Avène Hydrance+ for dry sensitive skin
Glycerin
Butyl MethoxydibenzoylmethaneAverage
- HighDry Skin Fit
- AverageEffectiveness
- HighSafety
Works for dry sensitive skin; other sunscreens fit it better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with dry sensitive skin: flakiness, tightness, redness, fine lines, and wrinkles. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate suitability for your dry skin, as glycerin and caprylic capric triglyceride provide essential hydration and barrier support, though it lacks specialized ingredients to address your specific dry or flaky skin concerns.
- The broad-spectrum UV protection from ingredients like butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane and ethylhexyl salicylate offers general skincare benefits, but does not target your primary skin issues.
- The product is safe for your dry and sensitive skin, with no identified risks of irritation due to the absence of harsh or prohibited ingredients.
How to apply
- Use this moisturizing sunscreen daily in your morning routine. Reapply every two hours if you are staying outdoors.
- Apply this product at the very end of your morning routine right after your regular moisturizer.
- Gently pat a nickel-sized amount of the moisturizing sunscreen evenly across your face and neck.
- Apply this product onto clean, dry skin before you go outside into the sun.
- Avoid the immediate eye area and do a patch test before your first use to check for sensitivity.
People Say
★4.1Overall rating based on 200+ reviewsThis product is praised as a gentle, hydrating mineral sunscreen and moisturizer suitable for dry and sensitive skin. A significant number of users with medium to darker skin tones report a noticeable white cast, and some find the texture too thick or difficult to blend.
Highlights
Leaves white cast Mostly Mentioned
- “leaves a white layer”
- “ghostly look”
- “not for dark skin”
Gentle, non-irritating Often Mentioned
- “no irritation at all”
- “soothes my skin”
Deeply hydrating Sometimes Noted
- “skin feels soft”
- “intense hydration”
- “healed my dry patches”
Dewy finish Sometimes Noted
- “nice dewy finish”
- “good makeup base”
- “leaves a glow”
Mineral formula Sometimes Noted
- “love that it's mineral”
- “no chemical filters”
- “doesn't sting eyes”
Thick texture Sometimes Noted
- “too thick”
- “hard to rub in”
- “feels heavy”
Can be greasy Rarely Noted
- “too shiny”
- “greasy finish”
- “face looks oily”
Pills easily Rarely Noted
- “pills under makeup”
- “balls up”
- “weird graininess”
Sources: lovi.care, aveneusa.com, ulta.com, lovelyskin.com, walgreens.com, reddit.com, and more
Questions and answers
How well does Avène Hydrance+ work for dry sensitive skin?
Avène Hydrance+ works moderately well for dry sensitive skin by providing essential hydration and general UV protection without causing irritation. However, a moisturizer for this skin needs soothing ingredients like ceramides and Centella Asiatica, or barrier-supporting components like Niacinamide, to effectively target dryness and flakiness.
Which ingredients make this cream a good fit for dry sensitive skin?
Glycerin and caprylic capric triglyceride help make this cream a good fit by providing essential hydration and barrier support for your skin. To best care for dry and sensitive skin, products of this type also need soothing and barrier-repairing ingredients like ceramides, Centella Asiatica, and niacinamide.
What does Water do for dry sensitive skin?
Hard water increases soap deposits and dryness, making dry sensitive skin more prone to irritation and flare-ups. A product of this type needs gentle cleansers and soothing ingredients to calm the skin and protect its moisture barrier against hard water minerals.
The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2018Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 2021
What does Glycerin do for dry sensitive skin?
Glycerin helps dry sensitive skin by drawing moisture into the skin and keeping it there, making the skin soft and smooth. It is very gentle and unlikely to cause irritation while improving how well the skin holds onto water. This type of skin needs ingredients that boost hydration and repair the barrier without causing stinging.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017The British Journal of Dermatology, 2008
Where does this cream go in a skincare routine for dry sensitive skin?
This cream goes in the morning routine as the final step after cleansing and toning. It helps protect your skin from the sun, but dry skin of this type needs richer moisturizers with extra hydrating ingredients to properly target flaky spots.
