Augustinus Bader for Face, Body and Hair

Almost everyone comes to Augustinus Bader because of a cream. Then they find there is more than one, and the names do not say which is which. That is the thing worth sorting out first, and it is simpler than it looks: the creams are not weak and strong versions of each other. They are different textures for different skin.

Pick the cream, and the rest of the line falls into place behind it. The same complex, which the brand calls TFC8, runs through the serums, the eye care and the hair products, so the routine holds together once the first decision is made. For everything we carry beyond this brand, there is the wider skincare shelf this one sits on.

These are Augustinus Bader's own skin-type descriptions, not ours.

• The Light Cream for oily or combination skin. A weightless cream-gel, aimed at controlling shine.
• The Cream for combination, oily or blemish-prone skin. Lightweight, aimed at glow rather than shine control.
• The Rich Cream for normal, dry or mature skin. Rich, with argan oil, avocado oil, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E.
• The Ultimate Soothing Cream for very dry, irritation-prone or sensitized skin. A soft silky cream, and the brand says it suits sensitive skin.

If none of that sounds like your skin, the answer is probably not this brand. Every face cream we stock, across brands is the wider comparison.

Augustinus Bader numbers the steps itself: cleanser, then serum, then moisturizer. So the gel cleanser that opens the routine comes first, the brand's base serum for daily use second, and the cream aimed at dry and mature skin third, swapping in whichever cream matches your skin. The eye cream in the heavier texture goes around the eye. The retinol step for evenings is the one with a rule attached: evenings only, on clean dry skin, with sunscreen the next morning.

The serum step has alternatives if the brand's own is not what you want, and serums and treatments from the other lines we carry covers them.

It depends on whether you will finish it. A cream used twice a week is money sitting on a shelf. Used daily for a few months, it is a fair test, and the brand's skin-type guidance makes it easy enough to choose correctly the first time rather than buying twice.

TFC8 is the brand's own complex and the brand's own claim. That is not a reason to dismiss it, and it is not independent evidence either. What we can say is that it is what the whole line is built around.

The brand is better known for creams than for the rest of it, but the range runs wider: serums and a face oil, eye creams and patches, cream and hydrogel masks, lip balms, body care, and a hair line of shampoo, conditioner, oil and scalp treatment.

Eye texture is where people tend to have the strongest preference, and the eye shelf in full runs from gels to balms if you want to compare outside the brand.

If the approach appeals and you want to see it elsewhere, the closest thing we carry is U Beauty, built around its own delivery system rather than a single headline active.