In our Weleda Skin Food review, we see if the cult cream is worth the hype and if it really can be used as a primer for makeup

Despite having been around for more than a century, Weleda has recently garnered a cult following online after a number of its products went viral on TikTok.

In particular, its Skin Food moisturiser.

Not only this cream lauded for how nourishing it is for dry and very dry skin, but it also garners a lot of praise for its multipurpose nature.

A number of influential makeup artists swear by it and include it in their makeup kits for use in skin prep and as a primer.

It can be used as a lip balm, face mask, and for any dry patches across your whole body.

We recently started a huge group test looking for the best moisturiser and the Weleda Skin Food was one of the most popular requests.

With all of this in mind, we wanted to put this cream to the test to see if it’s really as good as everyone says.

Keep reading our Weleda Skin Food review to discover if it lives up to the hype, if it’s good for your face, and if it really can be used as a primer for makeup.

Weleda Skin Food Review

There is an increasingly wide range of products in the Weleda Skin Food range.

Below we’ve listed the entire collection and explained which Weleda Skin Food is better for you, your skin type, and your needs.

• Skin Food Body Butter: This is the best Weleda Skin Food for your body. Although the standard Weleda Skin Food can be used all over your body, this body butter is slightly thinner and comes in a larger pot which makes it easier to apply all over.
• Skin Food Body Lotion: A thinner version of the Skin Food Body Butter. This is better for use in hotter months.
• Skin Food Light: A lighter, thinner version of the standard Weleda Skin Food.
• Skin Food Nourishing Cleansing Balm: This cleansing balm cleans the skin, removes makeup and impurities all while hydrating the skin.
• Skin Food Nourishing Day Cream: This cream is slightly lighter than the original Skin Food and is designed to help repair the skin barrier on the face.
• Skin Food Nourishing Night Cream: A thicker version of the day cream, designed to offer the same benefits but bring extra nourishment overnight.
• Skin Food Ultra Light Dry Oil: This oil is ideal for use after a bath or shower by locking in moisture.
• Skin Food Lip Balm: This Weleda Skin Food is better for your lips and delicate skin. You can use the original Weleda Skin Food for lips, but if you want a dedicated product, try this balm.

What is Weleda Skin Food?

What is Weleda Skin Food? Weleda Skin Food is a rich, intensive cream designed to soften and relieve dry skin. It’s particularly good for feet, elbows, and knees, and for added winter protection thanks to the use of sunflower seed oil, chamomile, calendula, and rosemary extract.

Weleda Skin Food price: £8.95 (30ml); £14.95 (75ml)

How to use Weleda Skin Food: Massage a small amount onto dry areas of skin until absorbed. You can apply a thicker layer to create a barrier between the elements and your skin, or for areas that are particularly dry, or you can use it as a primer before makeup.  

When to use Weleda Skin Food: Weleda Skin Food is a treatment for extremely dry skin so it can be used as and when needed. The brand suggests applying “generously several times a day, whenever your skin needs extra help.”

Who should use Weleda Skin Food? Suitable for dry and very dry skin types, although can be used by all skin types as a primer.

Does Weleda Skin Food have SPF? No.

Where to buy Weleda Skin Food: Holland & Barrett | Boots | Amazon | Lookfantastic

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How we tested the Weleda Skin Food

For our Weleda Skin Food review, we used it on our combination skin every night after cleansing for three weeks. Our skin has a tendency to become drier in warmer months so we also used the cream after showers when our face and skin felt particularly tight or dry from the heat. We also used it as a primer whenever we wore makeup during the review period.

Every time our hands or elbows felt rough, we massaged a small amount of cream into each. At night, we applied a thicker layer to our face and left it to be absorbed. As a primer, we took a small amount of cream in our palms, warmed it up, and then massaged it onto our face.

After each application, we waited five minutes, and an hour, and used a hydration monitor to see how well Weleda Skin Food increased hydration levels – or at least locked the hydration in. The average score was used to judge Weleda Skin Food’s performance.

FURTHER READING: How we test skincare to see if it lives up to its claims 

How to use Weleda Skin Food

The brand recommends applying the Weleda Skin Food “generously several times a day, wherever your skin needs extra help”, especially on rough, dry areas like hands, feet, and elbows.

You can also apply Skin Food to your face as a moisturiser after cleansing, alongside an SPF, or before foundation. 

Despite being a thick cream, a little goes a long way and we got the best results when we warmed up a small amount in the palm of our hands first, before applying it to our face. This makes the consistency slightly thinner and allows you to cover a large surface area.

Weleda Skin Food Performance

The first thing we noticed about the Weleda Skin Food is just how thick it is, which makes it quite difficult to squeeze out of the tube.

We tried applying it straight to our face but not only did this thick consistency mean it pulled a little on the skin, it took a long time to be fully massaged in. It’s much easier to use, and absorbs much more easily when the cream is warmed up in your hands first before being massaged into the skin.

This is key when using it as a primer because if you haven’t massaged it into the skin well enough, you may find that your makeup pills, or slides around.

Once massaged in, this cream leaves the skin feeling tacky. This is what makes it such a great primer, because the makeup clings to it, however, it can feel a bit odd, and heavy on the skin. Especially on oily skin, or if you have congested patches. It also gives a slightly sweaty-looking finish.

On the plus side, Skin Food leaves the skin feeling super smooth and soft.

