Biotaderm Core Dry Sensitive All-Over Moisturiser
Cushioning moisturiser for dry, sensitive skin, anywhere you need it
The most versatile of the three textures, made to go anywhere on the body, and onto the face when it wants more than Flow. Over fourteen percent of the formula is plant oil, enough to cushion skin that runs dry and reacts easily, without becoming a balm. Every ingredient and every percentage is published below.
What it is, and who it’s for
Core sits between the other two. It carries over fourteen percent plant oils against Flow's nine, which is the difference between something that disappears on the face and something that stays put on arms, legs and shoulders.
The blend is the same one we use for dry, sensitive skin throughout the range: baobab and dragon fruit at the front, evening primrose for barrier lipids, tamanu for conditioning, and a little sea buckthorn for its carotenoids. Around those sits the same supporting cast as every Biotaderm formula, built at skin pH and held there by sodium citrate.
If you only want one moisturiser, this is usually the one.
Smooth a small amount over clean, dry skin once or twice a day, wherever you need it. It spreads without warming first, so you will use less than you expect. Before any cosmetics or sunscreen if you are using it on the face.
How it feels
A medium-light cream that spreads across the body without warming it first. A little covers more ground than it looks.
Absorbs quickly with light rubbing, leaving skin moisturised, not greasy, and ready to get dressed.
The plant oils, with the earthy, slightly citrus note of the vetiver. You notice it for a few minutes, then it fades.
Key ingredients
Five oils do the work here, chosen for dry, sensitive skin rather than for how they read on a label. Each has its own entry in the ingredient library, with the evidence and its limits set out in full.
Baobab Seed Oil Adansonia Digitata
A balanced oil that softens and helps skin hold onto moisture, without the heaviness of the more occlusive butters. Organic and cold-pressed.
Dragon Fruit Seed Oil Hylocereus Undatus
A light seed oil, rich in linoleic acid, with antioxidant activity from its tocopherol content. It sits well on skin that finds heavier oils uncomfortable. Cold-pressed.
Evening Primrose Oil Oenothera Biennis
One of the few plant oils rich in gamma-linolenic acid. Studies suggest GLA-rich oils support barrier function in skin that is dry and easily provoked, and it has a long record of comfortable use on reactive skin.
Tamanu Seed Oil Calophyllum Inophyllum
A thick, conditioning oil with a long history of traditional use on damaged and irritated skin. The published evidence is thinner than the folklore, so we use it for what it demonstrably does, which is soften and soothe.
Sea Buckthorn Fruit Oil Hippophae Rhamnoides
Present in small quantity, and deliberately so. It is dense in carotenoids, which is where its antioxidant interest lies, and also where its strong orange colour comes from. Past a certain level it would tint the cream and anything it touched, so the amount here is set by that limit rather than by ambition.
Bladderwrack Fucus Vesiculosus, our signature Atlantic seaweed
The same species you will find on the rocks below Welcombe at low tide. Ours is a cold, solvent-free infusion in sunflower oil, made in the UK. The infusion carries fucoxanthin, the seaweed's golden pigment, which gives it a modest antioxidant character, helped by the vitamin E in the sunflower oil that carries it. That, and the brand's ties to this coast, is why it is in every formula we make.
Every Biotaderm moisturiser also contains squalane, a postbiotic barley ferment upcycled from gin distilling, the plant prebiotic inulin, allantoin, vitamin E and chlorella.
Every ingredient is named on the label, with nothing hidden under "fragrance" or "parfum", so you can check the formula against anything your skin dislikes. If your skin reacts easily, patch test on the inside of your forearm before first use.
This formula contains one essential oil, vetiver root oil, at a tenth of a percent. Vetiver root oil is rich in antioxidant compounds, chiefly the vetivones, and the research that identified them tested the same steam-distilled root oil we use. It also gives the cream its quiet, earthy scent and softens the sharper notes of the cold-pressed oils.
It appears on the label under its own name, never inside a "parfum" catch-all. That is why we describe the range as having no synthetic fragrance rather than as fragrance-free.
