The La Roche Posay SPF Moisturiser I Now Use As a Skin Rescue Cream
Main Image – Courtesy of writer
If you’ve read a few of my personal articles before, you might already know two things: I have an oily skin type and I am a huge fan of the skincare brand, La Roche Posay.
So it won’t surprise you to know that most of my daytime skincare regime consists of La Roche Posay products which are excellent for breakout-prone skin like mine and are brilliantly hydrating, yet super-lightweight. That’s what us oil skin girls need, the perfect mix of the good stuff and the light stuff.
So when I discovered La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo [+] SPF 30 With Niacinamide (£21.90 on the La Roche Posay UK website/$21.90 on the Escentual US website) I was pretty pleased with myself. And even more so when I realised it was more than just a moisturiser. So. Much. More.
Keep scrolling to find out why it packs a punch in the skincare department and how it doubles up as a rescue cream too. No this is not an ad, it’s just a really, really good product that you just have to know about.
Moisturiser goals
Things to check off the list when looking for a daily moisturiser for oily skin.
1. Lightweight, oil-free formula
2. Broad-spectrum SPF protection
3. Gentle, yet effective ingredients
4. Reasonably priced
5. Fresh, subtle fragrance
Image – Courtesy of writer
La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo [+] SPF 30 With Niacinamide ticked all these boxes for me when I first started using it around 5 years ago. It contains ingredients specifically aimed at oily, blemish and acne-prone skin in both adults and teenagers and is described as a dual action gel moisturiser ‘that reduces the appearance of spots and blackheads, controls shine and helps to reduce inflammation.’
The headline ingredient is Niacinamide, which is one of skincare’s hardest working properties, particularly when it comes to reducing redness and the size of spots and soothing acne-related discomfort.
You only need a pea sized (if not, slightly smaller) amount and it glides around the skin like a dream.
It’s not sticky, it’s not slippery and leaves my oily skin with just the right amount of glow and hydration. Makeup applies beautifully over the top, and it smells unoffensively clean too.
Doubling up
So, great. I’d found myself the perfect moisturiser for my skin. And we all lived happily ever after. That was, until around a year ago when I discovered this little tube of goodness has extra benefits.
Despite having oily skin, I suffer from annoying eczema around my nose, particularly in the winter when my skin cracks easily in the cold. Scrap that, it’s not annoying. It’s actually really bloomin’ frustrating, uncomfortable and painful. *Violins*
You name it, I’ve tried it. Namely aloe vera-based products, prescription creams (some have worked, some haven’t), balms, hyaluronic acid and even Vaseline (yes, on oily skin. My life is so confusing).
So on a desperate day during my evening routine, I decided to give the La Roche Posay moisturiser a go. It usually has a starring role in my daytime regime because of the SPF protection. But because of the niacinamide, I thought it couldn’t hurt to apply it on targeted areas – like my eczema – before going to bed. I’d tried everything else, why not this?
I squeezed a generous blob onto each of the affected areas and twizzled it with a Q-tip (I don’t like using my fingers on targeted areas as I feel like the product sinks into the skin on my fingers too, diluting it slightly. Plus, using fingers can sometimes be unhygienic and that’s not a risk I’m prepared to take with eczema). I went to bed and hoped for the best.
These particular areas of eczema stung like hell and were super flaky. It’s really tempting to pick at flaky skin like that, particularly when it’s on a part of the face where it’s really obvious. I have been guilty of picking it (*slaps wrist*) and applying makeup on top doesn’t help either (*double slap*).
When I woke up the next morning, the inflammation had reduced – massively. The skin looked and felt smoother – no longer flaky – and whilst the problem was still visible, it was in no way as obvious as it had been the night before.
What really shocked me though was the lack of discomfort. No more stinging or tightness. The area had been completely soothed.
Image – Courtesy of writer
My new skin hero
After this experience, I carried on using it on all my other targeted skin issues. A few weeks ago, I was suffering from allergies and kept waking up with bruises for eyes as a result. The skin on the inner corners was raw and my eyelids were puffy and red.
So, on the moisturiser went (very carefully applied and using a Q-tip again for precision) and the next morning the puffiness and redness had massively decreased. I was blown away.
My daughter grazed her knee and after applying some of the cream onto it before she went to bed one evening, she noted how much better it was feeling the next day. It didn’t disappear of course – this was obviously a bigger skin trauma as there was open skin – but the dramas we usually have about a grazed knee can go on for days. The cream had clearly soothed this one considerably.
And finally, let’s have a moment for the price! For a decent daytime moisturiser I’d expect to pay around the £25 mark, but for one that does all of the above, £21.90 is a steal. Honestly? I’d actually pay more.
The takeaway
So, this is my new go-to whenever things with my skin don’t quite go to plan. And it feels great to know that even when I’m using it in the usual way – as an all over moisturiser – it’s that effective on the skin.
Who knows? It could even be preventing other issues from arising that I simply never get to find out about. Ignorance is bliss!
Get Glowing!
