Looking for a new repairing cream and can’t decide wether to go for the Avene cicalfate+ or the La Roche Posay cicaplast? 
I’ve decided to dive deeper into both creams to see how they compare to each other! 


🔎 What is it?
Both the cicaplast and cicalfate are healing repair creams, that focus on soothing and repairing damaged skin. 

🔬 Ingredients
Both creams use zinc and copper sulfates, which has purifying and antibacterial properties to help with healing the skin. 
Apart from that, Cicaplast uses 5% panthenol and madecassoside for an extra soothing, healing boost. 
Cicalfate uses sucralfate, which is used in medicine to treat burns and other inflammatory skin conditions. 

Cicaplast also added in some moisturizing agents like glycerin and shea butter. You could use this instead of your moisturizer.
Cicalfate on the other hand didn’t add many moisturizing ingredients besides glycerin. It’s not very hydrating and won’t be enough as a moisturizer. Think of this as more of an occlusive layer to lock everything in while healing the skin. 

Neither of them contain fragrance. 

Both of these creams contain some comedogenic ingredients and may your pores. 


💦 Texture
Cicaplast has a creamy baume texture that spreads relatively easily. 

Cicalfate is a rich, occlusive, thick cream that leaves a bit of a greasy feel. Definitely one for your night routine unless you like a greasy French fry look during the day 👀

💲 Price point
While prices differ depending on where you buy it..
Cicaplast retails for an average of $15/€10
Cicalfate retails for an average of $18/€15

Both are available in either 40ml or 100ml.
And both have a shelf life of 6 months after opening


💭 Conclusion 
If you’re looking for a bit of extra hydration, go for Cicaplast. If you’re looking for just an occlusive, healing layer, go for the Cicalfate. 
If you have combo/oily skin, you may wanna skip the heavy cicalfate cream as it can be too heavy for you.

Both are effective and will do a great job of healing your skin, you can’t go wrong with either.

LRP Cicaplast vs Avene Cicalfate+

Hi,

Just like everyone else, I’m always on the lookout for my new holy grail sunscreen.
My skin can get pretty sensitive so I prefer mineral sunscreen. And because I don’t wear make-up, my pale a$$ skin  likes a little tint to it (nothing too crazy)
I’m currently using the Paula’s Choice Resist SPF 30, which I love, except the price. €39 for a sunscreen is expensive 💸
While my skin is normal-dry, I do not like a glowy look (feels and looks greasy to me)

So, to get to my question, does anyone have any good recommendations for affordable tinted mineral sunscreens with a velvet, semi-matte, matte finish? Fragrance and essential oil free

Tinted mineral sunscreen recs

Hi everyone 🙋🏻‍♀️

I was wondering what everyone’s holy grail products are? The ones you will never go without anymore? 


I’m always looking for new products to try. Give my suggestions for my next haul 👀

These are mine:
The LRP Toleriane cleanser: 
So so gentle and you can’t beat the price. Like €15/400ml
COSRX snail mucin: 
This was my first snail product, love how it hydrates, soothes and plumps my skin
Paula’s Choice BHA:
Do I even need to elaborate on this one?
Avene Retrinal 0.1:
This contains 0.1% retrinal but it never caused purging for me, so gentle for me. This is one of those products where I wake up the next morning and just see the difference. Makes my skin smooth and glowy

Holy grail products

- price difference between the US and EU, US way too expensive!
- bit hard to spread out
- hard to get by, only available in pharmacies in the EU
- avene is not cruelty free

Avene A-Oxitive Night Cream &#47; Retrinal 0.1 Cream

🔎 What is it?
An anti-aging night cream, containing 0.1% Retrinal, to help firm the skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles


🔬 Main ingredients
Avene thermal water, retinaldehyde (anti-aging), relastide (pro-elastin peptide), pre-tocopheryl (vitamin e, anti-oxidant)


💭 My thoughts
After I build up my retinol tolerance, I wanted to take it up a notch. After browsing through Dr. Dray’s retinoids videos I came across this one from Avene. Instead of retinol, this contains retinaldehyde. Retinal only requires one conversion step to its active form, making it more effective but also more irritating. 
This cream comes in two different strengths, 0.05% and 0.1%. 
Patience isn’t exactly my strong suit so I immediately jumped to the 0.1%, and surprisingly I had little irritation. It feels very gentle on the skin, leaving my skin soft and nourished. And I know that retinoids take time to work, but I’m telling you, I see an overnight change with this one. Not on my fine lines, but on my pimple-prone chin. It is visibly brighter and clearer the next day. 

What confuses me is the price difference. I’m in the EU and I get it for about €30 from official retailers, while it retails for $70 (!) in the US. 