What it comes in
What it comes in, and how long it lasts.
| Volume | 150ml ℮ |
|---|---|
| How long it lasts | Three to four weeks used on the areas that need it. Less if you are covering the whole body. |
| Bottle | Aluminium, with a bamboo and plastic pump. The bottle can be recycled. |
| Once opened | Six months. |
| Batch | Batch number and best-before are printed on the label. |
Full formulation
Every ingredient in descending order by weight, including those below one percent, where the rules allow any order.
| Ingredient (INCI) | % | Skin function |
|---|---|---|
| Aqua | 64.91 | Base of the cream, carrying everything that dissolves in water |
| Glycerin | 6.00 | Humectant that draws and holds moisture |
| Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Seed Oil*^ | 3.68 | Softens skin and helps retain moisture |
| Hylocereus Undatus (Dragon Fruit) Seed Oil^ | 3.68 | Linoleic-rich seed oil with antioxidant activity |
| Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil*^ | 3.34 | GLA-rich oil that softens skin and may support the barrier |
| Cetearyl Olivate | 2.70 | Olive-derived emulsifier; forms layers like the skin's own lipids |
| Sodium Citrate | 2.25 | Holds the formula at skin pH |
| Calophyllum Inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil*^ | 2.00 | Rich conditioning oil |
| Sorbitan Olivate | 1.80 | Olive-derived emulsifier, paired with cetearyl olivate |
| Cetearyl Alcohol | 1.50 | Fatty alcohol; emollient and thickener |
| Gluconolactone | 1.13 | Part of the preservative system |
| Squalane | 1.00 | Lightweight emollient that helps slow water loss |
| Saccharomyces/Barley Seed Ferment Filtrate# | 1.00 | Barley ferment that helps skin hold moisture |
| Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil | 0.85 | Linoleic-rich oil that supports the skin barrier |
| Hippophae Rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn) Fruit Oil*^ | 0.67 | Carotenoid-rich oil with antioxidant activity |
| Caesalpinia Spinosa (Tara) Gum | 0.55 | Thickens the cream and steadies the emulsion |
| Tocopherol (Vitamin E) | 0.51 | Antioxidant that protects the oils in the formula |
| Glyceryl Caprylate | 0.50 | Plant-derived emollient that supports the preservative |
| Allantoin | 0.50 | Soothes and softens skin |
| Inulin | 0.50 | Humectant and plant prebiotic; feeds beneficial skin bacteria in lab studies |
| Sodium Benzoate | 0.38 | Preservative that stops microbes growing in the bottle |
| Propanediol | 0.30 | Carries the chlorella extract; also a humectant |
| Fucus Vesiculosus (Bladderwrack) Extract | 0.14 | Atlantic seaweed with a modest antioxidant note |
| Vetiveria Zizanioides (Vetiver) Root Oil* | 0.10 | The only essential oil in the range; a faint earthy scent |
| Chlorella Vulgaris (Microalga) Extract | 0.008 | Microalgal extract; its maker's laboratory work suggests it favours helpful skin bacteria |
| Lactic Acid | 0.002 | Holds the chlorella active at its acidity; a trace |
* Organic ^ Cold-pressed # Upcycled
Common questions
Flow, Core or Deep? How do I choose?
By where you are putting it rather than by how dry your skin feels. Flow is the lightest of the three and is built for the face, at around nine percent plant oils. Core carries more and suits the body. Deep carries most and is for hands, elbows and feet, the places that take a battering.
The skin type is the second choice, and that one is about how your skin behaves. The skin type finder sorts it in two questions.
Can I use Core on my face?
Yes, and plenty of people do, particularly in winter. Core carries around fourteen percent plant oils against Flow's nine, so it sits heavier and takes longer to sink in. If you wear make-up or sunscreen over the top you will probably prefer Flow on your face and Core everywhere else.
My skin reacts to essential oils. Should I try this one?
There is one essential oil in here, vetiver root oil, at a tenth of a percent. It is named on the label under its own name rather than hidden inside a parfum listing, so you can see exactly what you are dealing with.
Whether that suits you is something only your skin can answer. If you have reacted to aromatics before, patch test on the inside of your forearm and leave it a couple of days before putting it near your face.
Made to be gentle on skin
Microbiome-friendly
Naturally derived
Every formulation published
Vegan and cruelty-free
Handmade in small batches in Welcombe, north Devon.
Low tide below Welcombe, where the bladderwrack grows
