Hello Friends! 最亲爱的中文读者，我很抱歉。 我不能在这个博客中加入中文评论。 我很生病，我的大脑有点乱了。 哈哈。 所以我觉得很难用中文写我的评论。 我保证，一旦我恢复好了，我会用中文写我的评论。
This week, I attended an event for the Australian launch of Eau Thermale Avène's NEW sunscreen products at the lovely Watson's Bay Boutique Hotel. I'm really happy that I got to attend this lovely event as: (1) I got to try and learn about the new Avène Sunscreen Emulsion SPF 50+ and Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+; and (2) listened/watched a Q&A with humanitarian; athlete and motivationalist TURIA PITT.
Thank you to Avène and Dani Lombard PR for having me at this lovely event.
The New Products
NEW Sunscreen Emulsion SPF 50+ (50ml) and Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ (100ml)
The Sunscreen Emulsion, specifically formulated for the face retails in Australia for RRP$26.95.
The Sunscreen Lotion for face and body retails in Australia for RRP$28.95
These are now available in leading pharmacies. You can find your nearest stockist by going to https://www.avene.com.au
The Sunscreen Emulsion
The Sunscreen Emulsion SPF 50+
Avène Sunscreen Emulsion SPF 50+ is a very high protection and water resistant facial sunscreen that offers maximum photostability and skin tolerance for even the most sensitive skin. Specially formulated with a minimum number of chemical filters to respect sensitive skin, the Emulsion provides effective, broad spectrum protection of UVB and UVA rays. Avène Sunscreen Emulsion SPF 50+ uses an exclusive combination of ingredients to make up its SunSitive® Protection formula, including:
Photo-protection complex: Works in synergy to offer a formulation with a minimum of chemical filters, to suit sensitive skin
Pre-tocopheryl: Formulated with a photostable Vitamin E precursor
Very rich in Avène Thermal Spring Water The paraben-free emulsion has a light, non-greasy, non-sticky and mattifying texture that spreads easily, for even and invisible protection, while also moisturising the skin.
It can be used every day under make-up to provide effective UV protection, prevent premature skin ageing and assist in preventing some skin cancers.
It can also help prevent solar keratosis and sunspots.
(Information above provided by Avène.)
The Emulsion has a light texture (see photo on the left above). It is somewhat "liquidy". It spreads easily and absorbs after a few seconds. It did not feel greasy. I also felt that it did not have a tacky feeling like most sunscreens and did leave a matte finish. There is a very slight scent. The scent is pleasant and not your typical chemical scent you get from most sunscreens. I would describe the scent as faint; pleasant and fresh.
As you might know, I am a huge fan of Avène's Eau de Thermale Mist; so knowing that the Emulsion includes a lot of the thermal water was a WIN for me. I also liked that it had vitamin E in it and is formulated for sensitive skin.
The directions for use say to apply it 20 minutes before sun exposure and every 2 hours. Obviously, you need to reapply it after swimming.
It felt a bit thick and sticky when I first applied it on my face. However, once I rubbed it in and it had time to absorb (a few seconds); it felt comfortable.
After a while; I didn't notice it at all or felt like there was anything on my skin. Quite a refreshing change from other sunscreens I have used on the past, where I felt very uncomfortable. It does dry to a matte natural looking finish. While testing it; I applied it to half of my face as I wanted to see how well it would mattify my face. My skin did feel moisturised. On the other side of my face, I did not apply anything other than a bit of moisturiser. Over the course of the day; the side without the Emulsion got a bit oilier; while the side with the Emulsion looked pretty good to me. There was NO WHITE CAST.
The left photo above shows the comparison in daylight. I applied the Emulsion only on the left side of my face (left side facing you; see the line that divides my face? :P). The finish looks pretty natural huh? The right side of my face, without the Emulsion, looks a bit oilier (I did not apply anything on that side). The right photo above shows the comparison under studio lights. Again, the Emulsion was applied only to the left side of my face. I took both photos after wearing the Emulsion for about 1 hour.
I haven't tried it with makeup on top, but I think it will work quite well with a primer and foundation. I think you just need to wait for a while for it to dry and absorb into the skin.
The Sunscreen Lotion
The Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+
Avène Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ is a very high protection and water resistant sunscreen for face and body that offers maximum photostability and skin tolerance for even the most sensitive skin. Specially formulated with a minimum number of chemical filters to respect sensitive skin, the Emulsion provides effective, broad spectrum protection of UVB and UVA rays. Avène Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ uses an exclusive combination of ingredients to make up its SunSitive® Protection formula, including:
Photo-protection complex: Works in synergy to offer a formulation with a minimum of chemical filters, to suit sensitive skin
Pre-tocopheryl: Formulated with a photostable Vitamin E precursor
Very rich in Avène Thermal Spring Water
The paraben-free lotion has a light, non-greasy and non-sticky texture that spreads easily, for even and invisible protection, while also moisturising the skin.
It can help prevent solar keratosis, sunspots and premature skin ageing and may also assist in preventing some skin cancers.
