La Roche-Posay Effaclar Anti blemish system

There has been quite a buzz around the launch of this trio this September. I have only ever used Serozinc from LRP and as someone who has a combination skin with regular hormonal breakouts I gave this a go (this is Stacey).
 The kit contains the purifying foaming gel cleanser, a brand new clarifying toner and the effaclar duo.
 The cleanser and effaclar duo are a regular in the LRP line up but the toner is new and at the moment can only be purchased as part of the kit.

 The kit is aimed at people who have an oily and blemish prone skin. It claims to help reduce sebum levels, remove bacteria, matte the skin, reduce pore size whilst unclogging them and help to reduce the appearance of red and brown marks left from old blemishes.

I began this trial 6 weeks ago and here are my results....

Firstly I am used to using balm cleansers so using a foam cleanser didn't particularly feel as luxurious as what I am used to. I kind of felt like I was massaging washing up liquid into my face. As I breathed little bubbles would fly off into the air. It did however cleanse my skin well and removed all of my makeup. I did still need to use a separate eye makeup remover on my eyes though as this would be too strong near the eyes. My skin felt instantly matte and I found if I didn't follow with the next step in my skin care immediately then my skin felt very dry and uncomfortable. Maybe this cleanser was just a little too drying on my combination skin.

The toner is a large 200ml bottle  and was actually my favourite product out of the three. It doesn't feel stripping or sting the skin. It leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth. If you have an oily or combination skin you'll know how lovely it feels for your skin to feel matte rather than greasy. In here we have witch hazel, silica, and salicylic acid among other ingredients. I used this toner every day but found after week three my skin started to feel a little dry and I developed a patch of dry skin above my lip. I would say good to use two or three times a week but on a combi skin every day didn't work for me.

Effaclar Duo is a product that initially confused me a little. It says it's a corrective, unclogging and  anti marks treatment. I wasn't sure if it was a moisturiser or just a cream you apply topically to affected areas. You do however apply it all over the face as a moisturiser in the day and evening.
 It feels lightweight and is absorbed quickly. It made a lovely base to apply makeup straight onto as it had no residue or greasy slip. I had to use an oil at night from a different brand after two weeks though as my skin was starting to feel tight and fine lines seemed to appear more visible as my skin looked flat and dehydrated.
 This cream performed well for me for about 3 weeks applied daily and then I found I needed something a little richer. I began to apply a different moisturiser and only used this on my blemish prone areas or over old scarring. Any brown marks I had did start to subside more quickly and it was nice to use on my t-zone for when I wanted to apply makeup.

Overall long term this kit wasn't for me. I think my skin wasn't quite oily enough as it worked on my t-zone but made elsewhere dry. I did like how it helped to fade fresh blemish scarring.

This kit is available now and is £32.50 from http://tidd.ly/73ebd70

Have you used La roche-Posay? What did you think of their products?