Review: Biologique Recherché P50

When I discovered on Instagram I won a bottle of the elusive Biologique Recherché P50 to say I was excited was an understatement. I literally squealed. Like a 5 year old. Firstly, because I never win anything and secondly because, well, P50. Biologique Recherché P50 is a frustrating product to find. This company has seemingly taken exclusivity to a new level. Nowhere sells it online (and ships to Australia) and stockists are extremely limited. But despite these two factors (or perhaps because of?) it has amassed a quite a cult following. But is it worth it?

Firstly, I need to thank Amanda of Lumiere Skin for sending me this bottle (still can’t believe I won something!). Oh, just FYI, I’m under no obligation to write a review. Just thought I’d make that clear.

Biologique Recherché P50 is an exfoliating liquid. It contains acids such as Lactic, Malic, Phytic, Citric and Gluconolactone but does not contain Glycolic- an acid that my skin is well used to and an acid that is very common in chemical exfoliators. I won’t pretend to have the foggiest about the science behind the formulation, but the fact that there was no Glycolic Acid was an interesting point of difference to me as I’m quite used to seeing this in the inci lists for this type of product.

I have been using this P50 now for 3 weeks. To really get a feel for how the P50 worked and what results I was getting, I decided to forego all other types of exfoliators (bar cleansers with small amounts of AHA’s, like Oskia Renaissance etc) for the first 2 weeks. So that meant no Alpha H Liquid Gold, no Good Genes, no Pixi Glow Tonic I even took it as far as not using retinols.

When I first opened my package I received a lovely hand written note from Amanda explaining how to use and it was suggested that I apply the P50 onto a dampened cotton pad every night to cleansed skin for the first week to acclimatise my skin before then moving onto using it undiluted thereafter. Which I promptly ignored. Sorry Amanda 😉 I just went the full hog from the start. I didn’t have any adverse reaction so that was good! The first thing that struck me was the scent, it’s not so great to be honest. It reminds me of smelly feet. But if the results are good I’ll roll with it. I find the liquid gives my skin a definite tingle when it’s applied, not in a burning way, but it’s definitely a tingle. I let it sit and absorb into my skin for a couple of minutes before I get on with applying a serum and moisturiser.

I guess at this point I should let you in on what my skin concerns are. Up until January this year I had pretty good skin. I may have got the odd little spot every month or two and some blackheads around the nose and chin but on the whole my skin was in reasonably good condition. In January all hell broke loose on my face- slight exaggeration- I broke out with spots under my jawline, something that I had never had before even as a teenager. I also received a couple of whoppers on my cheeks and chin. Lovely. In no way am I trying to convey this as full on acne. It wasn’t. But it was completely out of my skins character. I put it down to hormones because after a long process of eliminations I couldn’t come up with a culprit. Over the few months preceding P50 I had it mostly under control but was still left with a couple jawline bumps that just wouldn’t go away and some small scars. So Biologique Recherché P50 had its work cut out for it.

For the first 7-10 days of use I had 2 further spot breakouts BUT the rest of the areas of my face were looking clearer and old spots were fading. By day 15 all breakouts had subsided and my pores were looking clearer. At this stage, I re-introduced other acids and retinols. And now at day 21 I can honestly say my skin is the best it has looked in months. All those pesky little red marks are fading significantly and I have no active spots whatsoever. I am more than impressed. If this is what Biologique Recherché P50 has achieved in 21 days for my skin then I’m sold.

It goes without saying that I’m going to continue to use this regularly. I can totally see why this is such a sought after cult product if the results are similar for others.

If you are interested in purchasing Biologique Recherché P50 and you are in Australia I cannot recommend contacting Amanda at Lumiere Skin enough. You can find her website here or you ask her any questions you may have on Instagram here – she’s awesome at replying quickly.