Bioderma Hydrabio H2O Micellar Water

Am I the last person to jump onto this bandwagon? Yes and no. Yes, Bioderma is a cult classic and many bloggers, vloggers and beauty press people rave about this product. However, what I didn’t know was that Bioderma comes in a range of ‘flavors’. In other words, there are different types of Bioderma. I had never heard anything about the one in the blue bottle, which is especially formulated for sensitive and dehydrated skin.

Bioderma Hydrabio H2O Micellar Water

In this review I will be comparing the blue bottle to the standard pink bottle that everyone knows. I picked both of these up when I was in France last summer. The blue bottle was much harder to find than the pink one. You can find that in pretty much every drugstore you walk into. I only spotted the blue bottle in 2 ‘pharmacies’ I went into. I ended up purchasing this in a drugstore near Galleries Lafayette. Apart from these two types, there is also a yellow version which is formulated especially for oily skin. I don’t remember how much I paid for these, but I believe the blue version is a bit more expensive than the pink version.

Just like the regular Bioderma, the Hydrabio version is suitable for cleaning up your face and eyes. Before I started using this I had tried two other micellar waters. One by Garnier and one by L’Oreal and both of these cleansers are more like the pink Bioderma than the blue one. Since I have sensitive and dehydrated skin, this blue version feels like a revelation on my skin. Where I liked the regular Bioderma (I’ve used it a few times to see how it compared, but am keeping it for travel purposes), this blue version feels totally different on the skin, yet still gets the job done.

The packaging claims this product can be used the clean your skin, remove make up, but also moisturize it at the same time. The regular Créaline version claims it is suitable for all skin types and pretty much the same as the blue version. The blue version feels a lot richer than the regular one. It cleans my face, but at the same time leaves it feeling hydrated and well, very pleasant.

Ingredients Hydrabio (blue bottle)

Ingredients Créaline (pink bottle)

As you can see these two products are formulated quite differently. The main difference? The blue version includes glycerin. That must be why it feels so much gentler and more nourishing than the regular version. It also contains apple extract, hydrolized castor oil and a few other ingredients (of which I have no clue what they are!) that the pink version doesn’t have. Oddly enough, the blue bottle contains fragrance, whereas the regular version doesn’t. I haven’t noticed it smelling of anything in particular though and didn’t realize it contained perfume until I had a good look at this picture.

But the real question is: does it work? To answer that question I decided to clean some swatches from my arm. On the left you see a liquid liner and there are two eyeshadows. As you can see, the Bioderma Hydrabio has no problem clearing away the eyeshadows. The eyeliner is a different story. I find that with any micellar water I have to use a separate eye make up remover to rid my eyes of eyeliner and mascara. Bioderma Hydrabio is no different. I love using this to clean my face, but for hardcore make up removal I need something more.

Bioderma Hydrabio is a clear liquid, and I simply put some on a cotton pad. I use it in the morning to quickly clean my face before applying my day cream. At night, I sometimes use this as my only face cleanser. I then use it twice: once to remove make up, once to make sure it is all gone. But mostly, I use it as the last step in my skin cleansing routine. Whenever I clean my face with an oil or cleansing balm, I love running a cotton pad with some Bioderma on it over my skin to make sure my skin is completely make up free.

Like other micellar waters I’ve tried, Bioderma Hydrabio is not something I will use to remove eye make. However, like other micellar waters I’ve tried, it is a gentle cleanser that is a staple in my skincare routine. The main difference between this and the regular Bioderma Créaline and drugstore micellar waters is that this is even more gentle, more hydrating and much more pleasant feeling on my skin. In fact, I like this so much that I know I will miss this once it is gone. Despite the fact that I have two of the Garnier micellar waters lying about, I have already been looking into places that stock this so I can repurchase this once it runs out.

What is your opinion of Bioderma?