I usually have a good experience with Avene products. But this one was definitely an exception. The product was packaged in a white tube, pale pink in colour and has the consistency of diaper cream. After trying unsuccessfully to blend the cream into my tanned skin it had left a hideous white cast, not to mention what it did to my face! I looked like a zombie and started to break out! After finally removing it with two applications of Pond Cold Cream, I had returned it to Shoppers Drug Mart....no wonder they were selling it at 25% off. :-(
Will not purchase again.

Note that this (at least as sold in Canada) is in a white tube, inside a white box. See image 2. Label reads:
Lait - Très haute protection
Lotion - Very high protection
spf/fps 50
Pros: physical-only, with 16.11% TiO2 and 5.88% ZnO. Minimal ingredient list (coming up once retrieved from trash), low risk of irritation. Good company, decent testing, good compny ethics inc. no animal testing but lots on humans. Not a bad price - around $25-30 for a 100 ml tube. Fairly readily available (Canada: SDM).
Cons: nearly unwearable. Note that this is the *lotion* - the cream was even worse. Someone at Avène really needs to look up a dictionary for definitions of "milk" and "lotion," and to have a look round the whole sunscreen market to see others' interpretations thereof. After all, Avène themselves have managed to make a very elegant "emulsion"; albeit not all-physical.
This stuff is next door to nappy-/diaper-rash ointment. Heavens above, give me the old zinc oxide sticks of 20 years ago over this useless stuff any day!
Slight pale pink tint.
Hard to apply, harder to spread without rubbing skin a lot. My skin's thin and physically fragile, so that's a bad idea. Already made red marks on legs, a bad omen for any areas higher up. And it feels horrid on the skin: clammy yet tight.
I'm sure it's very protective and so on, but count me out till they produce a super-light all-physical emulsion for above-the-bosom purposes.
Please note that I am otherwise a major Avène fan, and indeed a lifelong one - their stuff, and A-Derma and its precedessor, used on me when a small child and further back as an early '70s eczematic babe in arms. Sticking to Blue Lizard Sensitive for body, Glycolix Elite for face (tho' also experimenting with Shiseido 33...), plus hat and cover-up clothing. continued >>

Yes, it is sticky but I use this for the summer/late spring. I don't recommend this for the face. I usually use this on my body if I'm wearing a T-shirt. Do NOT wear long sleeves with this. Unless you don't mind having your clothing stuck to you a lot lolz
But hey, I gotta give it 3 lippies due to the actual usuage of the product (SPF50!! :D and it's chuckable[which means I can carry it in the bag without feelings it's a hassle])

I bought this (in the lotion, not the cream, although the lotion is even thicker than a cream) to try on my face in place of my Neutrogena Sensitive Skin mineral sunblock (I have a chemical sunscreen allergy) which I was breaking out from with regular use. I was hoping with a supposedly much higher quality product that it'd be a lot more comfortable on the skin, but I was wrong! It's even thicker and really, really sticky! I tried using this on my whole body (which I will NOT try again) and my clothes stuck to me and every little bug that flew at me outside stuck to my skin! Not to mention that I had a heck of a time applying it. It took me about 20 minutes to apply to my lower legs, arms, chest, neck and face (the areas that were exposed) and I had to use a whole lot of product because this stuff does NOT spread nice at all! It's water-resistant but if I were to wear this on my whole body to go swimming, I'd probably go through more than a tube in one afternoon! And at $30 CAD plus tax per tube, I can't afford that! The price also upsets me because you know you're paying for the "thermal spring water", which is a joke because it's a proven fact that these waters do nothing for your skin. It's just water with nothing added to it, which is pointless if you still wash your skin with city tap water or use ANY other ingredients on your skin. Anyways, the product is already bought and paid for and I'm desperate so I'll continue trying it on my face to see if it breaks me out any less than my Neutrogena stuff does. I'm just desperate at this point to find something that doesn't break me out and, unfortunately, there's not much of a selection of mineral sunblocks out there. I'd love to find another mineral sunblock that doesn't break me out but doesn't have any other fancy ingredients that I don't want like this one has (because they're a waste of money and I feel like a total sucker paying for them). I'll update if needed.
Update 09/01/2008: This seems to have the same problems as my Neutrogena when applied to the face. If I wear it for an extended period of time (more than an hour or two) or 2 or more days in a row, my breakout-prone areas start getting all bumpy and start to breakout a bit. My skin just can't breathe under this stuff. I'm still giving it a 2 just because it's a water-resistant mineral sunblock with a high SPF, but it's no better in texture (quite a bit worse, actually) than my much cheaper Neutrogena Sensitive Skin mineral sunblock.

