Effaclar Duo

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you would have definitely heard of La Roche Posay’s skincare range all around the blogoshere. One of their most raved about products is Effaclar Duo, a skincare product for oily/combination skin. I’ve read reviews everywhere and very famous beauty gurus, like Tanya Burr and Ruth from AModelRecommends, talking about how this moisturizer has changed their skin and everyday skincare routine.

Me being me, and a person dealing with acne since they were in elementary school, I thought that I would like to get a product that would change my skin forever. It wasn’t possible back then when I was a teenager, suffering from severe breakouts, but now that research is more advanced maybe this product has indeed been invented and can make a difference. My skin is not that bad anymore; I have been under numerous treatments and after a 6 month Accuran treatment (it’s a treatment that can only be prescribed, with numerous sideeffects, that dries out your skin and makes it peel off) I only break out before and during ‘those days of the month’. However, I have not met a single person who has suffered from acne and is able to make you believe that they hadn’t; breakouts always leave scars and an acne prone skin never ceases to be one. That’s the case with me; I may not break out that badly anymore but I have pretty enlarged pores and a lot of scaring (you can’t really expect from a child to not pick on their zits just because you tell them to, right?).

Having tried Effaclar Duo for 3 weeks, day and night, it hurts me to admit that it doesn’t suit everybody. It’s a gel like moisturiser that feels very light to the skin and works wonders as a makeup base. By the company it’s described as a ‘dual action anti-imperfection moisturiser’ targeted for ‘oily skin with irregular texture, prone to imperfections, blemishes and spots’; exactly what my skin looks like then! The main ingredients are glycerin, hydrogenated polyisobutene and salicylic acid, which are well known for treating acne. It also promises to unclog and purify the pores leaving your skin feeling smoother and clearer.

Well, with all due respect, I might disagree with that. The first 3 days I didn’t notice any changes; my skin felt pretty much the same. During the first week I started getting some cystic acne breakouts and some spots on my forehead. I also noticed that I could more easily remove blackheads from my face, which made me think that maybe it’s how the cream works, usually you need to break out first in order to clear up your skin. At least, that’s how most of the acne treatment creams I had tried worked. With that being said, I religiously carried on using it, day and night, only to see that the annoying spots on my forehead were becoming countless and that they were finding home to other parts of my face as well. As I couldn’t bare it anymore, and after numerous hints from my boyfriend about my new skincare routine, I decided to stop using it for a couple of days and, my oh my, everything disappeared. My skin got back to normal, a tad oily, but that was always the way it was.

I need to admit that I had very high hopes for this product and I couldn’t wait to try it, because it’s very inexpensive and so easy to find. However, it doesn’t work for everybody, me included. Since there are so many reviews out there saying how amazing this product is though, I think that I might be the exception of the rule.

Have you tried it? Did it actually work for your skin?

Georgina x x x