For years I treated airports like treasure hunts. If there was a stopover in Paris, someone in my circle would receive a WhatsApp from me that looked like a hostage note: two tubes of Cicaplast Baume and one Anthelios SPF, please. You really couldn’t blame me. There is something mythical about French pharmacy products, that mix of clinical science and simple elegance that makes you feel like you are discovering a secret. La Roche-Posay, a mainstay of that category for a long time, is finally back in India thanks to nykaaWhich means my friends can rest easy and I can stop hoarding travel-sized tubes like war rations.
It’s a brand I’ve trusted for years because it never tries too hard. The packaging is minimal, the textures are convenient, and depending on your skin concerns, the results are slow but consistent. It does not promise miracles; It brings calm and balance, and that is what gives La Roche-Posay a cult status in the world of beauty.
My meeting started with Effaclar Gel Facial Wash, a product I normally would have avoided because anything labeled “for oily skin” tends to leave me flaky and angry. My skin is a complicated map of contradictions: oily T-zone, dry cheeks, rosacea and melasma spots appearing like uninvited guests. But this one cleaned my face without that tight post-cleansing feeling, like I knew where to stop. Zinc pidolate keeps shine in check, while thermal water, the brand’s secret weapon, calms it all down. My skin felt clean, yes, but also calm, which is rarer than it should be.
Then came the Mela B3 serum, powered by Melasyl combined with 10% niacinamide and which claims to target everything from sun spots to post-acne marks. Normally, I take brightening serums with caution and prayer. Either they bite me, they pull me out, or they do absolutely nothing. This one didn’t. My skin felt softer and slightly more even. Nothing transformative yet, but anti-pigmentation is a slow dance. What matters to me is that it didn’t irritate my rosacea, which feels like a small miracle in itself.
The Cicaplast Baume B5+ is the old faithful. It’s the product that everyone with sensitive skin ends up finding eventually, usually after trying everything else. You can use it as a healing salve, a bulletproof mask, or a savior for dry patches that refuse to quit. I use it as insurance: on chapped lips, angry skin, or nights when my barrier feels like it’s held on by a thread. Depending on your skin type, you can use a small amount of product and apply it as a thin, breathable layer that comforts without suffocating, like your skincare version of a weighted blanket. If you are drier than the desert, this will become your favorite.
And then there is Anthelios, their sunscreens that will make you fall in love with the SPF. Whether you choose the mineral or the ultralight fluid, they both blend beautifully without that ghostly tone we’ve all endured in the name of protection. The finish is elegant, the protection serious. It’s one of those rare sunscreens that actually makes me happy to reapply.
