A bottle of facial moisturizer and small plates on a black tray sit in grass and wildflowers, with cliffs and the ocean in the background under a clear sky.

Dry

Skin that runs dry, and needs its moisture giving back.

Skin that feels tight and can flake, and drinks up moisture almost as fast as you apply it. Dry skin struggles to hold on to water, and while it's steadier than Dry Sensitive, it can have the odd reactive spell if it's left short for too long. It does best with steady, daily moisture.

Is this you?

Dry skin tends to feel tight, especially after washing, and can look dull or show flaky patches by the afternoon. Moisturiser seems to sink in and vanish, and the skin often wants more before long. It's mostly settled, but it can sting or feel rough now and then, particularly in winter or after a hot shower. What it rarely does is shine.

If that sounds like your skin most of the time, you're in the right place. If you're not sure, the skin type finder will point you the right way.

What Dry skin needs

Dry skin has one main thing to solve. It loses moisture faster than it makes it, so the tightness and flaking creep back not long after you've moisturised. The answer is to put that moisture back and, just as importantly, help the skin hold on to it. That means richer, barrier-supporting plant oils, and humectants that draw water in and keep it there.

Looked after steadily, the occasional reactive spell tends to fade. Left short for too long, dry skin can tip toward the more reactive Dry Sensitive type, and that is worth heading off.

The oils in every Dry moisturiser

Every Dry moisturiser shares the same blend of five cold-pressed and organic plant oils, carried at a different richness in each of the three textures.

Baobab and evening primrose lead the blend. Baobab softens and helps skin hold on to moisture. Evening primrose is one of the few plant oils rich in gamma-linolenic acid, and studies suggest GLA-rich oils support barrier function in dry skin. Jojoba, a liquid wax close in structure to the skin's own sebum, conditions without feeling heavy. Tamanu softens and soothes. Sea buckthorn, in a small amount, adds omega-7 and carotenoids.

Every Biotaderm moisturiser also contains squalane, a barley ferment upcycled from gin distilling, the plant prebiotic inulin, allantoin, vitamin E and chlorella. Each one also carries bladderwrack, the same seaweed species that grows on the rocks below Welcombe, as a cold infusion in sunflower oil made in the UK.

Each product page lists every ingredient with its exact percentage, and links each one to its entry in our ingredient library.

Your three Dry moisturisers

The same Dry blend comes in three textures, so you can match the richness to where you use it.

Flow, over 9% plant oil, is made for the face. Core, over 14%, is the most versatile, for anywhere on the body and the face when it wants more than Flow. Deep, over 19%, is the richest, for hands, elbows and feet.
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  • A Biotaderm Flow Dry Face Moisturiser pump bottle sits on a glass plate next to a small sprig of sea buckthorn berries.

    Biotaderm Flow Dry Face Moisturiser

    Biotaderm Flow Dry Face Moisturiser
    £20.90
  • A pump bottle of Biotaderm Core Dry All-Over Moisturiser surrounded by sea buckthorn berries, nuts, and small pink flowers on a marble surface.

    Biotaderm Core Dry All-Over Moisturiser

    Biotaderm Core Dry All-Over Moisturiser
    £22.90
  • A pump bottle of Biotaderm Deep Dry Hand and Foot Cream surrounded by small nuts, berries, and seeds on stone blocks.

    Biotaderm Deep Dry Hand and Foot Cream

    Biotaderm Deep Dry Hand and Foot Cream
    £24.90

Looking after Dry skin

A few gentle habits help this skin type as much as any single product does.

Moisturise while the skin is still slightly damp, which helps trap the water in. Wash with lukewarm rather than hot water, and something mild rather than a stripping, heavily foaming cleanser, since hot water and harsh soap pull out the very oils dry skin is short of in the first place. Try not to over-wash. Shelter the skin from cold wind and drying central heating. And be consistent, because dry skin responds far better to steady daily care than to the occasional heavy treatment.

We never add synthetic fragrance. The range contains one essential oil, vetiver, at a tenth of a percent, and the label shows exactly how much is there.

Your skin type can change

Dry isn't a fixed label. With consistent care, dry skin can get better at holding moisture over time, and for some people it settles toward the steadier Balanced type, where the daily upkeep gets easier. Any change is slow, and it comes from steady care more than from any one product. If your skin changes, the skin type finder will place you again.

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