Avène Extremely Gentle Cleanser & Soothing Hydrating Serum

I am always on the look out for new bits to try, and a few months ago I was given the opportunity to try something from Avène - the Extremely Gentle Cleanser*.  It sat in my draw of spares waiting to be used, and when the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum* made its way into my mitts, I decided to pair the duo up and finally give them some attention.

I have been using the Extremely Gentle Cleanser in the evening to remove my make up as my pre-cleanse.  It says you can use this both morning and night, but I don't feel comfortable, or clean, using a formulation like this to clean all my night grime from my face in the morning.  It is a gel like texture which you apply with your fingers, and wipe off any excess using a cotton pad.  I found that the cleanser often just disappeared into my skin, so I never found that there was too much to wipe off which is probably why I never felt particularly clean.  The gel itself though is really soothing, and does leave skin feeling really soft but it doesn't effectively clean eye make up and I'm often left with under eye smudges.

The Soothing Hydrating Serum on the other hand...well, that was amazing.  It absorbed ridiculously quickly into my skin, and left practically no residue.  My skin has been feeling a little dehydrated lately, and I really felt my skin was drinking this up.  I mainly used this in the evening over the top of my Effaclar Duo+ and underneath my chosen moisturiser.  If my skin was feeling particularly dry, I did a couple of layers of the Hydrating Serum to ensure my skin was properly hydrated!  What I really loved about the serum was being able to use it in the morning - it provided a perfect, even base for the days make up.  It isn't heavy, but leaves my skin feeling perfectly smooth.

I don't know if I would personally recommend the Cleanser, but I'd one hundred percent recommend trying the serum!  If you did want to try them, the entire Avène range is currently on offer at Escentual.

Have you tried any Avène?  Will you be trying the Cleanser or the Serum?
*PR Sample.  These Avène products were sent to me for review.