I’d been wrestling with some minor breakouts recently along the sides of my face. I’m going to attribute it to the Shu Uemura Oil Cleanser – I’ve tried all 6 versions of it now and every single one breaks me out – yes including the new Anti-Inflammation one – it must be something I’m sensitive to.
Anyway I complained to a friend who told me to try the Vichy Normaderm Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care on top of my Vichy Pore Refining Essence. According to my friend, it helps correct problem skin. I’ll try anything once so I put this one to the test.
The Vichy Normaderm Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care is essentially a moisturizer. It contains our old friend salicylic acid to help combat spots and also Zincadone+ a mattifying and refining agent.
On application, my skin feels very smooth. I checked the ingredient list and yes, there’s silicone in there so those sensitive to silicone might want to take note. I am not so I was fine.
It is also mattifying – I cannot fault that. But the question – did it help soothe and reduce my spots and clogged pores?
Answer: Yes it did!
I was sceptical but I was pleasantly surprised that after a week of using this moisturizer day and night, the minor spots are all but gone. There is a stubborn one that persists still, but its not getting more inflammed or red and I’m very sure its going away soon. Its gradual though so don’t expect a miracle.
I use it on top of the Vichy Pore Refining Essence which I’m keeping as a staple in my skincare wardrobe. Its seriously made my skin look finer and feel smoother. Combined with the Anti-Imperfection moisturizer, its wonderful!
There is one fly in the ointment however. If you have normal or drier skin, you may find that the Vichy Normaderm Anti-imperfection moisturizer does not offer sufficient hydration. That’s my experience with it.
If you have oily skin or acne-prone skin, this may be a good choice for you. It certainly helped clear up my mild breakout and unclogged my pores and kept me looking matte in the day. But at night, I had to either use something like H20+ Face Oasis over this moisturizer or use something else richer.
A 50ml bottle retails for RM100 at most leading pharmacies that carry Vichy. I like how it feels and how it’s helped smoothen my skin so I’d say its pretty decent stuff!
Ingredients: Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat, Dimethicone, C12-13 Alkyl Lactate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Methylsilanol/Silicate Crosspolymer, Silica, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Totarol, Zinc PA, Glycyrrhetinic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Poloxamer 338, Nylon-12, Disodium EDTA, Capryloyl Salicylic Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Laureth-7, Eperua Falcata / Eprua Falcata Bark Extract, Dextrin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyacrylamide, Mica, CI77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI42090/ Blue 1, Parfum/Fragrance
Pros: Helps clear up problem skin, Skin feels matte and smooth
Cons: Insufficient hydration for drier skins
I know Vichy isn’t a line of products that’s very popular but thus far, I’ve been happy with the products I’ve tried. The Normaderm line (green packaging) is targeted at those with oily and acne-prone skin, the blue line for hydration and the Bi-White for whitening.
Have you tried anything from Vichy that you’d like to share?
Stay beautiful,
Paris B
Ooooh. You might be sensitive to the mineral oil in Shu Uemura’s cleansers, like me. They break me out too.
I shall give this a try, though, because the sides of my face and T-zone have been breaking out and refuse to go away too!
Hi Stephanie
I reckon I am sensitive to the mineral oil but still it works for lots of other people 🙂
I bought this in twin pack with the Night pore refining care, I also got the essence after you reviewed it. I was desperate because when the I tried the new Eucerin whitening 30SPF my skin broke out terribly. I think I was practically praying these products would work. I saw the results in less than 1 week, my skin calmed down and went back to normal.Yay!
Now if only Vichy works as well for blackheads.
Hi Reese
Glad to know it worked for you! That Eucerin doesn’t work for everyone unfortunately.
How do you incorporate Vichy’s UV Active daily to your regime? My sunscreen been giving break out even with the Normaderm range.
Although I’m more into natural and organic skin care products but I always recommend Vichy and La Roche-Posay’s products anytime to people who do not mind chemical synthetics. I think their products are superior, compared to the other commercial brands.
Hi Sesame
Thanks for your input. I’m only starting to be introduced to Vichy and thus far, its been all good for me.
allergy is indeed an ouch! i considered to buy this to try too! but now that im glad i didnt after reading your review 😀 because silicon is a bitch to me 😀
Hey prettybeautiful
Oh so you’re allergic to silicone too? Aw… boo!
