Why I Think The Viral La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm Isn’t for Everyone
Main image – Live That Glow
If you’re into your skincare, you’ll have definitely heard of this viral product – La Roche-Posay’s Cicaplast Baume B5+ (£11 for 40ml on the La Roche-Posay UK website/$18.99 on the La Roche-Posay US website).
After multiple years of virality, this “ultra-repairing protective soothing balm” continues to be everywhere, with skincare influencers and even dermatologists claiming it will clear up your sebaceous filaments overnight. So when I was given the chance to try it, I was dubious but intrigued… Does it live up to its hype? And what actually is it – a moisturiser or a balm? I was fascinated to find out.
To make my testing as thorough as possible, I tried this product in four different circumstances – a. when my skin barrier felt compromised, b. when I was travelling on a plane and wanted extra hydration, c. on a new tattoo (yay!), and d. to test whether it actually minimises sebaceous filaments.
Here’s how I got on.
AT A GLANCE
- Best for: Compromised skin barriers, dryness, flaking, chapped lips and tattoo aftercare.
- Not ideal for: Oily, breakout-prone or easily congested skin when used as an everyday moisturiser.
- Key ingredients: 5% vitamin B5, madecassoside, Tribioma, zinc and manganese.
- Texture: Rich balm-gel that absorbs surprisingly quickly but can leave a slight white cast.
- Our verdict: Excellent for soothing dry, irritated or compromised skin, but too rich for our reviewer as an everyday moisturiser and ineffective on her sebaceous filaments.
- Our rating: 4/5
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ ingredients and claims
First up though, what actually is Cicaplast Baume B5+? There’s so much noise online about how you’re actually meant to use it – with some arguing it’s a repair balm for occasional use and others insisting it makes a great moisturiser.
Well, La Roche-Posay says this is most definitely a balm, best used for “skin barrier repair” and “specifically formulated for damaged, uncomfortable & irritated skin.”
Officially then, Cicaplast Baume B5+ is a balm rather than a moisturiser, although a quick poll of the LTG office tells me some of my colleagues have had good results using Cicaplast Baume B5+ as one, particularly during colder winter months. You might want to stick to nighttime use only though as a moisturiser, since it can leave a slight white cast on skin and in eyebrows if not rubbed in super thoroughly.
@hanstluce The @La Roche-Posay is sensational, but it isnt for everyone. This helped heal my eczema prone skin areas and repair my skin barrier. My dry or irritated skin angels should LOVE this?? #larocheposay #cicaplastbaumeb5 #larocheposaycicaplastbaumeb5 #cicaplast #dryskin #skinbarriermoisturizer #skinbarrier (not an ad, no obligation to post)
According to the brand, you can also use the balm for “face and/or body on a wide range of common skin irritations including nappy rashes, heating sensations, post-peeling & laser.”
It’s a minimalist, fragrance-free skincare formula containing zinc and manganese, as well as new Tribioma (a unique prebiotic complex) combined with 5% of vitamin B5 and madecassoside (a component of centella asiatica).
Available in two sizes (a 40ml and a 100ml), Cicaplast Baume B5+ also comes in an SPF 50 version (which, curiously, is a dollar more expensive in the US). For this review, I tried both the SPF and non SPF versions.
How I tested Cicaplast Baume B5+
I tested this balm for almost three weeks in total, alternating between using it as a moisturiser and a barrier balm, both during the day and at night. I also tested it on various parts of my body, including my nose and chin, and on my upper arm. Finally, I tested it during air travel to see if it could lock moisture into my skin.
My first impressions
So far so good then. The balm definitely sounds like it will work for issues such as severe dryness, healing, chapped lips, and irritated skin (more on these later), my issue is the claims that it’s good for acne and getting rid of sebaceous filaments.
Image – Live That Glow
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I first swatched this balm on the back of my hand. Instead of the super thick, oil-type balm I was expecting, Cicaplast Baume B5+ actually has more of a thick gel texture.
It’s non-greasy and absorbs into the skin quicker than you’d expect, leaving it feeling protected and hydrated. I could see why this would be both useful for slugging, yet also suitable for acne ( I struggle with blocked pores, sebaceous filaments, breakouts and dryness so this boded well).
Even though it’s fragrance-free too, I still found Cicaplast has a subtle ‘clean’ scent that I enjoy. What I did notice immediately though was the white cast – while this does absorb more thoroughly than its colour and texture would suggest, it isn’t completely invisible, even on my relatively fair skin, unless rubbed in super thoroughly. Once rubbed in though, it leaves a dewy sheen, as you can see below.