Our feet and elbows have never felt so hydrated and nourished. As the weeks went on, this soft and smooth feeling continued even on days when we hadn’t applied the cream, and by the end of our Weleda Skin Food review period, we hardly had to apply the cream at all.

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Weleda Skin Food review video

@victoria_woolly_web I imagine this is a similar issue I had with the Nivea Soft – Weleda is designed for intensive hydration for really dry skin and the skin on my hand isn’t that dry. I can see why it’s such a good moisturiser for under makeup because it’s so sticky but I do not like how it feels. Can someone who has really dry skin confirm how this works for them please? #mamabella #hydrationtest #hydration #bestmoisturizer #bestmoisturizer #bestmoisturizerforthisseason #sticky #weleda #weledaskinfood #skinfood #niveasoft #dryskin #eczema #lotioncream #moisturiser #moisturiser_for_dryskin #OverwatchMe cc @s1ut.4.choco1ate.mi1k @giuliagib ♬ CUFF IT – Beyoncé

Weleda Skin Food Review: Verdict

People who love the Weleda Skin Food really love it. It’s developed a cult following and people all over TikTok swear by it as both a moisturiser, and a primer. Sadly, we’re not one of them.

That’s not to say we don’t like it. It has a number of benefits and if you have dry or normal skin, there’s a lot to enjoy.

The skin on our elbows and heels has never felt so soft, and it has actively improved throughout our Weleda Skin Food review period to the point where we only have to apply it on odd occasions. Rather than every day, like before.

Yet it’s not perfect. The fragrance is subtle, but won’t be to everyone’s taste. It could also potentially cause issues for sensitive skin. It didn’t irritate our skin at all, but it’s worth bearing in mind.

Its thick consistency makes it quite a tedious cream to use. When applied to the face, it feels heavy and our oily skin was not a fan at all. It left it feeling congested, and shiny.

This made it difficult to use it as our morning moisturiser. On a more positive note, despite the fact it left our skin feeling congested, it didn’t cause breakouts and spots in the way we had expected it to.

As a primer, the results were mixed. When massaged in well, it created a perfect sticky base for the foundation and concealer to cling to. This not only made it look smooth, but it stayed in place all day. Again, it didn’t feel great on the oily patches on our skin, but we can’t fault how it looked.

If you don’t massage it in enough, though, it has the opposite effect. The makeup slid off, pilled and gathered, and looked terrible.

We can see why people rave about this cream, and if you have dry skin, it works wonders. However, if you have oily skin or prefer creams to be lighter on the skin, then you may want to give it a miss. The plus side is that it’s super affordable so if you try and don’t like it, you haven’t wasted too much money.

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Weleda Skin Food Formula

Weleda Skin Food contains a host of natural ingredients including a number of organic ingredients such as beeswax, rosemary, and chamomile. The formula consists of plant extracts that nourish the skin all whilst giving your skin a healthy glow.

Rosemary helps stimulate circulation, while beeswax softens your skin to feel nourished and smooth and sunflower seed oil is a potent antioxidant that contains fatty acids that promote soft smooth skin.

Chamomilla flower extract also helps to bind moisture to the skin and hydrate it. This product contains Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract also known as marigolds which is an anti-inflammatory that could help with healing wounds and skin conditions.

However, there are a couple of ingredients that could potentially cause problems, including alcohol as well as a number of fragrances. If your skin is overly sensitive, this could cause problems.

The breakdown of the key ingredients, and their benefits, is below:

• Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil: This oil is a source of Vitamins A and E, which are both essential for healthy skin. It also contains linoleic acid, which helps to keep skin hydrated and prevent it from drying out.
• Lanolin: Lanolin is a natural wax derived from sheep’s wool. It’s an effective moisturiser, and helps to protect the skin from moisture loss.
• Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil: This oil is another great source of vitamins A and E, and it also contains linoleic acid. It is a very gentle oil that is suitable for all skin types.
• Beeswax: Beeswax is a natural emollient that helps to soften and protect the skin. It also helps to keep the skin hydrated and prevent it from drying out.
• Viola Tricolor Extract: This extract is derived from the pansy flower, and it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It can help to soothe irritated skin and protect it from damage.
• Hydrolyzed Beeswax: This ingredient is made from beeswax that has been broken down into smaller molecules. This makes it easier for the skin to absorb, and it also helps to improve the texture of the cream.
• Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract: This extract is derived from the chamomile flower, and it has anti-inflammatory and calming properties. It can help to soothe irritated skin and relieve redness.
• Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract: This extract is derived from the calendula flower, and it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. It can help to soothe irritated skin, protect it from damage, and prevent infection.
• Arginine: This amino acid is essential for healthy skin, and it helps to keep the skin hydrated and protect it from damage.
• Zinc Sulfate: This mineral helps to regulate oil production and keep the skin clear.

Weleda Skin Food Ingredients

The following list of ingredients is taken from the INCI Decoder website. You can hover over each ingredient to find out more about it.

The numbers next to each ingredient represent its Irritation Rating (the number to the left of the comma), and then Comedogenic Rating (to the right of the comma).

Both ratings are scored out of five and the higher the number, the higher the chance of it causing irritation, or comedones (spots). Green means it has a low rating so is less likely to cause problems. Yellow and red numbers represent high ratings and are more likely to cause problems.

If you’re particularly interested to know if Weleda Skin Food is non-comedogenic, the ingredients would suggest it is. This means it shouldn’t cause spots and, based on our tests, we can confirm that this was true for our combination skin. We can’t guarantee it, but all the signs suggest it’s safe.

Hover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.

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