Not everyone wants the same jar, and the oil-free gel idea has plenty of other good versions. What they share is a watery feel, a fast finish, and a texture that will not turn your sunscreen to pills.

Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel is made for the skin barrier, and it is the most familiar of the group. Glow Recipe's Watermelon Pink Juice is a refillable, oil-free moisturizer with a cushiony feel. Biossance's Probiotic Gel is a lightweight, non-comedogenic moisturizer with glycerin and squalane. The INKEY List's Omega Water Cream adds niacinamide, and it is the one for anyone who wants a very plain, no-fuss jar.

belif's The True Cream Aqua Bomb pairs hyaluronic acid with niacinamide, and it is the wettest of the first six, almost like a sorbet. Skinfix's Barrier Balancing Water Cream is made with hyaluronic acid and I would reach for it when the weather turns cooler.

To test a gel cream, apply it in the morning and look at your skin at lunchtime. If it is shiny in the T zone and tight on the cheeks, the gel alone is not enough and you might add a drop of something richer on the dry spots. If it feels comfortable all day, keep it. Give any new moisturizer about two weeks before deciding, and change only one thing at a time so you can tell which product is responsible for the difference you see in the mirror.

A gel cream only does half the work. What sits beneath it decides how your skin feels by mid-afternoon, and Tatcha has a small family of steps for exactly that.

Rice Wash is a skin-softening cleanser, gentle and low-drama, and the one I use in the morning. The Camellia Oil 2-in-1 Makeup Remover and Cleanser is my night step, melting sunscreen and makeup before a second wash. Rice Polish is the foaming enzyme powder, which I keep for a weekly reset, a little in wet palms and no scrubbing. The Essence is the skincare boosting treatment that goes on right after cleansing, before anything else, and it makes the cream sink in more evenly.

The Dewy Serum is a resurfacing and plumping treatment, and I would use it at night rather than combine it with anything else strong. The Serum Stick is a line-smoothing treatment and touch up balm, which lives in my bag for a dry office afternoon.

What I would skip: layering every one of these at once. Six steps under a gel cream means pilling, wasted product and no clear idea of what is helping. Choose one cleanser, one essence and at most one treatment, and keep the rest for other days.

My favorite way to wear a gel cream is as the last step under sunscreen on a warm morning, and as the middle step at night with something richer sealing it on top if I need it. That flexibility is why it stays in my rotation while other moisturizers come and go.

Refill jars are worth noticing, too. The Water Cream and Dewy Skin Cream both come as refillable moisturizers, which makes them easy to keep on a shelf, and you can swap the insert without a new container. Keep the lid closed and use clean fingertips, so the jar stays fresh from the first refill to the last.

Skin that stings, flakes or turns red after a new product deserves a rest, and if that continues for more than a few days, a doctor or dermatologist is the right person to ask. Otherwise, keep the routine short, keep it steady and let a light, cool moisturizer do its quiet job. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Milky Toner, the Step Between Water and Cream and Charlotte Tilbury Magic Water Cream, Its Magic Line and the Glow Creams Beside It.