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It's hard to narrow down the best Kiehl's products, given the brand's penchant for pumping out award-winning skin care time and time again. Founded in 1851 as a small apothecary in New York City's East Village, Kiehl's has spent the past two-ish centuries moving from mortar and pestle to your TikTok FYP. The brand's commitment to straightforward, no-nonsense formulas that work for everyone makes these products so good. Whether you're struggling with dryness, redness, dullness, or dark spots or just need a really, really good cleanser, Kiehl's has you covered. Scroll on for the best Kiehl's products we swear by and restock on the regular.
Our Top Picks
- Best Light Moisturizer: Calendula Serum-Infused Water Cream, $58
- Best Rich Moisturizer: Ultra Facial Advanced Barrier Cream, $48
- Best Face Oil: Midnight Recovery Concentrate, $30
- Best Hydrating Face Mask: Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Face Mask with 10.5% Squalane, $45
- Best Clarifying Face Mask: Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimizing Clay Mask, $47
- Best for Fine Lines: Retinol Fast-Release Wrinkle Reducing Night Serum, $88
- Best for Hyperpigmentation: Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Serum, $90
- Best Eye Cream: Avocado Eye Cream, $60
Why it's worth it: The Calendula Serum-Infused Water Cream offers the best of both beautiful, hydrating worlds. This lightweight cream is powered by all things calendula: the flower's extract and hundreds of its micronized petals (a.k.a. a very fine petal powder). Calendula is naturally anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and tissue-regenerating, making it an excellent match for your pretty little face. Expect up to 24 hours of hydration, reduced redness, more even tone, and soft-as-can-be skin.
Key ingredients: calendula serum, panthenol, glycerin | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people who want a lightweight option
Best Rich Moisturizer: Ultra Facial Advanced Barrier Cream
Why it's worth it: The Ultra Facial Advanced Barrier Cream is among your best bets when your skin craves extra nourishment. The formula, a 2023 Best of Beauty Award winner, delivers serious hydration and fortifies the skin barrier to better retain moisture in the long run. Colloidal oatmeal steals the show, supported by nourishing beta-glucan. It's a treat for people whose dryness goes hand in hand with redness.
Key ingredients: colloidal oatmeal, beta-glucan, glycerin, niacinamide | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people with dry, red skin
Best Face Oil: Midnight Recovery Concentrate
Why it's worth it: Within this blue glass bottle of Midnight Recovery Concentrate, you'll find an essential oil mélange of botanicals like lavender, evening primrose, rosemary, cucumber, and beyond. It works the night shift while you sleep, so you can wake up looking more radiant, firm, refreshed, and all the other adjectives anyone could wish for in a skin-care product.
Key ingredients: botanical blend, squalane, caprylic triglyceride, vitamin E | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people who want a lightweight, overnight option
Best Hydrating Face Mask: Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Face Mask
Why it's worth it: She's beauty, she's grace, she's Kiehl's Ultra Facial Overnight Rehydrating Face Mask. Endlessly slatherable and pumped full of skin-loving ingredients like barrier-loving squalane and mega-hydrating glacial glycoprotein, this 2023 Best of Beauty Award winner goes on as the final step of your nighttime skin-care routine. But don't let the "overnight" label limit you—feel free to apply a dollop before your morning SPF for an extra surge of moisture to carry you through the day.
Key ingredients: squalane, glacial glycoprotein, pro-ceramides | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people looking for hydrating barrier protection
Best Clarifying Face Mask: Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimizing Clay Mask
Why it's worth it: The Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimizing Clay Mask is a creamy clay kryptonite for your pores. The mask tackles blackheads (and their oft-associated oiliness) and refines the look of pores using the absorbing powers of Amazonian white and bentonite clay. Apply it to clean, damp skin, let it sit and dry for 10 minutes, and wash away the clay with warm water. Grab the Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream if you want another dedicated pore fighter.
