What is CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30?

A lightweight daily moisturizer and sunscreen hybrid that combines SPF 30 broad-spectrum protection with hydrating ingredients including ceramides, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid.

Is CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 worth it?

The gurus mostly approve it, but with enough reservations to keep it in the middle at a Guru Score of 72%.

What is CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30's Guru Score?

CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 holds a Guru Score of 72%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 11 expert reviewers we have collected.

Who is CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 best for?

CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30: Guru Score 72%

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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Dr. Aleksandra Brown

142k subs

~Yay

"CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion with SPF 30 is your best two-in-one moisturizer with SPF. [...] Sun protection is the most important anti-aging step because UV exposure is one of the biggest drivers of collagen breakdown. This moisturizer is going to give you both hydration and broad-spectrum sun protection in one single step. It has a really lightweight texture, making it really easy to wear daily under your makeup or under other skin care products. It also helps support the skin barrier while also protecting against sun damage. The key ingredients are zinc oxide, ceramides, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid."

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"My next SPF recommendation, and I recommend this one to I'd say 90% of my acne patients, is the CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30. This is a two-in-one daily moisturizer and sunscreen that will hydrate the skin while offering that broadspectrum sun protection. It's lightweight, non-comedogenic, completely fragrance-free, making it ideal for daily use, even if your skin is sensitive or acne prone. The finish is really natural. It's not overly matte, not too dewy, not greasy. It's just right. And I find that it layers really well under makeup. It's really best for normal to combination acne prone skin looking for an easy morning step that's going to give you hydration and SPF in one. It also makes a great barrier repair for people on actives like retinoids or salicylic acid. The key ingredients are ceramides, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and then for sunscreen ingredients, it has zinc oxide, homoalate, and octinoxate."

Dr Dray

2.68M subs

~Yay

"This is a hybrid sunscreen. So if you have a deeper skin tone, there's a bit of a cast to it. And the CeraVe one has a tendency to peel if you put it on too quickly. You have to kind of baby it as you're applying it."

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"The new CeraVe ultra light moisturizer for me it's just not cutting it per se as a nighttime stand-alone moisturizer but it's not too bad"

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"This is the [CeraVe] ultral light moisturizing gel this is okay it's definitely not a favorite um it's not bad it's it's actually good it's just like I don't find it to be too much diff I I don't find this to be strikingly different from [CeraVe] pm"

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"It's a great lightweight hydrating moisturizer that you could use alongside your retinoids and not have the issue of pilling"

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"The AM Formula is a hybrid sunscreen so a little bit of a cast but not too noticeable. Unlike the other sunscreen we just talked about it's not water resistant so it's more of a daily moisturizer with sunscreen. Both of these facial moisturizers have niacinamide, good for the moisture barrier, good for redness, good for hyperpigmentation, and of course with ceramides like all of CeraVe's products have which help with the skin barrier."

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"I finished up the CeraVe Ultra Light Moisturizing Gel. I enjoyed this, it's fine, but I would not repurchase it. It's basically in my opinion very, very similar if not identical to CeraVe PM, their lightweight facial moisturizer, which I've always loved and recommended. This is almost identical, slightly more lightweight. The consistencies are ever so slightly different, but this is a little more expensive if I remember correctly, so I say just stick with CeraVe PM. Not bad, but didn't blow me out of the water. It has ceramides, which are good for the skin barrier, and niacinamide, similar to CeraVe PM, which is for redness and the moisture barrier and hyperpigmentation. I mean, CeraVe, you know, their products are good, but I don't really feel as though this adds a whole lot to their portfolio."

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"This is a hybrid sunscreen so it has zinc and some chemical filters for broad spectrum protection. Not completely castree but better than like an all mineral. Does have niacinamide and ceramides of course."

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"This is an SPF 30 chemical sunscreen so there's no white cast with this one whatsoever. It's super lightweight and hydrating. No niacinamide in this one. If you're looking for a daily facial moisturizer with sunscreen and you don't want to use niacinamide because it burns or stings, try this one out because it's really a nice formula. It builds itself as having a matte finish. I would say it's more demi matte but it's definitely not super shiny or super oily or greasy. While it doesn't have niacinamide, an ingredient that some people don't get along with, some people don't get along with all chemical sunscreens. They burn, they sting, for a lot of people they find it irritates the skin around the eyes. For me personally this causes no issues around my eyes. It doesn't burn, it doesn't sting. It's lovely, lovely, lovely."

