La Roche Posay® Effaclar Duo Plus Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.