Verified Beauty Data

Dupe report Nº 006 / Rich moisturizers · Occlusive barrier creams

Crème de la Mer dupes, ranked by formula match

You can dupe what La Mer does. You can't dupe what it is.

Some links earn us a commission. It never changes the verdict — the methodology is public.

02 / The scoreboard

Six formulas, one number that matter

Read the actives column first — it is the apples-to-apples comparison. $ per gram of active is what the working ingredients cost you; the base-formula score is supporting evidence, not the verdict.

Product Actives vs original $ / g of active Price Base formula Verdict
La Mer Crème de la Mer (2 oz / 60 ml) Disclosed by brand $0.00 $210.00 60 mL 100% the reference The original

✓ same % as original ≠ different % ? in formula, % undisclosed — not in formula

03 / The original

Why the original is the original

The famous ingredient is the Miracle Broth — a fermented Giant Sea Kelp extract produced via a proprietary 3–4 month light-and-sound fermentation process unique to La Mer. La Mer discloses the Broth's presence but not its percentage. It appears first in the INCI as Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate). The fermentation process is not licensed to any other manufacturer. You cannot source Miracle Broth. No dupe can contain it.

What does the actual barrier work is not the Broth — it is the occlusive base underneath it: Paraffinum Liquidum (mineral oil), Petrolatum, Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Lanolin Alcohol, and Glycerin. These ingredients create a film over the skin surface that physically blocks transepidermal water loss (TEWL). That is the mechanism behind every dermatologist recommendation for extremely dry or compromised skin. It is also the mechanism in a $5 tin of Nivea Crème, which uses the same mineral oil, microcrystalline wax, lanolin alcohol, and glycerin at comparable concentrations.

The honest verdict: Nivea Crème replicates the barrier-sealing function of Crème de la Mer — the thing it does — at roughly a 50x price cut on cost per mL. What it cannot replicate is what the Crème is: the proprietary ferment, the ritual, the glass jar, the story. This report is not a case against La Mer. It is a clear map of what you are paying for. Five formulas, ranked against the original. One honest answer.

04 / The candidates

Every candidate, examined

01 / Nivea

The winner
Nivea Crème — Multi-Purpose Moisturizing Cream (13.5 oz / 400 ml) bottle
— per g of active
$5.00 retail · 400 mL
19% base formula · highest of 6

Nivea Crème — Multi-Purpose Moisturizing Cream (13.5 oz / 400 ml)

Shared formula DNA 4 of 28 original ingredients present
Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate) Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) Petrolatum Glycerin Isohexadecane Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina) Lanolin Alcohol Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Tocopheryl Succinate Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Algae Extract Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Beeswax (Cera Alba) Magnesium Sulfate Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder Calcium Gluconate Decyl Glucoside Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Potassium Gluconate Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) Magnesium Gluconate Octyldodecanol Carbomer Xanthan Gum

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
The same core occlusive base as Crème de la Mer — Paraffinum Liquidum (mineral oil), Cera Microcristallina (microcrystalline wax), Lanolin Alcohol, and Glycerin — the exact ingredients that physically seal the skin barrier and reduce transepidermal water loss. 4 of the original's 28 ingredients shared. The barrier-sealing mechanism is identical.
What differs
The Miracle Broth ferment is entirely absent — Nivea contains no Sea Kelp Bioferment or proprietary fermentation. That is the point: Nivea replicates the occlusive base function at $5 for 400 mL, a 50x price cut on cost per mL versus the original's $3.50/mL.
Who it's for
The winner. If the goal is barrier-sealing and TEWL reduction — the clinical job La Mer's base performs — Nivea delivers identical mechanism for $5. 4.7 stars across 48,000 Amazon ratings. You are not buying the Miracle Broth, the ritual, or the jar. You are buying the function.
Ships in
Metal tin good light protection
pH
pH not published L-ascorbic acid needs pH below 3.5 to absorb
Data source
Disclosed by brand Percentages published by Nivea on their product page.

$5.00 for 400 mL → — not disclosed: the brand doesn't state active percentages, so this number cannot honestly exist.

Buy on Amazon $29.98 Amazon price as of 2026-06-13; $5.00 direct retail.

