Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant On your shelf ✓
€0.14 an application · about 100 usesOur review, in one look
Lactic acid is the reason to consider this cleanser, with Xylitol behind it.
The case for it
- Lactic acid, moderate evidence for hydration
- Xylitol, moderate evidence for hydration
- No alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readBioderma Sébium Gel Moussant is a cleanser built around Lactic acid, Xylitol and Mannitol. It leans strongest on hydration. Best suited to dry, normal and combo skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
Cost per use: what a day of it costs
€0.14 an applicationabout 100 uses from 200 ml
a usual amount, not a measured dose: a nickel-sized amount, about 2 ml; from €14 as read in September 2026 and a 200 ml pack.
how this is counted
About €0.14 an application, about 100 uses from 200 ml.
- a convention: no trial has measured a cleanser dose
- Measured or assumed: the rule, and the dose table
Skip it if your skin reacts to fragrance: this one is scented.
What it washes off: sunscreen, makeup, the day
strong
a strong system: a sulfate (sodium laureth sulfate) leads it.
- Sodium Cocoamphoacetate
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate
- daily oil and sunscreenlifts itthe day’s oil and a daily sunscreen film
- a mineral or water-resistant SPFlifts ita strong system takes a water-resistant film
- heavy makeup or waterproofa balm or oil firstthe app seats a second cleanse for an evening with makeup, whatever the wash
Fragrance, texture and film: what the label says of its feel
- fragranced (parfum on the label)
- a cleanser in a pump
- no film-former or occlusive named on the label
- no silicone on the label
- no plant or mineral oil on the label
Facts off the label and the pack only. How it feels on a face is not something this page will say without having used it.
The formula, in order
every ingredient at its place on the label
Coloured by the job each one does here.
4 of the 20 sit above the 1% line. The other 16, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- did not feed it
Fungal acne: what on this label feeds the yeast (Malassezia)
the yeast: Malassezia furfur, globosa, restricta
Nothing on this label was measured to feed Malassezia.
Each result is a pure ingredient on a lab dish, never this product on skin.
What does it do? What its ingredients deliver
How it feels A gentle wash that lifts the day away without leaving skin tight or squeaky. (estimated from the formula)
Key ingredients: what in it does the work
AHA that provides gentle exfoliation and some humectant effect; generally milder than glycolic but still pH-dependent and potentially irritating.
Lactic acid: Give it three months or more, and possibly less: that is simply when it was measured.
how it was measured
Measured on investigator-graded photodamage severity (roughness, mottled hyperpigmentation, sallowness); measured at the trial's end, so possibly sooner.PMID 8651713PMID 8784274
Sugar alcohol humectant that can increase skin hydration and may support a healthy skin microbiome.
A sugar alcohol used as a mild humectant and texture aid. It is a hydroxyl radical scavenger in a test tube; nobody has shown that matters on a face.
What only this label says
Mannitol is 6th of 20, under the 1% line: a trace, not a treatment.
why
The 1% line is inferred from Disodium EDTA at position 5; below it the order is the brand's choice and 16 ingredients share that tail.
Lactic acid is the 14th of 20 ingredients: below the 1% line.
why
Position 14 of 20 on the label as printed; compared with the 76 other labels in the catalogue that carry an AHA.
≈ €0.070/ml, about the median cleanser in our catalogue (€0.067/ml).
why
~€14 for 200 ml, checked September 2026; the median of the 26 cleansers in the catalogue with a known size.
why
Actives our base knows on both labels: Xylitol and Mannitol.
Lactic acid makes skin more sensitive to the sun, by the base's sources.
why
sun_sensitivity = yes in our base: Alpha hydroxy acid: FDA recommends AHA cosmetics carry a sunburn alert and daily sunscreen direction, based on studies in which AHA-treated skin showed increased UV sensitivity that reversed roughly a week after stopping. (FDA guidance for industry on labelling cosmetics containing alpha hydroxy acids (sunburn alert); CIR AHA safety assessment).
Water, then sodium cocoamphoacetate: a light, water-led base.
why
The first two ingredients on the label, in the order printed; the second's role is read from its name (Cleansing agent).