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"This plain moisturizer I really like, it's a very nice lightweight facial moisturizer, it has hyaluronic acid and ceramides, and it's SPF 30. I'm just going to tell you right now, it does leave a pretty noticeable cast on my skin type."

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"Not everybody likes this, some people it's their holy grail but a lot of people have numerous complaints about this. It has zinc and several chemical filters, ceramides, and niacinamide which is good for redness. It's a combination sunscreen that's a good moisturizer that happens to have sunscreen in it, not water resistant. But people complain that it burns and stings, and that it clumps up and doesn't spread well on the skin and peels under makeup. Personally, if I take my time with it I don't get that clumping effect, but it is a thick consistency that takes time to spread on the skin."

Dr. Daniel Sugai

720k subs

~Mixed

"Their OG SPF 30 AM facial moisturizing lotion is pretty thick for a hybrid sunscreen. So get their AM SPF 50 if it's available."

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"CeraVe's AM lotion SPF 50 has done wonders. They've done a great job improving on the SPF 30 hybrid AM version. That one was hybrid, but it still had a white cast. Still was a little thick and chalky, surprising for a hybrid sunscreen. But their AM SPF 50 is very lightweight, much more of an elegant finish than their SPF 30 AM. [...] That's a great one with niacinamide. Just know that that SPF 50 product, that AM product, is not water-resistant, and you want to go for a water-resistant sunscreen if you're going to go do water play or work out outside and get sweaty."

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"The AM SPF 30 was a hybrid sunscreen, but much thicker, and it gave people white cast when it should not have done that when it was a hybrid sunscreen."

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"Their OG SPF 30 AM facial moisturizing lotion is pretty thick for a hybrid sunscreen. So get their AM SPF 50 if it's available."

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"It's a little thick, and our patients might say it's a little sticky. They made an ultra light lotion which is really nice, the SPF 30, so you might replace your AM with that. The niacinamide in the AM CeraVe is nice for those where acne prone. What I do like about this one is it kind of puts me at that in between level, not too dewy where you look sweaty, but not totally matte where you get washed out."

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"CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion [...] has a thicker texture and SPF 30. It's not water resistant, but it has zinc oxide and chemical UV filters. It has niacinamide, and a lot of my young patients, my young adults or even teen patients do very well with this, especially if they're on prescription acne medications."

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"The texture of the AM is pretty thick, ultra light, much better texture. This has niacinamide though, so if you have rosacea or acne prone skin the niacinamide in this is very nice. So you could consider this, but for those who don't like the thickness and want something very lightweight, go with the ultra light. And that will complete your skincare routine for the morning. Very simple, right? Very affordable routine. But if you have hyperpigmentation and your skin of color, say my patients who are Asian or are Latino or Latina, they will have worsening hyperpigmentation when they're outdoors and they only use a regular sunscreen. Say they just use CeraVe ultra-light or the AM, they don't have that coverage for blue light or the visible light spectrum from outdoors. You can take 10 steps back in your journey of treating melasma or hyperpigmentation in general by going out with just a regular sunscreen. You need that tint."

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"I recommend to my patients on a near daily basis"

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"The AM facial moisturizing lotion I'd say a little too thick of a consistency for me to recommend it all the time. I think you can find more elegant textures. I think CeraVe could do better on it. The AM has zinc oxide so it's more of a hybrid."

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"You can do the CeraVe AM facial moisturizer with sunscreen in it to seal in that hydration, or a moisturizer with SPF right over to seal in that hydration that the hyaluronic acid did. It just soaked up all that moisture so that is a nice way to reduce the fine lines."

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"I've talked about CeraVe AM, the ultra light moisturizer with SPF 30. I really like the texture of the ultra light here, but it doesn't have nice ceramides like the AM."

