La Roche Posay® Effaclar Duo Plus Reviews

I had high hopes for Effaclar Duo(+) helping even out my imperfections, but found it didn't really live up to the claims.

The packaging is nice, very clean and clinical looking, functional and sturdy. However, the first hurdle in using this product is figuring out how! The instructions are very vague - the box says to apply after cleansing, but no extra info, and the tube says to apply to your whole face which at least rules it out as a spot treatment (though I'd have expected it to be a spot treatment from the itty bitty size of the tube!). It was very unclear whether this was supposed to replace moisturiser, or act as more of a treatment/serum step before moisturising.

I looked it up on their website which wasn't much more helpful, but they were pitching it as a 'gel-cream' with 'all-day-hydration' and as an 'excellent make-up base', so it sounded like it was supposed to replace moisturiser. I tried that for the first week and it was nowhere near moisturising enough for my skin. My oily skin will over compensate and produce even more oil if I'm not keeping my skin hydrated enough, so I quickly added my normal moisturiser back in after the Effaclar Duo(+).

I also found the product absorbed into my skin extremely quickly, meaning I needed a surprisingly large amount of product to cover my whole face. This would make it extremely expensive for me to use, as I'd say I went through at least 1/3 of the tube in just 3 weeks.

More importantly, I just didn't see any improvement in my skin. It wasn't any less red, more even, or smoother as promised. None of my red or brown marks, other imperfections, or hyperpigmentation reduced in appearance. Of all its claims the only one it delivered on for me was its non-greasy finish and matte appearance.

All in all, definitely not a winner for me.

Thank you to Beauty Review as this product was sent to me as part of their test panel to discover whether it met my strict criteria in what I’m looking for in good, no-nonsense skin care for sensitive and irritable skin.

A bit of background before I get into the product, I have acne prone, combination skin and have been using Retin A for 1 ½ years so I look for products that do not contain essential oils or fragrance and contains low irritants as I break out with anything and everything.

This product has some exciting ingredients in it such as Niacinamide (some people are allergic to Niacinamide so if you use this and it stings, that could be the cause), Linoleic Acid and Salicylic Acid as well as some ingredients that are supposed to help mattify the skin.

Whatever your skin type the salicylic acid will help remove the dead skin,the linoleic acid will help hydrate while the niacinamide will help improve texture and hyperpigmentation.

The reason I mention that I am using Retin A is that it can make your skin more sensitive to things like Salicylic Acid so using them at the same time may not be a good idea (fine to use SA in the morning and Retin A at night).

This does contain Parfum/Fragrance and as with the foaming cleanser it has a slight tea tree/lemon scent to it.

I am trying this product with fragrance as I do not react to all products that have fragrance in it. I am wary so will go carefully with any product introduced into my regime that contains it.

A quick note on fragrance - it isn't the fact that it smells that affects me, it is the fact that fragrance is bad for the skin. Some people can tolerate it, I cannot.

This is a slim tube with a tiny nozzle at the end to stop you from squeezing out more than you need and truly, a thin film is all you need to apply. It will last a long time with regular use and in terms of economy this product is worth investing in regardless of skin type. It might cost more than you would normally pay initially but will last you longer than you think.

I tried using this in the morning over my moisturiser, under my SPF and mineral foundation but it just didn’t work for me (not many products do so I like to keep morning very simple). I found it did not mattify any shine so I was left to use this at night over Retin A every other night to avoid irritation. Again, it did not mattify shine but at night, who cares?

It did make my skin soft and smooth the following morning but as with the cleanser, my skin was becoming irritated and I had to cut down to every 2-3 days to get my skin under control again.

I did not notice a difference in redness (could be related to irritation) nor a difference in current acne marks disappearing but it did help remove dry/flaking skin and did not cause any breakouts.

Used in conjunction with their Effaclar cleanser (which broke me out) around Feb last year. Personally, I didn't find that this Duo Plus did anything special. I mainly used it around my nose and chin which is where I found I got the most breakouts and where my pores were enlarged. Used for around 5 months and found no difference.

Even after using this product, I am still not 100% sure I know what it is. I am not sure if it is supposed to be a moisturizer or a pre-moisturizer treatment.

The packaging doesn't really shed any light, but I found that it wasn't quite moisturizing enough to use on it's own so I would use my normal moisturizer after applying the Duo Plus.

