BYOMA: Overview

BYOMA was recently launched on the market. It’s a UK based brand that’s available at Cult Beauty and Target. I love the colorful packaging and it’s really affordable. Details per Cult Beauty:

BYOMA is dedicated to boosting your skin’s barrier by repairing, restoring and regenerating the skin’s structure and barrier function. Fed up with the notion that skin is age-resistant, completely poreless and flawless, BYOMA was created to revolutionise these unrealistic beauty standards through radical transparency. Founded by the ever-curious product perfectionist, Marc Elrick, you can count on a ‘no fillers, no fluff’ approach to this growing range. Uniquely formulated using a breakthrough Tri-Ceramide Complex, BYOMA is here to boost your skin barrier — not break it. Thoughtfully packaged in fun, neon-coloured bottles and tubes made from recyclable materials, these skin care essentials make for an unmissable feature in your bathroom cabinet!

I grabbed four items. Everything is below $16 and seems pretty barrier friendly which is the goal. Boost the barrier. The whole line has the Tri-ceramide complex, is vegan plus alcohol and fragrance free. All their packaging is fun, it’s colored, feels heavy duty and they all have pumps or in the case of the mist a sprayer. It definitely feels geared towards a younger generation but is ultimately for everyone. None of their products have a discernible scent for me. They’re suitable for sensitive skin. I’ll start with my favorite the Balancing Face Mist which is a hydrating barrier friendly boosting mist. It has soothing ingredients like glycerin, butylene glycol, ceramides, cholesterol, oleic acid, caprylic/capric triglyceride, prebiotics, allantoin and panthenol. The mist isn’t necessarily fine I would say but it’s not like a hard direct spray either. Very in the middle. I really enjoyed the mist and for the price and availability to everyone on the market being mass retailer. It’s hydrating, soothing and fun. I love the amount of brands coming out with barrier repair products right now. The only thing I would add to it is amino acids and minerals but other than that it’s damn near perfect for me.

Ingredients

Aqua, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Propanediol, Sorbitol, Ceramide Np, Cholesterol, Phytosphingosine, Lactobacillus Ferment, Bifida Ferment Filtrate, Stearic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Oleic Acid, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Allantoin, Panthenol, Lactic Acid, Betaine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Hydroxyacetophenone, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylhydroxamic Acid

The Moisturizing Rich Cream is a glossy medium weight moisturizer. It has the same hard outer packaging with a pump. The cream has no discernible scent, also has their Tri-ceramide complex (in everything and think ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids), shea butter, glycerin, olive oil, licorice and bakuchiol. Don’t let the name deceive you, it’s not ultra rich or anything. I would say medium weight. For me with dry skin it’s a day cream. I think it would suit combo types at night and drier types during the day. Combo oily might be able to get away with it at night as well. It has shea butter but it doesn’t feel heavy or greasy at all, just gives the skin that nice fresh hydrating feel.

Ingredients

Aqua, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Dipropylene Glycol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Hydroxyacetophenone, Ceramide Np, Cholesterol, Phytosphingosine, Caprylyl Glycol, Bakuchiol, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Oleic Acid, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tromethamine, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin, Lactic Acid, Disodium Edta, Sorbitan Isostearate, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Tocopherol

The Moisturizing Gel-Cream is the brands gel cream or lighter moisturizer. It’s got their Tri-ceramide complex, niacinamide, panthenol, and green tea. This gel cream is lighter, could be considered a thicker serum for some, could be a light gel cream. With dry skin I use this as a hydrating layer, if you have oily skin it would be a moisturizer. Combo skin I think could go either way with this one, as a moisturizer or serum depending if you lean more combo oily or combo dry. This can buffer actives for sensitive skin or be a nice hydrating layer. I tend to go for the gel creams that are way thicker in general. It’s pretty hydrating as a layer though so I’m still playing with it. I do think this is more hydrating than Then I Met You’s gel cream which is really a serum for me.

It does irk me the whole oil-free listing on Cult Beauty & Target for this one. I can’t see it came from the brand as they don’t seem to claim oil free on their Instagram page that I can see. It’s odd BYOMA has no main page for the brand. You can see them on social media but they have no main webpage you can view (even to not purchase from). You can only see their details on their brand partners sites. Oil-free is a marketing term, there’s no standard definition for it. Fatty acids are oils, and their Tri-ceramide complex that lists fatty acids as a component is an oil in general terms. Oleic acid is a fatty acid. It’s a great fatty acid. Oleic acid is monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Oils are composed of and rich in certain fatty acids. For example marula oil is rich in omega 9 fatty acids. Oleic acid is actually richer than omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. So is the product really oil-free? Depends on your view I guess. Are oils bad for oily skin? Depends on your view, I don’t think so. You definitely want to be careful as some oils are better than others for oily skin, but I’m not team oil-free for oily skin and I kinda dislike it as a marketing term. Cult Beauty even lists the heavier moisturizer from the brand as oil-free even though it has olive oil in it.

Ingredients

Aqua, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Niacinamide, Ceramide Np, Cholesterol, Phytosphingosine, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Stearic Acid, Oleic Acid, Lactic Acid, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Tromethamine, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Caprylhydroxamic Acid

Lastly is the Creamy Jelly Cleanser. This is a low foaming gel cleanser. It’s actually pretty gentle and non-drying and I don’t like that any gel cleansers. It’s a thicker gel which makes sense as they call it jelly cleanser. Ther pH is around 5.5-6 (my strips aren’t very discerning between these two values) and I don’t find it stripping. It has their Tri-ceramide complex, licorice, glycerin and green tea. It has no scent, it seems gentle, it’s basic. I do wish they had something like this for me as a teen or younger person. We had a bunch of crappy high pH gel cleansers. I like that more an more are making barrier friendly skincare more accessible and affordable. I’d love to see a balm or gel oil balm from them.

Ingredients

Aqua, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamide Methyl MEA, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Ceramide NP, Cholesterol, Phytosphingosine, Stearic Acid, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Oleic Acid, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Butylene Glycol, Allantoin, Decyl Glucoside, Lactic Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Phenoxyethanol

Overall, I love BYOMA’s packaging. It’s fun. The line is accessible and affordable which is another bonus. It seems gentle and easy on the skin. It’ll suit sensitive skin as well. It’s a nice basic line. If you like more fragranced or more active products it may be a bit too low key for you. I did not grab any of the serums to try. The brightening serum is more a niacinamide/hyaluronic acid style, the clarifying one seems nice with blue tansy, PHA and zinc while the hydrating face serum seems like a nice hydrating milky one. They must not be totally against fragrance if they picked blue tansy for the clarifying serum. While I liked the ones I tried, it’s just overall a little lackluster if you’re into more exciting stuff. It’s a great basic starting point and I think everyone should get the mist. The cleanser is a nice affordable gel to try so that’s my second pick. The creams are nice, just really basic. Again not saying basic isn’t good, I’m just used to more extravagance. A hint of scent.