Key ingredients: Amazonian white clay, bentonite clay, aloe | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people who want to minimize the appearance of pores
Best for Fine Lines: Retinol Fast-Release Wrinkle Reducing Night Serum
Why it's worth it: It's 2024, and there's a head-spinningly wide array of retinol. Allow us to simplify things by singling out the Retinol Fast-Release Wrinkle Reducing Night Serum. Formulated for nighttime use, this hard-working serum tackles loss of elasticity, dryness, wrinkles, and fine lines by amplifying cell turnover. The retinol's potency is preserved through a two-step, quasi-DIY preparation process: You actually add a packet of 0.3% pure retinol powder to the serum before your first application.
Tester feedback: "Retinol is one of those things I was hesitant to start incorporating because of my sensitive skin," associate special projects manager Talia Gutierrez previously explained. "But I was drawn to this retinol because of its gentle approach that mixes pure retinol within a lightweight serum that contains moisturizing ingredients like panthenol and glycerin."
Key ingredients: retinol (0.3%), glycerin, panthenol | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people who want to address (or prevent) signs of aging
Best for Hyperpigmentation: Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Serum
Why it's worth it: Treat post-acne hyperpigmentation with the clarity-boosting, tone-evening, Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Serum. Every drop contains Activated C (a proprietary, specialized derivative of Vitamin C), proxylane, and salicylic acid to exfoliate and brighten gently. You can use it as a spot treatment for particularly pesky post-pimple points or all over your face for more generalized treatment.
Key ingredients: activated C, proxylane, salicylic acid | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people dealing with acne fallout
Best Eye Cream: Avocado Eye Cream
Why it's worth it: Avocado can do a lot more than sit atop your sourdough and hike up the brunch bill. Exhibit A? Kiehl's Avocado Eye Cream, which uses (you guessed it) avocado oil to soften delicate undereye skin, depuff, and brighten. Beta-carotene delivers antioxidants while shea butter steps in to hydrate. Once you scoop up a dollop of the cream with your ring finger, massage it with your thumb to break down the formula before gently tapping around the eye to apply.
Key ingredients: avocado oil, beta-carotene, shea butter | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people with undereye puffiness
Best Cleanser: Ultra Facial Cleanser
Why it's worth it: Few cleansers are as reliable as Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser, a go-to in our routine since it won its inaugural Best of Beauty Award in 2011. This pH-balancing formula swiftly and gently removes dirt and oil with a juicy blend of squalane, avocado oil, and glycerin, leaving your skin clean without feeling stripped or tight.
Key ingredients: squalane, avocado oil, glycerin | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: everyone
Best Body Care: Creme de Corps Refillable Body Lotion
Why it's worth it: Now that you've figured out what to put on your face, let's journey past your decolletage and to the rest of your body. The Creme de Corps Refillable Body Lotion is a lovely place to start, with its many hydrators and softeners. It's super rich but never greasy and tackles dryness like a dream. Shout out to cocoa butter and squalane for supercharging this beloved formula.
Key ingredients: squalane, cocoa butter, almond oil, aloe | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: everyone
Best Intimate Care: Ingrown Hair and Tone-Correcting Intimate Drops
Why it's worth it: A little down-there-care goes a long way, especially when staving off pesky, painful ingrowns. So, if you're new to the whole pubic patrol thing, the Ingrown Hair and Tone-Correcting Intimate Drops are a great place to start. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), astaxanthin, and jojoba oil make up this quick-drying formula that alleviates uneven tone and unclogs the follicles contributing to ingrowns.
Key ingredients: AHA, astaxanthin, jojoba oil | Fragrance-free: yes | Who it's for: people who shave their bikini lines
There's more skin care where that came from:
- 14 Best Tatcha Black Friday Deals Allure Readers Can Shop Before Anyone Else
- 14 Best Eye Creams for Wrinkles That Seriously Smooth and Firm
- 10 Best Early Black Friday Skin-Care Deals We're All Over
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