Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Summer Fridays. Their ShadeDrops? Obsessed. Their Lip Butter Balm? Obsessed. Their Jet Lag Masque? Obsessed.
Now that’s out of the way, I am excited to review the Summer Fridays Cloud Dew Gel Cream Moisturizer (in an unbiased manner, of course).
If you’re an oily skin person like I am, welcome to the club. It’s always a struggle to find a cream that gives your skin enough moisture and hydration without making you look overly shiny or feel like your skin is suffocating. I often feel like this perfect balance is almost impossible to pull off. Add on the extra layer of the external weather always changing, getting the perfect lightweight moisturizer for oily skin is next to impossible.
Enter: Summer Fridays Cloud Dew. But is it worth the $45 price tag?
Reasons to Like the Summer Fridays Cream
After using up half of the jar, I have a long list of reasons to like this moisturizer. But I’ll limit to these 3 things!
The natural finish is perfect for combo/oily skin
I am forever in search of the right amount of dewiness. Some creams are overly matte and feel almost like they are sucking the life out of your skin, while some creams feel like they’re suffocating your skin because they’re so heavily glowy and occlusive. I just want that happy medium.
And I’m happy to report that the Summer Fridays one does just that for me. When I wear this under the Skin1004 Sun Serum or the Tocobo Bio Watery Sun Cream, it just looks like the perfect finish. It’s dewy but not overly glowy. It’s not an oil slick. It’s a naturally healthy and radiant shine. And it makes you look so youthful in the best way.
However, this natural finish is really tricky because you need the right SPF to pair it with. When I wear the Summer Fridays ShadeDrops with this cream, it actually feels a little too dry for my liking (side note: ShadeDrops work great with thicker creams though!).
And this is why I end up using a lot of Korean sunscreens with this cream. For some reason, the fluid consistency of them just plays much nicer with the natural finish of this gel cream. But it could also be because the 2 K-beauty SPFs are also gel cream formulas. So like with like.
The price tag is reasonable for prestige beauty
In the world of Sephora and Credo, $45 is not really that bad for a cream. I just unboxed a $78 one from Odacite, the Chebula Extreme Cream from True Botanicals is $110 (Ulta), and my staple nighttime Omega Repair Cream from Biossance is $60.
So for $45, it really does not feel all that bad. And there are good ways to get discounts on it, even when it is not Black Friday, the Sephora Sale, or the holidays — more on that at the end.
And yes, it is more expensive than some other creams I enjoy, but they don’t have the same benefits or finish that I get from the Summer Fridays one. But here are some of the more affordable options:
Glow Recipe Plum Plump: $40 (but that’s basically $45 lol)
Paula’s Choice Barrier Repair: $39
Versed Dew Point: $15 (actually more affordable)
The ingredients are effective
No matter if it is summer or winter (which honestly, neither really exist in San Francisco), I have enjoyed Cloud Dew. It gives me enough moisture under my layers of SPF, but it never feels heavy.
Beyond how it feels as a moisturizer (which is also a critical function!), it packs a lot of good ingredients:
Lots of amino acids to help your skin build up: Glycine, Serine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Leucine, Alanine, Lysine, Arginine, Tyrosine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Threonine, Valine, Isoleucine, Histidine
3 different fermented yeast extracts: Saccharomyces/Magnesium Ferment, Saccharomyces/Copper Ferment, Saccharomyces/Silicon Ferment
Standard humectant and “common moisturizer” ingredients: Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Ceramide NP, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Glycerin, Propanediol.
It has all the building blocks you want in a good moisturizer. It also has pineapple extract, which they say is to help gently exfoliate the skin with every use for more even-toned skin. I didn’t notice any irritation or sensitivity to this ingredient, which tells me that they formulated it well or that my skin is not sensitive to it generally speaking.
Reasons to Dislike the Summer Fridays Cream
The glass jar is aesthetic but heavy
This might be the most basic thing, but it is important to bring up. I am the type of person that packs a full size moisturizer when I travel (but pretty much everything else is travel size). So having a jar like this adds substantial weight to your bag. But I will say that I don’t think this jar is nearly as heavy as other glass jars I’ve had out there. It’s more of the Youth to the People weight of glass, rather than the Charlotte Tilbury weight.
The packaging is really pretty though — I am obsessed with the color. And it feels premium without being overkill.
Pineapple extract could be irritating
Like I mentioned before, there is definitely the possibility that people with super-sensitive skin will not like this product because this ingredient is irritating for them. And that’s true any time there are enzymes or exfoliating ingredients. There’s a level of “chewing” off the skin that some people do not do well with.
While my experience has not been negative with it, I just thought I would bring it up!
There is no fragrance to it
If you’re a Tatcha girlie or love a rose-water product (same), just know that this is not going to do that for you. There’s no added fragrance and there are no fragrant components. I am indifferent about having scents to it, but I know that can be a giant selling point for some people.
And yes, as I type this out, I do realize that one of my favorite things about the Sunday Riley Afterglow Cream was that it smelled SO strongly of neroli and it was so good! Side note: that was also a great cream too. But I just felt like it was ever-so-slightly too heavy for my skin. The Summer Fridays one wins here because it feels more weightless.
Who Is Cloud Dew for?
I would say Cloud Dew will work well for combination and oily skin people basically throughout the year (as a daytime cream). It’s probably only good for dry skin people during the summer though.
If you find that during the winter, it just isn’t enough for you, I like to add in a little facial oil (like the one from Youth to the People or Biossance). That will help provide a little more moisture without being too heavy on your skin. The only thing to note is that it will give you a little bit more of a glow than you might want.
But then again — who doesn’t love a little extra dewiness?
Final Thoughts
At this price point, I think Cloud Dew is worth it. It works well, it feels good, and it makes my skin feel great. Of course, you can always want more from a cream, but I honestly feel like this has everything that you need and more. And if you pair this with a great vitamin C serum, you have the perfect morning skincare routine (+ SPF, duh). It’s simple and effective.
The negatives are not substantial, in my eyes. So there’s truly no downside to getting this cream.
How to make Summer Fridays more “affordable”
Recycling Program
In case you’re new here, you should know that I love the Credo recycling program for free products. But did you know that Summer Fridays also has a recycling program?
All you have to do is collect 5 Summer Fridays empties, send them an email, and they will give you a prepaid shipping label. Send it to them, and you get a $25 gift card for summerfridays.com!
Yes, it is only for their website, but the redemption rate is definitely higher than what it would be if you got a Credo mini/travel size. So if I had the choice, I would rather do the Summer Fridays one!
Subscribe and Save Option
Like many skincare and beauty brands, there are subscribe and save options. That helps you save an extra 15%, bringing the price down to $38.25. And I already said that at $45, it was not too bad. So that little extra bit of savings really makes it a great price!
There’s truly no reason to not try it!
If you’re ready to try the Summer Fridays Cloud Dew Gel Cream Moisturizer, you can pick it up at:
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