I’ve never been the kind of person who can just wash her face with any soap or cleanser. I wish! My skin has other plans. Between rosacea flare-ups and seborrheic dermatitis, my skin can be… overly dramatic. Sensitive, dry, itchy, patchy, and quick to let me know when it doesn’t like something.
It took me years to figure out that I had dry skin, not oily skin. As a 90’s kid, I was conditioned to think that oil-free products wouldn’t cause acne and were better for my skin. Turns out, that was completely wrong. Those products were drying me out like crazy and making my skin produce even more oil. Super confusing, right? My skin was overly oily because it was super dry!
🚿 90’s Oil-Free Flashback
Do you remember your favorite 90’s face wash? Mine was probably Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash. Maybe you were a Clean & Clear Foaming Cleanser girl, or swore by the new amazing Biore?
I didn’t find out until my 40’s why they backfired and caused more acne and irritation:
- Stripping formulas – Harsh detergents and alcohols stripped away skin’s barrier, leading to dryness and more oil.
- Poor substitutes for oils – Heavy waxes and silicones often clogged pores worse than oils would have.
- No barrier science – Nobody talked about ceramides or microbiomes back then! Drying it out was the “solution.”
- One-size-fits-all – Dry, sensitive skin kids (like me) ended up irritated, flaky, and broken out.
Did you have a 90’s skincare favorite that you thought was helping but actually made things worse? What about Noxzema? Whoa- yikes!
💸 The Overpriced Phase
After drugstore disasters, I moved on to the “fancier” brands dermatologists pushed at department store counters. Remember Clinique 3-Step? Philosophy Purity? Shiseido Benefiance Foam? Origins Frothy Face Wash? Boy, those were even worse somehow. Don’t even get me started on their moisturizers. (Actually, I’ll talk about these in a separate blog)
So, after spending way too much on overpriced junky face wash, I decided to go back to basics. The safe, dermatologist-approved stuff: Cetaphil and CeraVe.
🧴 The Drugstore Staples Everyone Recommends… Except Me
Cetaphil: Mild, fragrance-free, niacinamide, and glycerin. Everyone swears by it. My skin? Nope, it’s all horrible for me. My skin would break out, be oily and dry at the same time and itch. Clearly, I am allergic to something in it. I think the panthenol, but who knows! Break outs, itching, oily and dry. Hard pass.
CeraVe: Ceramides, barrier repair, and affordable. I wanted to love it. My skin hates it. Even with its gentle formulation, my skin stings and burns and gives me lovely acne to deal with. For some reason it clogs my pores but still leaves my face dry. So I kept looking, hoping for a miracle.
🌟 Enter: La Roche-Posay
Finally, a brand my skin didn’t hate. Dermatologists recommend it for sensitive/reactive skin, it’s hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, tested on sensitive skin, and the Cicaplast Balm B5? A literal skin hero.
I’ve been using La Roche-Posay exclusively for about six years now. My skin may still be sensitive, but it finally feels cared for: clean, soft, balanced, and hydrated.
Here’s my lineup: (you can see I’m almost out of the foaming wash. Time to repurchase!)
- Hydrating Gentle Cleanser – This is my nighttime favorite. It takes off all my makeup. I do not have to use another product (like straight up oil or micellar water) to remove my mascara or lip stain, just this. I just use 2 small pumps. I use it daily and the bottle still lasts forever.
- Gentle Foaming Moisturizing Wash –I keep this bottle in the shower. It’s exactly what the name says: gentle and foamy. My face and body never feel tight or stripped afterward, just soft and calm because it is for extra dry skin. I just use this on my face, neck and shoulders but it can be used as a body wash.
- Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream – My skin soaks this up like it’s been waiting all day. It’s thick enough to actually make a difference, this is heavy but not greasy. My feet and legs especially thank me for this one. I reserve this one for when my skin is extra dry or when I have a sunburn. My everyday body lotion is Aveeno, but the Triple Repair is great for my crocodile/lizard hands year round. I personally do not put this on my face but my husband does, and he loves it as a facial moisturizer. You know, he does the man thing, where he puts a dime size amount of lotion in his hands, rubs them together, and smears it only on the outside of his biceps and what ever is left over, gets rubbed on his face. But it works for him that way… somehow.
- Cicaplast Balm B5 – It’s my “all-purpose hero.” If you burn your hand in the kitchen? Cicaplast. Post-dermatologist visit after they’ve zapped a sunspot? Cicaplast. Random dry patches that pop up? You guessed it Cicaplast. If you haven’t tried a Cicaplast cream yet, you should. It really is good magical stuff. Literally a drop of it will heal your skin without a scar… overnight.
If you’re dealing with sensitivity, dryness, or just want something simple that actually works, La Roche-Posay has been the most reliable line I’ve ever tried. I really recommend the La Roche-Posay line over any other drugstore or expensive face care line. Nothing fancy, just reliable, non-irritating and dermatologist approved. And that’s exactly what my skin needs on the daily.
👉 Have you tried La Roche-Posay? Which products are your go-to?
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