Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum

I was recently lucky enough to be sent the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum (£17.00) from Escentual.com to try out and I've only been using it every day since I got it and I absolutely love it.  For those of you who are not aware, Avène are a French skincare brand and the Serum comes with the following description:

"Get a highly concentrated boost of repairing and protecting power for your skin with the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum. This intensely soothing and hydrating formulation is ideal for sensitive skin, or skin that is easily effected by stress, pollution, or irritation. With its high concentration of Avène Thermal Spring Water, the serum works to soothe and heal the skin with each and every application. This soothing sensation has a long-lasting effect thanks to patented lipsomes, which work to diffuse the ingredients gradually into the upper layer of the skin".

This soothing Hydrating Serum doesn't contain any parabens or known skin irritants but does make use of Avène's own Thermal Spring Water which with the addition of Glycerine provides much needed nourishment to your skin, leaving it feeling hydrated, soft and supple.

This is the first product from Avène that I have tried and I have to say I am impressed.  It comes packaged inside a frosted glass bottle which houses a pump dispenser, something that I love to have on products like this because I find them much easier to use and much less wasteful not to mention more hygienic.  That said one pump of the dispenser is enough to cover your entire face and neck.  Then as directed you should apply the serum both morning and evening after cleansing and toning but before moisturising, to give your skin a total moisture boost. Its gentle calming formula is ideal for sensitive skin, or skin which is affected by stress, pollution, or irritation and living in London you can only imagine how much something like this is needed.

The serum itself has a really nice texture, it isn't oily or greasy and is not as thick as my moisturising cream, it is somewhere in the middle of being a cream and gel.  As you apply it to your skin, it absorbs itself on impact and it has a hint of fragrance which I actually really like.  As soon as you have finished you can immediately tell the difference in your skin, mine feels softer, smoother and much more moisturised in appearance not to mention brighter and more dewy in appearance.  Once I add my moisturiser I have found that my make-up literally glides onto my face.

The serum has fit itself quite nicely into my skincare routine and my skin feel much better for it.  This serum is suitable for all skin types, even the most sensitive, and is great for repairing and protecting the skin. It retails for £17, but right now until the end of March you can pick it up for just £14.45 from Escentual.

What are your French Skincare must haves?

My Favourite Products of 2013 - Part 3

So far I have brought to you my favourite hair and body and lip products for 2013 and today you get to read about my favourite face products.

Face

I found this one of the easiest categories to put together from all of the ones that I am sharing with you in this little series of posts.

DermaCo Revitalising Toner - I was introduced to DermaCo back in August and reviewed the product I am featuring today which you can see HERE.  This is my second bottle of the Toner which shows how much I really like.  It looks really good alonside my other products which sit on my bedside table and when I use it, it leaves me skin feeling soft, smooth and incredibly clean and there is no horrible chemical scent which used to put me off wanting to use Toners.

HealGel Face and Eye - Two products that would always feature in my favourites because they are just that.  I reviewed the Eye product which you can find HERE and the Face version is coming up on my blog shortly. From the packaging which is superb to the effects this product claims and lives up to, it is brilliant.

Balance Me Radiance Face Oil - One of my favourite brands to date, Balance Me introduced me to the world that is facial oil, a product that I never thought I would be able to using having combination/oily skin.  This was the first facial oil I used and I reviewed it HERE and I still love how it makes my skin feel.

La-Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water - a product I bought on the recommendation of other bloggers and one that I have enjoyed using, particularly when we had that hot blast of weather in the summer. I reviewed it HERE and love how it refreshed my skin whilst cooling me down during those hot few weeks.

Simple Kind to Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream - I am a huge huge fan of Simple products because you get exactly what you pay for and they do what they claim to do.  I love this Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream which I reviewed HERE and I love how it made my skin feel once I had applied it and it certainly adds a little something.

Origins High Potency Night A Mins Mineral Enriched Renewal Cream - Which is a bit of a mouthful to say but worth saying.  I got this cream in my goody bag after attending my very first blogger event with Company magazine and I had been looking for a good night cream and having been given this decided to try it out.  A review of it is coming soon but what I can say about it is that the cream itself is a really lovely texture which sinks into your skin as soon as it is applied and in the morning when I wake up, my skin feels lovely and moisturised, so it is especially good when my skin is needing a little TLC.

There you have my favourite skin care products of 2013, seven of them in total and each one of them has been a product I have gone back to time and time again.  

Would or have any of these products feature in your favourite products list?