Essential Care for Sensitive Skins: Four Avène Products on Test

Here I try four products from the Avène range, aimed at anyone with a sensitive skin: two cleansers, a toner and an exfoliant.

Avène Care Cleansing Foam

I've found that using cleansers is a very personal choice; some like their cleansers to foam up, and to use them in the shower, while others prefer to use a milk or cream on their skin without water. Often people with dry or sensitive skin will avoid foaming cleansers altogether, as they can be a bit harsh and leave the skin irritated or tight, but Avène Care Cleansing Foam (sold at many pharmacies as Avène Cleansing Foam) is formulated to suit normal to combination and sensitive skin. It contains moisturising agents to help restore the skin's suppleness, along with glutamic acid, which Avène says helps rebalance the skin's sebum production. It's also soap-free and gentle, washing off impurities including excess sebum, and it is rich in Avène Thermal Spring Water, which the brand describes as soothing. You can use it morning or evening on wet or dry skin, massaging a little into the skin with your fingertips before rinsing off. On the road, or at home, I found it great for gently removing sunscreen or zinc products as well as makeup and daily grime.

Avène Care Milk Cleanser

If a milk is more to your liking when it comes to cleansers, however, Avène Care Milk Cleanser (still sold by some pharmacies as Avène Gentle Milk Cleanser) is also a lovely, non-drying product which gently removes makeup and other impurities. It has a formula enriched with moisturisers, leaving your skin feeling comfortable after cleansing, and it also contains Avène Thermal Spring Water. It also has the bonus of being suitable for removing makeup from lips and eyes. Using it is easy; Avène's directions are to apply it once a day, morning or evening, with a cotton pad or your fingertips, then rinse with water. This would be my day-to-day choice for a variety of reasons, including a preference for a cream cleanser.

Avène Gentle Toning Lotion

The Gentle Toning Lotion and Gentle Exfoliating Gel are both lovely companion products to the cleansers. Avène Gentle Toning Lotion is formulated for dry to very dry sensitive skin, and it can be used morning and/or evening, after the Milk Cleanser. The toner has a soft pink colour and an almost rose-like scent, and besides being rich in Avène's signature thermal spring water, it is also formulated with natural silicates, which Avène says leave a light protective film on the skin. Using it is easy: it's a two-phase lotion, so give the bottle a good shake, then pour a little onto a cotton pad and sweep it over your face and neck; there's no rinsing, and Avène describes it as non-comedogenic. The result, for me, was clean-as-a-whistle skin which felt soft to the touch.

Avène Gentle Exfoliating Gel

The Gentle Exfoliating Gel is a gel-based exfoliating scrub suitable for sensitive skins. Avène describes it as non-comedogenic and formulated to minimise the risk of allergic reaction, and like the rest of the range it is rich in thermal spring water, which the brand says soothes the skin. The gel is a soft pink colour with a gentle, rosy scent; to use, apply a small amount to wet or dry skin and, using your fingertips, massage in gently with a circular motion, avoiding the eye contour area. To finish, rinse off thoroughly and pat the skin dry. The exfoliating grains are soft yet gently remove dead skin cells, leaving your skin soft and smooth, and Avène suggests using it once or twice a week, according to your skin type.

Along with other Avène products, all four are sold by a range of pharmacies nationally, including Chemist Warehouse and Priceline.

More from UTM: Your Skin and Travel: A Q&A with Zoe Devine.

Editor's note. This article brings together UTM's original Essential Care for Sensitive Skins feature, first published in two parts, into a single piece. Consolidated and fact-checked on 22 September 2026.