The Skincare Product I’m Basically Married To
A decade with La Roche-Posay
I'm about to recommend a lot of beauty products here.
Some will be discoveries.
Some will be products I'm obsessed with for a while.
Some will surprise me.
Some will absolutely not be worth the hype.
But before Glow Up Cult turns into a giant playground of beauty recommendations, I need to establish one thing:
La Roche-Posay has earned permanent residency in my bathroom.
Not because it is trendy.
Not because TikTok told me to buy it.
Because I've actually been using it for 10 years.
And when I stop using it, I can tell.
It started when my skin suddenly changed
When I was around 28, my skin started breaking out in a way that I wasn't used to.
So I did what you're supposed to do when your skin is suddenly behaving differently:
I went to a dermatologist.
She recommended La Roche-Posay, and that's how this relationship started back in 2016.
My skin tends to be oily or combination, and finding products that keep it feeling clean without making me feel like I've stripped everything off my face has always mattered to me.
The product that became one of my staples was the Effaclar Gel Facial Wash for Oily Skin.
La Roche-Posay describes it as a foaming gel cleanser formulated for oily skin that removes excess oil and impurities without over-drying. It's also non-comedogenic and tested on acne-prone skin. (La Roche-Posay)
For me, the biggest endorsement isn't a marketing claim.
It's ten years of using it and noticing the difference when I don't.
See the Effaclar Gel Facial Wash on La Roche-Posay's official website
And then there's the sunscreen.
If you're going to ask me about the products I actually keep coming back to, sunscreen is not optional.
I've used La Roche-Posay's Anthelios sunscreens, including the Oil-Free Clear Skin SPF 60, which is particularly interesting for oily or acne-prone skin. The current formula is oil-free, non-comedogenic and designed to absorb excess oil and reduce the appearance of shine. (La Roche-Posay)
That combination makes sense for the kind of skin I have.
And yes, I know there are approximately one million sunscreens on the planet.
We're going to explore them.
But La Roche-Posay has already survived the audition.
See Anthelios Oil-Free Clear Skin SPF 60 on the official website
The thing I appreciate most: it lasts.
This is something I want to talk about more on Glow Up Cult.
A product being inexpensive isn't automatically the same thing as a product being good value.
And an expensive product isn't automatically luxurious or effective.
I care about how long I actually get to use something, how much I need per application, whether I repurchase it, and whether I notice a difference when I stop.
La Roche-Posay products have been some of those products for me.
They're not sitting in my bathroom looking pretty until I forget they exist.
They're being used.
Again and again.
For years.
That's a much more interesting endorsement to me.
Am I going to tell you that La Roche-Posay is the only skincare brand worth buying?
Absolutely not.
That would make Glow Up Cult boring.
There are so many magnificent beauty and skincare brands out there, and we're going to explore them together.
We'll test things.
We'll compare things.
We'll discover brands I've never heard of.
We'll talk about products that are worth the money and products that are mostly good marketing.
But I wanted to make this very clear from the beginning:
La Roche-Posay isn't just another recommendation for me.
This is the one I'm basically married to.
It's the product relationship that has lasted through different phases of my life, different beauty trends, different routines and probably more skincare experimentation than I care to admit.
And when I wander away from it for too long?
My skin has a way of reminding me why I came back.
So, welcome to Glow Up Cult.
We're going to discover the new.
But we're also going to respect the products that have already earned their place.
Because the Glow Up isn't about constantly buying something new.
Sometimes it's finding the one thing that actually works for you and sticking with it.
And sometimes it's knowing when it's time to try something completely different.
That's what we'll figure out together.
No impossible routines.
No pretending every product is life-changing.
No buying 17 serums because someone on the internet said you need them.
Just beauty, experimentation, research, opinions, mistakes, discoveries...
and products that actually earn their place.
La Roche-Posay, you're officially one of the founding members.
Glow Up Cult verdict:
Relationship status: married.
Years together: 10.
Chance of divorce: currently very low.
Explore La Roche-Posay's official website
Note: This is my personal experience, not medical advice. If you're dealing with persistent or significant skin concerns, a dermatologist can help you figure out what is appropriate for your skin.