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Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator.

Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator
Moisturizers

About this product

A lightweight gel cream moisturizer with hyaluronic acid, caffeine, urea, and fermented aloe vera designed to hydrate and plump skin without heaviness.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

74%

Mixed

12 experts · Strong agreement
12Gurus
8Yay
2Mixed
2Nay

What they liked

  • Hydrating for normal to oily skin
  • Layers cleanly under makeup
  • Can be used as a quick leave-on mask

What they flagged

  • Not enough hydration for dry winter skin
  • Contains dyes, a concern for sensitive skin
  • Pricey compared to newer competitors

What the gurus are saying

The lightweight gel texture that hydrates without stickiness wins consistent praise, particularly from those with normal to combination or oily skin and anyone wanting a product that layers cleanly under makeup or works year-round. The fermented aloe vera and hyaluronic acid get credit for delivering plumpness without weight. One caveat: the high silicone content means those prone to breakouts may want to be cautious about layering it with other silicone products, and the formula may not provide enough richness for very dry winter skin. A few gurus note the price sits on the higher end compared to newer competitors offering similar results.
Synthesized from 12 expert reviews · most recent take February 2026

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.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
~Mixed
"I went on to Clinique their Moisture Surge moisturizer, which was a little bit better. However, I still needed the exfoliation, but didn't quite figure it out. This helped my skin a little bit. It was a little bit more hydrating than the yellow moisturizer. Um, and it was fragrance-free, which was great. It wasn't terribly expensive at the time, but it still quite wasn't enough because I'd still have flakiness and redness a little bit, and my skin was just needing a whole routine."
All 5 takes from No BS Beauty
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"I went on to Clinique their Moisture Surge moisturizer, which was a little bit better. However, I still needed the exfoliation, but didn't quite figure it out. This helped my skin a little bit. It was a little bit more hydrating than the yellow moisturizer. Um, and it was fragrance-free, which was great. It wasn't terribly expensive at the time, but it still quite wasn't enough because I'd still have flakiness and redness a little bit, and my skin was just needing a whole routine."
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"It's got a nice gel texture to it. Looking over it, it's still a great moisturizer and it's available so many places. They've got a whole line of them. I'm a little bit more impressed than I initially was just looking at the ingredients. It's actually a really great moisturizer."
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"They've got the Clinique Moisture Surge, the current version. I think they're on, well, since I've been doing skin care, I think this might be the fourth incarnation of it with some slight changes."
Oldies but Goodies - Skincare Products That Stand the Test of Time!
"This is a really nice gel textured fragrance-free moisturizer that works well for a lot of people. It works well underneath sunscreen and things like that because of the texture of it. I can't tell you how many jars I've used because when I was first getting into skin care and actually before I was even into skin care this was probably the one moisturizer I would use. It's still just got a really nice gel texture to it. I have friends that still use this and swear by it to this day even though there's so many other goodies out there they still swear by it."
A Decade Worth of Holy Grail Moisturizers & Face Creams - My Favorites Over the Past 10 Years
"It's really nice, liquidy gel texture, soaks in really nicely. I eventually moved on from this one because I don't think this texture and ingredients is enough for dry skin during a dry winter. But I did go through a fall, spring, and summer of using this and it was really nice and elegant feeling, silky feeling on the skin."
~Yay
"Clinique Moisture Surge is actually a really good facial moisturizer. I love the texture on this. It has caffeine, an antioxidant that's good for temporary redness reduction. This product also has urea, which is really good for hydrating. And it's a nice hyaluronic acid containing moisturizer, sort of the thick gel cream consistency but very lightweight on the skin. $54.99 for 4.2 oz."
All 2 takes from Dr Dray
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"Clinique Moisture Surge is actually a really good facial moisturizer. I love the texture on this. It has caffeine, an antioxidant that's good for temporary redness reduction. This product also has urea, which is really good for hydrating. And it's a nice hyaluronic acid containing moisturizer, sort of the thick gel cream consistency but very lightweight on the skin. $54.99 for 4.2 oz."
Dermatologist Reviews the Best and Worst Skincare at Costco
"Clinique's Moisture Surge is here. I've always enjoyed this. It does have caffeine in it, which is an antioxidant. Also can be helpful for redness. The 4.2 oz jar for $54.99."
~Yay
"Clinique's Moisture Surge is just a classic gel cream moisturizer, and it's a classic for a reason. It's lightweight. It's very hydrating. It layers beautifully under makeup, and it works for a lot of people who just don't need richness."
~Yay
"If you have oilier skin or live in a warmer climate and are looking for something a little bit lighter, this one is a classic and for a good reason. The star ingredient here, hyaluronic acid. It acts as a moisture magnet. It is a humectant and it really helps your skin retain water to keep it hydrated and plump. And this one also contains activated aloe water and caffeine which helps to soothe and decrease inflammation. The texture is a lightweight gel cream which makes it really refreshing and it absorbs instantly, layering really beautifully under sunscreen or makeup or whatever you put on top. It's at a more moderate price point compared to some of the more high-end moisturizers, which makes it a great everyday staple for normal to oily skin types. I like this one a lot and I use it a lot during spring summer or if I'm feeling oily during winter time because it helps give you that moisturized glow without feeling too heavy."
~Nay
"Clinique's Moisture Surge moisturizer has been a bestseller for them for years, but they have competition now and so many better products. There are plenty of brands offering more effective formulas at a lower price."
~Yay
"The Clinique Moisture Surge 100H is iconic. It is a cream which has Indian women wrapped in its hands because I know so many people who just love Clinique. They use Clinique and that's their go-to. But Clinique comes with a Clinique price point."
