French Pharmacy Skincare Brands

Last weekend I had a much needed lazy day. I decided to catch up on the ridiculous amount of unread blog posts I had stacking up. I stumbled across a post from Charlotte, letting me know in her ever so helpful way that the Escentual website had a discount throughout March on French pharmacy skincare brands. Conveniently I needed to stock up on some new skincare staples and I thought it would have been rude not to try something new. A few well informed clicks later and I had a lovely full shopping basket of Avene, Bioderma and Caudalie products. Ahem...

♥ Avene Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser ♥ 

As I wanted to try some products from Avene, I decided to go all out and get a complete set of skincare items rather than alternate between the few brands I'm using now. Avene's Cleanance range is formulated specifically for oily/blemish prone skin. I opted for this cleanser and so far, so good! It smells lovely - clean and fresh. It certainly does the job. Removes all traces of makeup and doesn't irritate my skin at all.

♥ Avene Cleanance Emulsion Lotion ♥

Lately I've been trying out a few different products that claim to reduce oil production and mattify skin. I apply this after cleansing and spritzing my face with Avene's Thermal Water. It mattifies my skin, providing a great base for makeup application, and helps my skin to stay shine-free all day.

♥ Avene Cleanance Lotion Toner ♥

I use this after cleansing and I love it because it instantly mattifies skin whilst also ensuring there are no traces of cleanser left on my face.

♥ Avene Cleanance Mask ♥
I haven't gotten around to trying this yet but it smells the same as the rest of the Cleanance range so I'm looking forward to trying it out. 

♥ Bioderma Sebium H2O Micellar Solution ♥

I know, I know, I must be the LAST person on the planet to try Bioderma but I've finally jumped on the bandwagon. I was a bit of a sceptical Susan before but blimey how wrong was I? This stuff is AMAZING. I use two Boots' large double sided cotton pads to cleanse my face of makeup and it removes everything. So impressed! I cleanse afterwards anyway but there's never anything left to remove. One thing that I find slightly off-putting is the scent. To start with it smells sort of clean, then once its on your face it has an odd sulphur smell. Attractive. I won't knock it though, it works!

♥ Caudalie Beauty Elixir ♥

I'm blaming this purchase solely on the blogosphere. Everyone and their cat has raved about this so I bought it. I use it after foundation to set it before powdering. The scent is just odd. Its a florally, minty, herbally type of scent. Odd. But it certainly helps makeup stay put. How do you use Caudalie's Beauty Elixir?

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Have you tried any of these brands? Share your thoughts, I'd love to know what you think :)