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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 two American skincare brands offering nourishing moisturizers, targeted serums, soothing toners, gentle eye products, and cleansers. Kiehl's relies on glycerin and squalane to suit dry skin and mature skin, while Estée Lauder utilizes hyaluronic acid and glycerin to suit mature skin and oily acne-prone skin. The former addresses moisture loss and barrier resilience through standout products like the Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner, the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash, and the Ultra Facial Toner, whereas the latter addresses aging concerns and excess sebum with solutions such as the Micro Essence Treatment Lotion, the DayWear Moisturizer, and the Futurist Peptide-Power Serum Primer. Ultimately, both brands differ through their distinct formulations, with glycerin in both lines increasing hydration and restoring epidermal barrier function.

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 · S$209.58 · 92% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · S$189.84 · 85% fitSee multi-brand routine · 99% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · S$287.99 · 90% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · S$423.46 · 79% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Kiehl's vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · S$287.99 · 90% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · S$319.36 · 82% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Questions and answers

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Kiehl's and Estée Lauder both offer strong options, but Kiehl's is often preferred for lightweight textures, brightening, and targeted routines, while Estée Lauder excels in deep hydration.

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

Kiehl's provides superior routine fit for dry, oily, combination, sensitive, mature, and oily acne-prone skin on the products on this page compared to Estée Lauder. Kiehl's also performs better for brightening and fading dark spots, while Estée Lauder stands out for deep hydration and moisturization.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

Kiehl's is better for dry skin, as Lovi rates its routine as Superior compared to Estée Lauder's High. Kiehl's also features products like the Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate, which offers a Superior fit for dry skin.

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

Kiehl's cleanser routine fit is Superior for oily skin, whereas Estée Lauder's cleanser routine fit is rated as High.

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

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

Between Kiehl's and Estée Lauder, which brand does better with brightening and fading dark spots?

Kiehl's does better with brightening and fading dark spots. Lovi rates Kiehl's routine fit higher for skin with dark spots, and reviewers note that Kiehl's is better at brightening and fading dark spots.

How do the fragrance options and key ingredients compare across Kiehl's and Estée Lauder products?

Kiehl's features a lower proportion of fragranced products on this page than Estée Lauder, while both brands rely heavily on glycerin as a key ingredient alongside different signature additives. Lovi shows that Kiehl's formulas also incorporate vitamin C, squalane, shea butter, and vitamin E, whereas Estée Lauder centers its key ingredients on hyaluronic acid.

Which brand performs better for routine fit on mature skin and oily acne-prone skin?

Kiehl's performs better for routine fit, as Lovi rates its routine fit for mature skin as Superior compared to Estée Lauder's High, and its routine fit for oily acne-prone skin as Superior compared to Estée Lauder's High.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

For oily skin, Lovi rates Kiehl's as Superior and Estée Lauder as High. Kiehl's features dedicated products like the Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream and Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner that help control excess oil.

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

Kiehl's is better for moisturizers on this page, offering lighter textures and targeted hydration with a superior dry-skin routine fit.

Kiehl's or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Kiehl's has a Superior routine fit for sensitive skin, whereas Estée Lauder has a High routine fit on the products on this page. Kiehl's also features fewer fragranced options across its line, with 26 of 28 products listing no fragrance.

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

For sunscreens on this page, Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum achieves a High Lovi fit for skin with dark spots, combination skin, sensitive skin, acne-prone skin, and mature skin. Estée Lauder DayWear Moisturizer achieves a Superior Lovi fit for dry sensitive skin, dry skin, sensitive skin, and mature skin, alongside a High fit for combination skin, acne-prone skin, skin with dark spots, oily skin, and oily acne-prone skin.

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

For acne-prone skin, Lovi finds that both Kiehl's and Estée Lauder offer High routine fit. Reviewers note that Kiehl's delivers better brightening and dark spot fading, while Estée Lauder provides 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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