All 3 takes from Nipun Kapur
Best Dupes of Luxury Creams | Affordable Dupe for Tatcha & Charlotte Tilbury | Nipun Kapur
"This is great for normal to combination, combination to oily skin"
Translated from the guru's original language.
Top 5 Moisturizers for Large Open Pores & Textured Skin | Nipun Kapur
"The Clinique Moisture Surge is fabulous, this is a bestseller by the brand and it is a bestseller for the reason because almost all skin types suit it."
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"The Clinique Moisture Surge 100H is iconic. It is a cream which has Indian women wrapped in its hands because I know so many people who just love Clinique. They use Clinique and that's their go-to. But Clinique comes with a Clinique price point."
~Yay
"Clinique Moisture Surge 100H is a lightweight gel cream that hydrates so well and leaves your skin plump yet at the same time not heavy. What's really cool about it is that in addition to hyaluronic acid, it has aloe vera ferment so they really ferment the aloe vera, making it super lovely and breaking down the ingredients so it has additional hydrating and plumping benefits. You can actually even put it on the ends of your hair to help calm and instantly reduce frizziness and smooth out hair, and you can also put it on your cuticles, so there are a lot of other ways of using this moisturizer if you wanted to."
Top Pick: favorite clinique product
All 2 takes from Dr. Jenny Liu
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"This is one of my all-time favorite products from Clinique. This is a lightweight gel cream moisturizer that honestly you can probably use all year round. It does a wonderful job at hydrating your skin without leaving a heavy and sticky feel, definitely something worth checking out and using during the summer months especially. I actually love the fact that it comes in various different sizes so you can have one at home and I actually take the smaller one with me for when I travel, apply on my skin before I fly out to keep my skin plump and hydrated. You can even use it as a five minute leave-on mask to instantly help hydrate your skin. [...] Formulation-wise it's really unique what Clinique has done is take an aloe extract and essentially fermented that multiple times to really get all the wonderful bioactives, small bioactives that is more readily able to penetrate your skin because we do know that fermented ingredients do offer additional benefits than regular ingredients. So the bioactives from the aloe ferments here, Clinique has essentially fermented that so you're getting more effective hydrating ingredients."
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"Clinique Moisture Surge 100H is a lightweight gel cream that hydrates so well and leaves your skin plump yet at the same time not heavy. What's really cool about it is that in addition to hyaluronic acid, it has aloe vera ferment so they really ferment the aloe vera, making it super lovely and breaking down the ingredients so it has additional hydrating and plumping benefits. You can actually even put it on the ends of your hair to help calm and instantly reduce frizziness and smooth out hair, and you can also put it on your cuticles, so there are a lot of other ways of using this moisturizer if you wanted to."
~Yay
"Clinique's Moisture Surge, these are great options for those with normal to dry skin."
~Nay
"The first thing that confuses me is they want to go with a more fat-based product but then they put in dimethicone, which is fine, it's a silicone, then they put glycerin, a very basic humectant, fine. But there are no actives in this product. There is nothing in this product that's going to help with your fine lines, help you with sebum production. No vitamins, no minerals. It's just a very basic, beautiful moisturizer, but it's not going to give you any protection. In fact, I would say right now my skin is starting to feel a bit tight, and the reason is the water is evaporating from the skin very rapidly. It doesn't have enough fat in this, and that's why it's coming out with that gel consistency. If you want to keep hydration in the skin, you want a high fat content in your moisturizer, so it should feel thicker, not gel-like."
~Yay
"The Clinique Moisture Surge is an interesting product. [...] It's got a lot of silicone in there, [...] so if you're acne prone layering too many silicone products is probably not going to be a good thing. It has some green tea extract just to calm down the skin, some aloe vera, as well as a few acids such as citric acid just to make the skin feel a little bit more [...] moisturized. It may reduce [...] the cases of sensitivity secondary to retinoid."
~Mixed
"This is a classic product for a reason, I do think you're going to like this a lot more if you have either a more normal to oily skin type, or if you just don't like the feel of moisturizer, as this one absorbs really fast. It's a fine product, if you have a drier skin type it's probably not going to be for you."
~Yay
"The Clinique Moisture Surge is a great product, it's one of my favorites. It's a nice gel texture that doesn't feel too heavy but does provide really good moisture benefits, and gel creams are my favorite consistency for a moisturizer. It does have two different dyes in it which I'm not crazy about, but that's only really applicable if you have sensitivities to dyes. Overall the ingredient list is really good, with a lot of great ingredients for skin soothing, moisture, and even damage repair. I'm totally a fan of it."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Vitamin C

Topical vitamin C is an antioxidant with reasonable evidence for dullness and uneven tone. It breaks down in light and air, so how a product is formulated and packaged matters as much as the percentage on the front.

Source: DermNet

Urea

Urea both holds water in the skin and gently loosens dead surface cells. At higher strengths it has good evidence for very dry or thickened skin.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator?

A lightweight gel cream moisturizer with hyaluronic acid, caffeine, urea, and fermented aloe vera designed to hydrate and plump skin without heaviness.

Is Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator worth it?

The gurus are split. 8 of the 12 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 74%.

What is Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator's Guru Score?

Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator holds a Guru Score of 74%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 12 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator best for?

Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator is generally suited to dry skin and normal skin.

Cheaper alternatives the gurus rate.

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