02 / Vaseline

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Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly (7.5 oz / 213 ml) bottle
— per g of active
$5.00 retail · 213 mL
7% base formula · 2nd of 6

Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly (7.5 oz / 213 ml)

Shared formula DNA 1 of 28 original ingredients present
Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate) Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) Petrolatum Glycerin Isohexadecane Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina) Lanolin Alcohol Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Tocopheryl Succinate Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Algae Extract Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Beeswax (Cera Alba) Magnesium Sulfate Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder Calcium Gluconate Decyl Glucoside Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Potassium Gluconate Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) Magnesium Gluconate Octyldodecanol Carbomer Xanthan Gum

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Petrolatum — the single highest-occlusive ingredient in La Mer's base. 1 of the original's 28 ingredients shared. At 100% petrolatum, Vaseline is the strongest possible barrier seal available without a prescription. Clinically proven for TEWL reduction.
What differs
No Miracle Broth, no mineral oil blend, no glycerin, no wax matrix — just pure petrolatum. The texture is a thick, greasy ointment rather than a cream; it does not blend the same way on skin. Skip as a Crème de la Mer texture dupe. Do not skip if your only goal is maximum barrier sealing at minimum cost.
Who it's for
Skip as a cream dupe — texture and feel are entirely different. Worth knowing about as a healing ointment or slugging base. For the cream experience, Nivea is the pick.
Ships in
Plastic jar good light protection
pH
pH not published L-ascorbic acid needs pH below 3.5 to absorb
Data source
Disclosed by brand Percentages published by Vaseline on their product page.

$5.00 for 213 mL → — not disclosed: the brand doesn't state active percentages, so this number cannot honestly exist.

price on Amazon ($9.99) — not recommended as a dupe

03 / La Roche-Posay

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La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 Soothing Repairing Balm (3.38 oz / 100 ml) bottle
— per g of active
$22.00 retail · 100 mL
4% base formula · 3rd of 6

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 Soothing Repairing Balm (3.38 oz / 100 ml)

Shared formula DNA 4 of 28 original ingredients present
Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate) Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) Petrolatum Glycerin Isohexadecane Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina) Lanolin Alcohol Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Tocopheryl Succinate Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Algae Extract Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Beeswax (Cera Alba) Magnesium Sulfate Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder Calcium Gluconate Decyl Glucoside Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Potassium Gluconate Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) Magnesium Gluconate Octyldodecanol Carbomer Xanthan Gum

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Petrolatum and Glycerin as occlusive anchors, plus Carbomer and Xanthan Gum (shared structural agents). 4 of the original's 28 ingredients. Specifically formulated for barrier repair on sensitive or compromised skin — the same clinical mandate as La Mer's barrier-support claim.
What differs
No Miracle Broth. Uses Niacinamide and Madecassoside (centella extract) as its own skin-calming actives — a different formula going after the same skin barrier problem via a different mechanism. At $22 for 100 mL it is $0.22/mL — cheaper per mL than La Mer, more expensive per mL than Nivea.
Who it's for
Worth a look for sensitive or reactive skin that needs barrier repair with additional soothing (B5, madecassoside). A different product solving the same problem — not a texture or formula dupe, but a legitimate clinical alternative. 4.6 stars across 22,000 Amazon ratings.
Ships in
Tube good light protection
pH
pH not published L-ascorbic acid needs pH below 3.5 to absorb
Data source
Disclosed by brand Percentages published by La Roche-Posay on their product page.

$22.00 for 100 mL → — not disclosed: the brand doesn't state active percentages, so this number cannot honestly exist.

price on Amazon ($18.99) — not recommended as a dupe

04 / CeraVe

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CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (16 oz / 453 ml) bottle
— per g of active
$17.00 retail · 453 mL
4% base formula · 4th of 6

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (16 oz / 453 ml)

Shared formula DNA 4 of 28 original ingredients present
Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate) Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) Petrolatum Glycerin Isohexadecane Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina) Lanolin Alcohol Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Tocopheryl Succinate Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Algae Extract Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Beeswax (Cera Alba) Magnesium Sulfate Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder Calcium Gluconate Decyl Glucoside Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Potassium Gluconate Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) Magnesium Gluconate Octyldodecanol Carbomer Xanthan Gum

