Trovii · Oriana's edit
The Zurich Pharmacy Edit
The things a European woman buys at the apotheke without thinking, and an American can't easily find. Pharmacy-counter skincare, Swiss botanicals, the supplements your aunt in Zürich actually takes. No checkout here — these are real where-to-buy links, and if you'd want the physical box, leave your email.
Curated by Oriana · 14 things · real where-to-buy links · no checkout
Pharmacy skin
Eau Thermale Spray
check retailerAvène
France · pharmacy counter staple
The can my mother kept in the fridge. Thermal spring water, nothing else — you mist it after a long flight or a bad day and your face stops arguing.
Where to buy · Avène US ↗Cicaplast Baume B5
check retailerLa Roche-Posay
France · dermatology aisle
What French pharmacists hand you for everything — chapped hands, a kid's cheeks, a too-aggressive retinol night. Boring in the way you want a repair balm to be.
Where to buy · La Roche-Posay US ↗Sensibio H2O Micellar Water
check retailerBioderma
France · the pink bottle
Backstage at every show, in every French bathroom. Takes the day off without water and without that stripped, squeaky feeling.
Where to buy · Bioderma US ↗Lait-Crème Concentré
check retailerEmbryolisse
France · since 1950
Cleanser, mask, moisturizer, primer — makeup artists hoard it. The most useful single tube I own.
Where to buy · Embryolisse ↗Minéral 89 Hyaluronic Booster
check retailerVichy
France · volcanic water
The one serum step I'd keep if I had to drop the rest. Vichy thermal water plus hyaluronic acid — a plump, quiet base under everything.
Where to buy · Vichy US ↗Swiss Dermo-Cosmetic Care
Louis Widmer
Switzerland · Zürich pharmacy line
The Swiss-pharmacy line you basically can't get in the States. Fragrance-optional, dermatologist-aisle formulas that older Swiss women have used for decades.
Where to buy · Louis Widmer (Switzerland) ↗Natural Skincare
Annemarie Börlind
Germany · since 1959
German natural-cosmetic house that European pharmacies stock and Americans rarely meet. The 'good clean German skincare' your grandmother trusted before clean was a marketing word.
Where to buy · Annemarie Börlind ↗
Swiss botanicals
Padma 28
Padma
Switzerland · Tibetan-formula herbal
A Swiss-made multi-herb formula rooted in Tibetan medicine, sold in Swiss pharmacies for decades. Niche, old, and very hard to find Stateside — included as a real curiosity, not a health claim.
Where to buy · Padma (Switzerland) ↗Original Herb Pastilles
Ricola
Switzerland · 13 Alpine herbs
Yes, the cough drops — but the original Swiss herb pastille, the thirteen-herb one, tastes nothing like the airport version. A small honest piece of Switzerland to keep in a coat pocket.
Where to buy · Ricola (Switzerland) ↗Alpine Botanical Care
Soglio-Produkte
Switzerland · Val Bregaglia
Made in a single Alpine valley from local plants — larch, arnica, sweet chestnut. The kind of small Swiss botanical house that never crosses the Atlantic.
Where to buy · Soglio-Produkte (Switzerland) ↗Swiss Herbal Teas & Tinctures
Morga
Switzerland · since 1928
An old Swiss health-food and herbal house — the teas and bitters a Swiss kitchen reaches for after a heavy meal. Pure pharmacy-shelf Switzerland, almost unknown in the US.
Where to buy · Morga (Switzerland) ↗
Supplements
Swiss Micronutrient Supplements
Burgerstein
Switzerland · since 1972
The household supplement brand in Switzerland — the magnesium and multi your Swiss relatives actually keep on the shelf. Not a US wellness startup; a Swiss pharmacy fixture.
Where to buy · Burgerstein (Switzerland) ↗
Rituals
Skin Food
check retailerWeleda
Switzerland · since 1926
Swiss, thick, a little medicinal-smelling — for elbows and shins in a dry Alpine winter. Worked into damp skin it turns into a glow.
Where to buy · Weleda ↗Beauty Elixir
check retailerCaudalie
France · the green bottle
A mist that smells like a vineyard and wakes a tired face up before dinner. The original 'set your makeup / reset your mood' spray.
Where to buy · Caudalie US ↗