Can I use this cream with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this moisturizing SPF in the morning routine after your cleanser and toner, while applying your retinol at night. It is safe for sensitive skin and helps keep dry skin hydrated during the day, though for best results with retinol, dry skin needs extra barrier-repairing ingredients like ceramides.
How often should I use this cream?
You can use this moisturizing spf every morning as part of your daytime routine to keep your skin protected and hydrated. Daily application of a moisturizing cream helps improve skin moisture and barrier function while shielding your face from the sun.
Can this cream clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for dry sensitive skin?
Avène Hydrance+ is unlikely to clog pores or cause breakouts on dry sensitive skin, as its safe formula contains no harsh or prohibited ingredients. However, it has a thick texture and may feel greasy for some people.
Is this cream fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
It has no drying alcohol and contains fragrance (parfum).
What the research says
Topical application of an emollient emulsion containing 15.0% caprylic/capric triglyceride doubled the amount of urocanic acid isomers and increased skin hydration with reduced transepidermal water loss in healthy subjects, though it did not prevent ultraviolet-induced urocanic acid isomerization.
Life, 2023A single application of a moisturizing fluid containing hyaluronic acid 1%, glycerin 5%, and Centella asiatica stem cells extract significantly increased skin hydration by 29% and reduced transepidermal water loss at 24 hours compared to baseline and an untreated control site in twenty healthy women.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017Parsol 1789 and Eusolex 8020 provided slightly better photoprotection than oxybenzone in both normal and sensitized human skin when assessed using pigmentation end points, whereas all three sunscreens performed similarly against UVA-induced erythema.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1987Chemical sunscreens containing avobenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, and octisalate showed no to minimal risks of dermal irritation, sensitization, photo-allergy, and photo-irritation in human subjects.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2025The emollient V0034CR significantly reduced TEWL compared to vehicle and vehicle plus glycerol, and significantly increased corneometry scores compared to vehicle and vehicle plus petrolatum in healthy volunteers with dry skin, demonstrating combined barrier function improvement from petrolatum and hydration improvement from glycerol.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Ten days of treatment with a cream containing 20% glycerin significantly increased skin hydration measured by corneometer values in 17 healthy volunteers compared to a placebo cream, but showed no influence on transepidermal water loss or skin sensitivity to an irritating surfactant.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2001Niacinamide/glycerin body moisturizers provided better rapid and prolonged improvement of cosmetic xerosis through functional improvement of stratum corneum barrier function compared to no treatment and conventional moisturizers in female subjects.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2012Encapsulation of ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate and butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane in lipid microparticles significantly reduced their in vivo human skin penetration compared to nonencapsulated filters.
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 2011Microencapsulation of the BMDBM/HP-beta-CD complex in lipid microparticles significantly decreased the percutaneous penetration of the UV filter into the stratum corneum of human volunteers compared to the non-encapsulated sunscreen agent.
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 2011Following human skin application of an O/W emulsion containing 2% BMDBM loaded in lipospheres, 15% of the sunscreen accumulated in the uppermost layers of the stratum corneum without remarkably modifying skin permeation compared to unencapsulated sunscreen.
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 2008
Why other sunscreens fit dry sensitive skin better
Cosmetic formulations containing 5% Centella asiatica extract showed the best efficacy in improving skin moisture and decreasing transepidermal water loss, while also exhibiting antiinflammatory properties in 25 volunteers compared to baseline measurements.
Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2016In 50 participants with sensitive skin, a Ceramide NP C15-containing emollient improved skin barrier function with a significant reduction in transepidermal water loss and induced modest changes in skin microbiota compared to the vehicle.
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 2026Emulsions containing ceramides 1 and 3 improved skin hydration and reduced transepidermal water loss in sodium lauryl sulfate-irritated skin of fifteen healthy Asian women compared to a control emulsion.
International Journal of Dermatology, 2008
Ingredients
Water, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glycerin, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Diisopropyl Sebacate, Caprylic Capric Triglyceride, Benzoic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Parfum, Glyceryl Stearate, Peg-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopheryl Acetate, Xanthan Gum
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
How does it fit your skin?
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