Avon Distillery Skincare

Avon, the catalogue-based beauty brand popular with old ladies the world over, has launched Distillery, a new high-performance vegan beauty range offering both skincare and make up.

Named after the distillation process that created the highly-concentrated products, Distillery consists of nine high-performance products (five skincare items, four make up), designed as a 'clean beauty' alternative, free-from alcohol, fragrance, mineral oil, essential oils and chemical sunscreens, with each product containing an average of just 15 ingredients.

I was lucky enough to be sent four of the five skincare items, although I did gift the Vitamin C shot to a friend before I wrote this post, but anyway let's talk about them shall we?

Sidenote: I haven't actually tried any of these products yet, just wanted to give you guys an overview of the line, I might do a follow-up once I've had the chance to test them out and form an opinion.

First up is the Clean Break cleanser (£15)*. A cleansing balm, God, how I love a cleansing balm, Clean Break is billed as a 'game-changing cleanser' and is designed to melt away even the most stubborn of waterproof mascaras, I'm looking at you L'Oreal Lash Architect Waterproof mascara, without stripping the skin. It boasts a water-free formula, for improved potency, and contains pressed apricot oil and mango and cocoa butters to leave the skin cleansed, but more importantly, thoroughly moisturised. I'm really looking forward to trying this. I'm currently using the Pixi  X Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse, which I adore, but once that's finished you better believe I'm cracking into this bad boy.  Like I said, I haven't tried any of these products yet, but at first glance this has a really nice texture, that melts almost instantly on contact and feels very gentle and hydrating on the skin.

Next up is the Shade the Day SPF 25 (£18)*, a mineral sun screen that in addition to offering broad spectrum protection, the best kind of sun protection, acts as a moisturiser, mattifier and primer. It's designed for more sensitive skin types (HELLO!) and contains distilled rose extract to gently nourish the skin. Now, I'll be honest I was super excited to receive this because I absolutely love a sunscreen, The Body Shop Skin Defence is my favourite. I've been using them on a daily basis for a couple of years now, because I don't want the complexion of a leather handbag when I'm older and also skin cancer is a thing, but they are absolutely one of my very favourite products. I like them to be light, non-comedogenic and to have a moisturising component, so we'll see how this one measures up. Sidenote: if any brands out there want to send me some sunscreens to review then please do, I LOVE THEM.

The Sleep Potion (£18)* is a glycerine-based night cream that is designed to give users a glowing complexion. It contains niacinamide, to reduce the appearance of pores, and 100% plant-based glycerine and sodium hyaluronate to intensely moisturise the skin. I'll be honest, this product is the one I'm most nervous about because I've used glycerine products before and haven't really got on with them. However, I'll try anything once and I'm all for pore-shrinking glowy hydration. I'll let you know how I get on.

The C Shot (£22)* is billed as a 'pure shot of vitamin C' in a powder form. I gave this to my friend/number one fan, Emma, and while I absolutely don't regret giving it to her, she is one of the nicest people I know, I do wish I played with it a bit first because it is such an interesting concept. Essentially, a nifty little salt shaker filled with pure vitamin C powder, with added vitamin E for 'extra oomph', the C Shot is designed to be added to a moisturiser or serum to give you brighter, more luminous looking skin.

Completing the skincare line-up is the Purify Facial Oil (£22). Now, I wasn't sent this but I do think I'm probably going to buy it, for three reasons: 1. I have a compulsive need to complete the set. 2. I love a serum. 3. It sounds awesome. Designed for dull and congested skin (HELLO, ME AGAIN!), the serum contains concentrated ingredients, including jojoba oil, Phytol, vitamin E and cloudberry extract, to leave the skin refreshed and renewed. Plus the little bottle, which is completely recyclable, is very cute. All of the packaging, again all completely recyclable, is really cute now that I think about it.

So that's what's in Avon's new Distillery collection. What do you think? Are you going to give it a try? Let me know.

L xxx

*Disclaimer* Products denoted with a '*' have been gifted. I was NOT paid to write about them and under no obligation to do so. All views and opinions are my own.