La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo

La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo 40ml

What Effaclar is to cleansers Effaclar Duo is to treatments. It's a sensitive combination of key ingredients that will help reduce the size of pimples within 3 days and work to prevent future breakouts.

Contains breakthrough key ingredients - 

• Micronized Benzoyl Peroxide [5.5%]: Powerful acne medication in a unique format to penetrates pores, clear blemishes, and minimize potential irritation.
• Micro-exfoliating LHA [0.4%]:Precise cell-by-cell exfoliation to smooth roughness and gradually even skin texture. 6x more effective than salicylic acid alone.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 4 out of 5

This product is smooth on the skin, a small amount goes a fair way but as with any treatment, it won't work straight away.

After 1 Month of Use - 5 out of 5

Given time and used in combination with Effaclar cleanser, this works deep in the skin to prevent future breakouts. I've noticed a substantial reduction in blackheads as well as general breakouts.

Learn more about La Roche Possay's products at La Roche Possay's Website

Also available in the La Roche Possay Oily Skin Range -

• La Roche Possay Effaclar 

La Roche Possay Effaclar

La Roche Possay Effaclar 200ml

This is honestly a miracle cleanser. La Roche Possay is a town in France known for its amazing thermal spring water which is naturally high in selenium, an antioxidant. Created with the input of dermatologists, the La Roche Possay brand strives for excellence in sensitive skin care. Now I hear you saying that you do not suffer from sensitive skin, well, neither do I, but in all the products I've tried to help with my hormonal acne, none have come anywhere near as close as the La Roche Possay brand. 

I've been using the cleanser on a twice a day basis for the past 2 months now (except when I have had really bad breakouts where I've used the olay as previously discussed) and my skin has never looked finer. Previously I would have one week per month where my hormones had the ideal conditions and my skin was clear, now it's the opposite, with weeks of clear beautiful skin.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 5 out of 5
5 out of 5, this product feels great from the first instance. I didn't get any initial breakouts like sometimes I do from other brands 

After 1 Month of Use - 5 out of 5
I can't recommend this product enough. If you have oily skin or the occasional blemish through to full blown inflammatory acne, this is the product for you.


Learn more about La Roche Possay's products at La Roche Possay's Website

Also available in the La Roche Possay Oily Skin Range -

• La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo

Olay Acne Control Face Wash

Olay Acne Control Face Wash 200ml

I've been struggling with pimples for the past 8 years. Growing up I was under the impression that pimples (or acne) is a teenage ailment - one that goes away during your young adult life. Such a huge lie!  I started getting acne when I was in my final year of high school, and now I'm 26 I think I'm finally seeing the tail end of them. I think it's not so much that young adults don't get them, it's just they've worked out what products work for them so they stop getting them! 

One product that I've stumbled across in my mission to be rid of the pesky spots is Olay's "Acne Control Face Wash". It's an oil free product that has a powerful hydroxy complex which fights blemishes and prevents future breakouts. Further more - it also contains salicylic acid, which gently encourages skin turnover - helping to shift stubborn blackheads.

Acne basically occurs when excess sebum gets trapped in the hair folicle. Depending on where or how it gets trapped is how we classify them, as blackheads, whiteheads or blind pimples. Some simple things can be done to help prevent reoccuring breakouts, or scarring from a breakout. 

• The biggest advise I can give is to not pop existing pimples. Don't look at them, don't touch them - leave them alone! When a pimple is squeezed only a third of the gunk comes out, a further two thirds actually gets pushed deeper into the skin where it will cause further issues. Need more incentive - No matter how much that pimple hurts now, remember it always hurts hard more and for a longer duration after it's been popped! 
• The next thing you can do to prevent pimples from occurring is to stop over scrubbing your face. We think of pimples as a very dirty thing, and thus want to scrub them away. But in reality the harder you scrub your face, the more sebum your skin will produce, creating a higher risk of more pimples. A gentle cleanser with a gentle washing motion is enough to keep cleanse skin.
• Follow up with a good acne treatment on problem areas. Some treatments contain benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or even tea tree. This treatment should only be used on specific problem areas as they can be drying to the skin.
• Use a moisturiser! A lot of people think that because their skin is oily they don't need a moisturiser - when in fact the skin is oily because it is dry. Sure, some people do just have oily skin types, but it's still not a reason to use a nice light moisturiser.

The Olay Acne Control Face Wash can be drying, particularly if used in combination with a acne treatment, and it is due to that, that I limit my use of this product to when I actually am having a break out.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 3 out of 5
It's a nice cleansing formula which is tough on pimples, but with proper care still smooth on skin. I only rate this product a 3 as it's not really suitable for long term use.

After 1 Month of Use - 4 out of 5
Throughout using it across a month (when I had breakouts) it was effective. I felt as though my breakouts were for a shorter duration. 


Learn more about Olay's products at Olay's Website

Also available in the Olay Acne Control Range -

• Olay Blackhead Clearing Scrub