#SkinCareSundays: Avène PhysioLift Night Smoothing Regenerating Night Balm (For Firmness, Deep Wrinkles) Review

Avène PhysioLift Night Smoothing Regenerating Night Balm is designed to increase skin firmness, to reduce deep wrinkles, and to refresh the skin. This has Ascfilline to help restructure the skin, Hyaluronic Acid Mono-Oligomers to re-plump the skin, Retinaldehyde to smooth out wrinkles and fine lines, and HMC to illuminate the complexion. Like other Avène products, this is chock full of their spring water, and also has been tested to work well on people with sensitive skin. 

Packaging and Scent: This comes in a basic tube packaging, but it’s special because it’s very hygienic. It comes fully sealed at the bottom, and the nozzle is also not the type you can screw off. The nozzle is the type that dispenses then doesn’t take any product back, to prevent the habits of a lot of people who put back the excess product into tubes. The nozzle has no hole in it, and it only opens during dispensing, thereby preventing the return of product that has already been exposed to the elements. This dispenses just the right amount each time, so one need not worry about accidentally dispensing too much product in one go. As for the scent, it’s got a mild fragrance akin to how the spring water alone smells like. But it smells really mild, so for those with sensitivity problems, I don’t think this will pose a threat to your sinuses! 

Product Texture: This has a thick emollient texture that glides on smoothly. This is a lot like body butter for the face, so the term “balm” is quite apt for this product. You can feel the “weight” of this on your skin, but when you leave it on for a while, you can also feel a very hydrated sensation, thanks to the spring water in this. It takes a while for it to get absorbed, but it’s very hydrating so it doesn’t feel uncomfortably sticky while getting absorbed. 

Hydration vs. Oil: As this is a product targeted for oil, I have noticed that this is a product targeted to both oil and hydration. It provides a lot of hydration, but it also makes skin oilier. Skin does become drier as we age in general (as sebaceous glands become less active), so it makes sense to make an anti-aging product that also adds oil to the skin. I can imagine this working really well for users with dry skin, or for users who generally have noticed increasing skin dryness over time. But as someone with really, really oily skin, there were times I felt my skin was greasing up with this balm. 

Skin Texture Refinement: I didn’t notice any activity towards shrinking down pore size, but I did feel that this has this firming feel to it. It also “fills” up the skin to some degree, and I could notice that my textured acne scars were getting “filled in” over time. However, as I am not the target market for this range, I cannot give a testimonial on its potential lifting properties. 

Radiance Boost: I didn’t feel a radiance boost with this product. It has got no ingredients targeted towards whitening, and it also doesn’t have pearl or milk extracts which are usually used to tone up the skin tone. I actually am a bit puzzled about this part as this has hyaluronic acid, which thus far, has helped me achieve a glow with other products… 

Value For Money: It’s $50.00 at Amazon for 30mL, which I find to be mid-tier pricing. It’s not the most expensive brand in the world, but there are also plenty of more affordable choices. Since this is quite emollient, this will last for quite some time, so there’s quite a lot of product. For those without sensitive skin, I do feel that there are more potent anti-aging options out there that are more affordable. But I perfectly understand why this exists because my mom has very sensitive skin and most product ranges made for anti-aging purposes are irritating to her skin. 

Overall Feedback: This is a targeted product that works well for those with sensitive skin who are looking for anti-aging products that tackle both skin dehydration and dryness. I feel that this is important in the sense that it serves many disenfranchised people. Most people with anti-aging concerns AND sensitive skin usually will have to give up one of the two benefits, so an entire range dedicated to tackling both problems is special. The only hard part is that this range is only sold at select dermatologists and is not available at their retail channels in the Philippines.

Avène PhysioLift Night Smoothing Regenerating Night Balm Box Scan