I really, really wanted to love this product, as I am in love with most Avalon Organics products, and I was thrilled to use a mostly natural facial product with SPF. . .
PROS: Love the natural ingredients
Love the smell of lavender
Very moisturizing, which is a plus for my 40-something skin
Very cheap for the amount of product
CONS: Pump broke the 1st time I used it
This product stings my face beyond anything I have ever used
I repeat, I have never used a facial moisturizer that set my face, eyes, lips on fire! I do not typically have overly sensitive skin either. I like everything else about this moisturizer, but the intense stinging obviously is causing quite a bit of irritation which counter-acts what I'm trying to achieve with a facial moisturizer. So, I will go back to my Cerave Daily Facial Moisturizer.

I was very disappointed to find such bad reviews and I have to defend this product. I have been using this product for over 5 years, it is my HG moisturizer and I love it. I have good skin and I attribute it to this moisturizer. If you look at the ingredient list, this is made from high quality natural ingredients. I have to count 8 ingredients down before I see and ingredient that looks chemically. Also, the price per ounce in phenomenal, you won't find a better price for a product with so many beneficial ingredients, or without, for that matter.
How I use it: I apply half a pump to my face and my neck in the morning after I shower, and then I let it soak in for a minute or two while I get dressed (no time lost there). I agree, it looks greasy at first, I think it's because of the borage oil, but give it a few minutes and it gets better. The key is to let it absorb. Afterwards, my foundation and makeup apply and last fine (I like a light foundation to even my skin tone). As for the grit some people experience, I noticed that this has only happened to me if the product gets old...it is natural, so I would expect the product to go bad after some time. Perhaps girls that experienced grit got an old bottle? Lastly, for the stinging some people have mentioned, that is unfortunate. I have very sensitive skin and this does not bother me. I know that sometimes nutrients such as vitamin C can tingle as they are being absorbed. This does have vitamin C, but I trust those who have sensitive skin know what their skin is reacting to. This does contain sunscreen that absorbs rather than sits on the skin. But the benefits far out way this one con.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: 7.5% Octinoxate, 6.0% Oxybenzone INGREDIENTS: Organic lavandula angustifolia (lavender), chamomilla recutita (chamomile) and camellia sinensis (white tea) extracts (aqueous)(1), organic arnica montana extract(2), vegetable glycerin, organic helianthus annuus (sunflower) oil(1), organic aloe barbadensis(1), glyceryl stearate, octyl palmitate, cetearyl alcohol, tromethamine stearate, dimethicone, glyceryl monolaurate, dipotassium glycyrrhizinate (licorice root), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C), tocopherol and tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), allantoin, organic curcuma longa (turmeric) extract(1), panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), laminaria digitata (kelp), salix alba (willow bark) and calendula officinalis extracts, hyaluronic acid, organic borago officinalis (borage) and linum usitatissimum (flax) oils(1), steareth-2, cocos nucifera (coconut) and rosa canina (rose hip) oils, ethylhexylglycerin, benzyl alcohol, organic lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil(3) and other essential oils.
1) Certified by Quality Assurance International
2) Certified by Pro-Cert Organic Systems
3) Certified by International Certification Services
* Contains FDA-Approved Sunscreens

I use this ONLY as a body moisturizer and sunscreen and I love it for this purpose. I spent hours this past weekend outside gardining and I used this on my exposed skin as my sunscreen and found it to be very effective (I burn easily...)
As other reviewers have noted, this is not a great product for the face. Too greasy and slightly harsh. Just ok for me as a hand cream....

A little goes a long way - I use about half a pump daily bc it's a bit too greasy. But overall it does smell nice and moisturizes well and I appreciate that an organic product also has spf in it.

I was looking for a moisturizer with a lower spf for the winter since I'm not exposed to the sun very much at all at wintertime living in the Northeast USA. I liked the Lavender scent. I even liked the way it made my skin feel... UNTIL my skin started to burn, right around the mouth and eye area. Then my whole face started heating up. I blame the sunscreen ingredients. I did some research and found that every sunscreen with Oxybenzone burns my face. ( I do not have sensitive skin) At least now I know what ingredient to avoid. I will keep it and use it on my body since it doesn't burn my body. But I will not repurchase. I guess I'll stick to my HG daily moisturizing sunscreen Eucerine spf30. Good ole reliable! Physical sunscreens work best for my skin.

Yuck! I love Alba Botanicals, which I understand is owned by Avalon Organics. Being an Alba fan and a sucker for anything lavender, I bought this as a body/hand moisturizer to keep at my desk.

First, I'll cover the good points: It does indeed work as a body moisturizer. It has sunscreen in it.

The not-so-good points include: it's not great as a facial or hand moisturizer (too greasy for the face and not enough for my hands). It kind of smells chemical-y too after a while. At first, the lavender scent is pretty, but on me it fades into a nasty sunscreen smell.

