Avene is one of the few high-street brands that have evolved beyond the “spotty skin needs to be dried-out” approach to spot-fighting skincare, and in fairness, I haven’t actually found any of their products to cause breakouts, whether they’re designed for acneic skin types or not. Avene have been doing a lot of promotion of their products, with some new arrivals (the very cool Physiolift, more on that soon) and what usually happens when a brand sends me a lot of products is that I’ll find one, or at most two that I’ll continue using, but I have four Avene products in my day and night skincare routine at the moment, which proves how good they are!
Focusing on my night routine for this post, there are three products I’m using from Avene. The first is the Cleanance Micellar Water, the second is the Hydrance Optimale Soothing Hydrating Serum, and the final product is the new Cleanance TriAcneal Expert, which is an evening moisturiser. At first I tried to just use these three products to see what would happen, and whilst I could just about handle removing my make-up with a micellar water only (although I used about 10 pads to ensure my skin was dirt and make-up free) I really missed the really clean feeling you get with a double cleanse, especially as using so many pads to remove make-up left my skin feeling a little raw. On days when I’m make-up free though, I happily use this for a quick cleanse, and even though it’s aimed at spotty skin, it’s gentle enough for removing eye make-up too.
The Hydrance Optimale Soothing Hydrating Serum is something I was a bit unsure of at first, as I *think* it might’ve given me a few superficial breakouts. However, I’m glad I kept at it – not like me usually – as it’s definitely not breaking me out any longer, and instead it’s leaving my skin feeling and looking really hydrated without any greasy residue, making it an ideal choice for tricky skin types that need a hydrating boost. I started off with 2-3 pumps of this each night (and some mornings if needed) but I’ve actually recently upped it to 5 pumps which make a big difference – I was waking with skin feeling a little dry and itchy as it wasn’t getting quite as much as it needed, but having upped the dose of this, it’s made a big difference.
Finally we have the star of the show, the Cleanance TriAcneal Expert which is a night-time, hydrating emulsion. If you’re spot-prone, acneic, oily or dehydrated then you need to have this in your kit. It’s a perfect example of how right Avene get their skincare for spotty skin, as it’s easily the most hydrating product I’ve ever used that’s aimed and designed for breakout-prone skin types. So many companies assume that if you’re spotty, you want matte, oil-free, dried out skin as presumably the logic is that if you feel your skin is dry, you feel you’re doing the right thing in the battle against spots, but it isn’t true for so many of us! As a 31 year old, the last thing I want is dry, itchy skin lacking in moisture, but I also don’t want anything that’ll make my spots worse, so finding products that will allow me to strike that balance is a truly tricky business. The Avene Cleanance TriAcneal Expert is probably the closest you’ll get to spot-fighting whilst hydrating and giving skin its glow back; used with the serum, my skin feels truly hydrated, balanced and most importantly, my breakouts have returned to a minimum again. The only real downside is that the product itself is yellow-tinged, which has stained my pillows, but it’s a very small price to pay! Find out everything you want to know about Avene here – link – plus there’s a diagnostic tool to find you your perfect products.
*PR Samples