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"I feel a lot of the zinc oxide here so for it to be a hybrid sunscreen it's pretty thick and I know some of my patients have told me that they rather go with something a little bit more lightweight. It feels thicker, this is not bad. I actually still recommend this to my patients on acne medications because it has an niacinamide, you got the hyaluronic acid, it's a nice convenient pump here, very easy to apply. So I still give it a thumbs up, but CeraVe could do better making it a little bit lighter weight, especially with it being a hybrid sunscreen. If you have acne prone skin, you're on my medications or not on any of my prescription medications, go ahead and try this one out. If you're really into texture and you really want something ultra lightweight, consider the ultra lightweight. This is about 15 bucks, can be a little bit more expensive at the store. This one has four chemical UV filters, and I don't want to demonize chemical UV filters, they're totally fine."

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"I do use the AM quite a bit for my young patients who are on acne medications and they have acne prone skin. The niacinamide is helpful."

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"CeraVe AM facial moisturizing lotion is a nice OG one. A lot of my patients are on it, especially my acne patients who are using drying acne medications. They do well with the CeraVe AM. This one has niacinamide, the ceramide blend, and hyaluronic acid, so very great and lightweight to layer over your other skincare products. You've got the moisturizer with SPF, this one is SPF 30, and it has zinc oxide with chemical UV filters, so it's a hybrid sunscreen."

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"The CeraVe AM has glycerin, niacinamide and panthenol. It's thicker with zinc oxide and four chemical UV filters. It requires a little bit more muscle or elbow grease to get that blended in, [...] and even after rubbing it in you can still see there's a little bit more of a white cast. [...] As a hybrid sunscreen or moisturizer with SPF you expect a little bit better sophisticated texture."

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"CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion is nice, so those are great moisturizers with sunscreen that you can layer over your vitamin C serum."

Doctorly

3.58M subs

~Yay

"They even have a lightweight gel moisturizer too that they've recently released that's actually a really good one too"

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"The AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 is a hybrid sunscreen so it has zinc oxide and it also has your chemical sunscreens like homosalate, meradimate, octanoate, octocrylene. It's a great starter sunscreen because a lot of patients just wanted something hydrating that would also protect them from the sun. Many people use this as a starter sunscreen and it gets them through the day perfectly sufficient. [...] For most people this is a great option just to start your skincare routine, protect your skin, hydrate all in one. It's tough to blend in some ways, not in the sense that it doesn't blend with most skin types, but it's not something that's going to melt into your skin right away. It's something you have to work a little bit more into your skin, which people don't necessarily love, especially with so many more elegant sunscreens coming out. [...] This is a great starter sunscreen, a sunscreen I love and recommend to my patients all the time."

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"They even have a lightweight gel moisturizer too that they've recently released that's actually a really good one too"

The Budget Dermatologist

723k subs

~Yay

"I follow that up with a moisturizer and an SPF. Remember, even if you have oily skin, you still should use a moisturizer to help balance your skin, especially because some of these acne ingredients can be drying and irritating to the skin, and a moisturizer will help keep your skin barrier strong and help you avoid these side effects. One of my favorite products for this step is the CeraVe ultra light moisturizing lotion that also has SPF 30 in it. I love this one because it is so lightweight on the skin. People with oily skin types actually really love this, and also it has a matte finish so that helps reduce some of the shine on the skin as well."

James Welsh

1.58M subs

~Nay

"One thing I noticed as well, it's also not as affordable and easily accessible as it used to be. Over the past few years, CeraVe has implemented quite a few price increases across their whole range. In March of 2023, a Target employee actually highlighted a huge price hike, mentioning that certain items have nearly doubled in price. For example, a 3 ounce face moisturizer with SPF 30 increased from $14.99 to $24.49. They're also now owned by a huge conglomerate who can in all reality afford to keep these prices down. So I feel like a lot of people have this idea that they're still basic, affordable skincare at a drugstore price level, when really they kind of aren't."

April Basi

71k subs

~Yay

"The next one is the Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer. I love the gel texture for oily skin because it just feels better, especially for me as someone with more oily skin. I just love the feeling of a gel on my skin, it just feels so hydrating. This one is great because it has niacinamide again to help control oil, and there's also ceramides and hyaluronic acid to make sure the skin barrier is intact."