(Information above provided by Avène.)
The Lotion should also be applied 20 minutes before sun exposure and reapplied every 20 minutes. Also you need to apply it after swimming.
It has a very faint scent. When I first applied it, I could not smell anything at all. I did another "sniff test" of the Lotion in the tube and did detect a very faint fresh scent. Not unpleasant and certainly not a chemical like scent. It has a thicker consistency than the Emulsion.
It did initially leave a faint white cast when I applied it but that soon disappeared. Again, after a while, I did not notice it anymore. Which I think is a good thing, as I have always felt a bit sticky when I applied other sunscreens. My clothes certainly did not stick to my skin
.
I have very dry skin, so I was pleasantly surprised that when I washed it off that my skin did look more moisturised and felt softer and smoother. I can't really say much more about the lotion other than it felt nicer; did not smell icky and moisturised my skin when compared to other sunscreens I've used in the past. To be honest, I really didn't like to apply sunscreen lotions in the past, because it just felt and smelt weird to me, and that's why I mostly didn't apply sunscreen. Yes, I know I am in the worst country to NOT apply sunscreen. Yes, I know that Australia has the highest number of skin cancer sufferers. However, (unfortunately) if a product does not feel comfortable on the skin, I just won't use it. So I'm pretty happy with this new one from Avène. It certainly makes me feel more comfortable and willing to apply sunscreen now.
Motivationalist Turia Pitt
The opportunity to see and listen to Turia Pitt in real life impacted me greatly. I really didn't know what to expect. Some of you may know Turia Pitt as a model before she suffered a terrible accident where she was trapped in a fire while running a marathon. She suffered (horrific) burns to 65% of her body and lost seven fingers. After undergoing over 200 operations and two years in recovery, this amazing woman rose like a phoenix from the fire (no pun intended) and has become one of Australia's most inspirational persons. Besides competing in various marathons including Ironman competitions; this outstanding lady is an ambassador for Interplast Australia & New Zealand helping to raise approximately $1Million in donations and $3Million based on awareness. She also works on Haapii, a foundation with the overall aim of providing kids in developing countries with the best educational resources possible. If you want to know more about Turia Pitt; please go to her website (where I got most of the above bio from) http://www.turiapitt.com/
Turia Pitt and Dani Lombard
Inspired and Motivated
Some of you might know that I am usually (except when I am sick) constantly recording my day on Instastories (you can follow my Instagram TeacupofMakeup by clicking here). So I was busy filming as much of the Avène event yesterday; with a fair amount of it concentrated on Turia Pitt's Q&A session with Ms Dani Lombard of DLPR. The past few years have been hard for me, health-wise and I've been in and out of hospitals. This year, I went for brain surgery. The experience was traumatic and I'm still in recovery. I won't go into my experience but honestly; I don't think it even was 1% of what Ms Pitt went through. I feel quite pathetic and silly when I compare myself to what she has gone through and what she said yesterday. For months I have been wallowing in self-pity and depression (o.k. I have treatment resistant clinical depression but have been classified as "high functioning" so I have no excuse). I've lacked motivation.
How can I say this? I think I will just share snippets of what Turia Pitt said yesterday and maybe it will impact you as greatly as it has impacted me. The snippets are from the videos of the Q&A I recorded on my instastories yesterday.
Snippets from the Q&A with Turia Pitt ("TP") note not quite verbatim
Q: What would be your one piece of advice for people going through adversity or a really challenging time?
TP: Start by nourishing your life. I started to read a lot of inspirational books and watched a lot of inspirational movies. When you absorb all of this information and you read about how other people have gone through some really tough times in their lives and you see where they are now in their lives; you see that if they can do it; getting through adversity; it means I can do that as well and apply that to my life as well. That's what genuinely helped me.
Q: How do you stay motivated?
TP: ... Can I start it better? Can I say "YES! I'm going to tackle today." I think we do ourselves a disservice when we expect that every single day is going to be like that. I take the approach of consistency. I don't look to be a superwoman everyday. Start with a small goal for each day.
... I consistently and methodically work towards my goals. At the end of the day, I might not see an improvement but over the long term, over the months and the years, I will definitely move ahead. ... Be consistent in whatever you are trying to do. You don't just go to the gym once to get fit. It's easy to do just that but it's really hard to get up each morning and go day after day.
Q: What are you going to teach your child about looking after your skin in the sun? (p.s. at the time of this event she was expecting a baby boy)
TP: I want him to enjoy the Sun and live the Australian lifestyle but I don't want his health to suffer. Australia has the highest incidences of skin cancer in the whole World. So I think it's about having a balanced lifestyle. It's about recognising how lucky he is to be borne in Australia to start with but also to have the gift of health as it is such a fragile thing.
Pretty cool huh?
Some photos from the event held at the Watson's Bay Boutique Hotel
Scenes from the the lovely venue. How pretty is everything?!
I had to include a photo of my lunch. A barramundi dish. IT WAS SO YUMMY!
Me and Katrina from Avène.