I thought I found a great sunscreen, as it offered great protection from UVA and UVB rays. Although the protection is very good, the product itself is left to be desired like others have mentioned. I bought the lotion version of this and it is pretty thick like a cream. It does not irritate or sting when applied on your face so it is good for sensitive skin. BUT this is very difficult to apply. It is hard to spread and leaves white streaks on my face. Also when the sunscreen finished drying it left a whitish-slightly bluish tinge on my face and my skin looked greyish-purple as my cheeks have quite a bit of redness. I under different moisturizers but all produced the same result, an awful white cast. Also I found the formula a bit sticky. There is no way that this would even work with makeup. This would only work with people with pale skin imo, I have a tan complexion so this was obviously not the product for me.

I like the idea of this sunscreen because it is both effective and non-chemical... however, the cosmetic aspect of its finish and wearability on the face leave something to be desired. As others have mentioned, it leaves quite a streaky white cast on the face when not blended thoroughly - and I just don't have the time or patience in the morning to apply it and then wait for it to sink in completely before applying my makeup. I find the cream very hard to spread evenly, and then once it's on my face, it's very difficult to remove at the end of the day (which is good for its long wearing properties, but dang, when I need to take it off, I can't!) Anyway, I've relegated this to a body sunscreen only. I've used this for 2 summers and it expires this year, so I'm on the hunt for something lighter and easier to wear on my face. I would recommend this for people with sensitive skin who cannot wear chemical sunscreens (it has no fragrance and did not cause me any irritation) but with the caveat that the sunscreen takes some getting used to.

I agree with what others have said, but I really like the protection this sunscreen gives, so I keep using it. I have found that if I rub it in quickly and pretty vigorously (which may have an adverse effect on the amount of sun protection) AND allow it to sink in for 20 minutes, it doesn't leave much streaking or white cast. I have worn it in the rain and didn't notice it turning white where rain fell on my face, but this did happen the first time I wore it when I was hauling heavy suitcases up and down staircases at a train station and my face got sweaty. I was horrified when I looked in the mirror. However, this was before I discovered the above "tricks" for using it. I also wear a mineral powder foundation over it.
I should also add that when I wasn't using BHA on my nose, my nose did appear to clog more with this sunscreen than with the old formulation.

I completely agree with everything in Soraya's review right below mine. I loved the older formulation of this sunscreen, which was like a whipped, light, highly spreadable cream. The new formulation is liquidy and begins to dry very quickly upon application, so I have to race to get it all blended in before it dries and starts to "congeal." It does leave a very noticeable white cast on my LLL skin, and is prone to streaking. This newer formulation is also not nearly as emollient/moisturizing as the older version. I must also add, that whenever any water comes in contact with this sunscreen on one's skin, the sunscreen immediately turns visibly white where it has gotten wet. I have to always be sure to have an umbrella on overcast days, because if a single raindrop touches my face, the sunscreen in that spot turns immediately white. Not made for contact with water at. all. Very annoying.

Update July 14, 2007: I am still using this sunscreen, only now I mix a blob of Avene Tinted Cream SPF 50+ with it and it works nicely. continued >>

I've been using the new version of the lait since April but I much, much prefer the old version. Although the new version is lighter at first and doesn't have the shine of the old version, it dries to a ghastly white. It also streaks easily and is hard to blend in. The only reason I still use it is because it doesn't sting my eyes and I need to wear a high ppd sunscreen. I've ordered the emulsion and am hoping it has a better finish.

Well, I used the old version of Avene, SPF 50+ Lait and Emulsion, and SPF 40 Spray. They were all very sticky, slightly whitening on me (I'm pale, too), and I had touch and go luck with powdering over them. IN the humid summers, I used the Dry-Flo AF mixed with some Aromaleigh MMU, and that worked for awhile; come cooler weather, though, the powder looked very cakey for some reason. I moved on to other sunscreens.
Well, recently Avene reformulated, and I decided to give the Lait another chance. Though it's thinner now, it's finish is just as sticky, IMO. I would have wrote it off at that, but just a few days after receiving this, I noticed that since I had started using avo sunscreens again this spring (Banana Boat and LRP DP Spray), my melasma was worsening again, and my face was slightly darker overall! Apparently, I am very sensitive to the very long UVA that nothing but Tin M and ZnO cover very well. So, I decided I would have to go back with the Avene, and figure out a way to make it work.
I started using Coty Airspun powders last late summer, and so I tried this over the Avene: to my surprise, it works very well, much better than the Dry Flo did! I do have to add a little Ben Nye Banana Visage powder to it, to give it a little more yellow, and then it's almost perfect. It only gets a little cakey later in the day, and it's only noticable up close. Edit: Wanted to add that to apply the powder, I dust it on with a big powder brush, brush off excess, then use my palms to sort of "press" it into my skin all over my face and neck. This seems to make look alot less powdery and flat, and more natural.
The big plus it that this combination seems to make my skin look much smoother, and my makeup (powder, blush, concealer) last much longer without need for touch-ups.
So, sticky though it is, I am pretty happy with the Avene now.
I've heard that new Emulsion formula is much less sticky, but it is more expensive: I may try it anyway, to see if it's worth it.