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 …

I do enjoy a good camping trip or hike now and then but living in a partially tropical climate means that any prolonged outdoor adventures require copious amounts of bug repellent to be tolerable. In Australia the main biters are mosquitoes, sand flies, marsh flies and ticks but you can also get ants and fleas too. In countries with malaria, insect repellent takes on an even more important role, as aside from bed nets, it is the front line in preventing malaria. I don’t know if there is a vaccine available, but if there is, doctors advise travelers to prevent bites in the first place with an “industrial strength” insect repellent. The most commonly recommended is one to me is …

Aqueous cream is one of those old fashion staples like sorbolene cream that a lot of people swear by for simple, effective skin care. The question is; are they any good for sensitive skin? I’m going to leave that question open regarding sorbolene for the moment (as I will write a more thorough post on that soon) but for now lets see how aqueous cream fares.
Unlike sorbolene, I have not had any childhood experience using aqueous cream and have only really used it as an adult on dry skin and recently tested it as a cream cleanser. It is a medium-thick cream, that has good absorption. If applied too thickly it appears white and thick on the skin at …

I recently got myself the Dermalogica sensitized skin pack. Although it is deemed suitable for “sensitized skin” is is also perfectly suitable (and perhaps just as ideal) for sensitIVE skin. What’s the difference between sensitized and sensitive skin? Well, one is more a feature of an individuals genetic make-up, the other is usually a response to overuse of various cosmetics and skin care treatments. In my opinion sensitized skin can occur in people with sensitive skin, but it is usually characterized by a reaction to external factors, such as developing sensitivity to a particular skin care ingredient. Just to clarify the two terms, I visited Dermalogica’s question and answer website and found this:
Sensitized skin exhibits the same symptoms and triggers …

Sun exposure (inadvertent or not), oral contraceptives, pregnancy and simply getting older are all causes of uneven skin pigmentation. Freckles do fit into the spectrum of skin pigmentation however I think the dark spots you get from hormonal changes and damage are slightly different. The best way to avoid them is to wear good sun-protection, however if you already have pigmentation you may want to try a topical cream to minimize and even get rid of it all together.
There are various products available that generally fall under skin whitening or brightening categories. La Roche Posay make both a whitening range which features a topical vitamin C serum called ChromaWhite but also this particular cream, Mela-D Daily depigmenting care with SPF …