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Neutrogena vs Kiehl's

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

Neutrogena and Kiehl's are American skincare brands known for thoughtfully formulated moisturizers, sunscreens, cleansers, toners, serums, and eye products. The first brand features glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and dimethicone, while the second relies on glycerin and squalane. Both brands suit skin with dark spots, though the first also serves mature skin best and the second favors dry skin. They differ primarily in their ownership, founding years, and active ingredients, with the first utilizing hyaluronic acid and dimethicone for wrinkle reduction and barrier protection, and the second employing squalane to counteract oxidative stress.

Neutrogena is an American skincare brand founded in 1930 and owned by Kimberly-Clark Corporation since 2026.

investor.kimberly-clark.comen.wikipedia.orginvestors.kenvue.com

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 Neutrogena and Kiehl's products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular Neutrogena vs Kiehl's products

People Say

NeutrogenaKiehl's
  • Deep and intense hydration Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “Skin looked plumper and radiant — Neutrogena HYDRO BOOST WATER CREAM”
    • “Quenches dry skin instantly — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Hydrogel Mask”
    • “Keeps skin moisturized for 24+ hours — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Feels like a drink of water — Kiehl's Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate”
  • Acne-safe and gentle formulas Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “leaves skin soft and balanced — Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser”
    • “love that it has no scent — Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser”
    • “calms my acne prone skin — Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser”
    • “experienced zero irritation — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
  • Lightweight and non-greasy texture Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “Absorbs instantly without sticky residue — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel”
    • “absorbs instantly — Neutrogena COLLAGEN BANK Moisturizer”
    • “Absorbs into skin without residue. — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hyaluronic Acid Serum”
    • “absorbs instantly without residue — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream”
  • Makeup base and compatibility Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “Foundation glides right over it — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel”
    • “Concealer doesn't cake or get stuck in crevices — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Gel-Cream”
    • “concealer glides on smoothly — Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado”
    • “no pilling — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Skin texture improvement and anti-aging Sometimes NotedOften 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 looked & felt smoother — Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Cream”
    • “Skin is looking smoother — Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream”
  • Radiant glow and brightening Rarely 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”
    • “Gave me a glass-skin glow — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Hydrogel Mask”
  • Price and quantity concerns Sometimes NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “Jar is too small for the price — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel”
    • “Runs out quickly — Neutrogena HYDRO BOOST WATER CREAM”
    • “Tube is tiny for the cost — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Gel-Cream”
    • “pricy daily staple — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Packaging and design issues Often MentionedSometimes 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”
    • “Kept sliding off my face — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Hydrogel Mask”
  • Eye and skin irritation Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “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”
    • “left my face bright red — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”
    • “burns my eyes terribly — Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen”
  • Strong fragrance and scent issues Sometimes NotedRarely 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”
    • “Smell is too overpowering and lingering — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel”

Neutrogena vs Kiehl's routines for dry skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,309.98 · 84% fitBuy Neutrogena routine · SAR 854.76 · 69% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Neutrogena vs Kiehl's routines for oily skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,172.23 · 80% fitBuy Neutrogena routine · SAR 811.22 · 70% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Neutrogena vs Kiehl's routines for combination skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,149.18 · 83% fitBuy Neutrogena routine · SAR 817.79 · 74% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Questions and answers

Neutrogena or Kiehl's: which is better?

Neutrogena is better for acne-prone skin, while Kiehl's is better for dry and sensitive skin. Reviewers note that Neutrogena offers more acne-safe formulas, whereas Kiehl's provides deeper hydration.

What is the difference between Neutrogena and Kiehl's?

Neutrogena tends to be better for acne-safe and lightweight formulas, while Kiehl's often performs better for skin texture improvement, brightening, and overall routine fit across most skin types. Both brands offer deep and intense hydration and similar makeup compatibility.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for dry skin?

Kiehl's fits dry skin better with a High routine level, whereas Neutrogena offers an Average fit for dry skin on this page. Kiehl's provides deeply hydrating moisturizers that help address dryness effectively.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's: which cleanser is better?

Neutrogena is better for acne-safe and gentle cleansers, as the products on this page achieve a Superior fit level for sensitive and acne-prone skin.

Which is more affordable, Neutrogena or Kiehl's?

Neutrogena is more affordable than Kiehl's. Reviewers frequently note high price points for Kiehl's products, while Neutrogena faces price and quantity concerns.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's: which brand has fewer fragrance issues?

Neutrogena has fewer fragrance issues than Kiehl's. Reviewers on the products on this page note strong fragrance and scent issues more often for Kiehl's.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for oily skin?

For oily skin, Kiehl's fits better with a High routine fit compared to Neutrogena's Average routine fit. Kiehl's offers the products on this page such as the Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner, which achieves a Superior fit level for oily skin.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's: which moisturizer is better?

Neutrogena and Kiehl's both offer deeply hydrating moisturizers, but the products on this page show that Kiehl's achieves a High routine fit for dry skin while Neutrogena averages an Average fit. Neutrogena often features fragrance-free options, whereas Kiehl's focuses on advanced anti-aging and texture improvement.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for sensitive skin?

For sensitive skin, Kiehl's fits better with a High routine level, while Neutrogena offers an Average fit. Kiehl's has a higher price point.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's: which sunscreen is better?

Both Neutrogena and Kiehl's offer sunscreens with High or Superior Lovi fit levels for several skin types. For example, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen and Clear Face Liquid Lotion Sunscreen achieve a Superior fit for sensitive and combination skin, while Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum provides a High fit for acne-prone, sensitive, and mature skin.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for acne-prone skin?

Neutrogena is the better choice for acne-prone skin because the products on this page achieve a High Lovi fit level for this skin type compared to Kiehl's Average fit. Reviewers also note that Neutrogena offers more acne-safe and gentle formulas.

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for skin with dark spots?

Both Neutrogena and Kiehl's fit skin with dark spots well, with Lovi giving both brands a High level. Neutrogena offers products like Rapid Tone Repair Correcting Cream, while Kiehl's provides options such as Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, and both brands help address pigmentation concerns with ingredients like Vitamin C and retinol.

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

Neutrogena or Kiehl's for mature skin?

Both Neutrogena and Kiehl's are good options, as Lovi gives each brand a High fit level for mature skin. Neutrogena offers products like Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream that feature retinol, which helps stimulate collagen accumulation in naturally aged human skin.

The 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

How does it fit your skin?

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