Image – Live That Glow
My honest La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ review & results
I was still wondering how this works on sebaceous filaments, whether it would be too thick for my skin type, and whether it would make my skin break out. First, though, I wanted to try the balm on what it was actually formulated for.
For a compromised skin barrier
I’d recently been trying some new skincare products in my routine and my face started to feel a little dry and tight, and it was flaking. So to test this, I took everything back to basics, using just my usual CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser (I swear by this product if you have pimple-prone skin, I even use it on my shoulders and back), Byoma’s Hydrating Serum, and the CeraVe Moisturising Lotion.
Then, I applied the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast balm as the last step, to soothe, help lock in moisture and relieve any dryness and flaking.
I was really impressed, after a couple of days of doing this routine, my skin felt less irritated and really moisturised. I can really recommend this if you have taken it a little too far with the retinol or if you’ve used too many products and your skin feels irritated.
For my new tattoo
I’ve got quite a few tattoos and they’ve all healed well using things like Sudocrem or castor oil during the aftercare process. But for me, this balm is actually perfect for healing tattoos.
Not only does it provide enough hydration without being too thick (if you’ve got tattoos, you’ll know you don’t really want to use something too thick because you can pull off the scabs which can then affect the finished results), but the SPF version means the tattoo is protected from UVA and UVB.
My skin heals quite fast anyway, but within a few days of getting the tattoo on my upper arm and using Cicaplast I had no pain and my tattoo was basically healed.
Image – Live That Glow
While flying
Travelling, particularly flying, really takes a toll on my skin (and my sanity, TBH). I thought this would be a great product to use before, during, and after my flight to Germany. It’s not a long trip, but even on short-haul flights I find my skin feels tighter and drier because of the lack of fresh air and the air conditioning.
Using Cicaplast, my skin felt more moisturised and hydrated than it usually does when I travel, however, later that evening and the next day, it felt congested and I noticed I had a lot of newly-blocked pores on my lower cheeks and chin. My chin gets quite dry, so that’s where I had mainly been applying the product.
I actually stopped using it while I was on holiday because my skin felt so congested that I started to realise this might not be a product I can use as an everyday moisturiser.
For sebaceous filaments and breakouts
After returning from my holiday, I spent the next two weeks using Cicaplast the main way influencers and some derms have suggested on TikTok; for slugging sebaceous filaments.
One extremely popular skincare name on TikTok suggests working a tiny amount of the balm into the sebaceous filaments on the nose after doing your normal skincare routine, claiming that you’ll wake up with a smooth nose and no sebaceous filaments. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for me.
I have more noticeable sebaceous filaments on my chin so I applied the product there, too, and I was met with a couple of large breakouts, small pimples, and my skin looked generally unhappy. Now, I’ve got combination skin and it can flare up with the odd hormonal breakout, but this felt different.
I had still been sticking to my usual skincare routine and I hadn’t added anything new, so the only conclusion I can come to is that this product is too thick for regular use on my skin and it wasn’t going to provide the results other people had noticed.
What other users have to say
When I say people are raving about this product, I mean it. But after my experiences, I looked into whether other people felt the same as me about the balm – I wasn’t alone. I saw other users on TikTok who experienced breakouts and clogged-feeling skin just like I had.
I went over to the La Roche-Posay website to have a look at the reviews. Marayn writes “Really helped with dry irritated skin. Feels a bit sticky initially but absorbs after a bit. A little goes a long way!” while Char23 called the product “magic” saying, “This cream cleared my eczema up in 3 days! I can’t believe I have suffered so long. The product smooths any sore areas and soaks in quickly leaving no oily residue behind. I’ve never come across a cream advertised to use on lips and face before. I cannot recommend anymore [sic]!!”.
The takeaway
I was disappointed this product didn’t work for my sebaceous filaments the way it’s worked for people I’ve seen on TikTok, however, it works extremely well for what it was actually formulated for.
I’ve found it’s pretty much the perfect balm for a compromised skin barrier, irritated and sensitive skin, dry or chapped lips, issues like eczema, dryness and flakiness, and healing damaged skin (like tattoo healing).
If you’ve got particularly oily or breakout-prone skin, I’d be careful with this though and use a very small amount to see how your skin reacts. I’ve seen TikTok videos of people slathering this over their face before going to bed, claiming it gives them glass skin – that was sadly not the case for me.
For me then, this isn’t the miracle sebaceous filament-removing product so many have been hyping up online, but it’s an amazing and gentle product for most of my skin issues – and I’ll consider that a win.
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copperas
Yes! Fina?ly someone writes about ba?m.
Sally Underwood
Thank you! Really pleased you liked the article x