Moisturizer for sensitive skin

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA leads for sensitive skin: 43 of 48 reviewers said it didn't irritate, sting or cause redness. IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream has the highest share at 95% from a smaller group, nearly all at Ulta, while Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream sit close to the leader at 40 of 45 and 44 of 50. Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream has the weakest record here at 35 of 47.

  • 410 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jul 2021 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it irritate sensitive skin? What buyers said
  1. The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA 48 said either way
  2. IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream 19 said either way
  3. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion 45 said either way
  4. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream 50 said either way
  5. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base 30 said either way
  6. Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream 47 said either way
  7. Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream 24 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for irritation. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Best record The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA 43 of 48 say it didn't irritate or sting See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

The weaker records come with specific complaints: scent for Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base (24%) and Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream (24%), and irritation for Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream (28%).

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

The Ordinary

Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

Best for good value

43/48 say it didn't irritate or sting

Strong across skin types: 14 of 14 with combination skin and 5 of 6 with dry skin. 20% call it good value and 19% like it under makeup. 9% mention breakouts.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 39%
  • Good value 20%
  • Works under makeup 19%
  • No breakouts 19%
  • Not greasy 19%

What buyers complain about

  • Breaks skin out 9%
  • Not moisturizing enough 7%
  • Heavy 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 19 of 21
  • Sephora 24 of 27
  • Brand site 3 of 3 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination14 of 14
  • Dry5 of 6
2 IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream

IT Cosmetics

Confidence in a Cream

18/19 say it didn't irritate or sting

Nearly all counted reviews come from Ulta, where 16 of 17 said it didn't irritate. 50% call it gentle, and 12% mention breakouts.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 42%
  • Works under makeup 21%
  • Absorbs fast 17%
  • Not greasy 17%
  • Lightweight 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Breaks skin out 13%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 16 of 17
  • Sephora 2 of 2
3 Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion

Clinique

Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion

Best for a gentle feel

40/45 say it didn't irritate or sting

Ulta reviewers were nearly unanimous (22 of 23) and Sephora reviewers were positive too (18 of 22). 58% call it gentle, and 13% mention irritation.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 31%
  • No breakouts 16%
  • Not greasy 13%
  • Good value 11%
  • Absorbs fast 9%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 5%
  • Strong scent 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 22 of 23
  • Sephora 18 of 22
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Dry8 of 10
  • Combination6 of 6
  • Normal3 of 4
4 Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

Kiehl's

Ultra Facial Cream

Best for a gentle, light feel

44/50 say it didn't irritate or sting

More reviewers weighed in on this cream than on any other here (50), which gives its record solid support. 61% call it gentle and 30% call it lightweight. 11% say it's too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 35%
  • Lightweight 30%
  • Not greasy 13%
  • No breakouts 13%
  • Hydration lasts 11%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 11%
  • Breaks skin out 7%
  • Not moisturizing enough 6%
  • Greasy or shiny 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 22 of 24
  • Sephora 22 of 26
  • Brand site 4 of 4 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 10
  • Dry7 of 9
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light8 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked5 of 5
5 Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base

Bobbi Brown

Vitamin Enriched Face Base

24/30 say it didn't irritate or sting

Fragrance is the sticking point: 24% mention a strong scent and 12% mention irritation. Fans praise it under makeup (33%) and call it gentle (31%).

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 37%
  • Works under makeup 33%
  • No breakouts 12%
  • Good value 10%
  • Absorbs fast 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Strong scent 24%
  • Breaks skin out 14%
  • Too expensive 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 9 of 13
  • Sephora 15 of 17
  • Brand site 5 of 6 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination4 of 6
  • Dry5 of 5
  • Normal3 of 3
6 Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream

Drunk Elephant

Protini Polypeptide Cream

35/47 say it didn't irritate or sting

Irritation is the main complaint at 28%, followed by price at 19%. Reviewers who like it call it gentle (35%) and lightweight (17%).

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 31%
  • No breakouts 19%
  • Lightweight 17%
  • Not greasy 13%
  • Works under makeup 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 19%
  • Breaks skin out 13%
  • Not moisturizing enough 11%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 16 of 20
  • Sephora 19 of 27
  • Brand site 5 of 5 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 15
  • Dry3 of 4
  • Normal2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light10 of 14
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
7 Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream

Estée Lauder

Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream

18/24 say it didn't irritate or sting

Scent (24%) and irritation (22%) are the complaints. On Estée Lauder's own site, 16 of 19 said it didn't irritate, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 43%
  • No breakouts 14%
  • Absorbs fast 14%
  • Not greasy 11%
  • Hydration lasts 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Strong scent 24%
  • Breaks skin out 14%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 2 of 4
  • Sephora 16 of 20
  • Brand site 16 of 19 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 12
  • Dry3 of 4
  • Normal3 of 3

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 109,560 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for irritation and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between Jul 2021 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA Ulta and Sephora (54 reviews counted)
  2. IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream Ulta and Sephora (24 reviews counted)
  3. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion Ulta and Sephora (55 reviews counted)
  4. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream Ulta and Sephora (54 reviews counted)
  5. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base Ulta (49 reviews counted)
  6. Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream Ulta and Sephora (54 reviews counted)
  7. Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream Ulta and Sephora (37 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. What’s your favorite moisturizer for sensitive skin? r/Sephora, Mar 2024, 59 comments
  2. Moisturizer for dry, sensitive skin r/Sephora, May 2024, 68 comments
  3. Moisturizer that doesn’t burn r/drugstoreMUA, Jun 2024, 49 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which moisturizer is good for sensitive skin?

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA leads at 43 of 48. IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream has the highest share at 95%, from a smaller group. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion (40 of 45) and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream (44 of 50) also have solid records.

Which of these moisturizers get complaints about scent?

24% of Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base reviews and 24% of Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream reviews mention a strong scent. If fragrance bothers you, the others on this list draw few or no scent complaints.

Does Drunk Elephant Protini irritate sensitive skin?

Some reviewers say it does. 12 of 47 reviewers with sensitive skin said it irritated or stung, and 28% of its reviews mention irritation. That is the weakest record here at 35 of 47.

What if a moisturizer stings or my skin gets red?

Reviews can't tell you how your own skin will react, and sensitive skin varies a lot from person to person. If a product stings or turns your skin red, stop using it. If the reaction is severe, painful or sudden, a doctor or dermatologist is the right call.

Related problems

Face wash Face wash for sensitive skin Top pick: Clinique All About Clean Foaming Face Cleanser 362 buyer reports Sunscreen Sunscreen for sensitive skin Top pick: Lancôme UV Expert Supra Screen SPF 50+ 135 buyer reports Face moisturizer Moisturizer for dry skin Top pick: Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Cream 352 buyer reports Vitamin C serum Vitamin C serum for dark spots Top pick: Dermalogica Biolumin-C Vitamin C Serum 240 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.