This week’s race
La Roche-Posay leads; Paula's Choice climbs 2 spots.
Power ranking
Who leads this sub.
The reviewer check
The machines rank these brands. We checked their products against the people who filmed them.
Every score is distilled from independent YouTube reviews of the products the AIs name here — then set beside the AI rank.
This week?
La Roche-Posay holds the top spot for the eighth consecutive week in skincare rankings. Tatcha made the sharpest move, climbing thirteen places from number twenty-three to number ten, while CosRX rose eight spots to number thirteen. Clinique fell hardest, dropping nine places to twenty-five, and Bioderma lost eight to land at twenty-two. Two new entries joined the list: Naturium at eighteen and Medik8 at twenty-one.
The questions?
These rankings answer 12 buyer questions. Open any one for the head-to-head.
The subcategory score is an aggregate. Each question has its own AI ranking, reviewer check and weekly movement — that's where the picks actually come from.
Act one
Where the machines rank them.
Three AI models rank every brand in this sub — who just arrived, the full board, the lineups each fields, and who owns each trait.
Newcomers
Just arrived.
new · Jun 2026
#92 · in best barrier repair creams
new · Jun 2026
#93 · in best hyaluronic acid serums
new · Jun 2026
#97 · in best acne patches
new · Jun 2026
#94 · in best niacinamide serums
new · Jun 2026
#41 · in best acne patches
new · Jun 2026
#89 · in best acne patches
new · Jun 2026
#49 · in best acne patches
new · Jun 2026
#71 · in best hyaluronic acid serums
new · Jun 2026
#63 · in best acne patches
Full ranking
Every brand ranked.
as of June 15 · vs June 16 · 12 intents?
Brand portfolios
What each brand fields here.
Tag champions
Who owns each trait in this sub.
Brand price map · Skincare
5 brands, one price line.
as of June 16 · 5 brand medians · Google Shopping?
Brand price ladder · Skincare
Who plays at which price.
as of June 16 · 5 brand medians · Google Shopping?
Act two · ★ new
What people & press say.
Where the AI ranking and the reviewers part ways — and which of these brands are making news right now.
AI vs the reviewers
Where the machines and the room part ways.
Most of this sub is calm agreement. These are the picks where the AI ranking and the people who filmed the product disagree the hardest.
The AI
#26The room
4.5/5▲ AIs rank it lower than the room
Viral Skincare Tested: Is Cicaplast Balm Worth the Hype? | Doctorly Reviews
Doctorly
Don't buy these TRASH La Roche-Posay Products: Doctor's Honest Reivew
Dr Nicole J
CeraVe's Big 'Deception'. Dermatologist Created Brand Or Marketing Gimmick?
James Welsh
Is EQUATE AS GOOD AS CERAVE & CETAPHIL CREAMS? DERMATOLOGIST @DrDrayzday REVIEWS
Dr Dray
Doctor V's Honest Review of Paula's Choice | BROWN/DARK SKIN OF COLOUR SKINCARE | BHA/retinol
Dr. Vanita Rattan
Paulas Choice : Brand Review + Favorites | Gothamista
Gothamista
In the press
Which brands are making news.
6 brands in Skincare drew coverage in the last 30 days — the mood skews positive.?
La Roche-PosayPositive
La Roche-Posay receives overwhelmingly positive coverage driven by expert endorsements, viral TikTok success, and high-profile brand partnerships with Illumination, alongside retail expansion and comm
via Forbes, PR Newswire, The Drum · 8 stories
Paula's ChoicePositive
Paula's Choice dominates coverage with strong product endorsements, major sports and World Cup sponsorships, and repeated promotional sales highlighting bestselling exfoliants and skincare items.
via Press & Sun-Bulletin, New York Post, HuffPost · 8 stories
The OrdinaryCritical
The Ordinary receives praise for affordable skincare products, but faces significant criticism over a failed free bus promotion in NYC that left riders stranded.
via instyle.com, the-independent.com, Stock Titan · 8 stories
SkinCeuticalsPositive
SkinCeuticals receives uniformly positive coverage dominated by its new Ferrari partnership and product innovation, with celebrity endorsements and favorable product reviews.
via WWD, Ferrari, Allure · 8 stories
Kiehl'sPositive
Kiehl's coverage is uniformly positive, dominated by new product launches, retail expansion, and brand partnerships alongside strong product endorsements from major publications.
via Yahoo Finance, The Jerusalem Post, RETAILBOSS | Substack · 8 stories
First Aid BeautyPositive
First Aid Beauty is receiving overwhelmingly positive coverage centered on its Team USA Olympic partnership and customer testimonials praising its sensitive-skin products.
via New York Magazine, hypebae.com, Marie Claire · 8 stories
as of June 4 · 6 brands?
Marketing honesty
Which brands keep their word.
9 brands in Skincare carry a marketing-honesty score — how their official claims hold up against owner & expert reviews. Field median 75.?
as of June 17 · 9 brands?
Act three
How the models think.
Where each brand actually competes across the buyer questions, and the running ledger of what just moved in this sub.
Intent dominance
Where each brand actually competes.
as of June 15 · 12 intents?
Ledger?
What just moved in this sub.
- ▼ fall#22 → #52
- ▼ fall#21 → #38
- ▲ climb#29 → #16
- ▼ fall#17 → #30
- ▲ climb#30 → #19
- ▲ climb#18 → #10
- ▲ climb#23 → #17
- ▼ fall#16 → #22
- ✦ debutdebut at #24
- ▼ fall#15 → #20
- ▲ climb#27 → #23
- ✦ debutdebut at #26
- ▼ fall#12 → #15
- ▲ climb#6 → #4
- ▼ fall#7 → #9
- ▲ climb#14 → #12
- ▼ fall#11 → #13
- ▲ climb#20 → #18
- ▼ fall#19 → #21
- ✦ debutdebut at #28
about skincare
Pick by what you need
- buying intents · in products →
- Best Moisturizers for Dry Skin
- Best Retinol for Beginners
- Best Vitamin C Serums
- Best Cleansers for Sensitive Skin
- Best Acne Treatments
- Best men's face moisturiser
- Best Niacinamide Serums
- Best Hyaluronic Acid Serums
- Best Peptide Serums
- Best Barrier Repair Creams
- Best Acne Patches
- Best Salicylic Acid Cleansers
interesting facts from skincare
Skincare brands divide by what they chase and who pays attention. Cetaphil and CeraVe move cheap and lean. Neutrogena works the drugstore middle. Estée Lauder and Clinique live in department stores and cost more. Drunk Elephant and The Ordinary sit online. Some brands promise science. Others promise luxury. A few promise both.
The category splits old and new money. Estée Lauder started in 1946 from a chemist's formula in a Manhattan apartment. That lineage still counts. A buyer picks by budget, by skin type, by whether she trusts the dermatologist or the Instagram post. The market has room for all three.
The brand rail stops here. For the individual products inside this sub, switch to the product view.