Review: Avene Cicalfate Restorative Lip Cream for Chapped, Cracked Lips

Where to purchase: Available at Look Fantastic / Ulta / The Derm Store

Price: ~£8.00

Volume: 10ml

Made in: France

What is it?: A ”Silky” Lip balm which seals in moisture and provides relief for the lips to help recovery (as this is aimed at lips that have undergone stress/damage such as intense environments or medical treatments, dry weather).

This is supposedly water-resistant, so it aims to prevent trans-epidermal water loss even when taking a bath/shower (NOTE: I have found that this does last a long time on the lips, even if it is a ”faint” feeling. But I have not tried this in the shower etc).

This lip balm aims to provide long-hour protection for sensitised lips and can be used for both infants and adults as well as anywhere on the body and the lips.

So because of all this, I actually think this would be a GREAT lip balm to use if one is on accutane (just my opinion!).

Supposedly Good for: Very dry lips, lips that have been damaged or are facing harsh environments. It is more suitable for people who are prone to dry and/or irritated lips.

What I think: I do think those living in hot/humid weathers may find this a bit too moisturising/thick for the lips. But I think other than that, this is great for sensitive, sensitised and dry lips.

Packaging: This is a plastic, squeeze-y tube with a screw top lid. The applicator itself has that nice slant so it’s easy to spread this along the lips HOWEVER I find myself applying this to my finger and then swiping along the lips regardless. Also I’m not a fan of small screw top lids as I always seem to drop them

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Directions: ”Apply As Often as Needed” (From the Avene Website) – Note: This can also be used by infants, children and adults. AND this can be used on the face and/or body for any irritation.

How I use it: As I find this a bit too rich for the AM, I apply this as a Lip Balm (Or lip sleeping balm if you want to be fancy) after applying my Niod Lip Serum (Review HERE). I don’t use this in the AM as it isn’t an SPF rated product, so I use the SPF containing Lip Balm like the Blistex SPF50 Lip Balm (Review HERE).

Key Ingredients:

The Main active ingredient in here is Sucralfate which supposedly promotes the repair skin’s epidermis (so it’s great for compromised skin barriers). This also contains Zinc Sulfate which helps reduce bacterial duplication (so it helps promote the skin’s barrier while also reducing potential irritation caused by bacteria).

This also contains Waxes + Oils as well as Glycerin to provide both oil and draw water to the lips/skin.

Avene is known for all their products containing Thermal Spring Water which is supposedly meant to be anti-irritating and soothing.

NOTE: Avene actually did an experiment with this lip cream as it contains a ‘water in oil’ type of texture, meaning it produces a film-like effect (makes a film on the skin) which apparently lasts 6 hours. It is meant to be highly water-resistant. They tested this on 16 people and did only 1 application.

The Claims + Tests:

This is supposedly water resistant for up to 3 baths – Avene used 16 people, did 1 application and checked that there was still product existent where applied after 2 hours AND after 3 baths (checking after each bath). So, the point of this is to show that this product lasts on the skin for a long time and continues to moisturise the skin instead of evaporating/disappearing. I’m guessing this is due to the film-like quality of this product that sets once applied.

This is also meant to repair the skin – this was tested on 16 people where they applied this once on cracked skin AND on scabbed skin, measuring the signs of irritation immediately after applying, 3 days later and 8 days later (but I don’t know how many applications there were of this and how much product was used).

Avene can claim this can last on the skin for 6 hours because they measured the hydration of the skin using corneometry on 16 subjects after applying once (I don’t know if they checked every hour and then on the 7th hour the product became too low to measure anymore?). Do know that of course if you eat or drink, I’m sure this product would lose this moisturisation/hydration as food or a straw etc, would remove some product off the lips – so re-application would be needed to continue this effect I’m guessing.

In terms of repairing, nourishing and soothing the skin, a test was done on 44 subjects (aged 4 months – 53 years old) where they applied this on their skin for 21 days but we don’t know where this was applied, how much or how many applications (i.e. 1 application per day or 3?? etc).

Full Ingredients: Glycerin, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil (Ricinus Communis Seed Oil), Avene Thermal Spring Water (Avene Aqua), Beeswax (Cera Alba), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum), Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Isopropyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Peg-45/Dodecyl Glycol Copolymer, Aluminum Sucrose Octasulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate.

NOTE: The Incidecoder have a full ingredient breakdown HERE

My Thoughts: As you can see there are a lot of oils in here and then water. The glycerin is there to act as a humectant and retain hydration in the skin.

