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Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are American skincare brands known for expertly formulated moisturizers, serums, toners, eye products, cleansers, and more. Kiehl's incorporates nourishing glycerin and squalane to suit combination skin and mature skin best, while Estée Lauder relies on hydrating hyaluronic acid and glycerin to suit acne-prone skin and mature skin best. Both brands offer standout solutions for acne-prone skin, skin with dark spots, and mature skin. They differ in their founding years, parent companies, specific key ingredients, and targeted effects like counteracting oxidative stress or lengthening the effect of botulinum toxin.

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

loreal.comen.wikipedia.org

Estée Lauder is an American skincare brand founded in 1946 and owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc..

en.wikipedia.orgelcompanies.com

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

Popular Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder products

People Say

Kiehl'sEstée Lauder
  • Deep hydration and moisturization Often MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “skin drinks it up immediately — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “The formula is incredibly hydrating and leaves my skin feeling smooth. — Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv”
    • “texture is dreamy — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme”
    • “Keeps skin moisturized for 24+ hours — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Lightweight and non-greasy texture Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “feels like nothing — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “works on dark skin — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “absorbs instantly without residue — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream”
    • “Absorbs quickly into the skin — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+”
  • Gentle on skin and sensitive formulas Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “experienced zero irritation — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “fragrance-free — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “doesn't strip the skin — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée”
    • “Doesn't strip my skin — Estée Lauder Soft Clean Moisture Rich Foaming Cleanser”
  • Skin barrier and texture improvement Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “leaves skin feeling silky — Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate”
    • “skin feels smoother — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “skin feels like a baby's bottom — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “silky smooth — Estée Lauder Micro Essence Treatment Lotion”
  • Brightening and dark spot fading Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “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”
    • “gives me that glass skin look — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
  • Makeup compatibility and primer benefits Sometimes 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”
    • “doesn't pill — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme”
  • High price point and expensive value Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “pricy daily staple — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Very expensive product — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “way too expensive for the size — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “too pricey — Estée Lauder Micro Essence Treatment Lotion”
  • Packaging and application challenges Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “dipping fingers is unsanitary — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “hard to spread — Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado”
    • “Dropper doesn't reach bottom — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “lid is hard to open — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée”
  • Unpleasant scent or fragrance complaints Rarely NotedSometimes 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”
    • “Scent is too overpowering — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+”
  • Ineffective formula or slow results Rarely NotedSometimes Noted
    • “Did absolutely nothing — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “Takes months to see — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “results were subtle — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “didn't notice any difference — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 95% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Kiehl's does better on this page for deep hydration and moisturization, as well as brightening and dark spot fading. Lovi rates Kiehl's as High for dry skin routines, compared to Average for Estée Lauder.

What is the difference between Kiehl's and Estée Lauder?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer quality skincare, but Kiehl's is better suited for deep hydration and brightening dark spots, while Estée Lauder stands out for deep moisturization and acne-prone skin care. For routine fit, Kiehl's achieves a High rating for dry skin and dry sensitive skin, whereas Estée Lauder achieves an Average rating for those skin types.

Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2015Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

Kiehl's is better for dry skin, as Lovi rates its routine fit as High compared to Estée Lauder's Average. Furthermore, the products on this page for Kiehl's include top-tier options like Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate which achieves a Superior fit for dry skin.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which cleanser is better?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer effective cleansers, with Kiehl's featuring formulas like the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash that achieves a Superior Lovi fit for oily and oily acne-prone skin. Estée Lauder also provides gentle options, such as the Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée, which helps deliver a High fit for acne-prone skin.

Which is more affordable, Kiehl's or Estée Lauder?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder share a high price point among the products on this page, making them equal in terms of affordability.

Which brand has more fragrance-free products, Kiehl's or Estée Lauder?

Kiehl's has more fragrance-free products on the products on this page, with 26 out of 28 options listing no fragrance compared to Estée Lauder's 12 out of 14.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better for fading dark spots?

Kiehl's is better for fading dark spots, as the products on this page achieve a high routine fit for skin with dark spots while Estée Lauder achieves an average fit.

Which brand performs better for mature skin routines?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder perform equally well for mature skin routines, as Lovi rates the routine fit for both brands as High.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

For oily skin, Lovi finds that Kiehl's has a high routine fit while Estée Lauder has an average routine fit. The products on this page from Kiehl's are frequently noted for offering lightweight and non-greasy textures.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which moisturizer is better?

Kiehl's does better on this page for lightweight and non-greasy moisturizer textures, while Estée Lauder stands out for deep hydration and moisturization. Lovi rates Kiehl's routine fit for dry skin as High and Estée Lauder's as Average.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are a High fit for sensitive skin on the products on this page. Reviewers note that both brands offer gentle and non-drying formulas.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which sunscreen is better?

For sunscreen options on this page, Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum has a High Lovi fit for skin with dark spots, combination, sensitive, acne-prone, and mature skin, while Estée Lauder DayWear Moisturizer achieves a Superior Lovi fit for dry sensitive, dry, sensitive, and mature skin.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for acne-prone skin?

For acne-prone skin, Estée Lauder is a better fit because Lovi rates its routine as High, compared to Kiehl's Average rating. The products on this page from Estée Lauder also focus on providing gentle and non-drying cleansers.

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

How does it fit your skin?

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