Avon solutions moisturiser

I was lucky enough to get small samples of 4 of the 5 product in the Avon Solutions range.  After reading many beauty blogs, I have decided to start reviewing my favourite products.  I would really like to give thorough, balanced reviews that goes deeper than the: “It smelled nice.”  “I put it on my face and I love it” you read on many blogs.  I am however now faced with the difficulty:  How do you review a beauty product, especially if you have only a small sample.  I have nothing to compare the results to.  Should I have used it on the one half only and compared the difference?  I will try my best; and promise to go beyond the smell. 

I need to start with a disclaimer.  I have a fairly no-nonsense skin.  My skin is not especially sensitive, especially dry or especially oily.  I am not prone to breakouts.  I guess it could be described as a normal skin, starting to age (I am almost 40, and starting to show some lines !!!).  I therefore fully acknowledge, that just because a moisturiser was fine with me does not mean it is a perfect moisturiser.   

The different products in the solutions range are coloured coded.  Kind of cute.  All the products in the range came in day and night cream and I had a sample of each.  The range includes: 

Complete Balance (Turquoise) - Combination, Oily Skin Types
From Avon:  For skin that is oily in some places, dry in others.  It is formulated with Camelia tea leaves – rich in antioxidants and minerals.

The day cream was nice, I could see myself using it.  It was the least oily and rich of all the creams and had an SPF of 15.  The night cream was a see-through sticky, bluish gel.  I hated using it, my skin was sticky after I used it and it did not feel like a moisturiser at all.  However, the next morning m skin really felt good, which I guess is the goal.  Maybe if you have a very oily skin, the night cream might be good in reducing oil.

Sensitive botanicals (Green) - Sensitive, Irritated Skin Types

From Avon:  For skin that is sometimes irritable and sensitive.  Sensitive Botanicals contains Rose Moss and soothes and comforts skin – without dyes or fragrances.

I have never heard of Rose Moss.  A quick Google search did not bring up anything interesting on Rose Moss, so I am not sure whether it has special properties.  This product stinks.  Could it be due to the Rose Moss?  It smells like old fish, really bad.  Even my husband gave this product one sniff and said it smelled bad.  The product is very thick and creamy and oily.  I did not like the way it went on.  The day cream had an SPF of 20. 

Hydra Radiance (Orange) - Dull, Dehydrated Skin Types From Avon:  For skin that is dull, dehydrated or feels tight.  Add serious moisture with beautiful radiance.  Designed with grains of paradise to help boost cell renewal, the formula moisturises skin giving you a visibly healthier, more vibrant look. 

The day cream had an SPF of 15.  In this product I could not distinguish between the day and the night cream.  Both were very thick and greasy and felt a little bit like it was going on top of my skin and not being absorbed.  Grains of paradise seems to be a pepper-like spice from West Africa.  It is used in the Caribbean for medicine, but I am not sure what properties it has to be included in a moisturiser.

Youth Minerals (Purple) - Preventative Anti-Ageing From Avon:  For skin that is showing fine lines or uneven tone.  Formulated with Amethyst Mineral Complex, designed to boost and maintain collagen.  Youth minerals evens out your skin tone while visibly softening fine lines

I liked this one, slightly rich and oily, but nice.  I did not see any improvement in fine lines or skin tone.  But in fairness, I had a small sample and did not use this for more than about 3 days. 

Perfect Tone (Maroon) - Uneven Skin Tone
From Avon:  For uneven tone and discoloration.  With Mulberry combined with grape extracts .  Perfect tone leaves skin looking brighter and with fewer visible discolorations.  The day cream has an SPF of 20.

I did not get to try this product   Sad face !

I used the small samples of day and night creams over a period of about two weeks, during which I did not use any other moisturisers.  Overall, my skin felt really soft and smooth; especially in the morning after using it the night before.  It might feel sticky (the complete balance) and some felt very oily immediately after use, but the longer lasting results were soft skin. 

During winter you need a bit of extra moisture.  I think the purple and orange would be great for this.  I would not use the green, since it smelled so very bad.  I also liked the turquois one (which is if one forget about the anti-aging needs I have, probably the right product for my skin), and think it might be the best year round cream of the lot (but only the day cream, I did not like the sticky night cream.)   What I also liked, was that all the day creams came with fairly high sun protection factors (SPF 15-20).  Some of the moisturisers I like using has no SPF built in.  But the creams could be a bit too greasy. 

Avon is being sold by agents, and these products are very affordable, especially the night creams.  It costs R125 for all but the youth minerals (purple) which is R155.  This is for 50 ml.   I assume the day and night creams cost the same, which makes especially the night creams very decently priced.

This website has quite a lot of information about the products:

http://www.myfourways.co.za/fashion-beauty-health/avon-solutions?slide=4

And Avon's website

Some reviews:

http://smashinbeauty.com/avon-solutions-sensitive-botanicals-beauty-product-review/

http://endles-s-summer.blogspot.com/2011/05/not-best-day-and-avon-solutions-total.html

http://reviews.avon.com/5588/39105/reviews.htm

http://www.luuux.com/node/2509758

http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=132310/Solutions_Complete_Balance_Day_Cream_SPF_15/Avon/Moisturizers