🇮🇪Ireland

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 their thoughtful array of moisturizers, serums, and eye products, with the former also offering soothing toners and the latter including cleansers. Kiehl's relies on glycerin and squalane to suit mature skin and combination skin best, while Estée Lauder utilizes hyaluronic acid and glycerin to suit mature skin and sensitive skin best. The brands differ as the first brand specializes in moisture-retention and barrier-supporting properties, whereas the second brand focuses on gentle, nourishing compositions.

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 · 98% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 95% fit

Questions and answers

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Kiehl's is better for lightweight textures, brightening dark spots, and makeup compatibility among the products on this page, while Estée Lauder offers better deep hydration.

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

Kiehl's does better with lightweight textures, brightening dark spots, and makeup compatibility, while Estée Lauder stands out for deep hydration and moisturization. Both brands offer equally gentle sensitive formulas and skin barrier improvements.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

For dry skin, Kiehl's is the better choice because Lovi fit for dry skin is High, while Estée Lauder is Average. The products on this page help deliver deep hydration with key ingredients like glycerin and squalane.

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer cleansers with high effectiveness, though Kiehl's features standout options like the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash and Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser that achieve a Superior fit for oily and acne-prone skin on Lovi.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder face frequent reviewer complaints regarding their high price points. Lovi rates the price value for both brands as equal.

Which brand performs better for mature skin: Kiehl's or Estée Lauder?

For mature skin, Lovi finds that both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder achieve a High fit level across their routines.

How do Kiehl's and Estée Lauder compare when it comes to fading dark spots and brightening?

Kiehl's does better than Estée Lauder at brightening and fading dark spots based on the products on this page. Review themes show Kiehl's is superior in this area, and the brand fits best for skin with dark spots.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002

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 for oily skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder show High routine fit for oily skin. Reviewers often mention lightweight, non-greasy moisturizers from Kiehl's and gentle, non-drying cleansers from Estée Lauder.

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

Kiehl's does better for lightweight and non-greasy texture, while Estée Lauder does better for deep hydration and moisturization. Lovi finds that Kiehl's routine fit for dry skin is High, whereas Estée Lauder's routine fit for dry skin is Average.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are a High fit for sensitive skin on this page. Kiehl's features mostly fragrance-free products and gentle serums.

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

Kiehl's is better for sun protection on this page, as its Better Screen UV Serum achieves a High Lovi fit for mature skin, combination skin, sensitive skin, acne-prone skin, and skin with dark spots. Estée Lauder also offers the DayWear Moisturizer, which achieves a Superior Lovi fit for dry skin, dry sensitive skin, sensitive skin, and mature skin.

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

For acne-prone skin, Estée Lauder is a better choice as Lovi rates its routine fit as High, whereas Kiehl's is rated Average.

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?

Scan your face, then any product: Lovi shows how well it fits you and what fits even better.

QR code: get the Lovi app
Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play