| Product: |
Ambre Solaire Ultra-Moisturising Protection Milk SPF 30 |
| Date: |
20.02.06 (594 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: protects well from sunburn, does not dry out skin, lasts long
Disadvantages: leaves white stains on black
Personally, I always found the process of choosing protection from the sun daunting. I am one of those people who would really like to sport a nice tan, but I also want to protect my skin from the sun at the same time. My fiance, however, is someone that is highly dependent on a high level of sun protection, as he tends to get burned the minute a ray of sunlight meets his skin. Consequently, I found myself choosing a SPF 30 bottle for the first time in my life.
***The product***
Ambre Solaire Ultra-Moisturising Protection Milk comes in an oval white bottle with brown writing and a few hints of orange. It contains 200 ml of product. On the front of the bottle you will see the Garnier and the Ambre Solaire logos. Below the logos is a box telling the consumer that the protection level of this sun milk is "very high", with SPF 30. The protection milk contains cactus nutriflavones and vitamin E, both substances that are intended to help keep your skin moisturised and healthy. The product promises to protect from UVA/UVB through Meroxyl SX, "an advanced patented filter", which also assists to prevent sunburn and long-term skin damage. It also promises to be non-sticky, non-greasy and of high water resistance. Allegedly, the formula absorbs quickly and does not leave white marks.
The back of the bottle helps the consumer decide whether this product is right. It is intended for those individuals who have fair skin and who are not used to the sun. Like most sun protection products, it advises to apply the milk generously, to reapply it frequently and to seek shade between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
***Price and availabilty***
I bought my bottle last year at Boots, for a price of £11.49. You can obtain it in most chemists and from various websites.
***My experience***
On opening the bottle, I was instantly greeted with a fresh smell, slightly soapy, slightly floral - with a hint of citrus and a sandy undertone hidden behind the more prominent scents. It made me think of beach, sunshine, sand and outdoor swimming pools.
I opened the cap an poured about a pound-sized amount of the milk on my hand. I immediately noticed that the consistency is different from other tanning lotions. It is a little more liquid and looks and feels like yoguhrt in terms of consistency. In applying the milk, I noticed that it did indeed absorb very quickly. I needed to use about a pound-sized amount for each leg, another pound-sized amount for my back, another pound-sized amount for my stomach - and about a penny-sized amount for each of my arms. A pea-sized amount sufficed for my face. We only used about half of the bottle on the two of us during our five-day vacation.
Contrary to what was indicated on the bottle, I did feel that the formula left a greasy feeling on my skin, especially on my hands. This could not be rubbed off onto a towel or by running my hands under cold water for a few minutes. A warm shower or warm water was needed to remove the protective film. The other thing I noticed is that while the product did not leave white stains on my body, it certainly did leave white stains on my black bikini. These white stains neither disappeared in the swimming pool, nor did they disappear after a simple soak in the bathroom sink. It was in fact necessary to wash my bikini in a washing machine before it disappeared completely.
The promise of being waterproof did, in fact, hold up. Even after spending about half an hour in the pool, I could still feel the shield of sun protection on my skin. I was indeed tempted to not immediately reapply the milk, but heeded the warnings on the bottle every time I went for a swim.
The protection milk does indeed help to keep your skin moisturised. Normally, in order to prevent my skin from drying out, I feel the need to use some kind of body lotion or aftersun lotion after having been out in the sun for too long. There was no need to do so when using this product.
During our five days on vacation, I probably spent about 3-4 hours in the sun every day - and never once did I get sunburned. The downside to using this product, however, was also a distinct absence of tan after my vacation. I did change colour slighlty, but I did not sport a crisp brownness that I would have done if I had used a SPF 8 or SPF 15.
The effectiveness of the product was best demonstrated on my fiance. One day we forgot to cover his neck with the product, and after 15 minutes in the sun, he was red as a lobster in that area, whereas the rest of his body did not feel any effects of the sun at all.
***The verdict***
I would highly recommend this product to anyone who has fair skin and is conscious about the bad effects that UVA and UVB can have on our skin. If you are one of those people, however, that wants to sport a tan in spite of all the dangers associated with it, you want to steer clear from this one. It is indeed more of a sunblock than a tanning lotion. The only criticism that I have about this product is the fact that it stained my bikini and made it look slightly unattractive for the rest of my vacation.
***Further information***
www.garnier.co.uk
Tel: 0845 399 0404
Summary: Good protection for those with sensitive skin.
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