La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser for oily acne-prone skin
Salicylic Acid
Micro-Exfoliating Lha
Zinc Pca
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Glycerin
High
- HighOily Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- HighSafety
A great choice for oily acne-prone skin; a few cleansers fit it even better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with oily acne-prone skin: shine, breakouts, blemishes, and enlarged pores. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Highly suitable for your oily and acne-prone skin, as salicylic acid and zinc PCA work synergistically to decongest pores and regulate oil production, effectively managing breakouts.
- The formula provides moderate exfoliation, targeting oiliness and blemishes without causing irritation, making it a great choice for your skin concerns.
- The safety profile is excellent, with no harsh ingredients that could pose a risk to your oily skin.
How to apply
- Use this cleanser as part of your AM and PM routine. Start using it daily to help clear your breakouts.
- Apply this cleanser as the first step in the morning and right after your pre-cleanser in the evening. Follow it with your toner and moisturizer.
- Gently massage a small amount of the cleanser onto your face using circular motions. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water and pat dry.
- Apply the cleanser on slightly damp skin to help clean deeply and remove excess oil. This works best for oily skin types.
- Avoid the sensitive eye area during application. Do a patch test before your first use.
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 2.3k+ reviewsBased on a very large amount of data, this cleanser is highly praised by users with oily and acne-prone skin for its ability to significantly reduce breakouts and control excess sebum without being overly harsh. While most find it effective for smoothing texture and deep cleaning, a subset of users experiences dryness, purging, or irritation, particularly those with sensitive skin barriers.
Highlights
Clears acne Mostly Mentioned
- “clears acne blemishes”
- “reduces cystic acne”
- “prevents future breakouts”
- “cleared my skin”
Controls oil Often Mentioned
- “removes excess oil”
- “less oily all day”
- “controls shine”
- “great for oily skin”
Deep clean Sometimes Noted
- “squeaky clean feel”
- “deeply cleanses pores”
- “feels fresh”
- “removes all dirt”
Gentle formula Sometimes Noted
- “gentle on sensitive skin”
- “doesn't strip skin”
- “fragrance-free”
- “non-irritating”
Improves texture Sometimes Noted
- “smooths skin texture”
- “refines pores”
- “skin feels softer”
- “reduces bumps”
Drying and stripping Sometimes Noted
- “excessive dryness”
- “skin felt tight”
- “caused flaking”
- “dried out face”
Irritation and redness Rarely Noted
- “burning sensation”
- “caused redness”
- “rash around mouth”
- “chemical burn feel”
Packaging issues Rarely Noted
- “pump arrived broken”
- “leaks in transit”
- “hard to open”
- “pump stops working”
Purging phase Rarely Noted
- “caused bad purging”
- “broke out initially”
- “worsened acne first”
- “small bumps appeared”
Sources: lovi.care, ulta.com, dermstore.com, target.com, lovelyskin.com, amazon.com, and more
Questions and answers
What makes La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser a great fit for oily acne-prone skin?
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser is a great fit because salicylic acid and zinc PCA work together to clear out pores and control oil. This helps manage breakouts while providing gentle exfoliation that keeps oily skin smooth without causing irritation.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Which ingredients make this cleanser a good fit for oily acne-prone skin?
Salicylic acid and zinc PCA make this cleanser a great fit by helping to clear out pores and balance oil to manage breakouts. This formula provides gentle exfoliation to target oiliness and blemishes while keeping your skin calm.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
What does Salicylic Acid do for oily acne-prone skin?
Salicylic acid helps clear breakouts and keeps oily skin balanced by reducing oil levels and calming inflammation. It is well suited for oily, acne-prone skin because it targets pimples while helping keep the skin hydrated and protected.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Experimental Dermatology, 2019
What does Lipohydroxy Acid do for oily acne-prone skin?
Lipohydroxy acid helps clear clogged pores and reduce breakouts for oily, acne-prone skin while improving overall skin texture. Studies show it helps manage acne effectively and safely, often matching the performance of other common treatments.
Where does this cleanser go in a skincare routine for oily acne-prone skin?
This cleanser goes as the first active step in your morning routine and follows a makeup remover in your evening routine. It helps clear out clogged pores and control oil production without causing irritation, making it a great match for your oily, acne-prone skin.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Can I use this cleanser with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this cleanser with retinol by using the cleanser first and applying retinol afterwards, as long as your skin does not get too dry or irritated. Using salicylic acid alongside retinol may be too strong for some skin types, so you might want to start slowly, such as using them on alternate days.
How often should I use this cleanser?
This cleanser is a great fit for your oily and acne-prone skin because salicylic acid and zinc PCA clear clogged pores and balance oil to help control breakouts. It has a very safe formula with no harsh ingredients, making it gentle enough for daily use.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023
Can this cleanser clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for oily acne-prone skin?
