Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream Review: A Dermatologist's Take

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream Review: A Dermatologist's Take


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The Dewy Skin Cream is a moisturizing cream sold by popular cosmetics brand Tatcha. The brand claims their product provides a “dewy, healthy glow” and that after two weeks of use, 100% of participants in a trial experienced improved skin hydration.

But does Dewy Skin Cream contain ingredients proven in medical studies to increase skin hydration, or are these just marketing claims? Does it contain any questionable additive ingredients? What retailer sells the product for the best price? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients in Dewy Skin Cream based on medical studies to give our take on whether the product is likely to be effective or if it’s a waste of money.

We’ll provide a cost breakdown documenting which retailer(s) sell this product for the best price, and feature Tatcha customer reviews.

Ingredient Analysis

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream ingredients

The ingredients in Dewy Skin Cream are shown above. 

Some of the active ingredients have research backing for skin hydration and skin quality improvements.

Camellia sinensis leaf extract was shown in a clinical trial published in the Dermatologic Therapy journal to have “pronounced moisturizing effects” when applied to skin.

Rice ferments and rice extract may have an anti-aging effect on skin according to a 2021 clinical trial, but this was an in vitro (test tube) trial which makes the results weaker.

Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most effective anti-aging ingredients. As we referenced in our Brazilian Bum Bum Cream review article, this ingredient is clinically shown to reduce wrinkle depth.

Chondrus crispus extract, more commonly referred to as Irish moss extract, is a type of seaweed. A medical review published in the Marine Drugs journal found that seaweed may have an anti-photoaging effect when applied topically, meaning it can help protect skin from UV damage.

Panax ginseng extract, also referred to as red ginseng extract, was shown in a 2017 medical review to have a potent anti-aging effect. The study authors described the effects of ginseng on visible signs of aging like wrinkles: “...remarkably improved with red ginseng administration. ginsenoside Rb1 reduced the increase in skin wrinkling.”

Clearly there are a number of effective ingredients in Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream. But there are also some inactive ingredients we consider to be questionable from a health perspective.

Violet 2 is an artificial dye, and we consider it questionable that the brand references “purple rice” in their marketing when it appears that a synthetic dye is primarily responsible for the product’s color.

A 2015 medical review documents how artificial dyes can be absorbed through the skin, and how these compounds may have toxic effects in the body.

Fragrance is included, and as we documented in our review of another skincare brand using this ingredient called Monat, fragrance is clinically shown to have toxic effects in humans and to the environment.

Citral, limonene and linalool are additional fragrance ingredients. These are known potential skin allergens.

Phenoxyethanol and sodium benzoate are preservatives, the first of which was shown in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells.

We consider Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream to be likely effective for moisturizing skin and for reducing wrinkles, but we don’t currently recommend the product due to the inactive ingredients highlighted in this analysis.

But how do real users rate and describe the effects of Dewy Skin Cream? We’ll review in the next section.

Real People Try Dewy Skin Cream

One of the most popular Tatcha reviews covers Dewy Skin Cream along with other products from the brand, comes from a YouTube creator named Ingrid Nilsen, and has over 190,000 views:

A TikTok creator named “jackiedymondskin” had a favorable review of Tatcha’s cream which includes a product demo:

@jackiedymondskin Have you tried this cream💜@tatcha #skincare #skincaretips #sephora #tatcha ♬ Surface - Official Sound Studio

Where to Get the Best Price

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here’s a price breakdown at the time of publishing this article:

Sephora: $70 

Brand website: $70 (link)

Amazon: $70 (link to official Amazon listing)

Walmart: $63.93 (free shipping, third-party seller, link)

This product is currently 9% cheaper on Walmart than other websites, but the Walmart listing is from a third-party seller with only a handful of reviews.

We'd recommend that consumers who can afford to do so purchase through the brand's official website or the brand's official Amazon listing.

What’s the Best Dewy Skin Cream Dupe?

A YouTube creator named Jen Phelps who has over 100,000 subscribers and posts about affordable makeup has a video on the best high-end skincare dupes that includes Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream.

We’ve timestamped the below video to start where she begins her recommendation for a dupe of Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream:

Dermatologist Reviews Tatcha

One of the most popular reviews of Tatcha comes from a dermatologist and YouTube influencer named “Dr Dray.” Her video on several Tatcha products, where she gives her take on whether they’re worth the price, has over 400,000 views:

Real Customers Review Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion.

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream has been reviewed over 1,400 times on Amazon, with an average review rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “Carmen Miranda” who claims it’s effective at moisturizing:

“I am in my 50s and this product works amazing it’s super moisturizing. It was kind of expensive for the amount that you get.”

The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Yonatan Ryabinski” who claims the cream caused side effects:

“After couple of times using I got terrible irritation all over of my face... For this price I didn't suspect to get such reaction. I wouldn't recommend this product at all.”

Our Clean Skincare Picks

There are skincare products containing ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality.

Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.

It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.

Ritual HyaCera is our top skin supplement.

It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging." 

Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.

Pros and Cons of Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

Here are the pros and cons of Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream in our opinion:

Pros:

  • Many effective active ingredients
  • Should moisturize facial skin
  • Should reduce wrinkles
  • Very positive online customer reviews
  • Contains unique active ingredients not found in many other formulations

Cons:

  • Contains fragrance
  • Contains artificial dye
  • Contains synthetic preservatives
  • Expensive
Stay up-to-date on our research reviews

Conclusion

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream is likely to be an effective moisturizer. It contains many research-backed active ingredients not only for moisturization but also for anti-aging.

From an efficacy perspective, we consider this to be an above-average formulation.

We do not currently recommend Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream due to the inclusion of inactive ingredients we deem questionable from a health perspective, such as fragrance and artificial dye. 

We also consider it to be questionable from a marketing standpoint that Tatcha suggests that purple rice gives their cream its color, while their formulation contains a synthetic purple dye.

Most online customer reviews of this product seem highly favorable, and for consumers intent on purchasing it, doing so either from the brand’s official website or on Amazon are the best-priced options.