NIVEA Creme On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Glycerin is the reason to consider this moisturizer, with Pro-vitamin B5 behind it.
The case for it
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- Pro-vitamin B5, strong evidence for the barrier
- No alcohol, silicones 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 readNIVEA Creme is a moisturizer built around Glycerin, Mineral Oil and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and very dry skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
Skip it if your skin reacts to fragrance: this one is scented.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
13 of the 21 sit above the 1% line. The other 8, 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
- Not in our library yet
What it delivers
How it feels A rich, cushiony cream that sinks in slowly. Comforting on dry skin, possibly too much for oily skin in summer. (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.
Highly purified mineral oil that forms an occlusive layer to reduce water loss and soften very dry skin.
Humectant and soothing ingredient that helps calm irritation and supports barrier repair and recovery.
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
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Mineral Oilderived from what it is
- Pro-vitamin B5derived from what it is
3 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 and anti-aging.
On hydration, barrier repair and brightening 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 7 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 21 ingredients, decoded
- AquaSolvent (base)
- Paraffinum LiquidumEmollient
- Cera MicrocristallinaOcclusive (wax)
- GlycerinHumectant
- Lanolin AlcoholEmollient (lanolin)
- ParaffinOcclusive (wax)
- PanthenolHumectant
- Magnesium SulfateMineral
- Decyl Oleate
- Octyldodecanol
- Aluminum Stearates
- Citric AcidExfoliantmild irritant
- Magnesium StearateMineral
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Limonene down, these 8 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- LimoneneFragrance componentmild irritant
- GeraniolFragrance component
- Hydroxycitronellal
- LinaloolFragrance componentmild irritant
- CitronellolFragrance component
- Benzyl Benzoate
- Cinnamyl Alcohol
- ParfumFragrancecan irritate
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua, Paraffinum Liquidum, Cera Microcristallina, Glycerin, Lanolin Alcohol, Paraffin, Panthenol, Magnesium Sulfate, Decyl Oleate, Octyldodecanol, Aluminum Stearates, Citric Acid, Magnesium Stearate, Limonene, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Parfum
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
- Creme vs CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
- Creme vs CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
- Creme vs CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
- Creme vs Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream
- Creme vs The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA
- Creme vs La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+
- Creme vs Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Baume
- Creme vs CeraVe SA Lotion for Rough & Bumpy Skin
- Creme vs Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
- Creme vs Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion
- Creme vs La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo+ M
- Creme vs Eau Thermale Avène Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective Cream
Common questions
Is NIVEA Creme good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, very dry skin. NIVEA Creme is a moisturizer built around Glycerin, Mineral Oil and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and very dry skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
How do you use NIVEA Creme?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in NIVEA Creme?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Mineral Oil, Pro-vitamin B5. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows NIVEA Creme beside a cross-section of skin, with 2 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Pro-vitamin B5 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.
