SPECIALIST testing VICHY MINERAL 89 BOOSTER: Review + How to use it?

In 2020, I did a review of Vichy Mineral 89 Booster and it was probably the only bad review of Vichy Mineral 89 Booster on the internet at the time. And now here I am reviewing it again, and you must be thinking that I have changed my mind! But actually, I didn’t change my mind, I just changed my point of view, and I think that now I am seeing this product for what it truly is. I will explain everything!

WHY DID I DECIDE TO GIVE IT ANOTHER CHANCE?

Well here’s the thing, I’m using Retinoids, and even though my skin isn’t naturally sensitive to fragranced products, that changes when I use Retinoids. At the moment I’m using La Roche Posay Redermic R Face Cream and Redermic R Eye Cream. So I’m using Retinoids around my eyes and on my face. This is drying out my skin a little bit and making it sensitive to fragranced products.

Because of this, I needed another product to hydrate my skin but not irritate my skin any further while I’m using the Redermic line by La Roche Posay.

I went to the drugstore and I was searching for a Hyaluronic Acid Serum or a Booster and I figured out that that was hard to find because all of the serums had Fragrance. And by the way, I couldn’t get The Ordinary HA 2%+ B5 because that one is not sold here in Serbian drugstores.

The only product that did not have Fragrance was her majesty Vichy Mineral 89 Booster, and that’s the only reason why I decided to test it again.

When I started using it again, the first thing that I realized was that it does not smell bad actually, since the Booster that I reviewed the first time had a really strong smell of Alcohol. This tells me that the first product that I was reviewing earlier, was expired (it was gifted to me already opened so I didn’t know this at the time).

That answers your question about why I bought it again, and now let me tell you about this new point of view that I have towards it.

WHAT IS VICHY MINERAL 89 BOOSTER?

Vichy Mineral 89 Booster is a product formulated specifically not to irritate sensitive skin any further. It has no Fragrance, no Alcohol, and very minimalistic ingredients. It’s just supposed to hydrate your skin a little bit and not irritate it any further. That’s all.

It has Mineral 89, the Thermal Water that is supposed to strengthen the skin barrier and if you have sensitive and damaged skin, this is what you need. It will give you a little bit of hydration and it will not irritate you any further, that’s it.

The hydration level that you will get from using Mineral 89 Booster is nothing spectacular. It hydrates a little bit, but I’ve used better and more hydrating products with Hyaluronic Acid.

The only active ingredients here are Thermal Water, Glycerin, and Hyaluronic Acid. And that is high molecular Hyaluronic Acid, not low molecular Hyaluronic Acid.

If you don’t know already high molecular Hyaluronic Acid can just hydrate the outermost layer of your skin and low molecular Hyaluronic Acid penetrates deeper into the skin and can plump up the fine lines. That’s why I always recommend you guys get a Hyaluronic Acid serum that has both low and high molecular Hyaluronic Acid.

The Hyaluronic Acid serum that will give you better hydration, that will plump up your skin, and will even fill in the fine lines, is the Hyalu B5 by La Roche Posay. I’m loving that serum, I think that’s my favorite Hyaluronic Acid serum that I’ve tried so far. You can read more about it here. One thing I have to mention about Hyalu B5 by La Roche Posay is that it does have a little bit of Fragrance and that’s the only reason why I did not get that one this time. I just didn’t want to risk it, and now that I’m using Retinoids I’m seeing Vichy Mineral 89 Booster for what it truly is.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MINERAL 89 BOOSTER

The truth about this product is:

this is a Booster, not a Serum
very simple product
with very minimalistic ingredients

Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid are the only two actives that you have here and of course Mineral 89, the Thermal Water. This product is formulated specifically not to irritate your skin any further and is supposed to hydrate it, just a little bit.

So don’t have high expectations from this product and you will be happy with it. If you have sensitive skin, and if you are using Retinoids then you can go for this one. This will not irritate your skin, but if you’re looking for that extra boost of hydration, plumping up the fine lines go for Hyalu B5 by La Roche Posay. That one is my favorite and by the way, I do have a video review on that one as well you can check it out down below.

HOW TO USE MINERAL 89 BOOSTER?

Step 1: Remove your makeup. If you don’t wear heavy makeup, you can remove your makeup with Micellar water. When I’m wearing heavy makeup I use a facial oil that dissolves the makeup first. For me, this is the first step of cleansing, either micellar water or an oil cleanser, depending on whether I am wearing heavy makeup or not.

Step 2: Wash your face with a facial cleanser. At the moment I’m using a CeRave Hydrating Cleanser for normal to dry skin.

Step 3: Leave your skin damp and apply the Booster to your skin.

Step 4: Apply an occlusive moisturizer on top of it to lock in the moisture. The moisturizer that I’m using at the moment is the Moisturizing Lotion by CeRave.

You can watch the full demo application in the video below.

FINAL VERDICT

As I said, Vichy Mineral 89 Booster is formulated specifically not to irritate your sensitive skin, and you should see this product for what it truly is and get it only if you truly need it. If you don’t need it, there are better, and more hydrating options than this one.

Thank you for reading.

Text adapted from Pharmacy&Makeup’s Youtube Video by Teodora Pungartar