La Roche-Posay Haul & Review

Aside from my Toleriane moisturizer which I raved about in my previous empties post here, I have actually never tried any other products from La Roche-Posay, which is quite odd considering how easy it is to find La Roche-Posay in drugstores around here. Recently, I have really been getting into French pharmacy skincare, so I picked up some bits from La Roche-Posay when I was at the drugstore, and after using them for three weeks, I am ready to report back.

First up on the far right is the Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cream. Since the Toleriane moisturizer was so good for my intolerant, sensitive, breakout-prone skin, I really wanted to try a cleanser from the range. When I saw this on the shelves, I was really confused thinking, how can a cream produce foam? But when I tried it at home, the name really makes sense. I like to use a foaming net with my cleansers, and this cleanser produces really dense, almost creamy foam, which feels really nice on the skin. A little bit of this stuff really goes a long way. The first time I used this, I had about enough foam on my hands for five days worth of cleansing, so just use a small pea-sized amount. There is a lot of hate these days for foaming cleansers, saying that they dry out and irritate the skin, which is fairly justified given that a lot of foaming cleansers produce foam because of the sulfates that they contain. This cleanser is preservative-free, fragrance-free, paraben-free, and sulfate-free. It also contains a lot of glycerin to help retain moisture. After cleansing with it, my skin just feels very clean and purified, but not the type of squeaky-clean feeling you get from the "bad" foaming cleansers. However, those with really dry skin should probably look to the other cleanser in the range aimed towards dry skin.

In the middle we have the Effaclar Duo. This is an acne treatment cream that is formulated with salicylic acid in Europe and with benzoyl peroxide in the US. I always thought that Canada would carry the benzoyl peroxide version. My skin, being so sensitive, is very easily dried out by benzoyl peroxide, so I always avoided this product. However, when I finally picked it up and gave it a proper read, I realized that Canada sells the European version with salicylic acid, so into the shopping cart it went. Over the past three weeks that I've used this, this product has been a little bit of a miracle worker. It really helps with unclogging pores, and most of my persistent under-the-skin spots went away within the first week. I still do get a few spots here and there, but they are a lot less swollen and always come to head after the first or second day. Acne fighting products take about six weeks to really work, so I will continue to use the Effaclar Duo and see what happens.

Finally, on the left is the Toleriane Rich Soothing Protective Cream. I had mentioned that while I love the regular Toleriane moisturizer, it wasn't quite enough moisture on really cold, windy days, and it has been snowing buckets around here recently. The Toleriane Rich contains shea butter, so it is a bit thicker than the regular Toleriane, though I still find the Toleriane Rich to be very light weight and it absorbs just as easily. Shea butter is effective as a moisturizer because it creates a barrier over the skin, preventing moisture from evaporating off. Sometimes, shea butter can clog the pores and result in break outs, but I haven't had any problems with this moisturizer. No more dry cheeks! Just smooth, dewy skin.

What are some of your favourite La Roche-Posay products? Leave me some recommendations so I can try them out!