I have many people to thank for recommending me the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo for combating spots, zits and breakouts but for the life of me, I can’t name all of you because I’m deathly afraid of forgetting to mention someone and then I’d get flack for that! So, if you have at some point mentioned the LRP Effaclar Duo to me on Twitter, Facebook or here in the comments, THANK YOU!
For everyone living in Malaysia, no, don’t get your hopes up. La Roche-Posay STILL isn’t available here at time of writing (Sept 2013) which is a pity. There are so many other items I’d love to try from the brand because I’ve only been impressed so far. But I picked this up online and you can too.
I picked up the Effaclar Duo at a time when I was feeling low about the condition of my skin. It had all these bumps and spots (later traced to a reaction from food – who’d have guessed!) and I just didn’t know what to use because what I’d previously used was the Vichy Normaderm cream and since they pulled out, I’d run out.
I was then recommended Effaclar Duo and then, I saw that Escentual.com was doing a sale so I picked it up, and I have never looked back since. This is now my go-to cream for when I get the occasional spot!
The Effaclar Duo cream is what they call a corrective cream, targeted at skin imperfections and clogged skin. It is reminiscent of the Vichy Normaderm cream (not surprising, since they are owned by the same parent company – L’Oreal) but I feel that this one is more potent.
It is also more drying, if you use it all over your skin very often. When I mentioned this, I was told that I could not and should not use it all over my face. But you know what? It’s what the instructions tell me to do and I always follow instructions.
See, it says “Apply morning and/or evening on the whole face” so I did. Where I did not have spots or clogged pores, I found it a little drying. I wasn’t too surprised to be honest, because it does contain ingredients that exfoliate skin and reduce clogging and these ingredients do tend to be drying. It doesn’t cause my skin to flake or be irritated, for which I’m thankful, and LRP credits that to the inclusion of thermal spring water, to calm irritated skin.
So, what I do now, is only use the Effaclar Duo on areas where I have problems, directly on clean skin. For me, this is usually around my chin where my skin may get clogged or I may break out. When I have a spot on my cheek, I apply this cream only where I experience the breakouts, and it does the job beautifully! Yes, I do use 2 different moisturisers on my skin to target different concerns and it’s working well!
I credit the LRP Effaclar Duo with unclogging my bumpy chin when it was at its worst, and also, for soothing and zapping zits that may pop up from time to time. I don’t get breakouts very much anymore, now that I’m playing around less with different types of skincare (and forsaking the ones I have no confidence in – no more mad scientist experiments from this blogger!) so when I do, this is the cream I reach for and it clears everything up in 2 days or so. Perfect!
The cream itself is a light gel-cream texture and there is a fragrance. Slightly metallic to my nose, but I’ve gotten used to it, and I associate it now with my skin healing process. This is a good product, and one that works well. I don’t know if it will work for very badly congested skin or for those with bad acne, but if you’ve tried everything else and nothing seems to work, give Effaclar Duo a try. I love it for saving my skin! 😀
In a nutshell
The La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo is a lightweight gel-cream textured cream that works to combat skin imperfections and zap zits without irritating and flaking skin. It can feel drying on skin but it doesn’t cause skin to flake, nor turn it red. I only use it on areas that feel clogged or that have spots and it goes to work very quickly, so I usually have normal skin back in a few days. I also make sure I apply this directly on clean skin, so no serums for me on those areas. I love this one and it has truly been a skin saver!
Pros: Lightweight texture, Zaps zits very quickly, Does not irritate skin nor cause flaky dry skin, Unclogs pores and smoothens skin very gently and effectively, Affordable
Cons: Unavailable in Malaysia at this time, Fragrance, Can be drying if used all over
Who will like this: Anyone trying to fight spots, acne or clogged skin
Here is the ingredient list for the Effaclar Duo (it is paraben free).
I got mine off Escentual.com where they often go on sale. Shipping from the UK is affordable and generally efficient. No hesitation recommending them at all 🙂
Have you used the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo? Is there anything else from LRP that you love?
This is now my to-go zit busting cream. Every time I feel my skin getting clogged (which isn’t often now) I apply this and it goes and does its magic, and my zits get zapped. I also used to be a big fan of the LRP Anthelios sunscreen but haven’t used that in years, since it’s so hard to get. You could say that I generally love French pharmacy skincare 😀
Paris B
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo Corrective and Unclogging Anti-Imperfection Care Price: RRP£13.50 (or watch out for sales) Availability: Escentual.com or your closest La Roche-Posay counter, you lucky things!
