Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed a lot of moisturizers, and she likes most of them. Out of 33 she looked at, she approved 30, gave 2 a mixed take, and skipped just 1. That works out to a Guru Score of 91%, which puts this category near the top of her record. She did name one product as her category winner, so there is a clear favorite 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.
In her words
"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."
"Their dewy cream, the purple one, I absolutely do love. It has a beautiful velvety texture and is made up of Japanese purple rice, which is an antioxidant, and it is great for winter."
"If you live in a very dry climate, I would prefer you use the La Roche-Posay Lipikar Lotion. 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. It has a high concentration of fatty acids in it so that's why you're feeling that really nice lightweight grease and vitamins for softening the skin and it also has anti-inflammatory and soothing properties."
"Jordan Samuel has a beautiful thicker recovery cream called his Moisture Recovery Cream and it has ceramides, squalane and shea butter so this one is much richer. It looks like magnolia cupcake icing, it is buttercreamy, it is beautiful. This is one that I would really use, like I would use Vaseline which is a tried and true basic petroleum jelly. That [...] is a very thick, rich ointment that is going to act like a really strong barrier so if you're very sensitive you can go towards this one."
"Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer. Holy grail. I've been talking about it since 2019, 2020. I'm obsessed. Colloidal oatmeal really does help to soothe irritation, hydrate deeply, and help repair the skin barrier by replenishing your skin's lipids. [...] It contains acetylol tetropeptide 40, a next-gen peptide that helps your skin stay calm under pressure and reduces visible redness by strengthening very fragile capillaries and soothing inflamed skin over time. And [...] zinc PCA, which is your skin's stress manager. It's going to help balance oil, calm inflammation, irritation, and keep bacteria under control. This is going to regulate your sebum, minimize your redness, and support your skin. If you have eczema and flare-ups, this is really helpful for healing your skin."
"Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream is a Korean brand that is basically equivalent to the [CeraVe] of Cetaphil of Korea. They have ceramides in them and a triple lipid complex. They help to restore the moisture in your skin kind of like the restore line of Cetaphil but this is the Korean version of that. People seem to love it."
How many moisturizers has Dr. Shereene Idriss reviewed?
Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed 33 moisturizers, for a Guru Score of 91%. 30 approved, 2 mixed, and 1 skipped.
What has Dr. Shereene Idriss skipped in moisturizers?
Her one skipped product 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.
"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?
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 one category winner is 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.
- Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 3:47
- Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:43
- Tatcha Dewy Skin CreamRated itWatch at 1:55
- La Roche-Posay Lipikar Urea 10% Roughness Smoothing LotionRated itWatch at 8:17
- Jordan Samuel Skin Moisture Recovery CreamRated itWatch at 10:23
- Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel MoisturizerRated itWatch at 17:08
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 CreamRated itWatch at 9:30
- Dieux Instant Angel Lipid-Rich Firming MoisturizerRated itWatch at 5:39
- The INKEY List Peptide MoisturizerRated itWatch at 9:27
- Isntree Onion Newpair Gel CreamRated itWatch at 8:02
- Dr Sam's Flawless MoisturizerRated itWatch at 15:25
- Jordan Samuel Skin Performance CreamRated itWatch at 3:12
- Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face CreamRated itWatch at 14:26
- Jordan Samuel Skin Antioxidant Treatment EmulsionRated itWatch at 8:40
- Cetaphil Rich Hydrating CreamRated itWatch at 0:52
- PURITO Deep Sea Pure Water CreamRated itWatch at 7:20
- Aveeno Restorative Skin Therapy Oat Repairing CreamRated itWatch at 3:40
- Kiehl's Ultra Facial CreamRated itWatch at 12:17
- iNNBEAUTY PROJECT 10+10 MoisturizerRated itWatch at 15:16
- Avène Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective CreamRated itWatch at 7:14
- Augustinus Bader Rich CreamRated itWatch at 8:29
- Vanicream Moisturizing CreamRated itWatch at 7:07
- Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair CreamRated itWatch at 1:21
- Embryolisse Lait-Crème ConcentréRated itWatch at 14:09
About this expert
See everything Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Dr. Shereene Idriss said across their videos about 33 products in moisturizers, 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.