I had a few sample and i tried it for bout 2 weeks. I don know i myself perasan or something but my acne scars and small bumps on my face seems to have either disappear or improve but i admit it dry out my skin. I combine this with the essence and the effect shows real quick but I am not sure if it this product that help but I know for sure after running out of sample my bumps appeared again. now I am just using the essence but i don see much improvement anymore. sob 🙁
can i ask something? i have dry combination skin but i still have acne problems on my drier area instead of having it on the oily area of the face. is it usual? my forehead don have any acne except for very huge pores opening. its my cheeks that are bugging me. I just wan them to go away.
germaine,
i think i can help with that. i too have dry combi skin and very recently, had a huge painful zit right there on my chin, one place i don’t use a lot of moisturizer on. thus, i attacked said zit for days with several types of pimple gels but all of them didn’t work. then i realized, maybe it is because that area is undermoisturized. so i tried using more moisturizer on it and what do you know, it got smaller every day. and now it is gone.
the skin probably was excreting more sebum to try and moisturize the area thus the zit popping out. so do try using more moisturizer on it?
hope it helps!
Thanks for the input Abby!
Hi Germaine
Yes you can have acne with dry skin. As Abby has pointed out, sometimes dry skin gets acne because the sebum compensates for the driness. Try a more hydrating moisturizer and see if it works better. As for pores, it can be attributed both to oil or driness. I find that if my skin is feeling too dry, the pores show too.
Recently, don’t know why my skin always popping out some zits but not pimple. I’ve tried to stop using my regular products as it seems useless. I have no idea which product causing the zits and which one I should continue use.The zits just keep on coming after one healed. Annoying!
Hi Synaesthesia
It might be hormonal or the weather. In my case, I’m experiencing the same too – little zits all over bug me to death
i had tried this in sample size before, however i think it is not hydrating my skin enough probably because my skin tend to be on the drier side… However i do like the texture which are light and absorb quickly into the skin… i think it might be suitable for those with oily skin… i personally think that their products are good but had nv bought any of it yet…. i also tried the cream from vichy aqua thermalia which is quite good but never did buy it though, not really sure why is that.. hehe…
Hi pinkcloud
This is more suitable for those with oily skin, I find. Its not moisturizing enough for me too for prolonged use. However, if I use it only in the day or only for a few days I’m ok
Ah… My sister used this and her pimples were still there… No effect what-so-ever… So I decided to give it a go and IT CLOGGED MY PORES! =(
I really like the fact that it makes my skin feel matte! hmmm…
p/s: they gave my sister a huge bottle of the mist spray and the mini one plus the facial wash as compensation… lol…
Hi Yuki
Aww… so sorry that it did not work for you and your sister 🙁 Glad they compensated her anyway!
Could you please recommand a make-up remover and a follow-up cleanser to me for my acne-prone,yet dry face?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Min Luo
I have dry skin and I like the Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleansing Lotion because it does not dry my skin out further. It does not need a follow up cleanser but if you need one, try a cream cleanser. I prefer using something with tea tree oil when treating acne prone skin but it can be a little drying. So I alternate between my Body Shop tea tree oil cleanser and my Garnier Aqua Defense Cleansing Foam.
Vichy is having discounts for the Normaderm range in Guardian just so you know.
My new blog is up. Hope you will lend your support. Thanks!
hello..
I have problem with my oily and acne face. I m planning to buy Vichy to use, would u recomand it for me? or u think something else would work better?
thx
Tata
P.S. I’m 18 years old
This item worked for me and my friend who had some acne problems. I can’t quite tell you if it will work for you – you might want to try it and see if it helps. If its a very serious case of acne then you might want to consult a dermatologist.
Okay literally, the people who use skin care products should be aware that it has to take 30 days until your skin can adjust to the new product. Its not just one day you will see a difference. I used the Vichy Normaderm Hydrating Care for about 2 months and still continuing. The first few days obviously my skin was not use to the product. After 2 weeks my pimples were getting smaller and became less red and noticeable. After a month and present my skin is clear. I still do have breakouts, but with continued use of this product, it keeps my skin stable.
Hope this helps.
Dear ParisB,
i notice that the 3rd ingredient for this is alcohol denat.
Im not very educated with skincare’s ingredient but i have seen really bad comments regarding this alcohol denat. on the internet.
Could you kindly clear my doubt? Am desperately in need of your advices.
thanks.
I’m not too good with ingredients as I use whichever works for me so long as it doesn’t disrupt my skin. If it does then I start paying attention.I don’t think any one ingredient is very bad in general unless it is present in very high concentrations. That said if your skin is sensitive or sensitive to alcohol then you might want to avoid it.
thank you. Your kind assistance is much appreciated 🙂
where can you buy it from? i looked in superdrugs and boots but its not there.
i would like to know wether vichy is suitable for asian people??
I’m asian so I guess it is.
I am currently using VICHY TRI-ACTIV ANTI-IMPERFECTION HYDRATING CARE.
This is the second day i’m using it. It calms the redness on my face & my skin felt smooth. So far so good, i hope it will bring more improvements 😀