Avene: Very High Protection SPF 50 Cream
This is a review of Avene’s SPF 50 sunscreen/cream for the face. It is a suncreen that I bought when overseas in Europe and can’t be found in Australia on the shelves as we have a maximum 30 SPF policy. Avene do have a 30 SPF product available here but I haven’t tried that yet. This review is confined to the higher SPF variety from france, unfortunately I don’t yet know if it is similar or the same as the local variety.
This is pretty much the only sunscreen product I have been able to tolerate on bare skin, even the skin on my face with nothing underneath it to protect the skin. Usually If I apply a sunscreen it is on top of a cream or even make-up so that it doesn’t absorb into the skin as much; I am very sensitive to sunscreens. particularly chemical ones. For this reason i actually prefer to use physical sunscreen protection in my skin care like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide and find that I have no irritation when using these as my sun block. As far as the chemical sunscreens go, Avene’s is the only one I’ve found so far that is tolerable on my sensitive skin, although I would still rate physical blockers above it, it is just as good as they are in terms of gentleness for sensitive skin.
It has a subtle smell that I actually like a lot. It absorbs quite well too, and doesn’t leave you too greasy although you will be a little shiny if you don’t wear a powder or something similar on top to reduce the shine. The 50 SPF provided very high sun protection, although it did need to be reapplied every 4-5 hours as with any other sunscreen. The only way around this I find is with sunscreens that are part of a liquid foundation that sits on top of the skin and does not wear off, especially when these contain physical sun blocking ingredients like zinc. If you need to avoid these ingredients however and are after a chemical based sunscreen that is still gentle to sensitive skin then Avene’s one is for you. I am also going to try La Roche-Posay and Clarins sunscreens in the future though as they are also very good or sensitive skin (so I’ve heard) so I may be able to recommend more soon.
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Avene SPF 50+ Very High Protection Cream on Amazon
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Hi Amanda,
Thought I’d pop by and update you on how my skin’s been doing. I’d been very happy for the past two weeks as I’d had no flare-ups and my skins was pretty much almost back to normal, save for a few blemishes here and there that weren’t there before my skin went crazy. As it’s summer, I’d been pretty worried about not being able to wear sunscreen as the sun had been making my unprotected skin quite prickly. I turned to Avene SPF 20 and my skin was able to tolerate that, no issues whatsoever.
This morning, I retried my Clinique Superdefense SPF 25, something I’d been using before my skin went to hell and back, and a couple of hours later, my skin’s all itchy, so I think I’ve now found out what I’m allergic to, and will go home and toss out all of my Clinique skincare (which I used from September to April without any problems before this happened).
Not too happy about how I look today, but, at the very least, I’ve now managed to narrow down what’s causing it!
That’s great; I’m so glad your skin is calming down.
As a sunscreen for sensitive skin this is great, but I’ve also had success with BB creams and mineral make up that contains natural zinc oxide SPF too in case your looking for a sunscreen & make-up product.
Don’t throw the other products away though. I find with some brands (and clinique actually) that they are fine if my skin has been okay for a few weeks/months. They are not designed to treat skin problems, but contain all sorts of other active ingredients for the skin (like anti-aging stuff) that can be problematic when the skin is troubled but fine otherwise – or give them to friends and family …or me
. You may find though that you can go back to using them as although they irritate now they may not be the sole cause, just try them again after a while of healthy skin.
I just read that genetics, allergies and environmental allergens (like dust mites) are main triggers of eczema and that is is most common in adults who are female and of child bearing age, which (I’m assuming) is us unfortunately!
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