It claims to be anti-marks and anti-blemishes, but I dont know if I saw enough improvement in my skin to say it lives up to these claims. I still got new breakouts whilst using it and didn't see any change in the Mark's left from prior breakouts.

I also found that this left me with quite dry patches around my nose.

Overall, I am quite disappointed with this product and dont think I would repurchase it, especially for the higher price.

I had tried this after seeing all the great reviews. It's promises to significantly reduces severe imperfections and unclogs sebum-blocked pores and to help prevent red or dark marks caused by acne, caught my eye.

Now I don't suffer from acne, just the odd breakout when my skin is throwing a tantrum. But over the years I had developed some small imperfections, blocked pores and scarring, so I was keen to see if this would smooth out those imperfections.

The tube has a fine tip to control product flow and to apply the cream has a silicone like feel, but absorbs fairly well.

I seemed to go through the product quite quickly and found that my skin became slightly more prone to breakouts than before.

So didn't work for my skin, but am still happily using up as a moisturizer in my make up bag.

Was recommended by a dermatologist for my surprise burst of adult acne. Applied minimal amount to areas of concern - found that I had almost a reaction to the product and I came out in even more tiny white spotty bumps. I guess the major individual spots I had reduced in redness but the skin response was not ideal. I do have very sensitive skin so perhaps this was the cause of the response. I have continued to try the product time and time again with the same response. The quantity of product is great (had it worked for me) and the price is also affordable.

I was excited to try this cream as I suffer from hormonal breakouts, during that time of the month. I applied this cream directly to my spots and the next day noticed that they had calmed down a little. While this is no miracle fix, it did help with my breakouts. Overall, if you have more surface acne, this will help when it comes to drying them out.

I wasn’t quite sure how to use this product when I first received it, and the packaging didn’t really tell me either (I googled it in the end). The product description certainly made it sound like a wonder product. I found it was moisturising enough in most places, but I was left with a dry patch in places between my eyebrows (even if I applied the product there!) - especially annoying when it came to apply foundation. I also still used my regular acne treatment, and most days also a normal moisturiser. So it kind of became an extra step that didn’t really seem to serve any real purpose.

It stated it was a perfect base for makeup, but I had to use my normal primer after applying to get the best base for my foundation. It claims to be ‘gel-cream’ but I wouldn’t really call it that gel-like, or that cream-like - more just like a standard light lotion. My face didn’t look flushed or noticeably red throughout the trial, so I think it may have been soothing and helped to reduce redness.

When I first received it I thought the tube was pretty small, but I actually think it’ll last quite a while so I’m happy on that front. I think I’ll bring it out again in Summer when it’s a bit warmer and my skin has less chance of drying out, and even then I think I might save it for once a day use rather than morning and evening. For the RRP though, I would not repurchase as I didn’t really find it special. I have other, cheaper products that do just as good a job.

I was fortunate enough to be apart of the trial team for this product.

This product s a white cream that you are meant to use all over your face to help treat severe imperfections. The product is smooth and has a lotion like consistency and comes in a squeeze tube with a thin nozzle. I used about a dollar coin amount to cover my face. It spreads easily and absorbs nicely into the skin. I used this product inbetween cleansing amd moisturising.

This product has the same floral soap fragrence as the cleanser. I did notice this product did help reducing some of my texture across my cheeks. However I did not notice a reduction in oil production, nor dod it reduce my red marks. I do agree, however, that this is fresh and non greasy.

As the trial period was quite short, I will continue to use this product in my normal skincare reigme and see if it really makes a difference. At this stage I would probably not purchase it as it is quite expenisve and you only get 40mls of product, I can see myself using this up quickly, as this has inly had a minimal effect so far, it doesn't make it worth it in my opinion. If you have a small amount of texture this product may work well for you, but if you have a lot of texture like I do, I think you will only see minimal results.

I tried this one out after suffering with acne as a young adult. I heard this was a dupe for Differin so I wanted to give it a go. It is a good product, but it's not a miracle product like some say. Expect a purge breakout with this one for sure. It's not really a moisturizer either, I find it was best applied just to the affected areas otherwise you may get some dry skin.

It's unfortunate it didn't work well for me however others really swear by it. It's definitely based on our skin types and our skin needs.