Review: Bioderma Cicabio Soothing Repairing Cream

Here’s a(nother) Bioderma product that I can totally get behind: the Cicabio Soothing Repairing Cream (915.20 Php). Cicabio is Bioderma’s range geared toward damaged and irritated skin. Now while not everyone has perennially sensitive skin, having irritated, stressed, or wounded skin from time to time is inevitable. The skin is the body’s first barrier against the outside world, after all. External stressors can leave skin more sensitive and permeable, and the Cicabio range is Bioderma’s answer to that. The products in the range relieve discomfort and repair epidermal problems quickly.

There are four products in the Cicabio range: the Soothing Repairing Cream (the “Crème” for short), the Pommade, the SPF 50+, and the Arnica+. For today I’ll just be talking about the Crème, which is meant for use on minor skin damage (ex. rashes, mild burns, mosquito bites).

This was the one product in my Bioderma press bag that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to use. I guess my skin gets irritated a lot more often than I thought, because I reach for this quite often now. It started when I had redness and peeling on my face from an over-dried pimple that I attacked with my full arsenal of pimple-drying remedies. My skin was just so irritated that it almost felt warmer in that area.

Annoyed with myself for letting it come to that, I was looking through my stash of lotions and potions for something to soothe my skin. I spotted the Cicabio Crème sitting patiently on my “things to try” shelf and I thought: perfect! And perfect it was indeed. I spread a small amount of the cream onto the affected area and felt immediate relief. After two days of using it, 90% of the redness had gone and the dryness problem was no more! 

The indications, properties, and instructions for use are clearly printed on the back of the box, but you can read more about what the product does here.

If you can’t be bothered to read that much, it can be summed up easily as well: Cicabio Crème provides epidermal repair for  non-oozing wounds or irritated skin on both face and body. 
I kind of adore this cream now and I treat as a kind of cure-all. Sort of like what the Lucas Papaw ointment was supposed to be but just never was for me. If I have a rash, I reach for this. If I have a minor abrasion, I reach for this. When I have irritated and over-dried pimples, this fixes the problem quick so that I don’t have scarring on my face for longer than usual. 
40mL is a lot of product for this kind of thing because you won’t really be using it on large areas. Even if you were, a small amount is enough to create a soothing film on the skin. I like that it comes in a squeezy tube with a precise nozzle because I know I’ll be using this down to the very last drop. 
That “film” that the Cicabio Crème creates is what Bioderma refers to as its “dressing effect.” Combined with hyaluronic acid and moisturising agents, the film forms a breathable layer of product for optimum skin comfort. It feels a lot like an oatmeal-based lotion to me. This is obviously not the kind of product that will sink into the skin quickly and it is (again, obviously) not meant to. Damaged and irritated skin benefits from the protective layer that the cream provides.

Bioderma recently opened its first counter at the beauty department in SM Makati, so go and have a look if and when you are in the area. For more branch openings, keep track by following their Facebook page here. Also check out the other Bioderma products that I have reviewed if you’re interested:

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