Dr. Shereene Idriss has looked at 41 dry skin products, and her verdict on most of them is warm. Thirty-seven got her full approval, two landed as mixed takes, and she skipped just two. Her Guru Score on dry skin is 90%.
What does Dr. Shereene Idriss recommend for dry skin?
Dr. Shereene Idriss looks for products built around barrier ingredients like petroleum jelly, zinc, stearic acid, and allantoin. She finds they lock moisture in and keep irritants out, which matters most when skin is very dry or the barrier is raw. She also cares about timing and format. She recommends heavier balms like La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 for nighttime use, and she named Aquaphor Healing Ointment Body Spray a category winner because it delivers the same barrier protection without the weight of a traditional ointment.
In their words
"I'm obsessed with Augustinus Bader's Eye Cream. They originally gifted it to me and I've gone out and bought it several times since. It's an Eye Cream that's super thick with their TFC8 in it; your skin hugs it and it [...] creates a cocoon around your eyes. It's slightly thicker so you have to work it in, but it gives the lasting hydration you're looking for."
"I lock in that smoothness while my skin is nice and damp with this Aquaphor body spray. It is ideal, it is their ointment in a spray form and it works beautifully because it creates a protective barrier that locks in your moisture without making you feel overwhelmed or overburdened by that ointment. It just helps to heal areas that are very sensitive or raw. Just one tip: put a large towel on the floor if you are going to be spraying this because it does have a scatter effect."
"O'Keeffe's Working Hands is one of my favorite moisturizers. It's loaded in stearic acid and allantoin to create a nice protective barrier over your skin. I would use this on my hands and sometimes I go to sleep with it depending on how dry it is, or I just do it for like 15 to 30 minutes after the shower to really allow for that moisture to get absorbed into my hands. This is an amazing hack especially for healthcare workers or those who wash their hands or work in restaurants or at bars and their hands are constantly exposed to fluids. This will save your little fingers and digits and hands."
"Focusing on just giving it basic soothing and calming ingredients like petroleum jelly and Vaseline to make sure that you are locking that superficial layer of your skin and minimizing anything that can come in and anything that can come out."
"La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 is a hydrating moisturizer with zinc in it. If you have discoloration and [...] an inflamed barrier, or you're red and irritated because it's so dry outside, it's a nice option to use because of the zinc to help calm any irritation. It's very thick. [...] I like to use this at night. I wouldn't use the B5 during the day after the active serum because it might be too white or opaque and it might be just too much on your skin."
"This is the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence that they call, but I view this more like a serum. It's slightly thicker, it's not as watery, and I do see it more as a serum in my opinion, so I'm going to call it kind of an essence serum."
How many products has Dr. Shereene Idriss reviewed for dry skin?
Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed 41 products for dry skin, for a Guru Score of 90%. 37 approved, 2 mixed, and 2 skipped.
What has Dr. Shereene Idriss skipped for dry skin?
She skipped just two products across her 41 reviews, and both had clear reasons tied to the ingredients. She called the La Mer Eye Cream a really rich moisturizer with no special active ingredient to justify its $300 price, and she said eye creams need a real purpose. She also skipped the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream because it uses zinc gluconate rather than zinc oxide, which she said falls short for repairing an inflamed barrier, though she noted it may suit someone whose dry skin also tends toward acne.
"La Mer 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. So if you are somebody who is acne prone with dry skin, might be worth looking into this particular product for that reason. But if you're trying to face baste to really repair your skin from an inflamed skin barrier, you could do better than this."
What should you take from Dr. Shereene Idriss's picks?
Her Guru Score of 90% on dry skin shows how rarely she turns a product down. She rates across price points, from drugstore to premium, as long as the ingredients are doing something real. Her two named winners are Aquaphor Healing Ointment Body Spray and First Aid Beauty Hydrating Sunscreen Milk, and those are a strong place to start for anyone following her lead.
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.
- Aquaphor Healing Ointment Body SprayNamed a winnerWatch at 10:23
- First Aid Beauty Hydrating Sunscreen MilkNamed a winnerWatch at 0:10
- La Mer Eye CreamSkipped itWatch at 6:19
- Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:43
- Augustinus Bader Eye CreamRated itWatch at 10:57
- O'Keeffe's Working HandsRated itWatch at 13:13
- Vaseline Original Healing JellyRated itWatch at 8:16
- La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5Rated itWatch at 9:42
- COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power EssenceRated itWatch at 5:06
- The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support SerumRated itWatch at 6:09
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 CreamRated itWatch at 9:30
- Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing BalmRated itWatch at 4:25
- Dieux Instant Angel Lipid-Rich Firming MoisturizerRated itWatch at 5:39
- BYOMA Hydrating SerumRated itWatch at 6:16
- The INKEY List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF 30Rated itWatch at 18:05
- The INKEY List Peptide MoisturizerRated itWatch at 9:27
- Jordan Samuel Skin Moisture Recovery CreamRated itWatch at 10:23
- Jordan Samuel Skin Performance CreamRated itWatch at 3:12
- Aveeno Calm + Restore SerumRated itWatch at 5:08
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer SPF 30Rated itWatch at 8:30
- Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face CreamRated itWatch at 14:26
- Cocokind Ceramide Barrier SerumRated itWatch at 14:17
- Weleda Skin FoodRated itWatch at 11:14
- Vanicream Vitamin C SerumRated itWatch at 5:00
About this expert
See everything Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Dr. Shereene Idriss said across their videos about 41 products for dry skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.