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Drunk Elephant

Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream.

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream
Moisturizers

About this product

A rich, occlusive moisturizer designed to repair and protect the skin barrier, formulated with ceramides, plant oils, fatty acids, and soothing botanicals.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

76%

Yay

8 experts · Strong agreement
8Gurus
6Yay
0Mixed
2Nay

What they liked

  • Absorbs deeply without feeling oily
  • Calms redness and soothes irritation
  • Sits well under sunscreen and makeup

What they flagged

  • Too thick and masklike for some
  • May feel heavy layered with rich sunscreen

What the gurus are saying

This cream's thickness earns consistent praise for deeply hydrating very dry, sensitive, or compromised skin, though it divides on texture feel. Most gurus love how fast it calms tight, flaky skin and holds moisture, and note it layers well under sunscreen if you let it absorb for five to ten minutes first. One dermatologist flagged that it uses zinc gluconate rather than zinc oxide, making it less effective for inflamed barriers if that's your primary concern. Those with drier skin tend to adore it; if your skin runs on the oilier side or you dislike heavy creams, it may feel too occlusive.
Synthesized from 8 expert reviews · most recent take April 2026

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Nay
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream, which I didn't love, but maybe I'll try it again."
All 9 takes from No BS Beauty
Dupes & Affordable Alternatives to Sephora's Most Expensive Best Selling Moisturizers & Face Creams
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream is $69. It's got the shea butter, the jojoba oil, ceramides, palmitic acid, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and it's a good option if you're looking for a richer moisturizer."
Winter Evening Skincare Routine for Very Dry, Sensitive Skin - Fragrance Free Products!
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream feels like putting a mask on to me, and with my dry skin I should like that, but I don't. It is so thick. Other people didn't have that same issue so I don't know, maybe I'm just overdoing it, but I'm going to try and finish it."
Prequel Half & Half Peptides + Ceramides Fluid Moisturizer Review, How to, Dupes & Alternatives
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream, which I didn't love, but maybe I'll try it again."
Drunk Elephant Moisturizer Versus - Comparison and Dupes For Bora Barrier, Protini, and Lala Creams
"The Bora Barrier Cream is probably my least favorite of them. I just found it to be a little bit thick, not enjoyable to use, and I didn't find myself benefiting much from it. However, if you have a damaged skin barrier, irritated skin, flaky skin, things like that, a lot of people really like it for that."
New Moisturizers First Impressions - Biossance Overnight Cream & Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream
"It doesn't quite have as much slip to it. [...] It doesn't really have the slip of the other creamy one, but it's not as thick as a la la cream either. I feel like this is going to be one where a little bit does not go a long way. It doesn't feel greasy or anything though, [...] feels kind of nice, feels fine. [...] I just don't think one pump is going to be enough for an entire face because one pump was enough for about half my face. [...] It feels like sunscreen's going to pill unless you give it a minute to soak in. That's the only thing I found that helps with certain moisturizers under sunscreen, and the only thing I found that helps is giving them five to ten minutes to soak in before you put the sunscreen on, otherwise it pills."
Drunk Elephant Skincare 🐘🆕🐘 Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream with 6-Butterlipid Complex Moisturizer
"I kept trying it and I woke up with just pills everywhere of just product it was just gross. [...] Something on this one for me is just lost, but other people absolutely love it. [...] This is just so thick I just don't love [...] it. I can't make any promises but I just did not enjoy using it or applying it. Once it's applied it's okay, but again I wake up this morning with little pills of little blue pills of copper peptide things. It's shiny it feels very mask-like, but I guess for super dry skin I guess it's not a bad thing. [...] I don't love this so much when other people do. It's so thick I couldn't imagine using this one in my daytime routine. [...] What Drunk Elephant really had going for was their products are expensive but very enjoyable to apply unlike things like the ordinary where they're very thick or pill. [...] Things have changed and like they're proteiny now anytime I use it over almost anything it foams. Something's changed."
What is Your Skin Barrier & How to Repair It - New Skin Barrier Repair Products
"This is the newest Drunk Elephant product. I find it to be super thick and I don't find it to be super aesthetically pleasing to use. For ingredients, it's got good oils, evening primrose oil, Haba seed oils, we've got fatty acids, rose hip oil. So it's got some good things in here that will help with your barrier repair, but I just find the texture here, um, I can use it at night but I do find a lot of times when I use it I'm peeling it off. The texture is thick but a little bit goes a long way and it's very spreadable. I find a little bit of this does not go a long way. It takes several pumps, a couple pumps to cover my face and it's just thicker. I couldn't imagine using this in my daytime routine. So far from using it in my evening routine, I don't necessarily love the texture, but it does feel nice on the skin and perhaps I'll keep playing with it because I've only had it a little over a week, but it's interesting."
The Most Viral Hyped Skincare Products I Disliked & Why 🙄 Not Worth the Hype!
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream, I didn't love it. It felt thick, it felt mask like on my skin. [...] They change something in it because it foams up on me every time I apply it over anything. [...] This stuff felt super thick and just mask like, it felt like I was wearing a thick mask that was meant to rinse off. [...] For me it just was a bummer."
Did My Past Self Get It Right? Revisiting My Old Advice on Skin Barrier Repair Products
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream is on the thicker side, kind of in the middle between the protein and the LA cream. It's fragrance-free, so that's nice, so no further irritation."
Yay
