An affordable skincare brand is taking over TikTok and social media, with many claiming it to be “the best” they’ve ever used.
If you’re someone who regularly scrolls through TikTok, you may have come across videos of men and women showing their skincare routines (in amongst the plethora of ‘get ready with me’ posts and that famous dancing Chinese man), which will all likely feature the same brand: CeraVe.
CeraVe was launched in 2006 and is a skincare brand regularly recommended by dermatologists, due to the fact that CeraVe skincare products contain a bucketload of active ingredients that can work wonders for your skin.
And now, thanks to several paid and unpaid endorsements by a plethora of happy customers, CeraVe has practically broken the internet (along with The Ordinary). As Harpers Bazaar says, “In the US in particular, Cerave is having a moment. Gen Z shoppers are stripping the shelves clean.”
CeraVe has also found fortune with the Australian public since launching Down Under in 2019, once again thanks to the beneficial list of ingredients being offered for affordable prices. The incredibly popular CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser is just AU$13.99 at Chemist Warehouse, for example.
As one video from user @dermdude points out, using a PM facial moisturising lotion as an example, CeraVe would probably be overlooked by customers because the packaging is “kind of boring. This is the boring-ass s**t your dermatologist is going to recommend.”
“But then you turn around the bottle and you look at the ingredients list and you’re like, holy cow, this has a lot of amazing active ingredients in it. This has triglycerides, niacinamide and a bunch of ceramides. And then the other thing you might not realise that this has is hyaluronic acid.”
It’s the ceramides and hyaluronic acid that are the star ingredients in CeraVe products. Refinery29 explains the benefits of both, “Ceramides are fatty acids naturally found in the skin; think of them like glue that binds skin cells together. Without them, skin can become dry, inflamed, itchy and irritated, and a lack of ceramides can even potentially lead to eczema and atopic dermatitis.”
“Hyaluronic acid also occurs in the skin. It holds 1,000 times its weight in water, making it seriously hydrating.”
TikTok user Dermdude continues, “There are a lot of more expensive brands out there and the only thing that’s different between those brands and this one, is the packaging.”
@mickey.keo Unfortunately not sponsored by @CeraVe but this is my current PM skincare 😉 #fy #skincare ♬ I like your style – ᴊᴏʀᴅᴀɴᴀᴜᴅɪᴏᴢᴢ 🦋
As with any skincare product, you need to make sure the one you get is going to play nice with your skin type, so always be sure to consult a dermatologist to determine which is going to be best for you. It does need to be mentioned, however, that CeraVe – owned by French cosmetics company L’Oréal – can’t be considered cruelty-free.
Even though L’Oréal states on its website that it doesn’t test products on animals, a value claimed to be shared by all the companies it owns, a line in the official animal testing policy reads “Certain health authorities may nevertheless decide to conduct animal tests themselves for certain cosmetic products, as it is still the case in China.”
As CrueltyFreeKitty.com points out, “Even though L’Oréal and CeraVe claim that it’s the “health authorities” and not their company that test their products on animals, it’s important to note that L’Oréal and CeraVe had to pay for these tests to be performed. Companies that are truly cruelty-free refuse to sell in stores in mainland China.”
An ethical and moral dilemma, we think you’ll agree.
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