• March 29, 2024

Pharmacy Cosmetics: Beauty next to pills and pastes

At first glance, "City Pharma" in Paris looks like a supermarket. Two brightly lit floors, along the fully-lined shelves, the customers jostle with their shopping baskets. But the pharmacy in the district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a hot spot among Paris visitors. The considerable range of cosmetics attracts the women in droves. Every imaginable pharmacy brand is available here - from Avène to Bioderma, Caudalíe, Darphin, Lierac, Nuxe to small biomarkers such as Sanoflore, Cattier or Melvita.

French women buy their care mostly in the pharmacy. In Germany, the image still predominates, the pharmacist would at most have to offer the fragrance-free fat cream or the pH-neutral washing syndet. Long overhauled! In the meantime many owners in Germany have brightened up their cosmetic shelves more and more, because there are enough interesting cosmetic brands. "Many of my customers do not come to me to pick up a drug, but they want to shop for beauty products," says Jasmin Menk from the "Pharmacy at Dermatologikum" in Hamburg. Dry skin, atopic dermatitis or impurities - with her customers looking for solutions for specific skin problems.

Most in demand are brands that have a long tradition in pharmacies, such as Eubos, Eucerin, frei, La Roche-Posay or Vichy. These manufacturers offered beauty basics right from the start, but they also deal with problem skin with their lines and are a reliable partner for very sensitive skin types.



Another focus, according to Jasmin Menk, is the highly effective care, which comes very close to the level of aesthetic dermatological treatments, for example Skinceuticals, Dermasence or Louis Widmer. "They offer specialized products against pigmentation disorders, redness or wrinkles or help to gently stimulate the skin's healing process after dermatological surgery." Especially the service is important to her. "If a customer can not tolerate a product, she can return it to us and we will refund the amount," says the pharmacist. The information about the incompatibility they pass on to the manufacturer, so could use this knowledge to optimize his products again.

More and more in demand, according to Jasmin Menk, are French luxury brands, such as Caudalíe and Nuxe. Caudalíe, founded in 1995 by winery owners Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas, focuses on grape active ingredients, especially so-called "polyphenols", plant antioxidants that have been proven to protect cells from free radicals. Among the star products of the wine experts include the serum "Vinoperfect" for the refinement of the complexion or the "Crushed Cabernet Peeling", a mixture of ground grape seeds and essential oils for the body.

Plant ingredients are also in the products of Nuxe. In 1989, the young Parisian Aliza Jabes took over the cosmetics laboratory of the small brand and expanded its product range. The name Nuxe is made up of the terms "Nature" and "Luxe", nature and luxury. Because these two elements should unite the brand. Since the late nineties, the "Crème Fraîche de Beauté" - a face care with eight plant milks and aloe vera juice - is a classic in France. In Germany, she has now conquered the pharmacies. One of the newer bestsellers is the "Nuxellence Jeunesse" anti-aging serum, which helps to reduce wrinkles and improve the overall appearance of the skin. Jasmin Menk's first product is also a hit, the golden-shimmering "Huile Prodigieuse", a light body oil that absorbs quickly, simply drips into the bath water or even massages it in excessively dry hair.



© Sonja Tobias

As hip as the French brands is the care of Korres from Greece, with plant-based products based on homeopathic recipes. Korres originated in a pharmacy in Athens. A herbal syrup of honey, fennel and anise for colds was the first mixture of the house. You can still order them today. The bestsellers also include "Wild Rose 24 Hour Moisturizing & Brightening Cream" or the tinted lip care "Lip Butter" with shea butter, which is available in many colors, from rich pink to delicate rose.

Even real hype can trigger products from the pharmacy, as the lotion "Sensibio H2O" by Bioderma recently showed. With micelles - tiny cleaning molecules - it frees the skin especially thoroughly and gently from make-up. At first, make-up artists and models swarmed about the water, then joined stars like Adele and Kylie Minogue, the product found its way onto the trend pages of the magazines and has since been ordered worldwide like crazy through online shops. In the meantime, Bioderma's micelle cleanser is available in many pharmacies.

Even the traditional English pharmacy chain Boots Laboratories experienced a sudden boom. In her case, a science program on BBC triggered him. Actually, it was all about the general question of whether cosmetics could really help against wrinkles. Briefly the "Serum7" of the private label of Boots was faded in. The dermatologists at the University of Manchester were able to confirm that this serum with its active ingredients vitamin A and C could actually reduce wrinkles in their tests. The next day it was sold out across England. The production was increased, and meanwhile care of Boots stands also in more and more German pharmacies.

This is exactly what Jasmin Menk finds exciting about her job - to discover new and not so well-known niche products for her customers. For example, the finely scented bioshampoos from Less is More are on her shelf. Scented candles by Neom, without any synthetic aromas. Nail polishes from The Organic Pharmacy or the care of the Australian brand Growth, which is still relatively unknown in Germany, pure natural cosmetics in simple brown bottles.

The flourishing range of cosmetics for some German pharmacists was born out of necessity: in recent years, some had sued over declining sales, some even had to close - 130 in the first half of 2013 alone. However, many owners reinvented themselves by polishing their care range, to be able to score with the combination of interesting products and good advice.





In some cases, the beauty business is even so good that it will develop more ideas. Together with her husband Christina Kraus runs two pharmacies in Augsburg. She has, as a plant expert, developed a special passion for natural cosmetics. She continued to expand her offer and eventually founded the online shop Greenglam.de <. In addition to the classics for organic care such as Dr. med. Hauschka or Weleda you get with her the eco-perfumes of Honoré des Prés from France, care from New Zealand by Snowberry or Austria by herbal expert Susanne Kaufmann. And because her online sales went so well, Christina Kraus opened a store this summer. No more pharmacy this time, but a shop just for the many little beauty brands she's discovered over the years - Greenglam to walk in.

Another eye-catcher is the Saint-Charles-Apotheke in Berlin, which opened in 2009 in a former organ workshop after the example of her well-known "mother" in Vienna. In the puristically furnished shop in Wilmersdorf, owner Sabine Zeeck also offers every medication, but the wide range of cosmetics is eye-catching. Besides Dr. Hauschka and The Organic Pharmacy stand by their own brand "Saint", developed according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

But with all the variety and all the luxuries that some brands radiate, the most important thing for pharmacists is serious advice. "My team is excellently trained," says Jasmin Menk. "The good thing is that numerous cosmetic companies also offer us very sound training and seminars, so my colleagues are constantly learning more, for example about the skin and new active substances, and they can then pass this on wonderfully to the customer."



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