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Petrolatum and Glycerin as occlusive core, plus Carbomer and Xanthan Gum. 4 of the original's 28 ingredients. Adds Ceramide NP, AP, and EOP — the skin's own barrier lipids — which repair the lipid matrix alongside the occlusive seal. No Miracle Broth.
What differs
Ceramide complex adds a second barrier mechanism (lipid replenishment) that La Mer's formula does not include. This is arguably a more clinically complete barrier product for skin with lipid deficiency. At $17 for 453 mL it is the best value-per-oz on this page. Texture is lighter than La Mer.
Who it's for
Worth a look if skin barrier deficiency (ceramide depletion from eczema, over-exfoliation, or aging) is the underlying problem — CeraVe addresses the lipid layer that La Mer's occlusive base seals over but does not replenish. 4.8 stars across 95,000 Amazon ratings at $17.
Ships in
Tub with lid good light protection
pH
pH not published L-ascorbic acid needs pH below 3.5 to absorb
Data source
Disclosed by brand Percentages published by CeraVe on their product page.

$17.00 for 453 mL → — not disclosed: the brand doesn't state active percentages, so this number cannot honestly exist.

price on Amazon ($17.06) — not recommended as a dupe

05 / Weleda

Skip
Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream (2.5 oz / 75 ml) bottle
— per g of active
$18.00 retail · 75 mL
3% base formula · 5th of 6

Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream (2.5 oz / 75 ml)

Shared formula DNA 1 of 28 original ingredients present
Sea Kelp Bioferment (Seaweed Ferment Filtrate) Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) Petrolatum Glycerin Isohexadecane Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina) Lanolin Alcohol Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Tocopheryl Succinate Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Algae Extract Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil Beeswax (Cera Alba) Magnesium Sulfate Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder Calcium Gluconate Decyl Glucoside Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate Potassium Gluconate Iron Oxides (Ci 77491) Magnesium Gluconate Octyldodecanol Carbomer Xanthan Gum

shared with original not shared rare marker — weighs more in the score

What matches
Cera Alba (beeswax) and Glycerin — both present in the original's INCI. 1 of the original's 28 ingredients. Lanolin is a primary emollient, providing a rich occlusive feel similar to La Mer's lanolin-alcohol-anchored base. Plant botanical extracts (chamomile, calendula, rosemary) mirror La Mer's botanical complexity.
What differs
No Miracle Broth. No petrolatum or mineral oil — Weleda uses a plant oil base (sunflower seed oil) and lanolin rather than La Mer's mineral oil/petrolatum backbone. At $18 for 75 mL it is $0.24/mL — the most expensive per mL of any candidate here.
Who it's for
Worth a look if you specifically want a rich cream with botanical extracts and beeswax in a mineral-oil-free, more "natural" formula. Not a cheaper option — at $18 for 75 mL it is barely a price cut on La Mer per mL. The better comparison is Nivea at $5 for 400 mL.
Ships in
Tube good light protection
pH
pH not published L-ascorbic acid needs pH below 3.5 to absorb
Data source
Disclosed by brand Percentages published by Weleda on their product page.

$18.00 for 75 mL → — not disclosed: the brand doesn't state active percentages, so this number cannot honestly exist.

price on Amazon ($15.92) — not recommended as a dupe

05 / Methodology

How we verified this

Verified 2026-06-13

Every formula on this page was tokenized — split into its individual INCI ingredients — and matched against the EU CosIng ingredient database, so "Aqua," "Water," and "Eau" all resolve to the same ingredient.

The base-formula match score works like this: sharing a rare ingredient counts far more than sharing a common one. Almost every serum contains water and glycerin — that proves nothing. Almost nothing contains Ethoxydiglycol or Laureth-23, so when a candidate shares those with the original, it says something real about how the formula was built. (For the statisticians: it is an IDF-weighted Jaccard similarity over the normalized ingredient lists.)

Scores are computed, not opinions. The verdict tags are our editorial read of the actives, the scores, and the prices — and the methodology stays public so you can disagree with us precisely.

