Bioderma lait spf 50 is my HG. But as it can be somewhat drying, I was looking for something for the winter, especially to wear under makeup. I also wanted to replace my LRP Hydraphase, my winter sunscreen, as the price is outrageous (20 euro for 50 ml) and I´m not a big fan of Meroxyl (seems to leave my face flushed). This has Tinosorb which seems to work better for me. I found this to be more moisturizing, a lot greasier, and left less of a white cast than the Bioderma. This would have been fine for those really cold winter days, except it broke me out!!! I was so surprised since I use several Avene products (moisturizer, Eluage, Cicalfate, and Coldcream gel). I guess I´ll just have to work with the Bioderma.

This is a very nice sunscreen with a pleasing finish. It's not too shiny or white- in fact it is one of the least shiny sunscreens I've used and I've used a lot! The only thing I don't like is the fragrance but it doesn't irritate my skin. I can wear this on my eyelids with no stinging.
UPDATE 11/07: I'm now finding that it does sting my eyes a bit and I'm wondering if it's the fragrance. I really wish Avene would make all their products unfragranced because it's unnecessary and I hate using this because of it. I prefer their SPF 40 Lait for Kids because it has no fragrance and is really gentle. continued >>

This sunscreen is now known as Avene Ultra High Protection Lotion SPF 50+. The consistency is that of a whipped, fairly lightweight cream. It spreads easily over the skin with lots of slip, however if too much is applied it does start to ball up a bit, which sometimes makes it difficult to apply the full 1/4 teaspoon to face. This sunscreen is slightly whitening, but I am pale with rosacea so I don't mind the whitening too much because it helps to even out my skin tone. It is fragranced, unfortunately, and in terms of shine, it is pretty shiny. Not as much as Anthelios Dermo-Pediatrics SPF 50+, but still very significant. And a dusting of powder only helps for a little while: even though I only apply this sunscreen 1x in the morning, I do need to brush a bit of powder over certain key areas of my face several times per day.

With those "cons" out of the way, I have to say that this is my daily sunscreen, and I like it alot. You really can't beat the protection in terms of both UVB and UVA filtering. I really don't see this sunscreen working for a dark-skinned individual (if he/she intends to wear the full recommended 1/4 teaspoon on face, that is) because it would just have too much of a white cast. But if you are on the pale side and desire great UV protection, then this sunscreen just might be what you're after. continued >>

I love this sunscreen! Although I am usually sensitve to fragrance in skincare products, the Avene fragrance doesn't bother me at all. Prior to trying Avene, I was using the new Bioderma Photoderm Max Lait and tinted cream as well as the Fluide and Spot. I also used LRP Fluide Extreme spf 50+ and Dermo-Peds spf 50+. Those sunscreens all irritated my eyes and sinuses terribly. I started to squint so much from stinging, watery eyes that I began to develop frown lines. I tried Avene as a last resort. Wow, what a relief! The Avene Lait is so soothing to my skin. It goes on smoothly and doesn't start to crack and flake as the Biodermas did. I can see again; no more stinging eyes!! The Avene Lait is a bit sticky but doesn't make my hair sticky and matted as the LRP Fluide Extreme and Dermo-Peds did. On me, it is not as shiny as the Dermo-Peds and not as whitening as the Photoderm Max Lait. It looks so much more natural that I am more confident when I have to attend a meeting. Basically, I am no longer worrying that my sunscreen is molting or too shiny when I'm out in public. In fact, I like the cohesiveness or, if you will, "stickiness" of the Avene Lait coverage.

I usually have been using Bioderma Max Lait SPF 50+ until I found a screaming deal on this tube in Spain for about 10 Euros. And I paid 40 bucks for my Max Lait before leaving for Europe--what a ripoff! I now use this exclusively on my face as I find the perfume smell to be kind of nice, the way it spreads is also nice--seems like it has a bit of water to give it slip and it seems to dry much matter to the touch and look than the Bioderma did. Powder seems to mattify it better too. The feel on your skin after application seems to be a little more tacky than the Bioderma Lait (which felt very slippery) so maybe that is why I think the Avene dries more matte. Tacky = matte? I'm not sure but it seems like I'm not blotting as much as with the Bioderma. I cannot comment on how well it protects from burn, as I've yet to wear it in prime sun at the beach but I suspect it will perform just fine. The price is the cheapest it seems of any out on the market--I now have 3 tubes of this and will wear this exclusively through the seasons til I run out.

I bought this because I was looking for a sunscreen with better UVA protection than we can get in the US. I don't notice a white cast with this sunscreen at all, maybe because I have pretty fair skin. This is more shiny than the spf 40 lait for children, but it also has a higher ppd. I don't like the fragrance, but it fades away pretty quickly. Overall, I like the protection this provides without having to worry about the stability of avobenzone, since this has none. I do like the finish of the spf 40 better, but for days when I will be getting alot of sun, I will probably use this for the higher protection.

