Is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream worth it?

Mostly yes. 6 of the 8 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.

What is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream's Guru Score?

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 8 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream best for?

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

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Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream.

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Moisturizers

About this product

A rich, occlusive repair cream with ceramides, plant oils, and fatty acids designed to deeply hydrate and support the skin barrier, particularly for dry or sensitive skin.

Full ingredients

Water/Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, Propanediol, Ethylhexyl Olivate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, C10-18 Triglycerides, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Beta-Sitosterol, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Oleic Acid, Squalane, Butylene Glycol, Glucosyl Ceramide, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Glycosphingolipids, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Alpha-Glucan, Resveratrol, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Sodium PCA, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Sorbitan Isostearate, Haematococcus Pluvialis Extract, Quercetin, Astaxanthin, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate

Guru Score

76%

Yay

8 experts · Strong agreement

What the gurus are saying

This cream earns consistent praise for its intensity: gurus describe it as remarkably thick and occlusive, with one noting it feels almost like whipped Vaseline into a moisturizer, and another saying moisture absorption was so substantial that skipping it for a few days left skin feeling like it would flake off. The ceramides, shea butter, plant oils, and zinc gluconate work together for deep hydration and barrier repair, making it especially valued by those with dry, compromised, or irritation-prone skin. One concern: a couple of gurus found the texture so heavy it felt mask-like on the face, so those sensitive to very thick creams may want to patch-test first or thin it out by layering it over another product.

Synthesized from 8 expert reviews · most recent take April 2026

What they liked

Absorbs deeply without feeling oily
Calms redness and soothes irritation
Sits well under sunscreen and makeup

What they flagged

Too thick and masklike for some
May feel heavy layered with rich sunscreen

Best for

Dry skin Sensitive skin

Type

MoisturizersCream

Key actives

Vitamin CCeramidesPeptides Squalane

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

Sephora → Ulta → Amazon → Google →

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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

No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Nay

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream, which I didn't love, but maybe I'll try it again."

All 9 takes from No BS Beauty

Dupes & Affordable Alternatives to Sephora's Most Expensive Best Selling Moisturizers & Face Creams

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream is $69. It's got the shea butter, the jojoba oil, ceramides, palmitic acid, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and it's a good option if you're looking for a richer moisturizer."

Winter Evening Skincare Routine for Very Dry, Sensitive Skin - Fragrance Free Products!

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream feels like putting a mask on to me, and with my dry skin I should like that, but I don't. It is so thick. Other people didn't have that same issue so I don't know, maybe I'm just overdoing it, but I'm going to try and finish it."

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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream, which I didn't love, but maybe I'll try it again."

Drunk Elephant Moisturizer Versus - Comparison and Dupes For Bora Barrier, Protini, and Lala Creams

"The Bora Barrier Cream is probably my least favorite of them. I just found it to be a little bit thick, not enjoyable to use, and I didn't find myself benefiting much from it. However, if you have a damaged skin barrier, irritated skin, flaky skin, things like that, a lot of people really like it for that."

New Moisturizers First Impressions - Biossance Overnight Cream & Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream

"It doesn't really have the slip of the other creamy one, but it's not as thick as a la la cream either. I feel like this is going to be one where a little bit does not go a long way. It doesn't feel greasy or anything though, [...] feels kind of nice, feels fine. [...] I just don't think one pump is going to be enough for an entire face because one pump was enough for about half my face. [...] It feels like sunscreen's going to pill unless you give it a minute to soak in."

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"It feels almost like applying like a wax to your skin or Vaseline. Instantly for me, daytime use of this one is almost out of the question. It's way too thick. It will peel up under sunscreen and things like that. [...] It feels like you're wearing a mask on your skin. [...] It's hard to apply it in your routine if you already are using other products because then those other products start to peel, they start to slide off your skin. [...] I woke up with just pills everywhere of just product."

What is Your Skin Barrier & How to Repair It - New Skin Barrier Repair Products

"I find it to be super thick and I don't find it to be super aesthetically pleasing to use. For ingredients, it's got good oils, evening primrose oil, Haba seed oils, we've got fatty acids, rose hip oil. So it's got some good things in here that will help with your barrier repair, but I just find the texture here, um, I can use it at night but I do find a lot of times when I use it I'm peeling it off. The texture is thick but a little bit goes a long way and it's very spreadable."

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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream, I didn't love it. It felt thick, it felt mask like on my skin. [...] They change something in it because it foams up on me every time I apply it over anything. [...] This stuff felt super thick and just mask like, it felt like I was wearing a thick mask that was meant to rinse off. [...] For me it just was a bummer."

Did My Past Self Get It Right? Revisiting My Old Advice on Skin Barrier Repair Products

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream is on the thicker side, kind of in the middle between the protein and the LA cream. It's fragrance-free, so that's nice, so no further irritation."

Dr. Aleksandra Brown

151k subs

✓Yay

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream is really rich. It's really good for deep hydration and is ideal for really dry, sensitive, or even compromised skin. It helps repair and protect against moisture loss. The key ingredients are ceramides, plant oils, and fatty acids. You could even use this on top of your regular moisturizer almost like a barrier if you needed to."

