Byoma is a brand that has repeatedly caught my eye over the past year, particularly in stores their brightly coloured square bottles stand out on the shelves and I have often found myself standing there talking myself down from purchasing more skincare. It’s no secret that I tend to now be more of a luxury skincare user now, so I was intrigued because this has really been one of the few budget friendly brands that have caught my eye over the past 3-4 years. However, a little trio of hydrating Byoma products caught my eye in this little starter kit, and I could resist no more! This is a long one, so let’s jump straight on in to this Byoma Review.
This set was a Holiday set and was a perfect little stocking stuffer, and whilst Byoma products are budget friendly it was a set of 3 things for £15 (and I had a £5 voucher so it in fact was just £10 for me). None were full size, but it felt like a good were all decent sizes and enough to get a feel for products and conduct my first Byoma Review.
Byoma is a brand that focuses on the protection of the skin’s barrier, or biome. The brand was founded by the owner of Tan-Luxe in 2020 and seems to have boomed in popularity in such a short space of time, they seem to be doing well as so many of the products seem to be widely sold out as I was researching the full-size prices for this post. One thing I found great about the brand is that they packaging is fully recyclable and made from one type of plastic, meaning disposal is really easy, and they have eliminated extra waste by cutting cardboard boxes and shrink wrap, with refills coming soon to increase sustainability.
Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser
£10 for 175ml | Purchase at Boots Here (affiliate link)
First up is the Creamy Jelly Cleanser, which when I think of cream gel cleansers, I am accustomed to something like the Beauty Bay Probiotic Cleansing Gel or the Augustinus Bader Cream Cleansing Gel, which are milky and thick in consistency. This one is a clear gel so I was surprised it had the word “creamy” in it’s name.
I can kind-of-loosely see why it’s called creamy, but also it feels like a stretch to me, often cleansers in this texture can be quite stripping on the skin, and this one isn’t, but I don’t think in my top 20 descriptive words about this cleanser, I would have picked creamy, and maybe a moisturising foaming cleanser would have felt a better fit personally.
This cleanser does foam lightly, initially the texture is pretty thick but as you rub into the skin the texture changes. It removes makeup, but not fantastically and needs a good rub in and a second cleanse, so I don’t love using this around the eye area as I feel like I am having to work at it too hard. And as it does gently foam, I also find it does sting if it does manage to get into the eye area. Where I’ve liked this in my routine most is when my skin is already fresh from makeup and I am just doing a cleanse to remove any skincare on the skin before reapplying.
My skin feels fresh and moisturised after using providing I was makeup free. The formula contains Byoma’s barrier restoring Tri-Ceramide Complex containing ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol. It also contains Green Tea to detoxify and Liquorice Root Extract to brighten.
It’s a nice inexpensive cleanser, it doesn’t especially feel like a bargain to me and is what I would expect of a cleanser at this price point. Where my issue is is that I can achieve more with a cleansing balm in one step. But if you’re someone who loves a foaming cleanser formula or double cleansing – maybe this is one to try out.
Would I rebuy? I don’t hate they Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser, but I don’t think I’d rush to get it again – I like a cleanser that can “do-it-all” and ideally with just one use, rather than having to double cleanse. If I was to buy it again, it would likely be to use in the shower when my face is already “clean” but I just want a refresh.
Byoma Hydrating Serum
£13 for 30ml | Purchase at Boots Here (affiliate link)
My initial bug bear with this was the application, the pipette does not pick up this semi-thick creamy gel like liquid. I gave this a really good shake to make sure that this hadn’t settled in anyway, but every time I went to use this it felt difficult to get any product sucked up into the pipette, and instead the pipette became a vessel for swiping it on my face (defying the point of the good hygiene of a pipette).
Once eventually I managed to get this onto my skin, I rubbed this in to find that it leaves a super tacky feeling on the skin which never seems to disappear. If I’ve worn this at night without a moisturiser that covers the texture I get that “stuck to my pillow feeling” and when I put it on in the morning before work whilst at home barefaced – that tackiness never goes away.
I was really intrigued to see whether this product was worth the uncomfortableness of feeling sticky, so for a week I tried day and night applying this to only one side of my face with moisturiser layed, with the other side having no serum. My skin visibly looked no different and felt no more or less hydrated than the other, in short – I couldn’t see anything positive that this was giving me.
Would I rebuy? I think it’s clear, I detest this formula! So no, and I don’t know who I would recommend this for either.
Byoma Moisturizing Gel Cream
£12 for £50ml | Purchase at Boots Here (affiliate link)
I was really hopeful on this one as my skin has always reacted postitively to ceramide moisturisers. Also featuring Niacinamide (helping dullness, uneven tone, pores) and Green Tea (detoxifying). The texture of this is a semi-transparent gel formula and feels light and refreshing on the skin. Layering over the Hydrating serum, I hoped this would take the tackniess away, but the texture of this is so light, the texture wasn’t overruled. I enjoyed this most by itself or with other serums.
The Byoma Moisturizing Gel Cream makes the skin look quite dewy whilst wearing, but that doesn’t transform into long-term effects on the skin. After a solid few weeks exclusively using this moisturiser, I didn’t notice the glowy effects that I normally see from a ceramide based formula and it took me a lot to not pick up something different on my dressing table every night as it just didn’t deliver in the way I wanted.
I even tried this as a pre-makeup moisturiser, and I found it was a little too wet feeling and took a long while to feel absorbed enough, but also that my hydrating primers delivered more moisturise than this did.
Would I rebuy? I think in my mid-twenties to thirty, I would have really enjoyed this when I was a oily-to-very-oily skin type, but since switching my skincare (and maybe aging a little), my skin is much more balanced than it was 3-5 years ago. For me now, it doesn’t deliver enough by itself or even with other more potent actives or serums I find it doesn’t hold those in as effectively as I would expect. A good one who may be younger and oilier or like a true basic gel-cream formula.
Out of all three products the one I enjoyed least was definitely the Hydrating Serum, which surprised me!
You can try Byoma at Boots.
Have you tried Byoma before?
