Biafine Skin Emulsion 50ml

A first impression

A white tube with a blue cross on the front – the kind of packaging that tells you this was written up in a pharmacy reference before it was ever written up in a magazine. Biafine is a cool, almost creamy emulsion used in French households for everything from sunburn to the aftermath of a hot oven.

Why eMaison chose it

It is registered as a medical device in France and is genuinely used by hospitals on second-degree burns and radiotherapy skin. In a perimenopausal life – where hot flushes, thinner skin and unexpectedly sunburnt shoulders all become more probable – having a medical-grade repair emulsion within arm's reach is useful in a way beauty products rarely are. It earned its place in the maison because it is unusual for a product at this price to carry this much clinical credibility, and because the jobs it does well are jobs nothing on the beauty shelf can do at all.

How it fits into your rituals

Not a daily facial moisturiser. Apply a generous layer to a sunburn, a minor burn, a patch of eczema or a radiotherapy field, and reapply as the skin drinks it in. For cracked heels or chapped hands in winter, use it overnight under cotton gloves or socks. Keep a tube in the kitchen drawer and one in the holiday wash bag. Never use on deep or infected wounds – that is a matter for a clinician.

What's in it

Trolamine is the active. The base includes purified water, liquid paraffin, stearic acid, squalane, avocado oil and sodium alginate – a simple, occlusive texture designed for a compromised skin surface. Lightly fragranced.

The honest note

It is not elegant. It is not supposed to be. It does what it does with the straightforwardness of a ward nurse.