French beauty brand Eau Thermale Avène introduced its Tolérance Extremely Gentle Cleanser recently, and contrary to what its name suggests, this isn’t your regular cleanser. Rather, it’s a no-rinse makeup remover that claims to be gentle and non-irritating to the skin. Does this product work well on sensitive skin? Find out in my review below.
*The product was sent as a press gift. The views and opinions of the reviewer is independent and purely editorial.
First impressions, claims and packaging
The Tolérance Extremely Gentle Cleanser is made of 99% natural origin ingredients.
This cleanser is larger and taller than your usual cleansing balm jars and makeup removing products. Its curved design makes it easy for you to hold it while you dispense the product onto your hand. Composed of 99% natural ingredients, the rinse-free product aims to help sensitive skin users gently remove makeup from their face eyes and lips without over-irritating the skin.
This cleanser is fragrance-free too, which is a huge plus in my book as my sensitive skin has had adverse reactions to heavily fragranced products in the past. I’m a fan of the Avène Thermal Spring Water Spray and it’s been my go-to calming solution whenever my skin gets red and irritated, so I was definitely keen to add the cleanser to my skincare roster if it were to work well for me.
Usage and application
The cleanser has a soft, milk-like texture that glides smoothly onto the skin.
My makeup routine is as minimal as it gets these days: I only use an undereye concealer and a brow pencil whenever I head out for errands. This cleanser has been gentle yet effective in removing them and other impurities such as sweat and dirt from my face and my face always feels clean and “lighter” after this step — unlike the dry or tight feeling that I’ve experienced after using some regular cleansers. It’s also worth noting that it helped to calm down the redness and itchiness of my hormonal acne too.
As mentioned before, this rinse-free product is not your ordinary cleanser as you don’t have to wash off the product with water. So, how do you use this? To prevent any confusion, I like to view this as an alternative to a micellar cleansing water or toner that’s just as gentle and calming on sensitive skin.
The brand recommends that users apply the cleanser onto their face using a cotton pad or directly with their fingertips. I’ve gone with the latter method as I’ve been trying to reduce my use of single-use products. You can also use a piece of tissue paper afterwards to dab away any excess product from your face. You can follow through by misting your face with Avène Thermal Spring Water as well to calm your skin before ending your routine with a moisturiser.
I’ve also tried testing the efficacy of this cleanser after wearing a full face of makeup consisting of liquid foundation, eyebrow product, concealer, eyeshadow, blush and lip gloss. I gently wiped my face with a washcloth after using the cleanser and found that there was a bit of makeup residue left. As such, I had to do another round of cleansing in order to thoroughly remove the makeup on my face.
Final thoughts
The cleanser soothed my sensitive skin and was able to remove light makeup.
The Avène Extremely Gentle Cleanser has done a beautiful job in soothing, cleansing and softening my sensitive skin. In my opinion, it’s the perfect, cleansing first step for users who have sensitive skin like myself and wear minimal to no makeup. As for those of you who tend to wear full-coverage foundation and layer on multiple makeup products on a daily basis, you may be required to apply another layer of the cleanser to effectively remove all the makeup from your face.
Next, discover if the L'Oreal Paris Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Plumping Day Dream is a saviour for dry skin.
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