very sticky — La Roche-Posay Pure Vitamin C10 Serum”
    • “hard to spread — Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado”
    • “too radiant for oily skin — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
  • Stinging and Adverse Reactions Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “burns my eyes — La Roche-Posay Anthelios”
    • “burned my face — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”
    • “burned my face immediately — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”
    • “stings my face and feels like burning — Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Cream”
  • Packaging and Design Issues Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “dipping fingers is unsanitary — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Dropper doesn't reach bottom — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “pump stops working — La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream”

La Roche-Posay vs Kiehl's routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 99% fit

La Roche-Posay vs Kiehl's routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

La Roche-Posay vs Kiehl's routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's: which is better?

La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are both great choices, offering an equal fit across most skin types, though La Roche-Posay provides a High fit for acne-prone skin compared to Kiehl's Average fit. Kiehl's does better on texture improvement, brightening, and makeup compatibility, while La Roche-Posay is better for value and pricing.

What is the difference between La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's?

La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's both offer high routine fit for most skin types, but La Roche-Posay achieves High fit for acne-prone skin while Kiehl's reaches Average. Reviewers note that Kiehl's does better with texture improvement and dark spots, whereas La Roche-Posay has the advantage in value and pricing.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's for dry skin?

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are good options for dry skin, offering a High routine fit on this page. La Roche-Posay features products like Pure Vitamin C Cream that help soothe and nourish dry areas, while Kiehl's utilizes items like Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate to provide deep hydration.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's: which cleanser is better?

Both brands offer cleansers that fit oily and combination skin at a High level on this page. La Roche-Posay products on this page are more often fragrance-free, whereas Kiehl's is noted by reviewers for doing better on texture improvement.

Which is more affordable, La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's?

La Roche-Posay is more affordable, as price and value concerns are noted less often for its products on this page than for Kiehl's.

Between La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's, which brand has more products formulated without added fragrance?

La Roche-Posay has more products formulated without added fragrance on this page, with 21 out of 35 products listing no fragrance, compared to Kiehl's which has 26 out of 28 fragrance-free products.

How do La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's compare when it comes to improving skin texture and dark spots?

Kiehl's does better than La Roche-Posay for improving skin texture and dark spots according to the review themes on this page.

Which brand offers a better routine fit specifically for acne-prone skin?

La Roche-Posay offers a better routine fit for acne-prone skin, rated High compared to Kiehl's Average fit level.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's for oily skin?

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's offer products on this page that are a High fit for oily skin. The products on this page help manage oily skin while keeping it hydrated.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's: which moisturizer is better?

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's offer excellent moisturizers with high fit levels for dry, mature, and sensitive skin. Reviewers note that La Roche-Posay moisturizers are lightweight and hydrating while being soothing for sensitive skin, whereas Kiehl's formulas also provide deep hydration with non-greasy textures.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's for sensitive skin?

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are a High fit for sensitive skin. Reviewers note that both brands offer gentle serums, and their routines for sensitive skin achieve equal levels of success.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's: which sunscreen is better?

La Roche-Posay Anthelios achieves a Superior Lovi fit level for skin with dark spots, sensitive skin, combination skin, acne-prone skin, mature skin, and oily skin on this page, whereas Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum reaches a High fit level for most of those categories.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's for acne-prone skin?

La Roche-Posay provides a High routine fit for acne-prone skin, while Kiehl's offers an Average routine fit. Reviewers mention that the products on this page from La Roche-Posay help with gentle and effective serums.

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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