G16 vs AmLactin,
Urea Creams
and CeraVe SA

G16 vs AmLactin: which is better for ichthyosis?

AmLactin is the closest product to G16 on this list. Both are acid-based body lotions rather than plain moisturisers, and both aim to remove dead skin rather than sit on top of it. The difference is the acid. AmLactin relies on lactic acid alone. G16 leads with glycolic acid, the smallest of the alpha hydroxy acids, and adds lactic acid behind it. Glycolic acid is the second ingredient in G16 after water.

In practice that matters most on thick, built-up scale, which is where people with ichthyosis and hyperkeratosis tend to get stuck. If your skin is dry and a little rough, AmLactin may well be enough, and it is cheaper. If you have visible plates or fish-scale patches that other lotions soften but never clear, that is the situation G16 was formulated for.

The practical point for UK buyers is availability. AmLactin is an American brand and UK stock is inconsistent, often imported at a markup with long delivery times.

G16 vs urea creams (Eucerin UreaRepair, Flexitol, Balneum)

Urea does two different jobs depending on how much of it is in the tube. At low strengths, roughly 5 to 10 per cent, it is a humectant: it pulls water into the skin and keeps it there. At higher strengths, roughly 20 to 40 per cent, it also breaks down keratin and loosens dead skin.

Urea creams are inexpensive, available in any pharmacy, and genuinely good at keeping skin comfortable day to day. Many people use one alongside G16 rather than instead of it. Where they differ is mechanism: urea mostly softens and hydrates the scale, while the acids in G16 work to release it so it comes away. Urea creams are also often thicker and greasier, which is why some people will not use them in the morning.

If cost is the deciding factor, a urea cream is the sensible first thing to try. G16 is worth considering when you have tried one properly and the scale keeps coming back.

G16 vs CeraVe SA Smoothing Cream

CeraVe label several products “SA”, and the letters stand for salicylic acid. The two you will see most are the SA Smoothing Cream and the SA Cream for Rough & Bumpy Skin. Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid. The important practical difference from an AHA is that salicylic acid is oil-soluble, so it works into the pore. That makes it a strong choice for keratosis pilaris, the small rough bumps on the backs of the arms and thighs, and it is cheap and easy to buy. CeraVe also includes ceramides, which help the skin barrier.

For keratosis pilaris specifically, CeraVe SA is a reasonable and much cheaper starting point. For heavy, sheet-like scale on the legs, shins and torso, an AHA-led lotion is generally the better fit, which is what G16 is.

Why not just use a cheap glycolic acid toner?

It is a fair question, and one customers raise. A 7 per cent glycolic toner costs under £10, and if you moisturise on top you have an acid and a moisturiser for a fraction of the price. For mild roughness that combination can work.

Two things make it different from G16. First, a toner is a thin water-based liquid designed for the face, so covering a whole body with it is awkward and gets expensive faster than the sticker price suggests. Second, G16 is a single lotion that stays on the skin: glycolic and lactic acid in a base with aloe vera, glycerin, panthenol, allantoin and shea butter, so the hydration is delivered at the same time rather than layered on afterwards. It is designed to be left on for as long as possible, ideally around ten hours, which a toner is not.

If a cheap toner and a moisturiser are working for you, keep using them. G16 exists for the people that has not worked for.

Is G16 worth the price?

G16 is the most expensive product on this page and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It is a small company making a lotion in the UK in a heavily regulated category, and there has been one price increase in the last eight to ten years.

Three things are worth knowing before you judge the cost. The first is that headline price is a poor way to compare skincare, because pack sizes across this category vary enormously. G16 is a 200ml bottle. A good deal of what is sold for dry and thickened skin comes in 50ml pots, where a lower shelf price can still work out at several times the cost per millilitre. It is worth checking the size on whatever you are comparing.

The second is that you use the most in the first few weeks, while the built-up skin is coming away. Once skin is where you want it, most people drop to once a day, every other day, or a week on and a week off, which brings the running cost down a long way.

The third is the 21-day money-back guarantee when you buy direct, so if it does nothing for you, you are not stuck with it.