La Roche-Posay Effaclar Sebo-Controlling Moisturiser

This product can help improve hydration of the skin with the two types of ingredients.

The first type is called “humectants”:
these ingredients help attract water. When humectants are on the surface of the skin, they “pull in” the moisture from the outside environment, or from within deeper layers of the skin. The following ingredients in this product do the job: glycerin, sarcosine.

This product also contains ingredients called “occlusives”. They help reduce the speed with which our skin loses moisture to the outside environment. These ingredients also help soften the upper layer of the skin, so it feels less tight and nicer to the touch. The following ingredients in this product do the job: dimethicone, isocetyl stearate.

The following ingredient (ingredients) in this product might be helpful, but there is no evidence to confirm that it actually works: capryloyl salicylic acid.

This product can help exfoliate the skin. In other words, it helps break down the bonds between dead cells on the surface of the skin and speed up the skin turnover. Skin often appears softer and brighter after exfoliation, but overdoing it can result in disrupted skin barrier. The following ingredient is doing the exfoliating job in this product: capryloyl salicylic acid.

This product contains ingredients (capryloyl salicylic acid) that could help reduce blemishes and clogged pores in theory, but there is not enough evidence that they actually work.