First there was K-beauty and now there's a vegan skin care range. Avon seems to be expanding on different areas of beauty and skin care lately. Cleaner skin care products are so "on trend" (the word I'm not very fond of) and are becoming more widely available.  Bigger brands are jumping on that bandwagon as well.

Distillery is vegan, eco-conscious and allergy tested skin care range by Avon. It's their version of clean beauty and pure ingredients. Their products are allergy, dermatologically and clinically tested as well as fragrance, alcohol, chemical SPF filter, mineral oil and essential oil free. The range consists of 5 products - cleanser, day cream, night cream, vitamin C powder and facial oil.

Packaging

All of these products have transparent glass bottles or pots with bronze plastic tops. It's minimalistic packaging for clean approach. Apparently packaging is recyclable wherever possible. It looks well made and sturdy, however, I hate glass packaging for traveling.

Clean Break Cleanser

It's supposedly super-hydrating cleansing balm that contains apricot oil, mango butter, cocoa butter and cucumber extract. It's suitable for all skin types and should gently melt off makeup and other impurities. 

In it is 50 ml of product and it usually costs around 23€.

Formula

It's a solid balm, slightly yellow tinted (naturally from the oils), that is just soft enough so that you can scoop it out without too much effort. Once the heat of your hands massages it into the skin, it melts a bit and creates thicker oily feel on the skin. It doesn't have as much movement as cleansing oils, because it's a balm.

Scent of it is natural and to me somewhat unpleasant. It sort of smells of plastic to me.

Performance

Because it isn't as runny as an oil, you'll need to apply quite a lot of it in order to really melt off all of your makeup. It doesn't have that slip on your skin, so you have to warm it up well. Once the water hits it, it become milky white and washes off. However, you can definitely feel that balmy residue on your skin left behind. That doesn't bother me, because I always go in with another second gel cleanser, but it's something to consider, if you don't have that double cleansing routine going on.

It won't remove anything long lasting or waterproof, which was surprising to me, because usually, balm or oily cleansers clean waterproof makeup well. But I found myself scrubbing with this one and having hard time to remove every little bit of it, like tons of mascara - and I wear regular formula. I use a separate cleanser for my eyes, so that didn't affect me much, but you would think, it would remove makeup well.


My main complaint would be that there isn't enough product. It comes in such a small pot. I must have used it up in about three weeks. This won't last you a long time, if you have piles of makeup to remove each day as I have.

Shade the Day Day Cream SPF 25

It's a mattifying moisturizer for sensitive skin with 100% mineral sunscreen and 100% plant-based glycerin. It also contains rose extract and should be gentle on the skin.

In it is 30 ml of product and it costs around 25€.

Formula

It's a white cream that isn't too thick and it contains titanium oxide as well as zinc oxide for your mineral SPF protection of 25. It has good amount of glide to it, but it looks very white at first. You have to massage it into the skin to get it as transparent looking as possible. It makes my skin tone a bit ashy, so I can't imagine this working on darker or medium skin tone. It's physical  or mineral sunscreen which always leaves a bit of a white cast on your skin and I am not used to it anymore, because I prefer chemical filters for my face.

Performance

It absorbs into the skin quickly and dries down to a comfortable matte finish which is kind of unusual for physical sunscreens - or at least that was my experience with most of them. It still feels a bit thicker than most moisturizers and slightly nourishing, but it doesn't feel greasy or slippy at all, which I like. You can wear it under makeup with no problems. It might just be not enough moisturizing for very dry skin.

Sleep Potion Night Cream

This is night cream with niacinamide, 100% plant-based gylcerin and sodium hyaluronate. It should shrink your pores and moisturize the skin for 48 hours. It's suitable for all skin types. 

In it is 30 ml of product and it costs around 25€.

Formula

It's a very light, clear gel type of cream that feels ultra lightweight and almost watery. It soaks into the skin and leaves it moisturized looking. Formula of it sort of reminds me of Avon Nutra Effetcs Hydration Gel Night Cream, which is one of my favorites.

Performance

It's lightweight, which means it will be perfect for normal/combination to oily skin types. I feel like very dry skin will need to layer something on top or bottom. It feels moisturizing and hydrating, but not in a heavy nourishing way. I can't claim my pores looked smaller, because they don't look any different. I liked this cream a lot. It would be perfect for summer, but it works for me now in colder months as well, because I layer it up with other skin care. 

C Shot Powder

This is pure potent vitamin C in a powder form, which they say should be most effective. It also contains some vitamin E. You should add this powder to your regular moisturizer to get brighter and luminous skin. It should be suitable for all skin types. 

In it is 5 grams of powder and it costs around 30€.

Formula

It's a dry loose powder in a white color. Powder is finely milled and you can mix it with most creams. It sort of melts into a creamy base and spreads on the skin evenly. I usually mixed it with night cream and it made it a bit murky looking. 

Performance

I put two scoops of it in a cream as Avon suggests and I didn't have any irritation or stinging on my skin. It's pure ascorbic acids, so I expected some tingle, but it actually worked fine on my skin. I didn't notice any major brightening, but my skin tone looked more even toned, although I can't say if it was all because of this product.

You would think that 5 grams is small amount, but if you only use two scoops of it in a cream once a day, it actually lasts a really long time. 

Purify Facial Oil

It's an oil for revived and brighter skin. It's made of 99% jojoba oil, vitamin E, phytol and cloudberry extract and is suitable for all skin types. 

In it is 30 ml of product and it costs around 30€.

Formula

I only received few testers of this oil, but I got a good first impression out of them. To me it feels like a regular oil formula, which tends to be a bit heavier and greasier than dry formulas. It has transparent look to it and spreads fairly well. 

Performance

It obviously gives you that oily look and shine to the skin, but it layers well on top of other mentioned products. I am not very fussy about face oils, but this one feels a bit heavier and it's not as cosmetically pleasing to use as some other formulations I have tried. However, it didn't clog my pores or added to my sebum production and there is no scent to it, which I like. 

Conclusion

These products are advertised as cleaner formulas and I think you can feel that as you start to use them. Formulas feel pretty basic and straight to the point. Some are not as cosmetically pleasing to the touch as some more refined formulas, but it wins in the fragrance department for me as I don't like my skin care products to have strong artificial scent to it. Prices are too high, if you ask me, since formulations are made of pretty basic ingredients and there isn't all that much product in the packaging. 

Out of all the products I liked the most night cream, which is so lightweight, refreshing, but gives just enough moisture to the skin. I also love using day cream, especially now in the winter, since SPF 25 is enough for me as I don't get almost any direct sunlight on me. It might be a bit too heavy for me in the summer and white cast will be a problem for most darker skin tones. Cleansing balm was ok, but I couldn't get past the fact I used it up so quickly and I know residue on the skin and hard to remove logn lasting makeup would be a deal breaker for most. Vitamin C is fun to mix in with creams, but I didn't get the feeling it's as potent as they say it is and I prefer my oils to feel a bit more lightweight, so the oil was good for winter, but wouldn't work for any other season on my skin. 

*Products were sent to me.