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream is really rich. It's really good for deep hydration and is ideal for really dry, sensitive, or even compromised skin. It helps repair and protect against moisture loss. The key ingredients are ceramides, plant oils, and fatty acids. You could even use this on top of your regular moisturizer almost like a barrier if you needed to."
All 2 takes from Dr. Aleksandra Brown
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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream is really rich. It's really good for deep hydration and is ideal for really dry, sensitive, or even compromised skin. It helps repair and protect against moisture loss. The key ingredients are ceramides, plant oils, and fatty acids. You could even use this on top of your regular moisturizer almost like a barrier if you needed to."
Dermatologist's Winter Skincare Routine: AM & PM Steps for Healthy Skin | Dr. Aleksandra Brown
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Cream is a deeply nourishing cream specifically designed for chronically dry or mature skin. It delivers 24-hour clinically proven hydration and helps restore compromised skin barrier. It's really ideal if you're experiencing any sort of dryness, redness, loss of elasticity. It's good for all skin types but I find it really good for super, super dry skin. If I'm taking a night off from retinols and exfoliating acids, she's my girl. This is one of those you need to put on so much of it. I find this to be very thick, very hydrating, super moisturizing. It is probably the thickest one of all that I will recommend. So if you have super dry skin, grab this one. The key ingredients here, it has the six butter lipid complex, which is a powerful blend of plant-based butters that soothe and support natural ceramide and hyaluronic acid production, fortifying the skin barrier and locking in moisture. It also has some zinc and copper gluconates, which are salt minerals that provide anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to calm the redness and protect against environmental stressors. Another ingredient here is the alpha glucan, which is derived from rice. It's an ingredient that enhances hydration while soothing irritation and improving skin resilience."
Yay
"I really love the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It has a lot of butters in it."
All 4 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash
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"I really love the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It has a lot of butters in it."
THE BEST MOISTURIZERS FOR DRY SKIN | WINTER 2024 - SINCERELY MISS ASH
"This is the thickest out of the three, there's a lot of different oils in here and when you use this and your skin is super dry and tight, this is going to make your skin feel incredible within a couple of minutes. I love those different oils in there, especially when your skin needs that moisture. There's also copper and zinc gluconate which can help with redness, so with a compromised skin barrier with irritation our skin can appear quite rosy, [...] and this will help to calm down rosiness. There's Alpha glucan which can help to soothe the skin, and there are six butter lipid complexes in here to help maintain and keep your skin barrier nice and strong and healthy. I really like this and think that this is a great option for everyday. I love this especially for the nighttime routine, but I have used this a few times in my morning routine and it does sit nicely with sunscreen and makeup. But if you are using a sunscreen that is very rich and thick and glowy on the skin, then you might find that this paired up with that might be a little bit too heavy. [...] From my experience testing this out, it can feel a little heavy if your sunscreen is on the thicker side."
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"With anti-redness benefits and powerful antioxidant properties and alpha glucan which is derived from rice and used for its soothing hydration boosting benefits, there's a lot of oils in here like several oils, they have the shea butter, they do have some peptides in here as well, the ceramides. So I can see this being a lovely cream when your skin needs some TLC. [...] I use a lot of actives on my skin that can cause dryness and irritation so I would love to see how this repairs my skin. [...] Drunk Elephant is pricey but I do feel like their products are worth the money and their formulations are truly on point from my experience with them."
MY MORNING ANTI-AGING SKINCARE ROUTINE - SKINCARE OVER 30 (WINTER/SPRING SKINCARE ROUTINE)
"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier repair cream has a lot of different butters and it's been wonderful for the winter months. Sometimes I will use this in the morning, [...] and surprisingly this sits great underneath sunscreen and makeup. [...] It makes my skin look amazing."
Yay
"I really love this Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream from Drunk Elephant. This is heavy duty. I went through an entire one after it launched. This is definitely something that's great for after you do some sort of a facial, like an acid facial, where you want that extra barrier layer before bed. It's definitely very thick, but I feel like it's the perfect texture. It's never broken me out, doesn't feel greasy, it's just fabulous. I love using this when I have more of an intense treatment underneath, whether I use a retinol or like an acid. I like to put this on as my moisturizer and sleep with it on, and it just gives me peace of mind that my skin barrier is being nourished and protected even though I have more intense treatments underneath."
All 9 takes from Allie Glines
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"This was designed for like super dry skin or if you get like a facial done or some sort of laser treatment or something like that and you just need your skin to be nourished and for your skin barrier to be repaired. It's so moisturizing, it's ridiculous, but it's not so oily to where it feels like it's sitting on top of the skin. It sinks into the skin so much moisture gets absorbed into my face. I stopped using this for a couple of days and my skin felt like it was going to just flake off. I didn't realize how much this had been doing for me until I forgot to bring it when I was traveling and my skin really took a toll when I wasn't using it, and it was very happy and like bounced right back as soon as I added this back into my routine. If you're somebody who struggles with super super dry skin on the face, this is one of the best super rich moisturizers that does not break you out. It just feels almost like butter in the best way, but it absorbs into the skin."
