Vichy

Vichy is filed as a skincare brand, but a good half of what people come here for is hair. Dercos is one of the few pharmacy hair lines that treats the scalp as a medical problem rather than a styling one, and it's usually the reason someone types the name into Google in the first place.

Dercos: match the shampoo to your scalp, not your hair

The anti-dandruff shampoo comes in two versions, oily hair and dry hair, and picking the wrong one is why people conclude it didn't work. Go by whether your scalp gets greasy between washes, not by how dry your ends feel. For hair fall, the treatment layer is Aminexil Clinical 5 ampoules or the Aminexil R.E.G.E.N Booster, with Energizing Shampoo underneath it. For thickness rather than shedding, Densi-Solutions Concentrate and its shampoo. See Hair Loss & Thinning and Scalp Health.

Mineral 89 is a step, not a moisturiser

Mineral 89 is 89% Vichy volcanic water with hyaluronic acid, and it goes on straight after cleansing, before everything else. It's a hydration booster. People buy it expecting a cream, skip their moisturiser, and then find their skin drier than before. There's a matching eye gel for the same job. See Hyaluronic Acid.

LiftActiv: three serums, three different jobs

Vitamin C Skin Corrector is for dullness and radiance. LiftActiv B3 handles dark spots and wrinkles together, which makes it the practical choice if you have both. Collagen Specialist 16 is the firmness one. Then Supreme HA Epidermic Filler and the Supreme Eye Cream sit on top. Buying all three at once is the usual mistake — they overlap more than the marketing suggests. See Anti-Aging & Wrinkles and Firming & Lifting.

Normaderm, Capital Soleil, and the thermal water

Normaderm Phytosolution is the cleanser for oily, congested skin, with a matching Daily Care moisturiser — see Oil Control & Shine. For sun, Capital Soleil Dry Touch mattifies and UV-Age Daily Tinted targets photoageing while working as a light base (Sunscreens). The Mineralizing Thermal Water is the brand's signature — Vichy markets it as containing 15 minerals — and it's genuinely useful for setting makeup and calming skin after shaving or waxing. There's a full deodorant range too, including 48-hour roll-on and Homme 72-hour (Deodorant & Body Mists).

Questions people actually ask

Does Dercos Aminexil actually stop hair fall?

Aminexil is the molecule Vichy built the line around, used as a course rather than a one-off. Whether it helps depends entirely on why you're shedding — it won't do much for hormonal or nutritional causes on its own, and sudden or patchy loss needs a dermatologist, not a shampoo.

Which Dercos shampoo for a dry, itchy scalp?

The dry-hair anti-dandruff version, or Dercos Ultra Soothing if flaking isn't the main issue and the itch is.

Is Mineral 89 enough on its own?

Not for most people. It's a serum step — you still need a moisturiser over it, and sunscreen in the morning.

Who owns Vichy?

L'Oréal, in the same dermatological division as La Roche-Posay and CeraVe.

Not sure where to start? Our team can help. Or try Mineral 89 and see more in Serums & Ampoules.