For the EU price, I’d say it’s definitely worth it. For the US price…. There are plenty of other retinoid options 👀

Being a chemical sunscreen, It can cause some sensitivity for me sometimes.
Also be careful around the eye area, as it can sting there too. 
Its also pretty expensive, €39&#47;60ml

🔎 What is it?
an antioxidant-rich anti-aging moisturizer with chemical UV filters best suited for dry skin

🔬 Main ingredients
Resist Skin Moisturizer SPF 50:
niacinamide, shea butter, licorice root extract, glycerin, allantoin, aloe leaf juice, oat kernel extract


🌸 Verdict
I love this product. It has a thin consistency that spreads easily and blends like a dream. It works great for my normal to dry skin, with its soothing and hydrating ingredients. In the summer, for me this is enough on its own, no need for another moisturizer underneath.
For me, it dries down to a semi matte finish, which I love.
Like all Paula’s Choice products, they’re kinda pricey, but their all of their products are so good and well-formulated, I think it’s worth it.
This also leaves no white cast

Beeware (pun intended) the natural smell of honey is STRONG in this one. I, no joke, almost had to gag the first time I used it, that’s how strong it was. I could barely keep it on my face.
Though I got used to it after a while, if you really can’t stand the smell of honey.. This might not be for you.
Also, in case it wasn’t obvious, if you’re allergic to bees.. Skip this since it contains bee venom.
It is also kind of expensive for a mask

🍯REVIEW TIME 🍯
I’m from Honey Mask

Looking for a hydrating, soothing face mask? Look no further!

🐝

A while back I purchased the I’m From Honey mask, and I was not disappointed. 
This left my skin soft, moisturized, plump en supple. My pimple prone chin looked visibly calmer and my dry spots seemed to have disappeared
You can leave it on for anywhere between 10 minutes till 1 hour, which is great for us lazy people who forget to wash off our masks in time 🙋🏻‍♀️
The key ingredients are honey, bee venom, macadamia nut oil, jojoba seed oil, hazelnut oil and sunflower seed oil. 



Would I repurchase?
Yes! Though it is slightly expensive, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would repurchase if I didn’t wanna try other products.

Price point: ~ $32.99 &#47; €35,- (varies)
Cruelty free: ✅
Fragrance free: ✅
Essential oil free: ✅
Vegan: ❌

For my normal-dry skin,  it’s not moisturizing enough to use on its own. I do need a proper moisturizer underneath this.
 I also wish it was SPF 50 instead of 30. I will probably switch to a higher spf for the summer.
For darker skin tones, this will probably leave a white cast

🔎  What is it?
a tinted mineral-based, antioxidant-rich moisturizer best suited for aging, combo-oily skin


🔬 Main ingredients
willow bark, epigallocatechin gallate, bisabolol, adenosine

🌸 Verdict

This is my go-to daily spf for a while now. I prefer mineral sunscreens, as my skin can get pretty sensitive. It is rich in anti-oxidants, something I love to have in my spf.
It has a thin consistency (watch out when you open the bottle), it blends so so so well, it doesn’t feel like sunscreen at all. The tint in this one is super sheer with a neutral undertone, only enough to give a little bit of a blurring effect. 
For lighter skin tones, this probably won’t leave a white cast.
It dries down to a beautiful semi-matte finish.

- contains essential oils
- expensive (but worth it for the impressive ingredients)

🔎 What is it?
 A soothing, hydrating toner&#47;mist that strengthens and tightens the skin to reduce wrinkles

🍀 Who is it for?
This is suitable for every skin type, but especially great for drier, aging skin.


🔬 Main ingredients
Aquatide 3%, niacinamide (evening skin tone), glycerin (hydrating), sodium hyaluronate (hydrating), hyaluronic acid (hydrating), aloe extract (soothing), bioflavonoids (soothing)
👉🏻 Swipe for a full list

💭 My thoughts
Skincare based on technologies that won a Nobel prize? Sign me up 🙋🏻‍♀️
Logically, Skin is a science based skincare brand that, in this product, uses the science of autophagy. To keep it simple, when we get older, our cells slowly die and our body gets rid of these cells. Autophagy helps to renew&#47;recycle the old dying cells, and basically give them a new life.
I’d never heard of Logically, Skin before. After reading their science based approach, I was already sold (before even trying their products). And after testing them for about 4 weeks, I can honestly say they lived up to my expectations.
I’m someone who never really felt the need for a toner, but this product changed that. It made me actually excited to use a toner every day. 
The toner has a thin, watery texture that soaks in very quickly.
Its so soothing, leaves my skin soft, supple and plump. It’s also very hydrating, thanks to the different forms of hyaluronic acid and different types of humectants.
After 4 weeks I noticed a small improvement in my fine lines too, but I need to use it longer to say for sure.
I love how this comes with a little mist bottle too, so convenient for traveling.
And how stunning is the packaging! All of their products look so good on my vanity 🤩

I only wish that this didn’t contain any essential oils. But I can look past that, for the amazing ingredients

Pros
- lightweight hydration
- science based, innovative
- comes with a mist bottle

elsewithluv