La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5: Everything You Need To Know About This Rosacea Hero
The high-street skincare product I've used for over a decade
I have been talking about and recommending the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 for so many years, over a decade in fact! I first discovered it in France when I would wander around the pharmacies for hours, picking up bottles and tubes and buying absolutely anything that said ‘soothing’, ‘cooling’ or ‘for sensitive skin’.
What is Cicaplast Baume B5?
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 is a thick white cream that I use on intensely dry skin patches and on the sensitive and angry skin after bad rosacea flare ups, as it reduces burning and calms my skin very quickly. One of the hero ingredients is Panthenol, which is derived from vitamin B5. It’s a humectant (which means that it draws water from the second layer of your skin – and even the air around you – into the top layer which hydrates the skin), it’s also an emollient (which means that it adds moisture through the application of the product) and it soothes dry and irritated skin. It also contains zinc gluconate and madecassoside which are fantastic for inflammation, repairing and strengthening the skin barrier.
Cicaplast Baume vs Cicaplast Gel?
However, whenever I mentioned this product on my website in the past, I would always make a point of explaining that the formula of this product is fairly thick and heavy, so I would only wear it at specific times and on specific areas of my face: I would only put it on in the evening because it would not work well under make up, and I wouldn’t apply it all over my face as my skin does not react well to feeling smothered.
Which is why, when La Roche-Posay released the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5, it was a big deal for me. It took all of the things I love about the Baume B5 (alcohol-free, fragrance-free, calming, soothing, suitable for both adults and children) but put them into a lightweight gel formula. It’s so gentle and repairing that it can even be used after stitches, cosmetic peels, or lasers and on closed scars – which just shows how great it is on sensitive or reactive skin like mine.
FYI, it looks like La Roche-Posay are in the process of renaming the Gel to Cicaplast Pro-Recovery, but I have been informed that they are the same product.
In the photo above you can see the formula of the products: the Cicaplast Baume B5 on the left has (what I always refer to as) a ‘sturdy’ texture, whereas the Cicaplast Gel B5 has more of a silicone-like silky feel.
What do you use Cicaplast for?
I still use both versions of the Cicaplast product for different reasons: I see the Cicaplast Gel B5 as an every day, maintenance product to keep my skin happy, while the Cicaplast Baume B5 is a treatment when my skin is kicking off and needs some extra TLC. I’ve used the latter on fresh tattoos, burns, rashes, flare ups, dry patches, dermatitis, allergic reactions… the list is endless, so I will always have at least two tubes of this in my house.
Have you tried either of these Cicaplast products? Which one appeals most to you?
