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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 offering nourishing moisturizers, targeted serums, soothing toners, gentle eye products, and cleansers. The first brand relies on glycerin and squalane to suit mature and sensitive skin best, while the second brand uses hyaluronic acid and glycerin to suit mature and acne-prone skin best. Ultimately, both brands differ through their distinct formulations and standout products addressing diverse concerns like dark spots, acne, and aging.

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 · 99% 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 · 95% fit

Questions and answers

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer great products, but Kiehl's is generally better suited for dry, oily, and combination skin as well as dark spots, where Lovi rates its routines as High compared to Estée Lauder's Average. For sensitive, acne-prone, and mature skin, both brands perform equally well with High routine fit levels.

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are both United States skincare brands founded in the mid-twentieth century and owned by major beauty conglomerates, but Kiehl's products on this page achieve a High routine fit for dry, oily, and combination skin while Estée Lauder products reach an Average fit for those skin types.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

For dry skin, Kiehl's is the better choice because Lovi rates its routine fit as High compared to Average for Estée Lauder. Reviewers on the page often mention deep hydration and lightweight, non-greasy moisturizers as key benefits of the products on this page.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder offer highly effective cleansers on this page, but Kiehl's stands out with top-tier cleansers like the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash that achieve a Superior Lovi fit for oily and oily acne-prone skin types. Estée Lauder's cleansers also perform strongly, with the Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée achieving a High Lovi fit for acne-prone skin.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder face frequent reviewer complaints regarding a high price point, meaning neither brand is clearly more affordable on the products on this page.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which brand has more fragrance-free products?

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

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

Kiehl's does better than Estee Lauder for brightening and fading dark spots. Lovi rates Kiehl's routine for skin with dark spots as High, while Estee Lauder's routine fit is Average.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which brand offers better deep hydration?

Estée Lauder offers better deep hydration than Kiehl's according to the reviewer themes on this page.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

For oily skin, Lovi rates Kiehl's as having a high routine fit and Estée Lauder as average. Reviewers note that Kiehl's delivers a lightweight and non-greasy texture.

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

Kiehl's offers better moisturizers on this page, as Lovi rates their routine fit for dry skin as High compared to Estée Lauder's Average. Reviewers also note that Kiehl's provides lightweight and non-greasy texture.

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. Kiehl's features 26 out of 28 fragrance-free products on this page, while Estée Lauder features 12 out of 14 fragrance-free products on this page.

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

Both Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum and Estée Lauder DayWear Moisturizer are great sunscreens on this page, but Lovi rates Estée Lauder as a Superior fit for dry sensitive, dry, sensitive, and mature skin types.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are well suited for acne-prone skin, as Lovi rates the routine fit for both brands as High.

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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