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Drunk Elephant

Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream.

Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream
Moisturizers

About this product

A rich moisturizer cream formulated with shea butter, jojoba oil, ceramides, and peptides to support skin barrier repair and hydration.

Best for

Dry skinSensitive skin
Moisturizers

The Guru Index verdict

70%

Approved

Approved · 70%
7Reviewers
5Approved
0Mixed
2Skip

What the gurus are saying

Gurus split sharply on texture. Those with very dry or compromised skin praise its deep hydration, barrier repair, and anti-redness benefits, especially for nighttime use. Critics find it excessively thick, mask-like, and prone to pilling under sunscreen and over other products, even for dry skin types. Some note it foams when layered. A minority say it works under makeup despite thickness. The consensus is it performs well for its intended purpose but texture tolerance is highly individual and application requires patience to avoid product interaction issues.
Synthesized from 7 expert reviews

Key actives & flags

Vitamin CCeramidesPeptidesSqualaneFragrance-freeAlcohol-free

Full ingredients

Water/​Aqua/​Eau, Glycerin, Propanediol, Ethylhexyl Olivate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, C10-18 Triglycerides, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/​Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Beta-Sitosterol, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Oleic Acid, Squalane, Butylene Glycol, Glucosyl Ceramide, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Glycosphingolipids, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Alpha-Glucan, Resveratrol, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Sodium PCA, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Sorbitan Isostearate, Haematococcus Pluvialis Extract, Quercetin, Astaxanthin, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate

Every take, in full

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.

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"The Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Cream, which I didn't love, but maybe I'll try it again."
All 12 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'm not so crazy about Drunk Elephant anymore. A lot of people love this moisturizer and I don't know, I for once I think I disagree with the masses. They say this reparative formula nourishes skin with glucosides, ceramides, beta cells, and zinc and copper salt minerals to encourage the natural synthesis of healthy collagen, vital lipids and hyaluronic acid in skin, promoting elasticity, soothing skin and supporting healthy barrier function. Some things I didn't love."
Drunk Elephant Skincare 🐘🆕🐘 Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream with 6-Butterlipid Complex Moisturizer
"I'm bummed with this moisturizer but it's got some good things going for it. Some things I didn't love, which is usually a love-hate relationship with Drunk Elephant."
Drunk Elephant Skincare 🐘🆕🐘 Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream with 6-Butterlipid Complex Moisturizer
"It's super thick and I just could not get over the thickness. I have super dry skin so I really appreciate something that's thick and hydrating, but this stuff is just over the top. It feels almost like applying like a wax to your skin or Vaseline. Instantly for me, daytime use of this one is almost out of the question. It's way too thick. It will peel up under sunscreen and things like that. It feels like you're wearing a mask on your skin. It's hard to apply it in your routine if you already are using other products because then those other products start to peel, they start to slide off your skin. I woke up with just pills everywhere of just product. Once it's applied it's okay, but I wake up with little pills of product, and I just did not enjoy using it or applying it. It's shiny and feels very mask-like."
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."
Drunk Elephant Skincare 🐘🆕🐘 Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream with 6-Butterlipid Complex Moisturizer
"In terms of performance, it promises to repair skin, promote elasticity, soothe skin, support a healthy barrier function. I think it delivers on all those accounts. Despite having a thick texture, it does deliver on all of those accounts. It's a nice option probably for very dry and dehydrated skin types. For acne prone skin, I would be cautious. There's a lot of acnegenic ingredients in here. In terms of the price, this retails for 69 bucks, so it's freaking expensive."
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"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."
Approved
"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."
Approved
"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."
All 3 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash
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."
NEW BEAUTY PRODUCTS 2024 | THESE JUST DROPPED! SKINCARE & HAIRCARE - SINCERELY MISS ASH
"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."
Approved
"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."
All 4 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."
How To Make 2024 Your BEST Makeup Year, Ever.
"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."
Overcoming Your Fear of Makeup: Part 1
"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 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."
Skip
"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."
Approved
"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."
Approved
"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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All 2 takes from Jamie Genevieve
DRUNK ELEPHANT TOOK US TO LAKE TAHOE - VLOG | JAMIE GENEVIEVE
"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."
DRUNK ELEPHANT TOOK US TO LAKE TAHOE - VLOG | JAMIE GENEVIEVE
"I put on the brand new 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 it on first and then I used something on top of it just to dilute it down a little bit. It's phenomenal."
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