Summer Fridays’ Dream Oasis Serum Is Actually Very Good

The first morning I tried the new Summer Fridays Dream Oasis Serum, I woke up very tired — I had been tossing and turning the night before with a bilateral charlie-horse situation — and my skin looked sullen. I didn't expect anything dramatic, that's not the vibe of a gentle, hyaluronic-acid serum.

However, after splashing my face with cold water, I rubbed a pump of the gel-like serum into my face — directions say, 'Smooth over cleansed, damp skin (which is the proper way to apply most serums with HA) — and pretty immediately my skin felt better. Like the skin-care equivalent to chugging a glass of water. It was a solid start.

What differentiates this Summer Fridays serum from others that I've tried that serve a similar function of prepping the skin before moisturiser is that it's also formulated with plant-derived squalane and tiger grass, which calms any redness in the skin. In application, it feels heavier than a thin, watery serum. The weight of it actually serves the function of a primer (obviously, without any silicone), so my SPF moisturiser and concealer go on smooth and I need less of both because my skin is already looking refreshed.

I take reviews with a grain of salt, because most are incentivised, but it's worth considering that the earliest couple hundred reviewers (on the U.S. Sephora website) have given the Summer Fridays serum five stars, not a single mark off. There aren't many skin-care products I would bulk recommend to anyone, but this one lives up to its 'suitable for all skin types' claim. It's gentle and light enough that it doesn't feel like an occlusive that you might be worried, Could this break me out? But especially for someone who situates themself in the dry-skin family, this serum a no brainer. Summer Fridays founders Marianna Hewitt and Lauren Gores Ireland would go so far as to call it a 'dream oasis.' From California to New York, it translates.