Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed a lot of moisturizers, and she likes most of them. She has looked at more than 50. She approved the large majority, gave a few a mixed take, and skipped only a handful. That works out to an approval rate of 84%, near the top of her record. She also named several category winners, so there are clear favorites in the mix.
What does Dr. Shereene Idriss recommend in moisturizers?
The thread running through her approving takes is barrier repair. She keeps coming back to ingredients like ceramides, squalane, shea butter, and colloidal oatmeal. In her view, these actually fix a damaged or dry skin barrier rather than just sitting on top of it. She praised the Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer for its colloidal oatmeal and zinc PCA, saying the combination soothes redness, balances oil, and helps with eczema flare-ups. She was just as warm about the La Roche-Posay Lipikar Urea 10% Roughness Smoothing Lotion, pointing to its lightweight feel and shea butter content, and noting it absorbs fast and leaves skin smooth. Richer, ointment-like textures got a thumbs-up too. She described the Jordan Samuel Skin Moisture Recovery Cream as buttercreamy and thick enough to act like a strong barrier, and said she would use it the way she uses Vaseline.
Dr. Shereene Idriss's moisturizer picks, in her words
"Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. I would not be scared of it at all. It has some niacinamide in here as well so just make sure that you don't really overdo it with the niacinamide in another step of your skincare routine if you're going to use this on your face."
"I also love the Aveeno Eczema Therapy. This was and is a staple in my household, especially when I had babies. It is a thick and rich luscious ointment. It retails for approximately 14 to 15 dollars. It's fragrance free. It also has prebiotic oat concentrates, aloe, and pro vitamin B5."
"For very superficial scars, the best thing you could do to help yourself is biafine, which helps with wound healing and allows your wound to heal faster."
"The Stratia Liquid Gold B5 is rich in panthenol and [...] vitamin B5, which helps to protect your barrier. It also has zinc, which is a great calming and soothing ingredient, especially if you have any irritations. I love this for your face."
"It is lightweight, there is no scent, [...] it gets absorbed very easily, and so somebody like myself who has no time after the shower to wait for their product to get absorbed, [...] I like this one because it gets absorbed very easily and it feels very very smooth and slippery. The reason I like this is that it's loaded [...] with shea butter which is extracted from the nuts of the shea tree, a plant native to West Africa."
"But at 10% it is also going to pull in water and act like a humectant. So it's the perfect blend of hydrating and softening and smoothing your skin in one. This hydrating moisturizer is beautiful. I absolutely love it. It hydrates my skin. It leaves me feeling supple and soft and it does have a fast dry down. I like fragrance, and it is something that I love to use because it makes me feel better. Part of skincare is to [...] feel like you got away, and this product does that for me."
How many moisturizers has Dr. Shereene Idriss reviewed?
Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed 57 moisturizers, for an approval rate of 84%. 48 approved, 7 mixed, and 2 skipped.
What has Dr. Shereene Idriss skipped in moisturizers?
One of her few skips was the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream, and her reason was specific. She said the formula uses zinc gluconate rather than zinc oxide, which means it does not do what a true face-basting or barrier-repair cream needs to do. She noted that people with acne-prone dry skin might find it worth a look for that reason, but that anyone trying to repair a seriously inflamed barrier could do better. That is a narrow objection rather than a broad dismissal, but it is a real one.
"I love this brand, I love La Mer. It is a very aspirational brand and they actually have a beautiful moisturizer that's very expensive, but their eye cream has no active ingredient that is necessarily proprietary to anything and therefore you're just spending $300 on a really rich moisturizer. You really want to use eye creams with a purpose."
"Drunk Elephant has just come up with their Bora Barrier Repair Cream, and I saw on social that they were duping this and comparing this to a diaper rash cream, but it is not comparable because it is zinc gluconate in this particular product, not zinc oxide. It is a nice barrier cream with squalane, ceramides, and other ingredients. But it's not exactly what I'm referring to when I talk about face basting because of the zinc, the lack of zinc oxide in it."
What should you take from Dr. Shereene Idriss's picks?
Dr. Shereene Idriss is a generous reviewer of moisturizers, and her stamp of approval covers a wide range of textures and price points. Read across her takes, her real priority is whether a moisturizer actually repairs the skin barrier. Her category winners include the Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing Cream, which she called a staple in her household and praised for being fragrance-free, thick, and rich. Anyone with dry or sensitive skin, or dealing with eczema, will find her record especially useful.
Watch Dr. Shereene Idriss say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Kiehl's Ultra Facial CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 12:17
- Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 3:47
- Eucerin UreaRepair Plus 10% Urea LotionNamed a winnerWatch at 10:16
- Ambi Skincare Fade Cream with HydroquinoneNamed a winnerWatch at 11:46
- Aveeno Calm + Restore Skin Therapy BalmNamed a winnerWatch at 10:55
- Biafine Topical EmulsionNamed a winnerWatch at 5:28
- Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Gel-CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 9:34
- La Mer Eye Concentrate CreamSkipped itWatch at 6:19
- Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:43
- Stratia Liquid Gold Barrier CreamRated itWatch at 12:31
- La Roche-Posay Lipikar Lotion with UreaRated itWatch at 8:17
- Jordan Samuel Skin Moisture Recovery CreamRated itWatch at 10:23
- Cetaphil Moisturizing CreamRated itWatch at 9:09
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 CreamRated itWatch at 9:30
- Purito Deep Sea Pure Water CreamRated itWatch at 14:55
- The INKEY List Peptide MoisturizerRated itWatch at 9:27
- Dr Sam's Flawless MoisturizerRated itWatch at 15:25
- Purito Dermide Relief Barrier MoisturizerRated itWatch at 3:35
- Isntree Onion New Pair Gel CreamRated itWatch at 8:02
- BeautyStat Universal Peptide Wrinkle Relaxing MoisturizerRated itWatch at 10:04
- Jordan Samuel Skin Performance CreamRated itWatch at 3:12
- Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face CreamRated itWatch at 10:32
- Soolantra Ivermectin Cream 1%Rated itWatch at 18:17
- Jordan Samuel Skin Antioxidant Treatment EmulsionRated itWatch at 6:31
About this expert
See everything Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed
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This guide reflects what Dr. Shereene Idriss said across her videos about 57 products in moisturizers, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.