How long to leave it on: a cleanser’s minute on the skin
rinse-off reality
- on the skinabout a minute, assumed: no source times a washassumed
- the rinsewhat the water takes
- what staysnot claimed: nothing here measures the residue
- humectantsIts xylitol and mannitol have about a minute on the skin; the evidence for them comes from leave-on use - here their job is to keep the wash from drying the skin, not to hydrate it afterwards.Xylitol · Mannitol
- exfoliantsIts lactic acid has about a minute on the skin; the evidence for it comes from leave-on use - here its job is to loosen what the wash takes with it, not the leave-on dose the trials used.Lactic acid
Fragrance allergens: the ones this label names
This label names none of the 26 EU fragrance allergens, though fragrance is listed. What the 26 are →
How to use it, and when
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
Where in your skin it works
All 3 of its placed actives act on or in the dead surface layer, none below it: the same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Lactic acidderived from what it is
- Mannitolderived from what it is
- Xylitolderived from what it is
3 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
How it compares with the average cleanser
It scores lower than the median cleanser on hydration, barrier repair and oil control.
On brightening and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
Full ingredients list, decoded
13 of these 20 ingredients are in our library, linked and named for what each one does, with anything that can irritate or clog flagged; the 7 we cannot place are left plain, nothing is hidden. Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first).
All 20 ingredients, decoded
- Aqua/Water/EauSolvent (base)
- Sodium CocoamphoacetateCleansing agent
- Sodium Laureth SulfateSurfactantmild irritant
- MethylpropanediolHumectant
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Disodium EDTA down, these 16 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- Disodium EDTAChelator
- MannitolHumectant
- XylitolHumectant
- RhamnoseHumectant
- FructooligosaccharidesHumectant
- Zinc SulfateMineral
- Copper SulfateMineral
- Ginkgo Biloba Leaf ExtractBotanical extract
- PEG-90 Glyceryl IsostearateEmulsifier
- Lactic AcidExfoliantmild irritant
- Laureth-2Emulsifier
- Potassium SorbatePreservative
- Sodium ChlorideThickener
- Propylene GlycolHumectantmild irritant
- Sodium HydroxidePh adjustermild irritant
- Fragrance (Parfum)Fragrancecan irritate
Worth knowing: Lactic acid, Xylitol, Mannitol sit below that line. They are in there, and the label does not tell you how much. That is not the same as saying it is too little to matter.
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua/Water/Eau, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Methylpropanediol, Disodium EDTA, Mannitol, Xylitol, Rhamnose, Fructooligosaccharides, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, PEG-90 Glyceryl Isostearate, Lactic Acid, Laureth-2, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance (Parfum)
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Using a retinol or an acid? Put this cleanser on your shelf and the app says whether the wash is gentle enough for them.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Dupes? The closest formulas we have
The one product of the same kind sharing the most of its 3 actives. A count, not a likeness: the rest of each label, its base and its preservation, is what the count leaves out.
Compare it with…
13 duels are built for this cleanser, CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser and CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser among them: type a name, or pick one below.
Common questions
Is the mannitol in Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant enough to do anything?
Mannitol is 6th of 20, under the 1% line: a trace, not a treatment. Below the 1% line the rules stop requiring descending order, so an ingredient there can be any trace amount the brand likes.
How high up the list is the lactic acid in Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant?
Lactic acid is the 14th of 20 ingredients: below the 1% line. Position is the only amount the law makes a brand declare, so 14th of 20 is the one number on this label a reader can check.
Is Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant expensive per ml?
≈ €0.070/ml, about the median cleanser in our catalogue (€0.067/ml). A price per millilitre says nothing about what the formula does; it only tells you how the bottle compares with the others of its kind we have priced.
What is the base of Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant?
Water, then sodium cocoamphoacetate: a light, water-led base. The first ingredients are the bulk of a formula; the actives come after them.
Is Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, normal, combo skin. Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant is a cleanser built around Lactic acid, Xylitol and Mannitol. It leans strongest on hydration. Best suited to dry, normal and combo skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
How do you use Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant?
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
What are the key ingredients in Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant?
The actives that do the work are Lactic acid, Xylitol, Mannitol. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant beside a cross-section of skin, with 2 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Lactic acid and Xylitol in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
