Moisturizers on Rotation
This summer has been a particularly weird one for skin concerns because we’ve both been dealing with dry and/or dehydrated skin (sometimes at different times, too, which is even weirder!), but unfortunately for us, our preference is pretty much always a non-shiny finish for a day cream. At night, we’re much more lenient, but you’ll see, we make some exceptions below.
Anyway, if you’re new to how we review moisturizers, our priorities are mainly texture, hydration maintenance (throughout the course of a day/night), and finish. If it’s a day cream, we’re also particularly focused on oil control despite how dry we are :’) So let’s get into it!
Liquids
Prequel Half & Half: we were initially using this as a liquid base when it launched a few months ago, but now that it’s wildly hot and humid outside, we kind of love the idea of finishing off our skincare with the thinnest form of a moisturizer: a lipid-rich liquid. It still deeply nourishes our skin with a peptide + surprisingly robust ceramide blend, but absorbs well with a hydrated finish, yet feels completely weightless. It’s emollient for a liquid base, but light and velvety for a moisturizer. Perfect if you’re going to be layering up a ton of sunscreen afterward.
Gels
Educated Mess Sake Bomb: this is an interesting slightly thick gel-to-watery, silky finish moisturizer that utilizes hydrating peptides, sake ferment, and multiple humectants to grab onto moisture and hold it there for the whole day. We’re super pleased with how flexible, comfortable, and high-performance this gel is—we really do think it stands out among others in the gel category for the oil balance you can get out of it for hours on end.
Cocokind Electrolyte Water Cream: a true gel, this an oily pal’s dream. It has a super straightforward, electrolyte-rich formula for some solid water retention, and it lasts decently well on the skin, but it does not leave much of a trace at all (especially if applied over damp skin!), which may be ideal for oilier skin looking to hydrate and knock down shine as it develops throughout the day, but for us, we’re in need of a little bit of something-something on the surface just to keep our dry patches at bay. That said, we’re loving this as a base moisturizer under more emollient sunscreens, so it’s definitely a versatile option.
Gel-Creams
Cool as a Cucumber Barriersmith: of all the creams on this list, this is our current obsession. It’s a weighty, thick gel that melts down to a slightly velvety finish that also feels a bit occlusive on the skin, yet still somehow breathable. Heavy on the barrier-supportive lipids and NMFs, but they thoughtfully prioritized congestion-prone skin, so you’ll find red clover extract and a pre/post-biotic blend in here. The result is a rich, deeply hydrating cream that can also help reduce and prevent congestion. We’re not super prone to developing new congestion from creams, but we know there are quite a few of you out there that monitor ingredient lists for potential pore-cloggers, so this is a great option to explore. We use it day or night thanks to the uniquely weighty texture and slight occlusion as previously mentioned—dry, acne-prone skin may really enjoy this one.
Facile Barely There: this is a pretty thick gel cream with an airiness to the texture that waters down on application. Feels super nice right away, but we don’t find that it maintains hydration well throughout the day, so our skin dries out within a couple of hours. Oily skin that enjoys a thicker texture may enjoy this, but truthfully, we don’t know how many of you are out there with that preference!
Lotions
Amoureux The Cozy Cream: this is a classic gel lotion—layerable (on itself and with a crazy wide variety of other products), and not heavily occlusive, but just enough to maintain moisture throughout the day and prevent grease from shining through. It’s a uniquely lipid-rich cream that still features a ton of hydrators for a beautiful balance including squalane, beta glucan, glycerin and glyceryl glucoside, but also multiple ceramides, cholesterol, phytosphingosine, glycosphingolipids, etc. Beyond the lipid-hydrator balance, you get some nice soothing botanically derived components as well to round out the lotion. If you’re not fussy with creams and want something that will work year round, with most non-clinical conditions of skin, you’ll love this.
Experiment Molecular Mesh: (Code: THETOPSHELFEDIT10) we’re moving into more fluid, elastic options now, and man, we cannot get enough of these lately! Molecular Mesh is unique in a couple of ways: (1) it doesn’t utilize the typical rich ceramide-based approach to creams (you may know it as the 3:1:1 ratio) but instead goes for moisture-retaining barrier “building blocks”/precursors. Is there greater benefit? We’re not sure—ceramides are still constantly on rotation for us in liquid base and serum form so it’s difficult to assess—but from a moisture standpoint: this lotion does a phenomenal job. It’s on the more emollient side, but as mentioned, it’s quite elastic, so you don’t need very much to spread over the skin, yet it’s easily layerable. Featured ingredients here are ectoin, phytosphingosine, centella liposomes, multiple forms of glycerin, and guaiazulene for a soothing, congestion-friendly, hydrating, and antioxidant-rich “web”—as Experiment aptly describes it—of moisture. We’ve been loving this one and recently purchased a backup to carry us into autumn because it’s a rather customizable lotion depending on what your moisture needs are!
Sofie Pavitt Omega Rich Moisturizer: while absolutely love this lotion, we’re always irked that they chose open jar packaging for such a fluid texture. Regardless, it’s the most emollient option on this list but still not greasy. You get a nice fatty acid-rich, Vitamin F (omega fatty acid) blend that we would say is an especially lovely option for dry, acne-prone skin that just can’t find an emollient, dewy finish cream that won’t clog pores. We love the way this performs under makeup and matte finish sunscreens (re: drying sunscreens) as well—it’s a versatile, comfortable option that we see a lot of people who typically have a hard time finding moisturizers they like will actually enjoy.
Thicker Lotions
Prequel AM/PM Modern Moisturizer: Prequel set out to create a cream that can be used both day and night for a majority of skin types and concerns. As far as we can tell, they achieved their goal. This is a thicker lotion with a slightly whipped, airy texture that allows for a smooth, semi-matte application. It’s more occlusive than what we typically go for during the day, but just lingers on the edge of what we’d consider comfortably occlusive without being suffocating, especially once paired with sunscreen and makeup. Because of this, we find it locks moisture in well throughout both the day and night, and we don’t find ourselves feeling tight, dry, or dehydrated after long hours. It’s a pretty high-performance cream if you ask us, and one a ton of people will enjoy for different environmental conditions.
Personal Day Dive Deep Mevalonic Moisturizer: (Code: THETOPSHELFEDIT10) this is the thickest lotion on rotation at the moment—but keep in mind, it’s the height of summer! Dive Deep is a rich, almost buttery, balmy lotion with a tighter texture that deeply conditions the skin. The best part: it has a semi-matte finish and incredible oil control. As thick as it is, it absorbs well into skin, isn’t heavily occlusive, and instead feels a pretty light, especially since you need very little product to adequately cover the skin. We love it on a hot day to keep our oil production in check! Ingredients to note here include: potassium azeloyl diglycinate, zinc hyaluronate, and mevalonic acid, so if you’re acne-prone, this is yet another gem just for you.
Here are a couple of IG posts that show off some of the textures in action:
I agree on the omega rich moisturizer packaging! I absolutely love that product, but I do feel like the jar was a bit of a miss for me. I get the desire to have the logo within the cap but I’d rather not put my hands in it 🫥
You have the best reviews, and I always discover something new to try by reading! Thanks for your thoughtful words here!