What Augustinus Bader The Cream is for, and who it is not
On its own product page, Augustinus Bader lists The Cream for normal to combination, dull or blemish-prone skin, and describes it as light and refreshing. Its support pages widen that to normal, combination and oily skin and add humid climates, and the brand's comparison article assigns hot, humid climates to a different cream in the line. Three statements, three slightly different answers. The product page wording is the narrowest of them, so treat that as the one to buy on.
If your skin runs dry, the brand sends you elsewhere. Its support page recommends The Rich Cream for drier skin in those words. Both carry the complex the brand calls TFC8, so the decision between them is texture, not strength. On texture, the brand says The Cream leaves skin ready for makeup, which is its positioning rather than a tested result.
The numbers the brand publishes, and their limits
Augustinus Bader reports a four-week study of 15 participants aged 18 and over in which hydration improved 3.39 times after one hour. A separate four-week study of 20 participants aged 40 to 75 reports fine lines and wrinkles reduced by 32% and skin looking 52% younger. A consumer-perception study of 52 participants aged 24 to 60 with normal to oily skin reports 83% feeling skin was instantly and deeply hydrated, 79% saying skin looked more even with discoloration reduced, and 75% noticing the size and redness of blemishes visibly reduced.
Those are the brand's own figures. The published pages give no control group, no statistical analysis and no independent replication, and the hydration reading was taken at one hour, which says nothing about how long hydration holds. The 52-participant percentages are what users said they noticed, not instrument readings. Useful as a direction of travel, not as a result you can count on.
Product specification
| Size |
15 ml, 30 ml and 50 ml, chosen in the Size selector above |
| Form |
Cream, dispensed by pump in the brand's own directions |
| Named complex |
TFC8 (Trigger Factor Complex), which Augustinus Bader states is patented and does not list as a separate INCI ingredient |
| Retinoid content |
Retinyl palmitate sits at position 17 of the brand's published ingredient list; alcohol sits at position 14 |
| Brand's stated skin types |
Normal to combination, dull or blemish-prone, per the brand's product page |
| Stated exclusions |
Augustinus Bader states synthetic fragrance-free, cruelty-free, non-comedogenic, and free from parabens, sulfates, silicones, phthalates, talc and mineral oil. The brand states it is not yet vegan |
| Directions |
Two pumps, morning and evening, on clean dry skin, smoothed over face, neck and décolleté in upward sweeping motions |
| Brand-reported study |
Four weeks, 20 participants aged 40 to 75: fine lines and wrinkles reduced 32% |
Choosing between The Cream and The Rich Cream
The brand separates the two by how dry your skin is, not by how strong they are, and it puts the same complex in both. Someone with an oily T-zone who finds a rich cream sits on the skin wants this one. Someone whose skin tightens after cleansing wants the other. Nothing on either page suggests one works harder than the other. Augustinus Bader calls this formula non-comedogenic, a term carrying no standardized test behind it, and other products Nava files that way sit in skincare for breakout-prone skin.
To start smaller than a full jar, the starter kit built around The Cream is the shorter route in.
The serums, eye care, masks, lip and hair products the brand builds around either cream sit together in the Augustinus Bader range.