These are the same general comments as for the other Avene sunscreens I've tried:
I tried several Avene sunscreens last summer. I like that they did not contain any avobenzone (because at the time, I was worried about wearing makeup over avo-containing sunscreens-something I don't worry too much about anymore). I tried the Emulsion SPF 60 (now 50+), the lait SPF 60, and the sprays for both SPF 60 and 40. I really did not see much difference in finish between the different Avene sunscreens I tried.
They are all very sticky in finish. I have combo skin that is oilier in summmer. I powdered over the sunscreens with Dry Flo AF Pure powder (modified cornstarch powder) and this worked during the summer. But once cooler weather hit, the powdering just didn't work anymore: it left a very cakey, obvious powdered look.
Also, the Avenes' all (except the children's versions) have a fairly strong fragrance. Many will not like this. I tolerated it, though would have been happier without it.
I did spend one entire day at an amusement/water park last summer, and applied the Avene SPF 60 Lait all day, at least every two hours. I did not have so much as a faint tan line of any sort by day's end.
Although I said I wouldn't repurchase, I would in a pinch because it does work very well.

I have dry, very sensitive skin. After I started to use retinol, I become even more sensitive to many ingredients in lotions or sunscreens. But I can tolerate Avene sunscreens very well. No irritation at all.
As for the white cast, it is not too bad for me (I have light asian skin). It is much less whitening than the physical sunscreens using TiO2 and ZnO. However, the Avene is sticky. But I found 2 tricks to deal with the stickiness -- (1) I apply a very, very thin layer of June Jacobs micronized zinc SPF 30 on my cheeks on top of the Avene after the Avene is on my face for 10 minutes or so. The matteness of JJ (it is ZnO and TiO2) really takes away the stickiness of the Avene. OR (2) Use power with SPF. I would only do this if I am not going to spend the whole day under the full sun. If I were to be under the sun the whole day, I would just wear Avene without anything else.
Now that the winter is here (and it is bitterly cold and windy right now), I really really appreciate the moisture and richness provided by the Avene sunscreen. It protects my face very well from the harshness of the environment. In the past winters, I always felt as if many 'knives' were cutting across my face when the winter wind blows towards me. No wonder everyone covers their face with a scarf here. But now, my face doesn't feel painful at all. Avene's moisture and richness are really protective. It stays on and remain moist (in a good way) the whole day.

I bought this for the exclusive use of my children. They ONLY use this for swimming or water activities. They are both 6 and 3 years old. The sunscreen has excellent staying power and very water resistant. I dont think this product are meant for town use at all because they leave an obvious white cast and goes on very thick.

White cast? sure it has a white cast. All of the high ppd euro s/s do. But it's *so* easy to deal with the white cast by simply using a drop or three of the Avene 50+ tinted creme. Just mix it in your hand with your blob of the 50+ lait. Voila! perfect tinted sunscreen/foundation. Shine? of course it has a shine. Repeat after me "all of the high ppd european sunscreens do". But that's also easy to deal with: a dusting of coated mineral make up.....or potato starch/arrowroot starch or cornstarch. Some prefer silica. after trying virtually every cheap and expensive US drugstore and department store sunscreen, i was ready to give up. The chemical filters burned my skin. The physical filters were drying - and one of them consistently gave me milia (TiO2). With encouragement from the skincare board and Carol Demas (gdiv of biochemistryofbeauty.com) I continued to slog through european sunscreens, hoping that one day I'd find one tolerable for me. I did. And it was this sunscreen: The Avene Lait 60 SPF, now called Avene Lait 50+ SPF. The SPF speaks only to the UVB protection. Avene lists the UVA protection at 60 as well, though that's likely IPD b/c it's definitely not PPD. Since Avene won't release absorbance spectrum or ppd, the best we can do is guess. Guesstimates on filter percentages and ppd from reliablem, knowledgeable sources put this at about 18-25 ppd. In comparing it to other european sunscreens with known ppd's of 28, i'd say that the ppd of this is definitely close to, if not exactly 25. In side by side split face trials, it protects my face as well as known 28 ppd products - even when i do the avene on the left side, which is exposed to dramatically more UVA b/c of the incredible amount of time i spend in the car.
Anway, onto the product. so i finally find this sunscreen and while i do feel a slight sting upon application if my skin is irritated (retinoids or peels), it's very transient and only upon the first application of the day. With other sunscreens, the sting increases with each application till it becomes intolerable. With this, it's the opposite.....most of the time no noticeable discomfort, but if there is, it's only the first application. No problems wtih my 2nd, 3rd etc. It is heavily fragranced: imagine coppertone plus an overwhelming floral. It was very bothersome at first as i'm extremely sensitive to smells, lights, sounds, touch etc. but suprisingly, it didn't cause dermatitis and i eventually got over the smell. While this very emollient moisturizing sunscreen does cause me milia, they're very effectively dealt with my the nightly use of retinoids. After a lifetime of sensitive skin that couldn't tolerate any thing of the sort, daily use of high ppd sunscreen has changed everything. I can for the first time tolerate, and tolerate well, strong retinoids applied daily; and have now started peels.
The finish is shiny/dewey which isn't bothersome to me. And it is sticky (like all high ppd euro s/s) but again, i just suck it up and deal. I'm thrilled to have the protection. I generally get it from beautycenter.co.uk or beautycenter.fr (same site different language). shipping is free from beautytarget.com but prices are so much higher, that even paying E19 from the former, my overall bill is less.

The finish is thick and leave a white cast on my face. I looked like a panda after i put on my face. Not going to purchase it again.