I agree with all of the previous reviewers--this one's a dud.

Me too, babydeer! I bought this thinking it would be a healthy moisturizer with bonus sunscreen. Like babydeer, this stuff makes my skin burn all around the eye and cheek area! And it is heavy. I bought it in late spring and used it a few times (curiously, without that stinging sensation) but when it got hot (Phx desert) I put it aside as I do every moisturizer each summer. My 50 yr old very light skin is sensitive but it also gets oily in the summer from excess perspiration so I cut way back on all facial products every summer and can go a week or more without any moisturizer.
This fall I got the signal that the skin was asking for moisture and bingo this stuff was like putting salt on a wound with the stinging! I also noticed that while it sat over the summer, the dark green plastic pumper bottle had 'puckered' in, like someone had squeezed it. So I was gently squeezing it to see if perhaps I did that when I used it this last time. Crack! the bottle split lengthwise all the way down the edge of the label. So now I have 90% full 7oz bottle of moisturizer that stings my face. Guess I'll be using it on my feet or hands.
Oh, and Avalon Cosmetics has not bothered to reply to my complaint either. No more Avalon for me.

i have been on the hunt for a good facial moisturizer with SPF since i moved from seattle to los angeles a few months ago. and let me tell you THIS WAS NOT IT! i have extremely dry skin, and this lotion made my face feel greasy, sticky, and muddy. i felt as though i had just lathered butter all over my face. no absorption at all. plus i felt burning and tingling around my nose and cheeks. a big disapointment.
ps. if anyone has any suggestions for a good moisturizer with SPF for dry skin, let me know!

I agree with other reviewers that this stuff is just too greasy for a facial sunscreen. I look so very shiny and oily after I apply it and my skin tends toward dry/normal. It also feels sort of gritty, though the "grit" does blend in. There are much better natural moisturizer/sunscreens out there.

I figured I'd love this product as I also use the daily lavendar cream and the lavendar face wash but this product was defnitly not one of my favorites in the line and i'm sorry i wasted my money. first of all it stung every time i put it on, second it made my face super oily no matter how much or little i put on, second the smell although not the usual sunscreen smell was way to strong and irriated my eyes. The daily lotion with no sunscreen doesn't sting or smell that strong at all so not sure how they forumalted this one. Would be decent as a body sunscreen but definitely would NOT use on my face.

I was looking for a "natural" moisturizer with sunscreen. On a cost per ounce basis, this was a good buy compared to other brands carried at my local health food store -- 7.5 oz for approx. $11-12. I like the pump aspect of it. I like the lavender scent, but I think it's overpowered by the licorice-type scent. Also, it does tingle a bit when going on but this feeling stops after a few minutes. And if you don't like the idea of the lavender or licorice-type scent, it goes away after a few minutes. I have found that one pump is plenty to cover my face and neck. In fact, when I use a full pump, my skin tends to look and feel oily. This is a good value, but I don't think I would buy this product again until I checked out other similar products to see how the others perform.

This was a big disappointment for me. First, the stuff separates easily. I left the bottle in my car overnight, and although temps weren't extreme at all, the product separated into a chunky white top layer and a liquidy bottom layer. I tried to recombine the two layers, but the product remained chunky/runny. Second, the product contains lavender, and the smell is quite strong. It also irritated my eyes, although I always try to avoid the eye area. Maybe it's the "fumes" from the lavender. This doesn't happen w/ other moisturizers I've tried, so I know it must be the product and not my usual application method. The product also didn't noticeably calm down my skin, even though lavender and other ingredients in the moisturizer are supposed to be soothing and good for "reactive" complexions. All in all, not a good product for me!

This stuff smells great, but it made my face REALLY greasy when I used it. I kept decreasing the amount of lotion, but even the tiniest application would still result in an oil slick.

This is a beautifully scented moisturizer that's meant for both the face and the body. However, the buck stops there. After some time using this moisturizer, I must recant my previous love for this and say that this may be suitable for the body, it is not suitable for use on the face. It tends to be on the heavy side, so unless your face is parched, it's probably not the right facial moisturizer for you. Another caveat for this product is that there does not seem to be an expiration date stamped on the bottle, so it's hard to tell when the SPF expires. Too bad...this product had such potential.

Ouch, this stuff really stings my face! Not sure if it's the type of sunscreen or some other ingredient that I'm sensitive to, but facial moisturizers don't typically hurt. Maybe it's the "soothing" lavender? Pain infliction aside, it only takes the tiniest dab to cover my entire face, and the 7 oz. pump bottle should last quite a while. At $11, it's practically a bargain compared to other natural moisturizers. Who the heck wants to use a moisturizer that burns, though? I'm going to stick with my highly superior Alba Botanica Sea Moss Moisturizer. This works just fine for my husband, though, so the problem is probably just with my weird chemistry.