I’m sure by now we’ve all heard of the amazing ‘skin saving brand’ that is La Roche Posay. It’s been all over Instagram, Twitter and of course, Tik Tok.
I’ve seen this brand in most drugstores in Singapore and I’ve always wanted to try it but the high price point put me off. I know some people may not think that $30 to $50 isn’t that expensive for a skincare product, but it is when you’re someone who has never spent more than $30 on a single skincare product.
My routine has been filled with Korean skincare for the past year or so, and I didn’t see the need to change it up. But the influence of social media as well as random breakouts on my face happening at the same time coerced me into wanting to try this semi-high-end brand.
With the help of Tik Tok and a lot of Googling, I found a few products I wanted to try first, and I did! So I’m here to talk to you about them.
For context my skin type is oily, full of texture and pores and scarring from previous breakouts and cystic acne. I was on Accutane for a year previously. I’m here to give you my honest opinions!
The first La Roche Posay product I tried was the Effaclar Micro Peeling Gel cleanser. It is marketed as a face wash suitable for oily, acne prone skin, and that it helps remove impurities and excess sebum by unclogging pores. Just what I need for my problematic skin!
Very unfortunately, I will not be repurchasing this again as I find it to be a little too drying for me. Even as someone with oily skin, this product may have destroyed my skin barrier a little, as my skin would feel tight after use and a few weeks later, the skin around my cheek and nose started peeling, which as an oily girl, NEVER HAPPENS!
This probably means it was doing its exfoliating job a little too well. I needed a lot of moisturiser after, and that is not considered normal to me.
Despite all that, the Effaclar Micro Peeling Gel cleanser is one of La Roche Posay’s best selling cleansers, so it may be that my own skin doesn’t agree with it but yours may. Still, worth a try.
The second product I decided to try was their Effaclar Duo skin treatment and moisturiser. This product is supposed to help rapidly clear existing spots, prevent their reappearance and limit the risk of marks.
I’ve been using them on my dark scarring for quite a few months and even though the difference isn’t huge, this has definitely worked well as a mattifying moisturiser and I haven’t had any negative reactions towards it. It looks great under makeup and does not leave a greasy feel on the skin.
It absorbs fast and doesn’t ball up for me. I’ve read other reviews where the user has said that the product balls up on their skin and I’m not sure why this is so, but it hasn’t been that way for me, thankfully.
Probably would not purchase again because of the next product.
I’m all for matte moisturisers during the day as I’m an all-day makeup wearer with oily skin. I knew I had to try this when I saw it!
This moisturiser is supposed to reduce excess sebum, instantly giving skin a long-lasting, shine-free matte finish – and it does what it says! I absolutely love it under makeup and it doesn’t dry out my skin too much like the cleanser at the start. It also claims to ‘tighten pores’, my pores are huge and I don’t see much of a difference but it doesn’t matter that much to me since I use a pore-filling primer.
I would definitely purchase this again as I feel it works well with controlling my oils from working their way through my makeup. It hydrates, but keeps me matte for a good amount of time.
This amazing product known as the Cicaplast Baume has active repairing ingredients such as Madecassoside and soothing Panthenol, great as an anti-bacterial agent. It is known to soothe, nourish and protect dry skin, as well as help repair skin barriers.
I have been using this product nightly to help repair the damage the Micro Peeling Gel cleanser did to my skin and I would say it is slowly but surely working.
I love the texture of this product – it’s kind of like in between a balm and a cream. It is thick and feels rich, but not extremely greasy. I only use this overnight as I don’t want to get too oily during the day when I’m out and about in Singapore’s humid climate.
Definitely would repurchase this again, especially for when I move to a colder climate like the UK. It comes in full size and a smaller sized bottle (which is the one I bought) and it seems to last absolutely forever – definitely worth your coin!
We all need a bit of acne treatment every once in awhile. This Effaclar Serum was raved about on Tik Tok so heavily that I had to try it. It claims to be is a concentrate of exfoliating acids combined with soothing niacinamide that targets blackheads, pimples, marks and visible pores.
I’ve been applying this serum to active acne spots as well as the tip of my nsoe where most of my blackheads live. Although I haven’t seem much obvious difference in the blackheads, it has soothed and calmed my active acne spots down quickly overnight.
It is quite a sticky serum so I’m not sure how well it would work under makeup, but I use it at night as an overnight treatment. It works well for active acne spots but it’s not a miracle serum that kills all acne overnight. It does take quite awhile, but it’s still a good product.
One letdown is that it is a very small bottle. At 30ml and costing me almost $56, I think it is pretty excessive, so I use it very sparingly.
As with every brand, there are bound to be hits and misses. The reason I wanted to review a few popular products from La Roche Posay was because I had heard nothing but good things about the brand, and I wanted to put it to the test as I did not truly believe there would ever exist a ‘flawless brand’.
Aaaaand, sadly, I was right! There are good products and there are bad products that I would stay away from as mentioned in this list. La Roche Posay has an incredibly wide range of products available for many skin types, but they seem to mostly focus on acne-prone and sensitive skin. There’s many more for me to try!
Have you tried La Roche Posay or any of the specific products I mentioned in this post? What were your thoughts? Let’s discuss!
marissa belle ｡･:*˚:✧｡࿐ 