Avène Review

Friday 16 April 2010

Hey Ladies,

I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you about a few products I’ve been using by Avène in order to sort out my skin which was going haywire a few months ago.

For those of you unaware of Avène it’s a ‘French dermo-cosmetic brand dedicated to each level of skin sensitivity; from sensitive, intolerant to allergic’. The brand launched in 1990 and is centered around Avène Thermal Spring Water and it’s soothing properties, the hydrotherapy centre founded in 1743 near the Sainte-Odile spring is dedicated to dermatology using the Avène Thermal Spring Water to address a variety of dermatological conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema and burns.

The thing that pulled me to the brand was the Skin Recovery Cream as it sounded perfect, I also purchased a cleanser as my skin had gone from oily to very dry/sensitive & so a cleanser designed for oily skin was just making the problem worse. I then got offered to try some of their other products and so slotted them nicely into my routine and hey presto my skin is looking so much better! (if I do say so myself)

Avène Gentle Gel Cleanser

This according to Avène has been specially formulated for normal to combination sensitive skin, to remove all traces of makeup leaving the skin soft and supple and enriched with moisturising agents to prevent skin dryness.

First of all this is an excellent cleanser, I don’t use it to remove my makeup, I use a cleansing oil (non Avène) for that but I always double cleanse at night so use this afterwards and then just use this in the morning to freshen up. It leaves my skin squeeky clean, not in that it strips the moisture out of it, in that I have no residue from the cleansing oil or makeup left on my face it removes everything & makes my skin feel so soft, it has no distinctive smell just a very clean smell if that makes sense. The packaging is nice & simple, looks good on the bathroom shelf, all Avène packaging looks lovely & sophisticated to me, the French do do it well, and I always appreciate a product that’s in a pump, nice & hygienic & for ease of use with wet hands. As for value, I’d say the place most people are likely to get it in the UK would be Boots, it’s sold in most stores now. From Boots this costs £11.50 for 200mls, I’ve been using for a couple of months & its three quarters full i’d say & i use it twice a day so very good value.

There is another form of the Gentle Cleanser for really sensitive skin which you don’t wash off you use cotton pads to remove it, I did get sent this but because i’d already started using the Gentle Gel Cleanser I thought i’ll keep it for when this one has run out & then you’ll see my review on that.

Avène Thermal Spring Water Spray

Avène says this is ‘essential soothing care product for sensitive, hypersensitive, allergic and irritated skin, can be used to complete skin cleansing, to set makeup, after outdoor activity and in summer when travelling’

This I personally use as my toner, I have been sent the Evian water spray as well from a PR company & I shall be doing a comparison post of cosmetic sprays soon with some alternative uses as well. I use this one as my toner in essence because it’s Avène & most of my skin care is Avène now, so it makes sense to me. Its really refreshing in the morning to wake you up after cleansing and sooths my irritated skin lovely so I love using it. Its available in a few sizes £5.50 for 150mls or £3 for 50mls (which has lasted me 2 months)

Avène Rich Skin Recovery Cream

According to Avène this calming cream has been specifically designed for naturally sensitive skin or skin which has become sensitive due to different aggressions (my boyfriend’s stubble), it quickly calms irritation and helps restore the hydrolipidic film and provides long-lasting protection.

This stuff is magic I think, I applied it for the first time one night, I woke up the next morning & my skin was softer than it ever has been, my dryness around my chin where it was worst took about 2 days to disappear and I found it really helped take the redness out of my rash and calmed it down in conjunction with the other product I was using. This product was designed with as little ingredients as possible, so is Paraben free (if you’re worried about them), fragrance and colouring agent free so there isn’t a smell at all to this product.

This comes in a plastic tube and is £12 for 40mls, which is a bit expensive but worth it for me, I am actually going to buy some more tonight after work! It’s lasted me a good two months of using it as a day cream & then under my moisturiser at night, if you were using it as more of a treatment it’ll last you a lot longer.

Avène Extremely Rich Compensating Cream


Described as ‘nourishing care for very dry sensitive skin’ This as the title would suggest is very rich, so is my night cream meaning it has all night to soak into my skin and any excess is washed off in the morning when I cleanse my face. The cream is formulated to replace lipid deficiencies and restore the skins natural protective barrier, protecting it from external aggressions. Lipids help constitute the principal structure of living cells together with carbohydrates and proteins (so we like them!).

I do find this extremely rich so it has solved my dry skin problems and so did its job, its paraben free again if you’re into that and does have a smell but again like the cleanser very fresh & non offensive and once its on your face you don’t smell anything! I highly recommend this for people for dry and very dry skin, your skin will drink it up and love you for it to boot! It costs £15.95 for 50mls, you don’t need a lot so it will last you a while!

Overall as you can probably tell I love Avène, to the point that I went and bought three of their products over my lunch break (& in the middle of writing this post).

I’ve bought some more of the Skin Recovery Cream, i’m trying the non rich version to see if there’s a difference, I also bought the soothing hydrating serum (I love moisturising serums!) and finally the Anti-Redness Light Moisturizing Cream (to use as my day cream!)

Quick tip kids, if you’re after some Avène or other skin care get yourself to boots as its 3 for 2 at the moment, I saved £12 buying these 3 products! Jackpot!

I would switch my entire skin care to Avène if they did a cleansing oil (which I don’t believe they do) & once I try their scrub & eye cream & i’m a total Avène convert.

The products are kind to your skin, give you a lovely result & I don’t think too hard on your purse either! So I highly recommend if you hadn’t already guessed!

Sorry it was such a long post & if you made it this far well done!! Hope you're all having a lovely day & thanks for reading!



Disclaimer - The products I got sent from Avene were the Thermal Spring Water and the Rich Compensating Cream

3 comments

  1. Hi Nicola,

    Just want to thank you for bringing this range to my attention. My skin has been causing me grief for months now and,when I saw this brand in Lloyds Chemist the other day, I was literally all over it! I've only been using the products for a little over a week but my skin hasn't looked so good in ages!

    Thanks again :)


    Emma x

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  2. Brilliant review!

    I'm currently having a facial skin meltdown battling an allergic reaction to Simple products if you can believe it and also to give me prettier skin since going make up free. Can't wait to buy it! Quick question do you use the cleanser in place of a face wash?

    Thanks
    Kris x

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    Replies
    1. Oooh i hate simple products read the ingredients they're terrible & anything but simple i'm not surprised your skin didnt get on with it!!

      I use an oil cleanser to remove my makeup then use this cleanser to wash my face and in the morning on bare skin! xxx

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