Oily Skin Be Gone! | La Roche Posay Effaclar Micellar Water Ultra & Effaclar MAT Sebo-Controlling Moisturiser

We all know what a nightmare oily skin can be in summer, at least people with such a skin type can definitely relate. No matter how frequently you wash and moisturize your face, somehow you end up with shiny skin - and not in a good way. Over the years, I have mastered taking care of my sensitive/oily skin and today I am here to share with you a couple of products that help my skin be the best it can be.

La Roche Posay's Effaclar range is probably the very first skin care range every teenager with oily skin has used. This comes as no surprise when Effaclar products are the number 1 skin care products for oily, acne-prone skins in 8 major European countries. For instance, I have been using Effaclar products for as long as I can remember, together with other LRP products.

One product that I keep going to from the range, is Effaclar MAT Sebo-Controlling Moisturiser. Being a beauty blogger, I get sent different products to try so I tend to switch up my skin care products from time to time, however, Effaclar MAT is the moisturiser I always tend to gravitate towards every so often, more specifically during summer. I find the light texture to be just what my skin needs to feel hydrated all day long without having my face turning into an oil rig the second I step outside in the heat. In fact, I like to use this moisturiser as a makeup base too instead of the usual primer and it works really well! Apart from being anti-shine, Effaclar MAT has a sebo-regulating action and helps diminish pore size. Luckily, enlarged pores is not a concern of mine but excess sebum production is and I find that Effaclar MAT is really effective at keeping it at bay!

Using harsh cleansers that strip skin dry can have a reverse effect on oily skin - to compensate for the 'moisture' loss, your skin will produce even more oil to maintain adequate levels that it is used to. The solution? I found that for me, the best way to have clean skin without stripping it of moisture is to use a foaming cleanser only when I need to and use micellar water instead on all other days.

La Roche Posay has some great micellar waters including a micellar water gel that is perfect for sensitive skin. At the moment I am loving the Effaclar Micellar Water Ultra which also doubles up as a makeup remover. I just soak a cotton disk with the micellar water, wipe my skin with it and it's clean in no time! My skin doesn't feel taut after using La Roche Posay Micellar Water Ultra but it sure does look and feel clean!

La Roche Posay products are found in all pharmacies across Malta and Gozo. You might also want to try Effaclar Sebo-Controlling Mask to further help you keep oily skin at bay.

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Review | La Roche Posay Effaclar Sebo-Controlling Mask

La Roche Posay have released some exciting new products to further expand their Effaclar skin care range. I'm sure many of you are acquainted with this range as most of us have used it as teenagers and others, me included still use the products today.

One of the products which sparked my curiosity ever since I saw it advertised on the La Roche Posay Facbeook page is the Effaclar Sebo-Controlling Mask for I am always struggling with balancing my oily skin in a bid to keep it shine free for longer throughout the day.

Without hesitation, I bought a tube of the mask from the first pharmacy I saw it at last week and tried it that same day after cleansing my face. I also managed to convince the boyfriend (read nagged until he had to agree) to try it since he has super oily skin which is very prone to black-heads. So far we have used the mask twice in a week.

Let's have a word about texture first before moving on to the actual results. Basically, the mask comes in a tube packaging with the signature La Roche Posay colours and it has a very creamy texture. It has a greyish white colour which pertains to the kaolin clay content of the product. The mask is formulated with the finest ingredients known to unclog pores and rid the skin of invisible impurities to reveal a healthy, glowing complexion which stays matte for longer.

La Roche Posay recommend the application of a thin layer of the mask once or twice a week (make sure you avoid the eye and lip areas), leave it on for 5 minutes and then rinse off with warm water before applying the rest of your skin care products. 

During the 5 minutes you have the mask on, you will feel it dry and maybe your skin will feel a little tighter; or course, that's due to the clay drying up. It does rinse off easily though so application and removal are both like a walk in the park! Neither me nor my boyfriend have experienced itching or burning sensations when using this mask.

For me, just one application a week was enough to keep sebum production at bay for longer. My boyfriend, on the other hand needs to stick to applying the mask twice weekly but since it only takes 5 minutes, he doesn't complain.

Bottom line, I highly recommend this mask to anyone who wants to keep their skin look fresh and matte for longer as well as anyone with a very busy lifestyle and of course has an oily skin type.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Sebo-Controlling Mask retails for €13.50 for 100ml of product and is available in pharmacies.

Review: La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel for Oily Sensitive Skin

Finally, this post sees the start to my reviews on the new skin care products I have been using this last month or so.  First up is the cleanser which is designed for oily sensitive skin (my skin-type spot on!) and is soap free.  Moreover, it has been tested on acne/imperfection prone skin and it is also paraben free which is always great. 

The reason why I opted for La Roche Posay skin care is because they are closer to my budget first and foremost and because I already use other products from their different ranges so I know they won't cause any nasty allergic reactions to my sensitive skin and I'm glad to say I wasn't wrong! So let's see what the cleanser looks like and how well it performs it's job ;)

It comes in this white opaque tube which is pretty plain and typical of La Roche Posay and contains 200ml of a rather watery, transparent gel.  Basically, all you have to do is pour a little gel in the palm of your hand, wet the other hand and lather the gel up before massaging gently over your face and then rinse it off thoroughly.  

Since the product is a foaming gel, it dries my skin a little as it aims to remove excess sebum and impurities so you will get that taut skin feeling after rinsing this off.  However, after using some toner and moisturizer my skin's softness is restored.  Ever since I started using this cleaner, I noticed that my skin has cleared up and I only get occasional spots which are still not as big and as red as they used to be so this has definitely earned a place for this cleanser in my skin-care routine at least while my skin type stays the same (I have already bought a back-up of it in fact!).

This cleanser cost me €9.91 for 200ml.

Have you ever tried La Roche Posay skin care ladies? What do you think of them?