CeraVe Hydrating Toner: a Guru Score of 81% from 6 experts

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

✓Yay

"The CeraVe Hydrating Toner is designed to hydrate and support the skin barrier rather than strip the skin. It's really lightweight, water-based texture. [...] It layers really easy under the serum and moisturizers, calms, soothes the skin, especially when using retinoids or acne treatments. It really also helps prep the skin for better absorption for your subsequent skincare steps. The key ingredients are the ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide."

The Budget Dermatologist

724k subs

✓Yay

"I love this one from CeraVe. A Hydrating Toner can be helpful if you wear heavy makeup or if you want to even just skip your morning cleanse and just use a toner instead to freshen your skin and prep it to absorb your skincare actives."

Kelly Driscoll

91k subs

✓Yay

"I have loved this and used multiple bottles of this in the past. [...] This is like a no bells and whistles kind of toner. A big reason why I do like it is just that convenience of being able to buy it locally, you know, just go to the store and get it. So convenient, pretty affordable. It's a really good American drugstore Hydrating Toner. And that is not something that you come across that often."

All 4 takes from Kelly Driscoll

Hydrating Toners From the Drugstore! | e.l.f., Thayers, Peach Slices, Cerave

"I'm majorly impressed. This feels amazing on the skin. It's replenishing, it's breathable, it's light. It will work for any skin type. It's got all those great barrier building ingredients in it. I am in love. And you know it's a good deal too. You can regularly get this toner for about ten dollars, maybe twelve, but it gives you about 200 milliliters of product, which I think is an extremely fair price, a good amount of product, amazing ingredients, amazing hydration."

My Top 5 Hydrating Toners | 2025 Edition

"I was wrong. This is a really great solid Hydrating Toner. Part of the reason why it made a top five for me personally is because it is so available for me. I can just go down to my drugstore and just buy it, whereas with a lot of other products we are importing them and ordering from overseas and waiting a while for it to come to us. I think it's a solidly Hydrating Toner, but it's also just there, you know what I mean, and it's available and it's convenient for me personally."

My 2025 Skincare Wins and Lessons | Chatty Skincare Routine

"So, this is the CeraVe Hydrating Toner, and it feels so good right after washing my face."

That Was a Mixed Bag of Skincare Empties!

"I have loved this and used multiple bottles of this in the past. [...] This is like a no bells and whistles kind of toner. A big reason why I do like it is just that convenience of being able to buy it locally, you know, just go to the store and get it. So convenient, pretty affordable. It's a really good American drugstore Hydrating Toner. And that is not something that you come across that often."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Yay

"The CeraVe Hydrating Toner, I liked that so much more than I thought I would. It's rare to see ceramide ingredients in a toning step, but it was a wonderful product. I'm still not going to repurchase it because there are other products I want to try."

Dr. Vanita Rattan

1.23M subs

✓Yay

"I like CeraVe once very good, it's got glycerin plus ceramides in it. You want to look for ceramides and you want to look for humectants."

Beyond50Skin

32k subs

✓Yay

"This is definitely an absolute fave. It has niacinamide, it has ceramides, it has hyaluronic acid. Super for right after cleansing to kind of pack in some hydration. Tap on a couple layers of this before you move on with your skincare. If you have super hydrated skin, super dehydrated skin, it really helps pack in a punch of moisturizer. I like this a little bit better than the Sukiyaki suada Ura moisturizing lotion for winter months."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Niacinamide

Niacinamide has evidence behind it for redness, uneven tone and supporting the skin barrier, and it is usually well tolerated even by skin that reacts to most things.

Source: DermNet

Ceramides

Ceramides are part of the skin's own barrier, and moisturisers built around them have evidence for holding water in and settling the tightness and flaking that come with a damaged barrier.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is CeraVe Hydrating Toner?

A lightweight, water-based hydrating toner from CeraVe, designed to add moisture and support the skin barrier as a step after cleansing.

Is CeraVe Hydrating Toner worth it?

Yes. All 6 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 81%.

What is CeraVe Hydrating Toner's Guru Score?

CeraVe Hydrating Toner holds a Guru Score of 81%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 6 expert reviewers we have collected.