This cleanser is a great fit for your oily, acne-prone skin and helps clear out pores and manage breakouts without causing irritation. While a mild purging phase may occasionally happen when starting active ingredients like salicylic acid, it is unlikely to clog pores or cause major breakouts.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Can I use this cleanser around the eyes or on my body?
You can use this cleanser on your body, but you should avoid using it directly around your eyes because the skin there is much thinner and more sensitive than facial skin. The active ingredients that clear breakouts on oily skin may easily cause dryness or irritation in the delicate eye area.
Is this cleanser fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.
What the research says
Twice daily application of a multitargeted dermocosmetic cream provided comparable efficacy to benzoyl peroxide 5% gel in reducing inflammatory, non-inflammatory, and total lesions in 150 Caucasian subjects with mild-to-moderate acne over 56 days, while demonstrating superior skin tolerability.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024The use of a salicylic acid-based dermocosmetic significantly reduces the needed quantity of benzoyl peroxide without impacting efficacy in mild to moderate acne, and as maintenance post-benzoyl peroxide allows a significant reduction of acne relapse compared to vehicle.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023Combining a salicylic acid and lipohydroxy acid facial serum and mask improved closed comedones and acne severity significantly more than serum alone in adults with acne over 8 weeks, with no adverse reactions reported.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023Parity was demonstrated between an OTC BPO 5.5% formulation with lipohydroxy acid and tretinoin cream 0.025% versus prescription clindamycin 1%-BPO 5% gel and tretinoin cream 0.025% in participants with mild to moderate acne vulgaris at 12 weeks.
Cutis, 2012Topical nicotinamide plus an antibacterial adhesive agent and zinc-pyrrolidone carboxylic acid combined with adapalene significantly reduced noninflammatory acne lesions by the second week of therapy compared to placebo with adapalene in patients with moderate acne vulgaris.
The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2020Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen achieved a higher cure rate (39%) than salicylic acid (24%) and a wait-and-see approach (16%) for cutaneous warts at 13 weeks in primary care patients.
CMAJ, 2010A moisturizer containing licochalcone A, 1,2-decanediol, L-carnitine, and salicylic acid significantly reduced noninflammatory, inflammatory, and total acne lesion counts compared to a vehicle control in Thai patients during a 12-week maintenance phase.
BioMed Research International, 2020Treatment with 2% supramolecular salicylic acid hydrogel resulted in a regression and markedly improvement rate of 51.01% compared to 43.10% for Adapaline gel in patients with mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris, showing no significant difference in efficacy.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Capryloyl salicylic acid peel reduced fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation comparably to glycolic acid peel in 44 female volunteers, with no statistically significant differences between the two treatments.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2008Daily use of a deep cleansing gel containing salicylic acid 2%, zinc gluconate 0.2% and lipohydroxy acid 0.05% significantly reduced total lesion count by 56.3% after 84 days in 35 subjects with mild to moderate truncal acne.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2023Daily treatment with a facial serum containing multiple acids reduced post-inflammatory hyperchromia lesion grade and number by 29.4% at 56 days, and decreased skin oiliness by 30.7% at 7 days in Brazilian patients with acne vulgaris.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2021Zinc PCA inhibits UVA-induced matrix metalloproteinase-1 production through suppressed AP-1 activation and enhances type I collagen synthesis by increasing SVCT2 mRNA expression in cultured normal human dermal fibroblasts.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2012The cytotoxic effect of sodium lauryl sulphate on normal human keratinocytes was significantly decreased when combined with cocamidopropyl betaine, Tween 20, and Tween 80 at concentrations well below the critical micelle concentration.
Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2003A single application of a moisturizing fluid containing hyaluronic acid 1%, glycerin 5%, and Centella asiatica stem cells extract significantly increased skin hydration by 29% and reduced transepidermal water loss at 24 hours compared to baseline and an untreated control site in twenty healthy women.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017The emollient V0034CR significantly reduced TEWL compared to vehicle and vehicle plus glycerol, and significantly increased corneometry scores compared to vehicle and vehicle plus petrolatum in healthy volunteers with dry skin, demonstrating combined barrier function improvement from petrolatum and hydration improvement from glycerol.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Ten days of treatment with a cream containing 20% glycerin significantly increased skin hydration measured by corneometer values in 17 healthy volunteers compared to a placebo cream, but showed no influence on transepidermal water loss or skin sensitivity to an irritating surfactant.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2001
Ingredients
Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Glycerin, Peg-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Sodium Hydroxide, Salicylic Acid, Zinc Pca, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
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Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
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Victoria Derkova, MS
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