My Staples from Bioderma

I have the ickiest skin ever. At my age (early thirties) I still get a pimple or two during the hot months. That and the fact that my skin goes from being dry and flaky in winter to an over productive oil well in summer. There is no middle ground in this battle at all.

Most of the time, I buy medical grade products to combat my skin's erratic behavior - Kiehl's, Murad, Obagi, and Infracyte, I've tried them all. Of the four, I like Obagi and Infracyte the most. But Obagi is really expensive. So the last time I went to Pinas, I settled on Infracyte as per the recommendation of my doctora. Infracyte being a sort of a milder and cheaper (by about 7k pesos) version of the Obagi Nuderm protocol. Like Obagi though, Infracyte is only sold by dermatologists in the Philippines.

I am almost out of my Infracyte skincare products and I still have four months to go before I go on vacation to the Philippines. That and the fact that because Infracyte has Tretinoin and Hydroquinoine, my skin just can't tolerate Infracyte in the summer months so I've stopped using them at the moment. Using tretinoin during the sweltering summer days in Madrid, even under thick sunblock creams, is like ensuring you'll get a red, baked from the oven, sunburned look.

Thankfully, serendipity and client requests brought me to Bioderma. Bioderma is a French dermatological brand found in most pharmacies in Europe. This brand is known for its Micellar Water cleansers. I have used both variants of the cleansers and reviewed them here. But I have explored beyond Bioderma's cleansing water and have used only Bioderma products for my skincare needs in the past couple of months.

I have stripped down the things I use on my face to these Bioderma goodies:

Bioderma Sensibio H20: The much hyped and raved about micellar water cleanser which I use at night to remove traces of powder and blush. Yes, it works well and does not dry out the skin. Hypoallergenic and fragrance-free. Price: 17€ for 500 ml

Bioderma Sebium Cleanser: A cleanser that removes oil and impurities. Nothing really spectacular about this cleanser. I just like it because it has no fragrance and is non-drying. You also need just a single pea-sized blue blob to cleanse your whole face so it's very cost effective. Paraben-free and hypoallergenic. Price: 17€ for 200 ml.

Bioderma White Objective Serum: The one muck I plomp on my face every night. A fragrance-free lightening serum with vitamin C and alpha hydroxyl acids. The vitamin C comes in a separate vial, and you have to mix the vitamin C with the AHA base, prior to using. I suppose, this it to ensure that the vitamin C remains potent longer. Price: 32€ for 30 ml.

They're not exactly cheap. These three products cost about 65€ total but considering that these are the only products I use for my skincare and these last at least three months, I think 65€ is a reasonable expense for dependable skincare, no?

A note about the White Objective Serum, it did not really lighten my face. It just brightened it a bit. But the thing I like about this serum is that it has this tightening effect and does help in lightening discolorations. If you are familiar with M2 Skin Refinish, the serum's texture is the same as M2's, except Bioderma doesn't sting unlike M2.

I suppose when the cold months come, I can start using tretinoin again to combat time and aging lol. But I am enjoying a relatively easy-peasy, no brainer skin regimen at the moment, thanks to Bioderma.