Dr. Mamina

281k subs

~Yay

"The CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 is one I like for sunscreen."

Darnell Cox | 50+ Healthy Aging Expert

55k subs

~Yay

"The CeraVe AM, I love this because it's a treatment as well. It's ultra lightweight, but it contains three essential ceramides, niacinamide, [...] and hyaluronic acid, so it is moisturizing and treatment. It has a factor of 30."

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"The AM is a factor 30, it has niacinamide, it's got ceramides. It's everything that I need in terms of helping to lighten the area plus protecting the skin."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

~Mixed

"CeraVe came out with this ultra light moisturizing gel which is a really nice gel textured product. This is one of them that was somewhere in the middle, I didn't totally fall in love with it. But if you have oily skin without many anti-aging or acne concerns, I think this is a decent, affordable middle-of-the-road moisturizer. For exciting ingredients, there's not really any anti-aging or anything like that in here. It's got ceramides, niacinamide, vitamin E, cholesterol. So if you're younger, I think you can probably get away with just using this and being fine. But if you have fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, texture, breakouts, you're probably better off going with something different. But the majority of people that are younger and don't have any issues and just looking for a basic, affordable, simple moisturizer, this one fits the bill. For me, it's okay. It's nothing. I personally need more. I need more firming ingredients, I need more brightening ingredients, I need more peptides. For me, it's not necessarily up my alley."

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"In terms of performance, it does a nice job hydrating skin. It leaves it feeling nice and soft and smooth and supple but not greasy and not sticky. I would say this is best for oily to normal skin. I couldn't imagine relying on this as my only source of moisture for like my super dry skin in the middle of winter, but for like fall or summer spring it seems to be okay. But for super dry winter weather it's not going to be enough for me. But if I layered it with something else it probably would work if I layered it with a really hydrating sunscreen or over hydrating serum that'll probably work. For super sensitive skin I would be cautious of one ingredient of note which is behentrimonium methyl sulfate, which is more of a cleansing ingredient. It helps oil and water combine better, but it's more of a cleansing ingredient than anything else. So some people will look at this product and won't have any idea what it is, and some people will be irritated by it. I think it's probably that ingredient most people probably won't be an issue, but it might be for some people, so keep that one in mind."

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"For me, I look for something exciting in a moisturizer, maybe anti-aging, maybe soothing, obviously hydrating, maybe something that helps with hyperpigmentation. I really look for something that makes the product stand out. CeraVe makes their products for the masses and they will work well for the majority of people, but will it help with fine lines and wrinkles, help brighten your skin up, will it help your sunscreen work better? No, it's not going to do any of those. It's a basic, simple hydrating sunscreen with a little bit of niacinamide in there, which will help, but I look for things with peptides or just something more exciting. CeraVe is not super expensive but they're not as affordable as some other brands that might have more exciting moisturizers with more benefits for redness or anti-aging. It does feel nice on skin. It has a little bit of a tacky finish, but you're probably going to be applying something over it anyway, so it feels nice."

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HotandFlashy

1.23M subs

~Yay

"The CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion is an SPF 30. This isn't like a dedicated sunscreen, but it's a moisturizer with sunscreen in it, and this is a really great way to save steps in your morning skincare routine. If you're already using a bunch of serums and stuff and you just want to mash two steps together, which would be your moisturizer and your sunscreen, you can do that with this. This is a mix of chemical sunscreen agents and mineral sunscreen so it has zinc oxide and then it has a bunch of your standard U.S. approved chemical sunscreens. But this also has all the same great skincare ingredients that the CeraVe PM does, and CeraVe PM is one of my all-time favorite moisturizing lotions for day. It's a nice lightweight lotion, and so is this. It contains ceramides, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid, so it's a really great moisturizer and also a really great sunscreen. This goes on without leaving any white cast. It's really beautiful on the skin. It definitely leaves like a dewy lit-from-within kind of glow and luminescence on the skin, which people are really into these days. It is an SPF 30. The minimum sunscreen you should use every day is a 30, so this is a great option."