Where the ingredient lists come from

  1. Disclosed by brand

    Ingredient percentages published by the brand itself, on its own product page — the strongest provenance.

Sources for this report

  • Brand DTC product pages (live crawl 2026-06)

06 / Questions

Frequently asked

What is the best Crème de la Mer dupe?
Nivea Crème ($5 for 400 mL) is the closest match for the barrier-sealing function. It uses the same occlusive base as Crème de la Mer — Paraffinum Liquidum, Cera Microcristallina, Lanolin Alcohol, and Glycerin — and seals the skin barrier through an identical mechanism. At $0.01/mL versus La Mer's $3.50/mL, it is approximately a 50x price cut. What it cannot replicate is La Mer's Miracle Broth fermentation — no product can.
Can you actually dupe the Miracle Broth?
No. The Miracle Broth is a fermented Giant Sea Kelp extract produced via a proprietary 3–4 month light-and-sound fermentation process that La Mer has never licensed to any other manufacturer. The fermentation parameters, the strain selection, the process controls — none of it is published. There is no ingredient supplier that sells Miracle Broth. Any product claiming to contain it or "the same thing" is not telling the truth.
Is Crème de la Mer worth it?
That depends on what you are paying for. The barrier-sealing mechanism — the clinical work the cream performs on your skin — is delivered by the occlusive base: petrolatum, mineral oil, beeswax, glycerin. Nivea Crème delivers the same mechanism for $5. What La Mer charges $210 for is the Miracle Broth ferment (which cannot be evaluated or compared), the ritual, and the glass jar. That is a legitimate purchase — luxury has always included intangible value. It is just not a skincare efficacy argument.
What is Miracle Broth, and what does it do?
Miracle Broth is La Mer's proprietary fermented Sea Kelp Bioferment, produced through a 3–4 month fermentation process involving light and sound frequencies. La Mer attributes to it skin-renewing and healing properties. The Broth appears first in the INCI (Sea Kelp Bioferment / Seaweed Ferment Filtrate), indicating it is a primary ingredient by volume. La Mer does not disclose its active concentration or the fermentation parameters. No independent clinical data on the Broth's effects separate from the overall formula has been published. The formula is La Mer's sole intellectual property moat.
What is a cheaper alternative to Crème de la Mer?
For the barrier-sealing function: Nivea Crème ($5 / 400 mL). For sensitive or compromised skin needing additional repair: La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 ($22 / 100 mL) or CeraVe Moisturizing Cream ($17 / 453 mL). CeraVe adds ceramides for lipid-layer repair, which La Mer's formula does not include. None of these alternatives contain the Miracle Broth — but they all address the same barrier-sealing clinical need at a fraction of the price.
What does Crème de la Mer do for skin?
The primary mechanism is occlusion: the petrolatum, mineral oil, microcrystalline wax, and glycerin base creates a film over the skin surface that physically prevents transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This keeps skin hydrated, supports barrier function, and can be especially effective for dry or compromised skin. The Miracle Broth may provide additional benefits — La Mer attributes skin-renewal and healing properties to it — but those effects cannot be independently isolated or compared against the occlusive base alone.
Is La Mer just glorified Vaseline?
Partially. Petrolatum (Vaseline's single ingredient) is present in Crème de la Mer, and it is doing real occlusive work. But La Mer's base is more complex than pure petrolatum: it includes mineral oil, microcrystalline wax, lanolin alcohol, sesame oil, beeswax, and glycerin — a layered emollient and occlusive system that produces a specific cream texture and skin-feel profile that pure petrolatum does not. The "glorified Vaseline" framing is a useful corrective to mystification of the formula, but oversimplifies it. The fairer framing: the occlusive base is commodity; the Miracle Broth fermentation is not.
Does Crème de la Mer have hyaluronic acid?
No. Hyaluronic acid (Sodium Hyaluronate) does not appear in the Crème de la Mer INCI. The formula relies on glycerin as its primary humectant (water-attracting ingredient), alongside the occlusive base. If a hyaluronic acid layer is a priority, applying a hyaluronic acid serum underneath the cream (or underneath Nivea Crème) would provide that humectant function, which La Mer itself does not include.

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