Texture:

This is a cream that blends into the skin. It’s emollient (may feel a bit too thick for some, unless you live in cold/dry weather or are using this more as a reparative sleeping mask).

It’s definitely not sticky or tacky, it’s smooth along the lips and definitely has that cream-like emollient quality. It doesn’t mean that this feels like a weird lotion being applied to the lips (unless too much is added).

It takes a little getting used to (and getting a feel for how much should be applied to the lips before it does start to feel like a cream). And what I do like, is that this texture remains on the lips for a long time (this doesn’t immediately disappear after applying).

NOTE: Avene describe this as a non-sticky textured cream that calms sensitive skin and is transparent when applied – Do I agree?: I agree that this is transparent as long as you don’t add too much (I made this mistake in the beginning and my sister asked me what on earth I had on my lips). I would agree it’s not a sticky texture and I didn’t apply this onto irritated lips so I can’t speak for the soothing BUT this definitely improved the moisture of my lips and didn’t further sting or aggravate them.

You can see that this definitely looks like a cream!

As you can see when spreading out, the cream blends into a more oil-like blend (as a cream does).

As you can see, this very much has an oil-base. It’s emollient and melts down into what you see here. It’s not sticky or tacky (please watch the swatch video below), but it’s definitely rich.

Video Swatch:

Fragrance?: No added Fragrance / Essential oils (It doesn’t smell like anything to me).

Good Under Makeup?: As long as too much isn’t added onto the lips (perhaps blotting with a tissue may be useful before lipstick application).

How long have I been using this?: 3-4 weeks (Still haven’t finished it!)

The Effect?: Moisturised and Hydrated Lips. I do think that this has genuinely helped stop my lips from turning dry and chappy. ALSO because this is a cream, this doesn’t seem to have that effect where your lips feel or become dryer after using, even for a long period of time. I don’t feel dependant on this lip cream either, so that’s great.

What I like:

• Lasts a long time on the lips (doesn’t immediately disappear after applying)
• I like the packaging (easy to apply tube – but I don’t like the screw top lid).
• Didn’t sting, itch or irritate
• Fragrance + Essential oil Free
• Moisturising
• Not sticky (not that petroleum stickiness on the lips)

What I don’t like:

• Less is more with this product (if I apply too much I look a little bizarre so I stick to applying this in the PM).
• Not good for under makeup (lipstick doesn’t sit on top as well unless very little is used).
• I don’t like screw top lids (especially tiny ones) as I end up dropping them at some point.
• I don’t always feel like using a very emollient (semi-heavy), cream-like lip product so I opt to use this in the PM.

Overall Rating and Conclusion: 4/5 – A decent lip product! Would not recommend to those living in hot and humid weathers as this may seem a bit too rich. For that reason I find myself not really using this in the AM but it’s a good PM Lip Sleeping Mask as I find that I don’t need to re-apply this, and it really coats the lips and seals in that moisture. I’m not always in the mood for a lip cream as it does have quite a unique cream-like texture that I don’t always want to feel, so I couldn’t give this a 5/5 rating, and I also wouldn’t apply this under a lip product as I think it’s just a bit too rich to use. I use this on alternative nights with my Glossier Balm Dot Com (Review HERE).

I do think this is great for people who don’t like Vaseline or Vaseline-like lip products as it feels a little different.

Would I repurchase?: Yes! This is the first lip care product I’ve tried that is a cream, and I like it! I can understand with a texture like this, that this is really meant to really help lips that are in a bad shape, because it’s thicker than a balm and of course creamier, so I do need to feel like using it and sometimes just simply want a more petroleum feeling product.

Dupe?: I think this is a good dupe for the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask (here) IF you want a lip balm to use in the PM that works to restore the lips, really deeply moisturise them and put them in a good condition.

My Skin Type: I am acne prone and have slightly dehydrated combo skin. My skin is usually tight where the cheeks and eye area is and the outer parts of my face. My T zone is oily. My skin isn’t a fan of thick/heavy formulas so I opt for lightweight formulas to prevent it from clogging up. My skin doesn’t like essential oils either and I try to avoid fragrance when I can.

Disclaimer: I am a skincare enthusiast and not a skin expert. I am not qualified to give out dermatological advice. This type of advice should only be given by a medical practitioner. Upon trying / using any of the reviewed products on the blog, please follow the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings and please seek medical advice if needed.

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