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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 beloved for their comprehensive ranges of moisturizers, serums, eye products, and more. Kiehl's features trusted ingredients like glycerin and squalane, suiting dry skin and skin with dark spots best, whereas Estée Lauder utilizes hyaluronic acid and glycerin, suiting acne-prone skin and mature skin best. Ultimately, both brands differ in their specific ingredient formulations and targeted concerns, while offering effective hydration and barrier support.

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

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,309.98 · 84% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · SAR 2,185.29 · 77% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,172.23 · 80% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · SAR 2,358.15 · 75% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,149.18 · 83% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · SAR 2,335.63 · 77% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Questions and answers

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both achieve a High routine fit for most skin types on the products on this page, but Kiehl's may be preferred for brightening dark spots while Estée Lauder better suits acne-prone skin.

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer high routine fit levels for dry, oily, combination, sensitive, mature, dry sensitive, and oily acne-prone skin, but Kiehl's provides a High fit for skin with dark spots while Estée Lauder provides an Average fit. Estée Lauder provides a High fit for acne-prone skin while Kiehl's provides an Average fit.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder offer a High routine fit for dry skin on this page. Kiehl's helps with lightweight, non-greasy moisturizers and deep hydration, while Estée Lauder helps deliver deep hydration as well.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder offer effective cleansers, with Kiehl's providing options that lean toward superior fit levels for oily and acne-prone skin types. For deep hydration and gentle daily cleansing, the products on this page help maintain a balanced skin barrier without stripping moisture.

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

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are noted on this page for having a high price point, so neither brand is more affordable.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for fading dark spots?

Kiehl's is better for fading dark spots as the products on this page provide High fit compared to Estée Lauder's Average fit for that skin type.

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

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

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder offer products on this page that help with oily skin, and Lovi rates the routine fit for oily skin as High for both brands.

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer moisturizers with a High routine fit for dry skin, but Kiehl's is noted for its lightweight and non-greasy texture while Estée Lauder excels in deep hydration.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are well suited for sensitive skin, with Lovi rating both brands as having a High routine fit for this skin type. Kiehl's offers a higher percentage of fragrance-free products on this page, which helps minimize potential irritation for reactive skin.

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

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer sunscreens on this page with High fit levels for various skin types. Estée Lauder's DayWear Moisturizer achieves a Superior fit level for dry skin, dry sensitive skin, sensitive skin, and mature skin.

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

For acne-prone skin, Lovi rates Estée Lauder High and Kiehl's Average.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for mature skin?

Both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder are a High fit for mature skin. Reviewers note that both brands provide deep hydration.

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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