Ole Henriksen vs Drunk Elephant 2024 (The Definitive Guide)

Famed for their nourishing skincare products packed with efficacious actives and natural botanicals, both Ole Henriksen and Drunk Elephant are more than worthy of occupying some shelf space in your bathroom.

Come with us as we compare their best-sellers side-by-side to help you decide which is best for you and your skincare routine. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate we earn commission from qualifying purchases.

Phat Glow Facial vs Babyfacial

Facials - otherwise known as peels - are a cosmetic treatment that remove the uppermost layers of your skin to reveal the fresh, healthy skin cells hiding beneath. Not only do they help to instantly improve the skin's appearance, but they can also help minimize wrinkles, dullness, hyperpigmentation, uneven skin texture, and acne.

Two of the best facials you can buy are the Ole Henriksen PHAT Glow Facial and the Drunk Elephant TLC Sukari Babyfacial. Beyond the obvious differences between the bottles, we're going to have to dive straight into their formulas to start seeing any real differences.

Despite being the quickest and most effective way to improve your skin's appearance, chemical exfoliation gets a seriously bad rap for being sensitizing and causing unsightly redness. However, both of these facials have clever tricks up their sleeves to ensure your skin reaps all of the benefits and none of the downsides.

The Drunk Elephant TLC Sukari Babyfacial contains a whopping 25% AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) plus 2% BHA (Beta Hydroxy Acid) blend, including pretty much every acid you could think of: glycolic, tartaric, lactic, citric, and salicylic. This potent formula dramatically smooths texture while minimizing the look of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles - but how on Earth does it work without giving us gnarly chemical burns? Well, it's all to do with the pH of the formula - which is set to an ideal 3.5 - meaning that efficacy is assured without the redness and sensitization. Clever!

Ole Henriksen takes a completely different approach with the PHAT Glow Facial. It does away with the potentially sensitizing AHAs and BHAs entirely, and instead uses PHAs (Poly Hydroxy Acids). What makes PHAs so special? Well, like AHAs, they deliver skin-perfecting results, but PHA molecules are bigger, so they don't penetrate quite as deeply into the skin, thus causing much less irritation.

To sweeten the deal, both facials also include a flurry of additional skin-nourishing, soothing, and conditioning botanical ingredients. Starring in the TLC Sukari Babyfacial is Chick Pea Flour which further helps to balance and brighten the skin's appearance. For the PHAT Glow Facial, Nordic Birch Sap helps hydrate and nourish the skin. You could continue to list off and compare these plant extracts all day, but ultimately any practical differences would be anecdotal at best.

In practice, Drunk Elephant's Babyfacial is super easy to apply and there's no notable fragrance or scent. It does cause a slight tingling sensation, but not irritating per se. It washes off easily and skin definitely looks smoother and brighter immediately after rinsing. Closer inspection reveals pores that are noticably minimized, but there is a bit of temporary redness.

The PHAT Glow Facial is much stickier than Babyfacial, making it a little bit trickier to apply. It also has a synthetic fragrance to it which isn't exactly pleasant, but not off-putting either. Unlike Babyfacial, there's no tingling sensation, but it is a little harder to wash off due to the clay base. The results seem very similar. No redness at all after rinsing.

The Ole Henriksen PHAT Glow Facial clocks in at almost half the price of Drunk Elephant's Babyfacial per fluid ounce, but is it a dupe? Honestly, no - at least not in the true sense of the word.

With the PHAT Glow Facial the recommendation is to use it twice a week for the maximum effect. The TLC Sukari Babyfacial, on the other hand, is intended to be used once weekly, so realistically the price difference doesn't actually exist at all when you consider how long each product lasts.

Ultimately, we prefer Drunk Elephant's TLC Sukari Babyfacial. If you have extremely sensitive skin, then perhaps the PHAT Glow Facial would be better suited due to the inherent difference between PHAs and AHAs/BHAs - that said, if you have extremely sensitive skin, we'd urge you to stay away from peels altogether.

Ole Henriksen vs Drunk Elephant Vitamin C

Vitamin C is by far the most popular vitamin for skincare, and rightfully so. Regular use of vitamin C helps your skin produce collagen, heal wounds, reverse sun damage, brighten your complexion, prevent aging, and improve overall skin tone. Skin care experts recommend that even the simplest of skincare routines should include vitamin C because it also makes your SPF more effective.

For this match up, we'll be comparing Ole Henriksen's Truth Serum vs Drunk Elephant's C-Firma Fresh Day Serum.

With both serums boasting thousands of glowing reviews and being advertised as brightening Vitamin C serums, you'd be forgiven for believing they must be fairly similar. In truth, they're anything but.

The Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum contains the most effective form of Vitamin C at the most effective dosage: L-Ascorbic Acid at a concentration of 15%. The formula is further reinforced with 0.5% ferulic acid and 1% vitamin E, and is at the optimal pH (2.5) to ensure maximum potency and stability.

The Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, on the other hand, contains a weaker form of Vitamin C at a much weaker dosage: a combo of Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate and Calcium Ascorbate at a concentration of 1.5%. While in theory this makes it "much more stable", the effects are far less potent than that of Drunk Elephant's.

Both serums contain additional botanical goodies. This includes nourishing Aloe Juice and Orange/Green tea extracts in Ole Henriksen's Truth Serum, and antioxidant Pumpkin, Grape, Pomegranate, and Indian Gooseberry extracts in Drunk Elephant's C-Firma Serum.

For veteran Vitamin C users, seriously look no further than the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum. It delivers the most precisely optimal dosage of Vitamin C that you can possibly find, and you won't find one better.

For those looking for their first foray into the world of Vitamin C serums, the Ole Henriksen Truth Serum is an excellent start due to it being a lot weaker, allowing your skin to grow accustomed to the potency of Vitamin C.

Ole Henriksen vs Drunk Elephant Eye Cream

Finally, the eye creams. We could all use a bit of boost under and around the eyes from time to time, and one of the best ways to do this is with a Vitamin C infused eye cream such as the Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream and the Drunk Elephant C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream.

With both being rich and restorative, as well as featuring brightening Vitamin C to ward off dark circles and fine lines, the differences come down to a few subtleties.

Inspired by banana powder, the Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream contains special pigments that instantly brighten and color-correct the eye area. It also creates a smooth, well-rested canvas that improves concealer wear. This all means you get instant results while the skincare elements work discretely in the background to improve the underlying skin over time.

The Drunk Elephant C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream doesn't contain any coverage, and is a 100% skincare solution to ridding dark circles and stubborn signs of aging. It contains a combination of eight peptides, five forms of vitamin C, and cucumber extract for firmer, stronger-looking skin around the eye area.

It has to be said, the reviews for Ole Henriksen's Banana Bright Eye Cream leave a lot to be desired, with a lot of complaints regarding irritation. If you dig deep enough into Drunk Elephant's Eye Cream reviews, you will find the same thing. This is because Vitamin C is strong, and really isn't meant to be used for sensitive skin, and remember that the skin around your eyes is some of the most sensitive skin on your body...

All in all, you should only really consider opting for one of these eye creams if you have had success with Vitamin C in the past. Our recommendation would be to check out some of the equally effective (and super gentle) best French eye creams.

If you're undeterred by the hit-or-miss reviews, our recommendation would be Drunk Elephant's C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream (which seems to be the gentler and most well-received of the two).

This article was originally published on May 12th 2022, but it has been reviewed and updated with the latest available information on February 5th 2024 by Sara Mckay, MA.