Avene Ysthéal+ Emulsion & eye contour cream

If you have trawled through this blog you may have noticed posts on the Avene anti-redness range, I used to suffer from mild roseacea and very flushed, red, sensitive skin.  I had spent fortunes on all sorts of products and never really saw any genuine improvement in  my skin, until I spotted the Avene range in Boots and decided to give that a whirl.  It is no lie to say that the relief was instant and the results long lasting.  My skin has now really calmed down, due I think in part to changes in my diet - I each much less bread and sugar than I used to! - but I keep some Avene products handy just in case I get a flare up. 

I was really pleased to be sent some of the Avene anti-ageing skin care for review.  Now that my redness issues have settled the fine lines and incipient wrinkles are a much bigger concern!

The  Ysthéal+ Emulsion comes in a pump dispenser and is a nice rich, peach coloured cream that I have been applying in the evenings after cleansing.  It is aimed at normal to combination skin and so I have been applying it and letting it soak in well before applying a little of my night cream as I just need a tad more moisture over night.  The Emulsion is designed to both prevent, yay!, and correct the signs of skin ageing - whilst I like something that makes my skin look better I LOVE anything that is working to prevent it from looking worse!  It contains Retinaldehyde and Pretocopheryl, I am not going to pretend I know what they are!  According to the Avene website Retinaldehyde is the most effective form of Vitamin A and Preotcopheryl is a powerful anti-oxidant, which is as science'y as I need to get! Full list of ingredients is here:

WATER (AQUA). CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE. AVENE THERMAL SPRING WATER (AVENE AQUA). MINERAL OIL (PARAFFINIUM LIQUIDUM). PROPYLENE GLYCOL. GLYCERYL STEARATE. PEG-100 STEARATE. SQUALANE. BHT. BUTYLPARABEN. C13-14 ISOPARAFFIN. CARBOMER. DISODIUM EDTA. LAURETH-7. PHENOXYETHANOL. POLYCARYLAMIDE. PROPYLPARABEN. RED 33 (CI 17200). RETINAL. TOCOPHERYL GLUCOSIDE. TRIETHANOLAMINE

Emulsion at the top, eye cream at the bottom

Well done Avene for having ingredients listed on their website.  I was a tiny bit concerned when I read the leaflet enclosed with the Emulsion that sensitive skin might sting a little initially when using the product, so I was very tentative at first and would have stopped using it had I experienced any stinging, I haven't experienced any stinging or discomfort at all when I have used the Emulsion, my skin seems to love it!  I think with all anti-ageing products it's a case of looking back in years to come with much less lined and wrinkled skin than you might have had and knowing that applying products with key ingredients have worked, nothing actually, visibly diminishes the appearance of fine lines over the course of a fortnight!  It's unrealistic to think "cure" I have to be thinking "prevention"!

I was also sent the Ysthéal+ Eye Contour Cream to try, this is again a rich, peach cream in a pump dispenser - I found a full pump of this was more than I needed and Em benefited from some proactive eye wrinkle prevention - fortunately you can squeeze out less than a full pump which prevents waste.  I have been using this cream at night, along with the Emulsion and whilst it's rich it's not greasy so I am not waking up with puffy, over-fed eyes.  You may have seen my post about the No 7 roll-on eye cream, this has a brightening effect so I am using that one under make-up in the day and the Avene one at night, the combination of the two is perfect for me and I am seeing a visible improvement in my under eye area.  I think that I had overlooked it horribly in the past and the skin was very dry and papery, constant application of eye cream morning and night has really helped plump up this area and as a result the fine lines are much less visible. The key ingredients in the eye cream are again Retinaldehyde and Preotcopheryl. The full ingredients of the eye cream are here:

WATER (AQUA). MINERAL OIL (PARAFFINIUM LIQUIDUM). AVENE THERMAL SPRING WATER (AVENE AQUA). BUTYLENE GLYCOL. POLYSORBATE 40. SQUALANE. CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE. SORBITAN PALMITATE. BHT. BUTYLPARABEN. CARBOMER. DISODIUM EDTA. METHYLPARABEN. PHENOXYETHANOL. RED 33 (CI 17200). RETINAL. SODIUM HYDROXIDE. TOCOPHERYL GLUCOSIDE. XANTHAN GUM.

The Emulsion costs £22, in Boots and the eye cream is £17, both are at the higher end of the price range for Avene products but still not expensive when compared to other anti-ageing products. That said I would certainly purchase the Emulsion again, I would probably also purchase the eye cream for use at night, although I am drawn towards eye creams which offer brightening for use during the day.  Has anyone tried any of the Avene range?


These products were sent to me for consideration for review.

Botanics -

Having been blown away by the fabulty of the Botanics Cleansing Balm and cleansing brush I decided to give some of the other skin care products in the range a whirl.  Most of my skin care concentrates on moisturisation, hydration and dealing with the needs of my sensitive, redness prone general freak out of a face, the aging issue is overlooked.  And that worries me. Gawd knows the aging is an issue!

Deluded or what? "First signs of aging" having your bus pass is not a first sign of aging love ok - women in their mid 40's are slightly beyond that stage, but it was all they had in the anti wrinkle serum front on the display so it had to do.  I do like this, although I think its better suited to an oily skin perhaps, it is very mattifying and leaves your skin with a sort of velvety but not moist feel, making sense?  Whilst I dont actually believe that anything in a tube can erase existing lines I am ever hopeful that it can help delay the appearance of new ones!

I also don't really have a night time regime, apart from the usual cleanse and apply Organic Surge night cream so I thought perhaps adding something to help with radiance would be a good idea - ok AND it was 3 for 2 so I needed something else in my basket!  I like how this applies, it feels very comfortable, it has the effect of sort of sloughing off the dead skin cells on the surface of your skin, I apply it and then the night cream and I get that "peely" balled up stuff appearing as I rub in the night cream, presumably thats my inner radiance being revealed!

This however is the star of the show, I am loving it.  It is a really nice cooling gel that I am using morning and night and I have to say I think the skin around my eye is looking much fresher and plumper - I get very dry, papery skin round my eyes and this combined with the Avene Rich Eye cream has really helped.  I had wanted the eye and lip serum, they are still on my wish list, but as they weren't around I thought I'd give this a whirl and I am really glad I did.

 This is the anti wrinkle serum, top, the radiance serum, middle and eye gel, bottom.
The Botanics Ultimate Lift Eye Gel for mature skin is £6.12.  The First Signs of Aging Intensive wrinkle reduction serum isn't on the Boots website but was £9, or there abouts and the Radiance Night Renewal Serum is £9.18.  I have used all 3 of these for over a week now and none of them have caused any problems with my rosacea or skin sensitivity so I think they would probably be ok for people with similar skin to mine.

Have you used anything from the Botanics range that you think is overlooked and that more people should try, or anything that similarly isn't getting the love you think it should from any other range?  If so, share!