Ultra Facial Cream
Expert Review
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream is a brand No1 seller worldwide. It is advertised as Paraben, Carbamide, and T.E.A free. We will have a closer look at the claims and ingredient list.
Cosmetic Claims
Kiehl’s makes five performance claims about this cream. Whilst the website appears to be referring to a clinical study, we could find no reference to a such study. We approached Kiehl’s to give us more information about this study, but they declined to respond.
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Provides lasting 24-hour hydration for soft, smooth, healthy-looking skin
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Balances even skin’s driest areas with 2.3X more moisture
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Absorbs into skin easily with an ultra-lightweight texture
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Tested in everyday and extreme environments
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For all skin types, including sensitive skin
Legend
Ingredient review and safety:
As there was no clinical study evidence to review, we looked closer at the ingredients. Most of the claims listed here would have to have clinical study evidence to be supported. The last claim “For all skin types, including sensitive skin” can be partially supported as the product has a high proportion of ingredients that act as skin conditioners and have emollient properties. Furthermore, the cream does not contain known fragrance allergens.
Water, Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Squalane, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Sucrose Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, PEG-8 Stearate, Myristyl Myristate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Chlorphenesin, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Disodium EDTA, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Carbomer, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract, Myristic Acid, Hydroxypalmitoyl Sphinganine, BHT, Salicylic Acid, Citric Acid.
Allergen free?
Preservative free?
Chlorphenesin
Phenoxyethanol
Maximum concentrations do not exceed use guidelines?
EU restricted ingredient free?
Sodium Hydroxide
Salicylic Acid,
Maximum concentrations do not exceed use guidelines?
We can see some preservatives (Phenoxyethanol and Chlorphenesin) quite high up on the ingredient list. These preservatives are generally considered safe when used in concentrations of up to1% and 0.3%, respectively. The product also contains Salicylic Acid which is used as a preservative and to help skin exfoliation. CIR recognizes Salicylic Acid as safe, as does the EU, and limits its use to 2% for leave-on products. Sodium Hydroxide is a pH stabilizer and has shown to cause skin irritation at concentrations 0.5% and higher, and to be corrosive at concentrations above 2%. We approached Kiehl’s to confirm whether these ingredients follow the safety guidelines as it the EU, but they declined to comment.
Conclusions
Kiehl’s makes a series of claims regarding the performance of the cream. However, we could not find results of clinical studies supporting these claims. Kiehl’s has rejected to share the evidence of clinical studies.
Evidence of a well-designed study with results that support all claims would have given this cream a score of about 100. The current formulation supports partially only one of the five claims, giving it an overall poor evidence score of 4.
Pros
- Ingredients suggest that it is potentially suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin
- No known fragrance allergens
Cons
- Kiehl’s team is unwilling to share with the consumer any evidence of clinical studies that support claims made about this product
- Listed ingredients contain preservatives and ingredients which can be irritating to some individuals, and are often limited to maximum concentrations. We could not confirm if the preservatives listed here follow the common safety guidelines and to what extent.