Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Glycerin is the reason to consider this moisturizer, with Hydroxyethyl Urea behind it.
The case for it
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- Hydroxyethyl Urea, moderate evidence for hydration
- No fragrance, alcohol or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readCetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion is a moisturizer built around Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Urea and Sodium PCA. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and rough skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
Skip it if you already own something similar: it's a solid, honest basic rather than a must-have upgrade.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
13 of the 16 sit above the 1% line. The other 3, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
What it delivers
How it feels A smooth, silky lotion that spreads easily and leaves a soft, near-blurred finish. (estimated from the formula)
What's in it that matters
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Non-keratolytic urea derivative that delivers strong humectant benefits without the peeling associated with higher urea levels.
Component of skin’s natural moisturizing factor that helps attract and hold water in the stratum corneum.
Hyaluronic acid cut into shorter fragments, so it sits into the surface rather than resting on top of it. It works with the full-size form rather than replacing it.
Low-calorie polyol that provides light humectancy and a subtle cooling feel in leave-on products.
How to use it
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where it acts
The same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Erythritolderived from what it is
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Hydrolyzed hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
- Hydroxyethyl Ureaderived from what it is
- Sodium PCAderived from what it is
5 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
Against the average moisturizer
It scores lower than the median moisturizer on oil control, anti-aging, brightening and barrier repair.
On hydration it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 12 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
All 16 ingredients, decoded
- WaterSolvent (base)
- Dicaprylyl CarbonateEmollient (ester)
- Hydroxyethyl UreaHumectant
- CyclopentasiloxaneEmollient
- GlycerinHumectant
- Glyceryl StearateEmulsifier
- PEG-100 StearateEmulsifier
- Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic AcidHumectant
- Sodium HydroxidePh adjustermild irritant
- Homarine HCl
- Sodium PCAHumectant
- Cetyl AlcoholEmollient
- Caprylyl GlycolPreservative booster
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Phenoxyethanol down, these 3 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- ErythritolHumectant
Worth knowing: Erythritol sits below that line. It is in there, and the label does not tell you how much. That is not the same as saying it is too little to matter.
Copy the raw INCI list
Water, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Homarine HCl, Sodium PCA, Cetyl Alcohol, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Erythritol
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Compare it with…
All 12 comparisons
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs CeraVe SA Lotion for Rough & Bumpy Skin
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo+ M
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs NIVEA Creme
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs Eau Thermale Avène Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective Cream
- Daily Hydrating Lotion vs CeraVe Eye Repair Cream
Common questions
Is Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, rough skin. Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion is a moisturizer built around Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Urea and Sodium PCA. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and rough skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
How do you use Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Sodium PCA, Hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, Erythritol. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows Cetaphil Daily Hydrating Lotion beside a cross-section of skin, with 3 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Hydroxyethyl Urea and Sodium PCA in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
