Review: Gallinée Prebiotic Face Oil

I was half joking above, because usually, face oils are not my favorite category of skincare products… Often too rich for my combination skin, I’m not a fan of the greasy feeling that some of them leave on my skin.

This is actually why I always use my face oils BEFORE my moisturizer and not AFTER as it’s often recommended to facilitate the absorption of your products (the truth: it doesn’t really matter, you can even mix your face oil with your moisturizer if you want, because it’s mostly a personal preference 😉 ).

But I have to admit that in the last few years, face oils have evolved a lot. They’ve become so popular (thanks to “Clean Beauty”, I guess!) that there’s now something for everyone.

Some are quite rich and emollient for those who want comfort, and others are very thin and lightweight, for those who prefer a light oily veil!

Another thing I criticized them for was their boring aspect. Yes, I know, it’s quite specific to the cosmetic nerd that I am, but it’s true that it’s rare to see technological innovation in a face oil…

But the imagination and creativity of Gallinée prove me wrong! The French brand that has been a pioneer in microbiome care and balance since 2016 definitely surprised me. A few weeks ago, they launched their first Prebiotic Face Oil, and I was so eager to try it, I literally jumped on it the day of the launch 😂😂😂

Let me introduce you to this super innovative oil made with extremophilic bacteria (yup!) and tell you about my experience with it!

Gallinée Prebiotic Face Oil, product presentation:

I do believe this is the first oil with “biotic” ingredients that I’ve seen on the market, and that’s quite an innovation!

Well, to be fair, the brand Gallinée is a true pioneer in skin microbiome skincare since it was created in 2016. Gallinée has good expertise in “biotic” ingredients and other bacteria, which are known to be essential to the good health of our skin and its microbiome.

The skin microbiome is indeed to be considered as an ecological system, with an environment (= the skin) + its population (= the bacteria naturally present on the skin).

A harmonious skin microbiome, therefore, includes a healthy host (= the skin) and a balanced host population, with enough good bacteria to serve as a “safeguard” and prevent other pathogenic bacteria from spreading too much. Because when the microbiome is altered, it no longer fulfills its protective role, and this is when inflammation or infections can thrive.

If a balanced skin microbiome ensures the good health of the skin on a daily basis, in the long term, it also guarantees better anti-aging prevention. A balanced flora means your skin is less stressed, regenerates better, and therefore ages less quickly.

In principle, to balance this microbiome, you want to increase the presence of good bacteria on the skin and/or stimulate them so that they’re more effective in this protective role. You also want to increase the diversity of micro-organisms present on the skin.

This is where the “microbiome-compatible” ingredients that are Gallinée’s specialty can come in handy…

The formula of this face oil is quite minimalist, with only 8 ingredients!

It contains several vegetable oils such as
– Jojoba oil: an oil that is very close to the lipids in the skin’s sebum. It helps to rebuild the skin barrier, it’s nourishing and helps to limit the loss of water from skin cells. It’s also anti-inflammatory and helps to rebalance combination to oily skin,
– Squalane oil: it prevents dehydration, helps to regulate excess sebum, it’s also anti-bacterial, antioxidant, and helps to reduce hyperpigmentation,
– Oat oil: rich in linoleic acid, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, phospholipids and glycolipids, it helps to rebuild the skin barrier and it’s also very soothing,
– Sunflower oil: nourishing and emollient.

There is also bisabolol, which is a soothing ingredient.

And the stars of the formula are of course the prebiotic ingredients it contains!

An oil extracted from Anoxybacillus Kamchatkensis bacteria, some bacteria capable of living in extreme conditions (or extremophile bacteria). They’re found in volcano geysers or in the hot springs of central France (in Auvergne). They have a very interesting prebiotic effect (= which supports the growth of the good bacteria of the skin) and contribute to strengthen the skin barrier.

This Prebiotic Face Oil from Gallinée is therefore primarily intended for sensitive or sensitized skins with the aim of restoring a stronger skin barrier and a soothed skin!

It doesn’t contain any perfume or essential oils, but it still has a natural scent, which I personally adore (it smells like toasted seeds, yum!).

Gallinée Prebiotic Face Oil, my experience:

You must be sick of me telling you this, but the end of the summer was hard on my skin! The air conditioning to survive the very long summer in Dubai, well, after 6 months, it’s getting really long and my skin can’t take it anymore!

I did my best to compensate with my super moisturizing skincare routine, but with the heat, it’s also complicated to opt for super rich textures…

Luckily, it’s almost November, the temperatures are FINALLY starting to drop and I don’t have to have air conditioning on 24/7 anymore 🙌

But my skin barrier is still not in its best state, so when I saw in early September that Gallinée was getting ready to release a repairing face oil made from bacteria found in a geyser (!), I couldn’t resist and purchased it the day it was released!

I received it a few days later and immediately introduced it into my evening routine, right before my night moisturizer. I could have used it during the day too, as it’s a fine texture, but I love taking the time to massage it in a bit and I have more time to do that in the evening 😉

I just use a few drops (between 3 and 5 depending on my skin needs) and massage it on my face and neck, right before I use my night moisturizer (you can also use it mixed with it, or over it, it’s up to you!).

I don’t often say this about a cosmetic product (yes, I’m a snob, what can I say, it takes a lot to impress me!)… but I had an almost instantaneous crush on this face oil!!!

The fine and silky texture of this oil and its natural delicious scent are already a real joy to use, which is always nice. But most of all, it soothes and restores comfort to my skin almost instantly, it’s pretty amazing!

I imagine that it’s thanks to those amazing extremophile bacteria from the volcanoes, so effective! Good job, Anoxybacillus Kamchatkensis 👏👏👏

And this oil has also helped my skin to repair itself! I’ve been using it for about a month now and I can see that my skin is less tired, and especially more supple. I had several areas that were quite rough because of dehydration and now it feels much better (and smoother).

I feel that this great Gallinée oil will accompany me all winter long (a little goes a long way, so the bottle will probably last me another 5 months, I guess). What a joy!

In conclusion:

I’m really glad I added this Prebiotic Face Oil to my routine, it really does the job and it’s super pleasant to use, which is always more fun 🙂

Icing on the cake, it’s not super expensive. A no brainer.

The Prebiotic Face Oil retails between $40 to $45 depending on the retailers, for 50ml.