🇫🇷France

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 two esteemed skincare brands originating from France and America, respectively, that offer nourishing serums, rich moisturizers, gentle cleansers, and targeted eye products. La Roche-Posay is known for formulations featuring glycerin, soothing thermal water, and niacinamide, which suit mature skin and skin with dark spots best. Meanwhile, the second brand incorporates glycerin and squalane to suit skin with dark spots and combination skin. While both share a parent company, they differ through their distinct active ingredients and regional heritages, providing tailored care for various skin needs.

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 · 98% fit

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

See multi-brand routine · 97% 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 routine fit for dry, oily, combination, sensitive, mature, dark spot-prone, dry sensitive, and oily acne-prone skin. La Roche-Posay provides a High routine fit for acne-prone skin, whereas Kiehl's achieves an Average fit there. Kiehl's does better on texture improvement, skin softness, brightening, dark spots, tint, and makeup compatibility, while La Roche-Posay excels on value and pricing.

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

La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are both owned by L'Oréal S.A., but La Roche-Posay was founded in France in 1975, whereas Kiehl's originated in the United States in 1851. Both brands offer high routine fit levels across most skin types, though La Roche-Posay achieves a High fit for acne-prone skin compared to Kiehl's Average fit.

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

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's fit dry skin at a High level on this page. Reviewers report that La Roche-Posay provides soothing and sensitive-skin friendly moisturizers, while Kiehl's offers deep hydration across the products on this page.

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

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's offer excellent cleansers, with Lovi fit levels reaching Superior for specific skin types on this page. Kiehl's performs better in texture improvement and brightening, while La Roche-Posay provides better value and pricing.

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

La Roche-Posay does better on value and pricing compared to Kiehl's, while reviewers often mention high price point concerns for both brands.

Between La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's, which brand has more fragrance-free products?

La Roche-Posay features 21 fragrance-free products out of 35 on this page, whereas Kiehl's has 26 fragrance-free products out of 28. This means Kiehl's offers a higher proportion of fragrance-free options among the products on this page.

La Roche-Posay or Kiehl's: which is better for treating dark spots?

Both brands achieve a High routine fit for skin with dark spots, and Kiehl's does better on review themes for brightening and dark spots. For example, Kiehl's offers Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, while La Roche-Posay offers Mela B3 Serum, both featuring key ingredients like Niacinamide that help reduce cutaneous pigmentation.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002

How do the founding years and countries of origin compare between La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's?

La Roche-Posay was founded in France in 1975, while Kiehl's was founded in the United States in 1851.

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

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's achieve a High routine fit for oily skin. Reviewers indicate that La Roche-Posay provides better value and pricing, whereas Kiehl's performs better in texture improvement and skin softness, brightening and dark spots, and tint and makeup compatibility.

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

La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's are both great choices, offering moisturizers that achieve a High routine fit level for dry skin, though La Roche-Posay features more fragrance-free options across the products on this page.

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

Both brands offer High routine fit for sensitive skin, but La Roche-Posay products on this page list no fragrance in over half their formulas while Kiehl's is mostly fragrance-free as well. Niacinamide helps reduce cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002

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

Both La Roche-Posay and Kiehl's sunscreen products on this page provide a High fit for dry and dry sensitive skin types. Additionally, La Roche-Posay sunscreen achieves a Superior fit level for skin with dark spots, sensitive skin, combination skin, acne-prone skin, mature skin, and oily skin.

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

La Roche-Posay is a better fit than Kiehl's for acne-prone skin, as Lovi rates the routine fit for acne-prone skin as High for La Roche-Posay and Average for Kiehl's. Key ingredients like niacinamide and retinol are featured in the products on this page to help regulate pigmentation and support skin renewal.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2000

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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