Dr. Vanita Rattan has reviewed more than 90 products for dry skin. She approved a little over half and passed on nearly two in five, an approval rate of 56%. She specialises in skin of color, and she is a cosmetic formulator herself, so she reads ingredient lists with a trained eye.
What does Dr. Vanita Rattan recommend for dry skin?
The ingredient Dr. Rattan comes back to again and again is ceramides. She explains that skin of color naturally has fewer of them, and ceramides are the fats that lock water into the top layer of skin. So she wants to see them in any dry-skin moisturiser. She also looks for glycerin, which draws water in, and panthenol, which calms irritation. Her standout picks are CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser. She also praised BYOMA Phyto-Mucin Hydrate + Plump Glow Serum for its peptides, ceramides, and glycerin. And she was impressed enough by COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence that she bought it herself after looking into it.
Dr. Vanita Rattan's dry skin picks, in her words
"It's got non-nano zinc oxide. It's got the National Eczema Association seal. No fragrance, no alcohol, no comedogens. And it also contains anti-inflammatory botanical. For me, the final verdict is this the gold standard for acne foundations for skin of color right now."
"SK-II is the only luxury product that I even like and I recommend it and I've used it myself. [...] With this you are going to get a brightening effect."
"A better option is a gentle hydrating cleanser. CeraVe hydrating cleanser is around $16 at CVS, and I'd follow it up by a humectant serum before your moisturizer. [...] Try this for two weeks before you reach for anything labeled oil control. It's a safe daily choice for black skin."
"Love this. This is a fantastic product. Definitely worth your money. I would even recommend this for something that they haven't thought about and that is an irritated inflamed scalp. If you have an inflamed scalp and you are constantly itching and scratching it, this is something that's going to soothe the scalp and it's light enough that it's not going to lead to any greasiness of the hair, but it's going to penetrate into the skin and just give you some relief."
"Looking into The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, [...] this is very expensive for The Ordinary range, they're almost breaking three of the five and ten single actives with this particular product. [...] It is expensive for The Ordinary but it does actually make sense if you do a deep dive into the ingredients. Fifth ingredient here is niacinamide which is good because it means it's in that 2 to 5% range which is what we're looking for."
"CeraVe's got a very good ointment if you need something a bit thicker."
How many products has Dr. Vanita Rattan reviewed for dry skin?
Dr. Vanita Rattan has reviewed 119 products for dry skin, for an approval rate of 50%. 60 approved, 9 mixed, and 50 skipped.
What has Dr. Vanita Rattan skipped for dry skin?
Dr. Rattan passed on anything with denatured alcohol, fragrance, or essential oils in a leave-on product. She calls these her three red flags. La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizing Cream failed on all three. She flagged denatured alcohol as drying, and she pointed out that fragrances are often hidden behind long chemical names that shoppers may not clock as fragrance at all. She passed on Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream for the essential oils. She explained that they can trigger inflammation, and then post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which means dark patches that linger after the skin is irritated. That is a particular concern for skin of color. She was also direct about Plum 1% Retinol Face Serum with Bakuchiol. The label says 1% retinol, but the formula actually uses retinol palmitate, a weaker form that the skin has to convert before it can do anything. She called that misinformation.
"I think initially you're going to love this product when you put it on but actually it's going to be shortlived. Your lips are going to feel really dry and you're just not going to get the benefits. It just sits on the lips, it's not penetrating into the lips. That's what you want: humectants that are going to pull the hydration into the lips, which you're not really getting with this product. This is probably one of the worst products I've tried today."
"The ingredients, the irritants they put into here is your eucalyptus, your lemon, your janol linol hydroxy citronellol and citrol, those are all different types of fragrance. The problem is with these sort of long words that you might not be familiar with, you might not know it's fragrance that you're putting on your skin. You might just think these are good ingredients but actually if you ever see these words in any of your ingredients list, [...] avoid using that product."
"Retinol palmitate is one step removed, it has to be converted to retinol, and it's one of the weakest forms of vitamin A. [...] They add in an apple stem cell extract, but the clinical evidence on actual cosmetic formulas in human skin is thin. They did add in bakuchiol oil, which is a genuine ingredient, but it's after the preservative system in the ingredient list, so it's almost certainly less than 1%. I really don't like this formula. This is a 3.5 out of 10."
"Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream contains essential oils. Now, I know they smell like a five-star spa, but essential oils in leave on products are sneaky triggers for PIH, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. [...] Essential oils are an irritant. They're allergens. And when that happens, inflammation takes place. And when inflammation takes place, hyperpigmentation can take place. Why would you even risk it?"
What should you take from Dr. Vanita Rattan's picks?
For dry skin, Dr. Rattan's record points clearly toward ceramides, glycerin, and panthenol, and away from denatured alcohol, fragrance, and essential oils, especially in anything you leave on. Both of her named winners are CeraVe, which fits her steady message: simple, barrier-focused formulas, free of irritants.
Watch Dr. Vanita Rattan say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- CeraVe Hydrating Facial CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 4:26
- SK-II Facial Treatment EssenceNamed a winnerWatch at 28:29
- Tower 28 SunnyDays SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen FoundationNamed a winnerWatch at 6:12
- Laneige Lip Sleeping MaskSkipped itWatch at 17:31
- La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizing CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:45
- Plum 1% Retinol Face Serum with BakuchiolSkipped itWatch at 5:02
- Tatcha Dewy Skin CreamSkipped itWatch at 4:55
- CeraVe Skin Renewing Vitamin C SerumSkipped itWatch at 9:48
- CeraVe SA Cream for Rough and Bumpy SkinSkipped itWatch at 11:22
- BYOMA Melting Balm CleanserSkipped itWatch at 3:15
- Mixsoon Bean Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 3:47
- SkinCeuticals C E FerulicSkipped itWatch at 14:03
- Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with AvocadoSkipped itWatch at 4:35
- Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF 50+ PA++++Skipped itWatch at 16:31
- K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair MaskSkipped itWatch at 7:43
- Augustinus Bader Rich CreamSkipped itWatch at 13:21
- Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 Night MoisturizerSkipped itWatch at 9:27
- Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing TonerSkipped itWatch at 13:34
- SkinBetter Science AlphaRet Overnight CreamSkipped itWatch at 14:24
- Skin1004 Probio-Cica Essence TonerSkipped itWatch at 12:54
- Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing HydratorSkipped itWatch at 21:41
- Charlotte Tilbury Magic CreamSkipped itWatch at 27:07
- COSRX Hydrium Watery TonerSkipped itWatch at 13:36
- Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Light Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 7:06
About this expert
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This guide reflects what Dr. Vanita Rattan said across her videos about 119 products for dry skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.