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La Roche-Posay Lipikar Balm AP+ for oily skin

Caution

  • CautionOily Skin Fit
  • HighEffectiveness
  • ConcerningSafety

A poor match for oily skin; the moisturizers alongside fit it better.

This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with oily skin: shine, enlarged pores, blackheads, and blemishes. 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

  • Offers excellent moisturizing for your oily skin due to shea butter and glycerin, which hydrate and enhance barrier resilience, but these emollients can be too heavy for oily skin.
  • While the formula is safe and free of harsh ingredients for your oily skin, its primary benefits are general hydration rather than addressing oily shine.

How to apply

  • Could be used as part of your AM or PM routine every day to keep your face fresh.
  • Apply this moisturizer after cleansing and toning, but right before your SPF in the morning.
  • Gently press a small amount into your skin and let it absorb fully.
  • Apply on clean, slightly dry skin to help control that oily shine.
  • Avoid the eye area and do a quick patch test before your first use.

People Say

★4.6Overall rating based on 4.8k+ reviews

Highlights

  • Deep hydration Mostly Mentioned
    • “keeps skin hydrated all day”
    • “healed my dry winter skin”
    • “moisture lasts 48 hours”
  • Defective pump design Mostly Mentioned
    • “pump stopped working halfway”
    • “have to cut the bottle open”
    • “wasteful packaging”
  • Gentle & unscented Sometimes Noted
    • “no stinging on broken skin”
    • “great for my baby”
    • “truly fragrance-free”
  • Restores skin barrier Sometimes Noted
    • “repaired my moisture barrier”
    • “skin feels stronger”
    • “less cracking and bleeding”
  • Greasy/sticky finish Sometimes Noted
    • “feels sticky for hours”
    • “too greasy for daytime”
    • “leaves a film on skin”
  • Causes breakouts (face) Rarely Noted
    • “gave me cystic acne”
    • “too heavy for my face”
    • “clogged my pores”
  • Thick consistency Rarely Noted
    • “hard to spread”
    • “too thick for the pump”
    • “takes work to rub in”

Sources: lovi.care, dermstore.com, cocooncenter.co.uk, ulta.com, target.com, lovelyskin.com, and more

Questions and answers

Why does Lovi advise caution with La Roche-Posay Lipikar Balm AP+ for oily skin?

Lovi advises caution because shea butter and glycerin provide heavy hydration that can feel too rich for oily skin. To work well for this skin type, a moisturizer needs lightweight textures, peptides or other hydrating agents, and ingredients that manage shine without heavy oils or clogged pores.

Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017

Which ingredients make this cream a poor fit for oily skin?

Shea butter and glycerin make this cream a poor fit because these heavy emollients can feel too thick for oily skin. A moisturizer for this skin type needs lightweight hydrating agents and peptides that provide moisture while maintaining a light texture without heavy oils.

Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017

What does Shea Butter do for oily skin?

Shea butter may feel too heavy for oily skin and is unlikely to be the best fit without careful testing. This skin type needs light, non-greasy moisturizers and ingredients that balance oil production without clogging pores.

What does Niacinamide do for oily skin?

Niacinamide helps balance oily skin by significantly reducing excess oil production and shine. It is well tolerated and may improve skin texture without clogging pores.

Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy, 2006Antioxidants, 2021

Where does it go in a skincare routine for oily skin?

This moisturizer is a poor match for oily skin because ingredients like shea butter and glycerin can feel too heavy. Oily skin needs lightweight hydrators and balancing ingredients that control shine without clogging pores.

Can I use this cream with retinol, and in what order?

You can use this cream with retinol by applying the retinol first and following it with the moisturizer to help soothe dryness and support your skin barrier. Using a barrier-enhancing moisturizer with treatments like retinol is unlikely to cause irritation and may improve how well your skin handles the routine.

Cutis, 2006The Journal of Dermatology, 2014

How often should I use it?

This heavy cream is a poor match for oily skin because its rich ingredients can feel too weighty, so you may prefer to use it sparingly or only on dry patches rather than as a daily all-over moisturizer. Oily skin typically needs lightweight, oil-free hydration with ingredients like hyaluronic acid or niacinamide that balance moisture without clogging pores.

Can this cream clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for oily skin?

This thick moisturizer is a poor match for oily skin because heavy ingredients like shea butter and glycerin may feel greasy and cause breakouts. Oily skin needs lightweight, oil-free hydration and ingredients that help balance shine without heavy emollients.

Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017

Can I use it around the eyes or on my body?

This moisturizer is safe to use on your body and around your eyes, where the skin is much thinner. It hydrates well and feels soft, though oily skin needs a lighter lotion that controls shine without heavy butters.

Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, 2002Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017

Is this cream fragrance-free and alcohol-free?

Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol, which soften the skin.

What the research says

  • A 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, 2017
  • A combination cream of stimu-tex AS and saccharide isomerate reduced erythema, increased skin capacitance, and reduced transepidermal water loss compared to placebo in 20 subjects after fractional CO2 laser procedure without causing serious adverse events.

    Lasers in Medical Science, 2025
  • Petrolatum-based skin protectants demonstrated protection against irritants and maceration while providing skin hydration, whereas dimethicone and zinc oxide products showed varying or limited performance across parameters among 18 healthy volunteers compared to positive and negative controls.

    Ostomy/wound Management, 2005
  • Malaysian thermal spring water as an adjunct to standard acne therapy improved skin hydration, reduced dryness and stinging, enhanced overall tolerability, and improved the acne disability index in patients with mild to moderate acne.

    The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 2024
  • A skin barrier restoring cream with shea butter, silkflo, and vitamin E increased type I procollagen synthesis, enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, decreased reactive oxygen species generation, and promoted hyaluronic acid production in H2O2-stimulated human keratinocyte cells compared to untreated cells.

    International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2025
  • Topical post-laser application of human adipocyte-derived mesenchymal stem cell media combined with niacinamide significantly improved wrinkle index, melanin index, patient satisfaction, and investigator esthetic improvement scores compared to vehicle cream in patients with aging skin.

    Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2021
  • Topical nicotinamide prevented solar-simulated UV-induced immunosuppression in healthy volunteers, and men experienced immunosuppression at solar-simulated UV doses three times lower than those required for women.

    The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2008
  • Topical 5% niacinamide applied twice daily for 12 weeks reduced fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmented spots, red blotchiness, and skin sallowness, and improved skin elasticity compared to vehicle control in 50 female white subjects with facial photoaging.

    Dermatologic Surgery, 2005
  • Balneotherapy with thermal water altered specific skin microbiota at genus and species levels in healthy female volunteers compared to tap water, which produced no significant microbiome changes.

    Life, 2023
  • A 2% Sphingomonas xenophaga ferment extract cream applied twice daily for 4 weeks significantly decreased facial vascular disorder scores compared to vehicle in 86 Caucasian female subjects, alongside dose-dependent inhibition of pre-kallikrein activity in vitro.

    International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2025
  • A formulation containing vitamin C, biopeptides, hyaluronic acid, and mineralizing water accelerated cell turnover to 17.1 days versus 19.2 days for untreated skin, and reduced crow's-feet, forehead, and nasolabial folds by 9%, 11%, and 5% respectively after 28 days in female subjects.

    International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2021
  • The 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, 2020
  • Ten 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
  • Niacinamide/glycerin body moisturizers provided better rapid and prolonged improvement of cosmetic xerosis through functional improvement of stratum corneum barrier function compared to no treatment and conventional moisturizers in female subjects.

    Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2012
  • Wearing an N95 mask alone compared to using dimethicone cream or hydrocolloid dressing caused more adverse skin reactions among 73 military health care workers, with no significant differences in fit test failure rates between groups.

    Military Medicine, 2024
  • A dimethicone skin protectant lotion significantly decreased visual scoring and transepidermal water loss compared to vehicle control and SLS-only treated sites in 12 healthy humans exposed to sodium lauryl sulfate.

    Skin Research and Technology, 2000
  • Treatment with a moisturizer containing dimethicone and glycerine increased epidermal thickness by 0.019 mm, improved barrier function by decreasing transepidermal water loss by 13%, decreased melanin intensity, and induced keratins 6 and 16 in fifteen women with moderately photoaged forearms.

    Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2007

Ingredients

Water, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Shea Butter, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Niacinamide, Cetearyl Alcohol, Brassica Campestris Seed Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Peg-100 Stearate, Propandiol, Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract, Peg-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Sorbitan Tristearate, Dimethiconol, Sodium Chloride, Mannose, Coco-Betaine, Disodium Edta, Capryloyl Glycine, Caprylyl Glycol, Vitreoscilla Ferment, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, Tocopherol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate

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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Prices checked 5 Nov 2026

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