All scans / Moisturizers / Pond's Dry Skin Cream
Pond's Dry Skin Cream ingredients: is it worth it?
Cheap, old-school moisture bomb — but the fragrance load and comedogenic ester keep it from being a clean win.
Cheap, old-school moisture bomb — but the fragrance load and comedogenic ester keep it from being a clean win.
READ MORE
The efficacy score is driven by a strong occlusive base of mineral oil, petrolatum, and waxes plus glycerin for real water retention, but it loses points because the formula is mostly a basic barrier seal with no true treatment actives, and the heavy fragrance package plus isopropyl palmitate make it less elegant and less broadly suitable.
We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. Links never influence scores.
DemythSkin rates Pond's Dry Skin Cream 3.6/5 for efficacy and 3.2/5 for safety.
CONTAINS COMMON SENSITISERS⌄
Fragrance components and essential oils that more often cause reactions in sensitive skin: Fragrance (Parfum), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Citrus Aurantium Peel Oil, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Linalool. Most people tolerate them; patch test if your skin reacts easily.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS BY TIER
Gold Standards
High clinical proof | Skin-transformativeReliable
Proven resultsPotent
Developing evidenceOverhyped | Marketing
Hype | Limited dataDocumented Irritants
Evidence-backed flagFORMULATION BASE (12)⌄
FULL INGREDIENT LIST⌄
Water (Aqua), Mineral Oil, Isopropyl Palmitate, Petrolatum, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Ceresin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Oleate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Triethanolamine, Fragrance (Parfum), Laureth-23, Carbomer, PEG-4 Dilaurate, PEG-4 Laurate, Disodium EDTA, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, PEG-4, Tocopherol, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amyl Cinnamal, Beta-Caryophyllene, Cananga Odorata Oil/Extract, Citronellol, Citrus Aurantium Peel Oil, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Isoeugenyl Acetate, Juniperus Virginiana Oil, Limonene, Linalool, Linalyl Acetate, Methyl Salicylate.
WHAT EACH INGREDIENT DOES (24)⌄
- Water (Aqua)
- solvent
- Mineral Oil
- occlusive emollient
- Isopropyl Palmitate
- emollient ester
- Petrolatum
- occlusive barrier seal
- Glycerin
- humectant
- Stearic Acid
- fatty acid thickener
- Ceresin
- structuring wax
- Glyceryl Stearate
- emulsifier
- Cetyl Alcohol
- emollient fatty alcohol
- Sorbitan Oleate
- emulsifier
- Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax
- wax thickener
- Phenoxyethanol
- preservative
- Triethanolamine
- pH adjuster
- Fragrance (Parfum)
- fragrance
- Laureth-23
- solubilizer
- Carbomer
- gel thickener
- PEG-4 Dilaurate
- emulsifier
- PEG-4 Laurate
- emulsifier
- Disodium EDTA
- chelator
- Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
- preservative
- PEG-4
- solubilizer
- Tocopherol
- antioxidant
- Butylated Hydroxytoluene
- antioxidant
- Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
- fragrance allergen
EXTERNAL CITATIONS
Petrolatum: Strong occlusive ingredient with well-established transepidermal water loss reduction.
Glycerin: Well-studied humectant that supports stratum corneum hydration.
Fragrance (Parfum): Declared fragrance plus multiple fragrance allergens are present in the formula.
DISCLAIMER: THIS ANALYSIS IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. AI-GENERATED DATA BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INGREDIENT LISTS. VERIFY WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.
Pond's Dry Skin Cream: common questions
Is Pond's Dry Skin Cream worth it?
Pond's Dry Skin Cream scores 3.6 out of 5.0 for efficacy (Modest) and 3.2 out of 5.0 for safety (Some Risk) on DemythSkin's independent ingredient analysis. Cheap, old-school moisture bomb — but the fragrance load and comedogenic ester keep it from being a clean win.
What are the key active ingredients in Pond's Dry Skin Cream?
Pond's Dry Skin Cream contains no gold-standard actives. Its formula is built on supporting and base ingredients rather than clinically transformative actives.
Does Pond's Dry Skin Cream contain fragrance or known irritants?
DemythSkin flags these ingredients in Pond's Dry Skin Cream as documented irritants: Fragrance (Parfum), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amyl Cinnamal, Cananga Odorata Oil/Extract, Citronellol, Citrus Aurantium Peel Oil, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Juniperus Virginiana Oil, Limonene, Linalool. This product does contain fragrance.
How is Pond's Dry Skin Cream scored?
DemythSkin grades every product on two independent scores: efficacy (whether the ingredients have clinical evidence of working) and safety (irritation and sensitisation risk). Ingredients are graded S through D against a database of over 3,000 compounds. Brand and price are not part of the score, and no brand pays for one.
Free scores for every product in the database, or see them on Sephora, Ulta and Amazon with the Chrome extension.