Review: Avène Thermal Spring Water

Hi there, welcome to my very first review!

*Please bare with me as many of the links currently on this blog are blank because I just started this blog! I will fill it up soon! Working on many new posts at the moment! Thank you for understanding! :)*

Product for review: 

Avène's Thermal Spring Water (Eau Thermale)

What it Claims: 

"Key soothing care for sensitive, hypersensitive, allergic and irritated skin." Basically, it soothes and softens skin after irritations such as sunburn, razor burn, after hair removal and so on.

Price: 

$22 Canadian dollars for a 300ml can, purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Scroll down to the bottom for a quick summary if you are in a hurry :)

Some Background:
Hmmmm, isn't Thermal Spring Water...just water? Who would spend $22 dollars on a can of water..? 

I thought that too before I made the purchase. My friends were already familiar with this product, but I never really believed that it would work very well. However, all the hype surrounding this product really got me curious. 

After trying this product, consider my mind changed. Especially after my Aunt's arrival from China. Her skin was very much irritated by the dry Canadian climate, red patches formed on her face in the first week of her arrival. By the time second week came around, I was able to remember Avène's Thermal Spring Water and told her to try it.

The results?

The red patches were almost unnoticeable the next day. By the second day, they were completely gone. I hovered around her and eagerly asked for her opinion. To my surprise, she explained that she was delighted with the Avène's results. Despite the fact that the results were very noticeable, Auntie also explained that her face felt very soft and moisturized throughout the night. That's when I realized, I gotta give this thing a try personally. 

My Review

I have very sensitive and Acne-prone skin, and I have a lot of marks and scars accompanied with hyper-pigmented skin as I have dealt with several severe acne breakouts over the years. 

During the first couple of months, I would spray the Spring Water onto the palm of my hand and then pat it onto my face until  it dried. I was conditioned to be terrified of things propelling themselves toward my face and eyes (even though I knew it was just water). Fortunately, I realized fairly quickly that the bottle sprays a very fine mist, and instead of flinching, I felt refreshed. (It was also very convenient)

I was told by a friend that as the mist dries it would lift the moisture from the skin, leading to dryness. This seemed to make a good deal of sense to me. Remember how your face feels tight after washing your face? Or just wetting your face without facial cleanser? 

To prevent any chance of dryness, I would use it as a toner and put moisturizer on top of it so that it wouldn't dry out my skin.

My results

4 Months after the purchase of Avene's Thermal Spring Water, I had another cycle of major breakouts (my skin seem to have good and bad phases). I usually only use it after I wash my face which is probably why I haven't seen much of a difference in the first 4 months. But after being in a bad phase for more than 5 months, I was desperate for a cure and began to spray the Thermal Spring Water on my face religiously. 

I would take the giant 300ml bottle with me everywhere and spray it on my face every half an hour or so and let it dry naturally. I did that for about 2 days, and the results were surprisingly good! Not only did I stop looking like a oven roasted pig, my hyper-pigmentation were almost none existent. 

Aside from the scar marks and pimples that are still on my face, the skin surrounding it was completely normal. My boyfriend also agrees that my overall complexion was a lot better. 

My routine for Avene Thermal Spring Water now

I used to use it only as a toner, now I spray it on whenever I feel like my face is oily or when I have been out in the sun. I am still unsure whether or not the spring water actually dries out one's skin, but my skin feels a lot less oily and more firm (not to the point where it feels tight) after I spray it during the day. 

I really like the spray bottle because I can  spray it directly on my face and let it dry on its own without using my hands. This is a lot more hygienic and hassle free since I don't need to wash my hands every time I use it.

Comparing it to Evian's Spring Water

I haven't purchased Evian's Spring Water, but I have tried the testers in stores. I'm sure it does exactly what the Avene's Thermal Spring Water advertises, but I personally like the Avene's spray bottle much better. I'm not sure if there was a defect regarding the tester, but the spray did not produce a fine mist. Instead, it produced bigger droplets of Spring Water (not entirely unpleasant though). 

Final thought?

Avene's Thermal Spring Water does exactly what it says, soothes and softens irritated skin. It is a little on the expensive side but a 300ml bottle has lasted me 4 months and I still have more than half of the bottle left. 

I recommend those that are in Canada to purchase it in Shoppers Drug Mart with your Optimum Card during their special points events. I purchased mine when they were offering an event "spend $30 and receive 8000 points (which is $10)". For those that are in Canada, you probably know what I'm talking about :)

Sometimes Shoppers  have promotion packages for Avene products where with the purchase of a 300ml Thermal Spring Water you could also get a travel size. They also have markdowns where you can purchase it for $18 instead of $22. 

Quick summary

Pros

- Soothes and softens irritated skin, reduces hyper-pigmentation significantly

- Sprays a fine mist that is actually soothing

- The spray bottle does a good job at spreading the mist evenly so that you don't need to use your hands

- Very refreshing and reduces oil

Cons

- It is definitely on the more expensive side

- It comes in smaller sizes, but it is probably less worth it compared to larger packages

- It could potentially dry out your skin

Rating (out of 5) : ★★★★

Would I purchase it again?
I bought this product for the sake of trying it out and did not expect drastic results(products that usually works for others never seem to work for me). But this one is different! I would continue to purchase this product for the sake of calming my skin when it is irritated. 

But I have to say, if my skin miraculously heals and becomes clear, I probably would save my $22 bucks :P

This concludes my very first review! Tell me your thoughts both regarding the review and the product! Would you spend $22 dollars on "water"? :)

P.S: If you have any questions or concerns feel free to comment down below! I will try to answer them to the best of my ability!