Which skincare products do dermatologists actually agree on? The 13 every one of them backs
Thirteen products have been reviewed by at least ten of the 15 dermatologists we track and earned a yes from every one of them. Four are cleansers and three are sunscreens. The rest are two moisturizers, two scalp treatments, one serum and one essence, and Cetaphil, CeraVe and La Roche-Posay account for six of the thirteen.
That is out of about two dozen products that ten or more of these dermatologists have weighed in on, and most of the rest drew a single dissent each. So when enough dermatologists look at the same product, they usually land in the same place. Behind it sit more than 5,000 verdicts, counted once per dermatologist per product, the same basis every Guru Score on this site uses.
- Thirteen products have been reviewed by at least ten of the 15 dermatologists we track, and every one of those dermatologists said yes.
- Four of the thirteen are cleansers. Three are sunscreens, so on sunscreen at least, dermatologists do agree on specific bottles.
- Most of the other products that ten or more of them reviewed drew a single dissent. The most divisive is SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic.
- Across everything they have reviewed, our dermatologists say no about half as often as the other experts we track.
- A dermatologist's yes does not always carry the room. COSRX snail mucin and Cetaphil's cleanser won every dermatologist over and fell short with roughly a third of the other experts.
Dr Alexis Stephens · 22 reviewers, 83% said yes
208SkinDoc · 22 reviewers, 80% said yes
Dr. Mamina · 23 reviewers, 75% said yes
Dr Sam Bunting · 22 reviewers, 82% said yes
208SkinDoc · 30 reviewers, 76% said yes
Doctorly · 16 reviewers, 81% said yesWhich skincare products do dermatologists all agree on?
Here is the full list, grouped by what each product does. Every one has been reviewed by at least ten of our dermatologists, and none of those dermatologists said no or gave a mixed verdict.
Cleansers: La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser and CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser.
Sunscreens: EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46, the Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF 50+ PA++++ (Korean formula) and La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer SPF 30.
Moisturizers: CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid & Peptide Cream.
Scalp and hair: Rogaine Minoxidil 5% Foam and Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole).
Treatments: Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster and the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence.
The one the most of them have covered is the La Roche-Posay cleanser, reviewed by 12 of the 15.
Why do dermatologists agree on cleansers and sunscreens?
Read what they actually say about these products and the praise is rarely about excitement. It is about how unlikely a product is to go wrong. Dr. Sam Ellis puts it plainly about the Cetaphil cleanser: it “gets the job done and is not likely to cause problems. You probably hear dermatologists recommend it all the time.”
Dr. Shereene Idriss calls the La Roche-Posay cleanser “really nice and really gentle”, and Dr Dray says the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser is “great for gentle exfoliation as well as blackhead prone skin.” Gentle is the word that keeps coming back.
There is a plainer reason too. Cleansers and daily sunscreens are products almost everybody uses, so they are exactly the products the most dermatologists end up reviewing, which is what it takes to reach this list at all. The same gentle, unglamorous pattern shows up across every expert we track, which we looked at in the skincare basics the experts most consistently back.
Which popular products do dermatologists disagree on?
Not many, once ten or more of them have looked. Most of the products that missed a clean sweep missed it by a single dermatologist. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5, CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser and Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant are all in that group.
The one with the most dissent is SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, the famous vitamin C serum and one of the products our dermatologists have reviewed most. It still wins most of them over, but more of them stop short of a yes on it than on anything else at this level of coverage. Its product page shows every take, so you can see who held back and why.
Do dermatologists agree with the other skincare experts?
Mostly, but they say no less often. Across everything they have reviewed, the dermatologists we track say no about half as often as the other experts on our roster.
Some of that is about who is in the group. One in four dermatologist verdicts comes from Dr Dray, the busiest reviewer we track, and two of the most prolific, Dr. Jenny Liu and Dr. Sam Ellis, are among the five experts on our whole roster who say no least often. We looked at that spread in how often each skincare expert actually says no.
And on two products the groups really do part ways. Every dermatologist who reviewed the COSRX snail essence or the Cetaphil cleanser said yes, while roughly a third of the other experts who reviewed them stopped short. That is why both carry a lower Guru Score than a clean sweep from the dermatologists would suggest: the score counts every expert once, whatever their training.
How should you use this list?
As a shortlist of safe starting points, not a ranking of the best products. A unanimous yes from ten dermatologists tells you a product is very unlikely to let you down. It does not tell you it is the right one for your skin.
It also leaves out anything new. Only long-established products have had the time to collect this many dermatologist reviews, so a newer formula cannot make this list yet, however good it is. For a product that is not here, open its page and check two things: how many experts are behind its Guru Score, and who they are. You can see everyone we track on the experts page.