All 2 takes from Dr. Aleksandra Brown

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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Cream is a deeply nourishing cream specifically designed for chronically dry or mature skin. It delivers 24-hour clinically proven hydration and helps restore compromised skin barrier. It's really ideal if you're experiencing any sort of dryness, redness, loss of elasticity. It's good for all skin types but I find it really good for super, super dry skin. If I'm taking a night off from retinols and exfoliating acids, she's my girl."

Sincerely Miss Ash

195k subs

✓Yay

"I really love the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It has a lot of butters in it."

All 4 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash

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"I really love the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It has a lot of butters in it."

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"This is the thickest out of the three, there's a lot of different oils in here and when you use this and your skin is super dry and tight, this is going to make your skin feel incredible within a couple of minutes. I love those different oils in there, especially when your skin needs that moisture. There's also copper and zinc gluconate which can help with redness, so with a compromised skin barrier with irritation our skin can appear quite rosy, [...] and this will help to calm down rosiness."

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"So I can see this being a lovely cream when your skin needs some TLC. [...] I use a lot of actives on my skin that can cause dryness and irritation so I would love to see how this repairs my skin. [...] Drunk Elephant is pricey but I do feel like their products are worth the money and their formulations are truly on point from my experience with them."

MY MORNING ANTI-AGING SKINCARE ROUTINE - SKINCARE OVER 30 (WINTER/SPRING SKINCARE ROUTINE)

"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier repair cream has a lot of different butters and it's been wonderful for the winter months. Sometimes I will use this in the morning, [...] and surprisingly this sits great underneath sunscreen and makeup. [...] It makes my skin look amazing."

Allie Glines

829k subs

✓Yay

"This is heavy duty. [...] I went through an entire one after it launched. This is definitely something that's great for after you do some sort of a facial, like an acid facial, where you want that extra barrier layer before bed. It's definitely very thick, but I feel like it's the perfect texture. It's never broken me out, doesn't feel greasy, it's just fabulous. I love using this when I have more of an intense treatment underneath, whether I use a retinol or like an acid."

All 9 takes from Allie Glines

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"This was designed for like super dry skin or if you get like a facial done or some sort of laser treatment or something like that and you just need your skin to be nourished and for your skin barrier to be repaired. It's so moisturizing, it's ridiculous, but it's not so oily to where it feels like it's sitting on top of the skin. It sinks into the skin so much moisture gets absorbed into my face. I stopped using this for a couple of days and my skin felt like it was going to just flake off."

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"This is one of my favorite heavy duty creams it is so good I went through an entire one and I've been missing it even though I have so much skincare I was like really really missing this product so this is something that I love and I'm happy to have back in my collection"

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"My current favorite moisturizer is the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream. This stuff is so good, especially during the winter. My skin is loving it."

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"I've been really into barrier restoring products again, I feel like it just really helps my skin feel and look its best, especially under makeup. So today I went into one of my favorite creams right now, this is the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It is so good. It's definitely a very thick moisturizer. If you're somebody with super dry skin, very irritated dry skin, this is something that I feel like you might really like."

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"I topped that with the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream, which is like a barrier repair cream. It's one of my current favorites."

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"I ran out of this recently. I've been meaning to pick up another bottle and I keep forgetting and I miss it. It's such a good rich cream that's great for just restoring your skin barrier overnight."

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"The Drunk Elephant barrier repair cream is one of my favorite moisturizers of all time; mine is completely empty because I've used every last drop. It's a very rich cream but it comes in handy more than you'd think. I love using it as my nighttime cream, especially if I've used a lot of actives or acid serums, since I like a more barrier-healing moisturizer to sleep in. I love how rich it is but it doesn't feel greasy for me."

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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream is so delicious, especially if you have more dry skin. It's my favorite night cream right now and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It really restores my skin and it has the most amazing rich but not oily or heavy feeling texture. I love it so much."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Yay

"This is really a fantastic repair cream, fantastic. It has the qualities [...] I like supercharged, with oils, zinc, copper, ceramides, the list goes on and on, it's a beautiful formulation and a thick moisturizer. I think it's a night cream because of how heavy it is, [...] but I'm somebody with irritation prone skin and I can tell you this is very calming. I really think it's an incredible moisturizer, by far my favorite."

Top Pick: moisturizer

All 2 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole

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"This is unquestionably the most thick, most occlusive moisturizer in this video, [...] almost like if you [...] whipped Vaseline into a moisturizer. It has the largest number of ingredients that might interest skincare enthusiasts, with a base of olive oil derived ingredients, [...] shea butter [...] high up in the list, [...] fatty acids, [...] peptides, and a blend of three ceramide ingredients."

Dr. Shereene Idriss

1.73M subs

✓Nay

"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."

The Budget Dermatologist

724k subs

✓Yay

"I love that this is very thick texture and it has ceramides and peptides in it so it's going to be very hydrating and repairing of the skin barrier."

Jamie Genevieve

974k subs

✓Yay

"I've got on the Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. This stuff is rich. If you are someone that likes a really thick moisturizer, really juicy skin, it's amazing. It's right up my street. Last night what I did was I put F bam on first and then I used Skin Nova on top of it just to kind of dilute it down a little bit. It's phenomenal."