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"This is one of my favorite heavy duty creams it is so good I went through an entire one and I've been missing it even though I have so much skincare I was like really really missing this product so this is something that I love and I'm happy to have back in my collection"
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"My current favorite moisturizer is the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier cream. This stuff is so good, especially during the winter. My skin is loving it."
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"I've been really into barrier restoring products again, I feel like it just really helps my skin feel and look its best, especially under makeup. So today I went into one of my favorite creams right now, this is the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. It is so good. It's definitely a very thick moisturizer. If you're somebody with super dry skin, very irritated dry skin, this is something that I feel like you might really like."
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"I topped that with the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream, which is like a barrier repair cream. It's one of my current favorites."
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"I ran out of this recently. I've been meaning to pick up another bottle and I keep forgetting and I miss it. It's such a good rich cream that's great for just restoring your skin barrier overnight."
It's TIME! 🎉 THE BEST SKINCARE OF 2024!!!
"I really love this Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream from Drunk Elephant. This is heavy duty. I went through an entire one after it launched. This is definitely something that's great for after you do some sort of a facial, like an acid facial, where you want that extra barrier layer before bed. It's definitely very thick, but I feel like it's the perfect texture. It's never broken me out, doesn't feel greasy, it's just fabulous. I love using this when I have more of an intense treatment underneath, whether I use a retinol or like an acid. I like to put this on as my moisturizer and sleep with it on, and it just gives me peace of mind that my skin barrier is being nourished and protected even though I have more intense treatments underneath."
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"The Drunk Elephant barrier repair cream is one of my favorite moisturizers of all time; mine is completely empty because I've used every last drop. It's a very rich cream but it comes in handy more than you'd think. I love using it as my nighttime cream, especially if I've used a lot of actives or acid serums, since I like a more barrier-healing moisturizer to sleep in. I love how rich it is but it doesn't feel greasy for me."
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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Repair Cream is so delicious, especially if you have more dry skin. It's my favorite night cream right now and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It really restores my skin and it has the most amazing rich but not oily or heavy feeling texture. I love it so much."
Yay
"This is really a fantastic repair cream, fantastic. It has the qualities I like supercharged, with oils, zinc, copper, ceramides, the list goes on and on, it's a beautiful formulation and a thick moisturizer. I think it's a night cream because of how heavy it is, but I'm somebody with irritation prone skin and I can tell you this is very calming. I really think it's an incredible moisturizer, by far my favorite."
Top Pick: moisturizer
All 2 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole
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"This is really a fantastic repair cream, fantastic. It has the qualities I like supercharged, with oils, zinc, copper, ceramides, the list goes on and on, it's a beautiful formulation and a thick moisturizer. I think it's a night cream because of how heavy it is, but I'm somebody with irritation prone skin and I can tell you this is very calming. I really think it's an incredible moisturizer, by far my favorite."
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"This is unquestionably the most thick, most occlusive moisturizer in this video, almost like if you whipped Vaseline into a moisturizer. It has the largest number of ingredients that might interest skincare enthusiasts, with a base of olive oil derived ingredients, shea butter high up in the list, fatty acids, peptides, and a blend of three ceramide ingredients. You can tell the formulators took their time figuring out how to make a product that really strengthens the skin, and that's exactly what this product does. This is especially for people who are looking for the heftiest moisturizer they can find, but if you don't want to feel moisturizer on your skin, you're going to feel this one."
Nay
"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."
Yay
"I love that this is very thick texture and it has ceramides and peptides in it so it's going to be very hydrating and repairing of the skin barrier."
Yay
"I've got on the Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. This stuff is rich. If you are someone that likes a really thick moisturizer, really juicy skin, it's amazing. It's right up my street. Last night what I did was I put F bam on first and then I used Skin Nova on top of it just to kind of dilute it down a little bit. It's phenomenal."
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What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Vitamin C

Topical vitamin C is an antioxidant with reasonable evidence for dullness and uneven tone. It breaks down in light and air, so how a product is formulated and packaged matters as much as the percentage on the front.

Source: DermNet

Ceramides

Ceramides are part of the skin's own barrier, and moisturisers built around them have evidence for holding water in and settling the tightness and flaking that come with a damaged barrier.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream?

A rich, occlusive moisturizer designed to repair and protect the skin barrier, formulated with ceramides, plant oils, fatty acids, and soothing botanicals.

Is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream worth it?

Mostly yes. 6 of the 8 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.

What is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream's Guru Score?

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 8 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream best for?

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

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