La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 review

If you have dry or sensitive skin, you need this product in your stash. Don’t dismiss its simple tube packaging, it’s seriously incredible at soothing all kinds of redness and irritations!

Overview

What is it
Multi-purpose soothing cream hydrates cracked, chapped, chafed skin and dry skin irritations. Non-greasy, skin protectant relieves dry, rough skin, while protecting from drying effects of wind and cold weather.

Best suited for
All types of irritated and itchy skin, even on a baby’s delicate skin. Oily skin might find the texture too heavy, but otherwise it’s suitable for the whole family.

Things to note
It’s fragrance and alcohol-free, as soothing products should be. Accepted by the National Eczema Association.

Packaging
A plastic tube that’s easy to squeeze. May need to cut the tube to get the last bits out.

Scent
Has a very faint sour smell due from the ingredients themselves, but it’s not noticeable unless you put your nose right into the cream.

Texture
A rich nourishing texture yet is easy to spread. Doesn’t feel heavy at all for my dry skin.

Finish
Satin, which is an improvement from the previous dewy + slight white cast finish! Skin feels soft and soothed. Layers well under sunscreen and makeup with no pilling.

Where to buy
$14.99 for 1.35oz at Amazon, SkinStore (25% off with code JENNY) Dermstore (15% off with code JENNY), CultBeauty, Adore Beauty, Ulta, Target, CVS (wait for their 30% of all beauty sales!)

Cicaplast Balm B5 Ingredients

Panthenol – A powerful humectant that helps attract and retain moisture on the skin, studies have shown that it also exhibits anti-inflammatory and soothing properties when regularly used over a period of time.

Dimethicone – Has an unfair bad rep for being comedogenic, but when your skin is irritated and your moisture barrier is compromised, it’s actually great. It’s a lightweight occlusive that prevents water loss and helps lock in that moisture, making it a suitable ingredient for dehydrated skin. It can also help soften scars and improve their elasticity!

Madecassoside – One of the main compounds found in centella asiatica. Its anti-inflammatory properties not only soothe the skin but can help promote the healing process. Studies also suggest that it can reverse the signs of sun damage when used with vitamin C.

Shea butter – An excellent emollient that helps nourish and moisturize our skin, studies also show that certain compounds in shea butter have great anti-inflammatory properties.

Zinc Gluconate – It has antibacterial and sebum regulating properties which makes the Cicaplast Baume B5 a nice option for acne-prone skin dealing with inflammations. It’s also been shown to have nice wound-healing abilities.

Copper Gluconate – Another mineral that’s been shown to have wound healing abilities, especially when paired together with Zinc Gluconate since they work during different phases of the skin repairing process. It can also help with cellular regeneration!

Manganese Gluconate – The third of the mineral trio that’s been studied for its wound healing benefits. There aren’t too many other studies on the topical effect of applying these, but the few available do show that they’re beneficial to our overall skin health.

Other moisturizing ingredients: Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, and Propanediol

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How to use the Cicaplast Balm B5

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Materials

• La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5

Instructions

1. Make sure to cleanse your skin, and waiting for it to dry before applying. Do not try to mist before this, it actually makes the product harder to spread.
2. As part of your skincare routine, use it as the last step after your actives and serums, in place of your regular moisturiser.
3. For intense irritation relief, apply a thick layer at night time as a leave-on mask (ie slugging). You can also use this a spot treatment for dry patches or rough areas.
4. If using in the morning, apply a thin layer for your face as a little bit goes a long way. Wait for the balm to absorb before applying sunscreen.

Notes

If you find the finish too dewy, wait a minute and then set with powder or remove excess oil with a blotting paper. Can also be used as makeup primer if you have dry skin and are in a pinch!

My Usage Experience & Results

Remember when I mentioned in my LRP Double Repair Moisturizer review that there were better La Roche-Posay products for sensitive skin types? Well this is that better product, because the Cicaplast Balm B5 Soothing Repair Balm is what will actually help with your skin healing process.

There’s a reason this is a cult classic. Unlike the Double Repair, this multi-repairing balm contains absolutely no irritants and some great skin-soothing and repairing ingredients to actually do its job. And boy does it get its job done.

First Impressions: Definitely not the most elegant product and feels like a thick face cream, yet it spreads nicely and is not suffocating at all. 

Which was the last thing I needed after I had an unfortunate experience testing out some new products that made my entire face burn and splotchy. I was miserable…until I slathered on this cream.

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Not only did it not irritate my skin any further (pretty much everything including water burned at this point), but my skin felt instantly calmed. The next morning the redness had gotten better (though not completely gone) and my skin no longer burned.

Now the Cicaplast Balm B5 is staple in my routine:

• Calms and nourishes the skin when I’ve accidentally over exfoliated.
• Prevent any peeling or irritations when I’m using tretinoin or a really strong retinol.
• Ease the redness and discomfort when I have a rash on my arm.
• Help speed up the skin repair process and minimize redness after chemical peels or lasers.
• During dry winter months and nothing else works.

Basically whenever I’m having skin issues (think red, itchy, dry, and/or peeling), nothing soothes my skin and makes it feel better the next morning like this multi-purpose balm. 

Even when my skin isn’t having problems, this is still a great product to use to prevent issues in the first place. I brought this during a vacation once to use as my main moisturizer, and I swear my skin looked extra healthy and felt extra soft those 2 weeks.

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Old Formula vs New Formula

La Roche-Posay officially updated the formula in 2022, and to the relief of the skincare community, not much has actually changed.

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Key ingredients stayed the same, but silica was added which makes the finish less dewy and more universally appealing. Titanium dioxide was also removed, which means no more white cast!

The rest of the changes were related to preservatives and pH adjusters, so not something you’d notice in the texture, finish, or results.

What Others Say

Semi-occlusive creams are unique in that they allow the skin to “breathe” while simultaneously helping to protect it from outside substances. I recommend that my patients apply this rich cream to dry patches on the body and face throughout the day to provide relief and hydration.

Board Certified Dermatologist, Dr. Rina Allawh

I’ve struggled on for 8+ yrs with sensitized skin, Rosacea and flare-ups of Perioral Dermatitis. My skin had poor resilience. Now? I wear a mask for 10 hrs a day in the med field, with gorgeous skin! This balm is now my MUST-HAVE. I have not had a PD flare-up since using this in my routine.

CYJ, combination skin

Because of this product, my skin barrier has quickly bounced back within a couple days. I slather it on at night, and wake up with softer skin- no dryness, no flakiness. The only thing to note is that it is a thicker formula and you don’t need a lot.

Anonymous, Dermstore review

I know people rave about this and swear by it, and it does have a great ingredient line-up, but it broke my sensitive acne-prone skin out pretty badly and I suspect the shea butter or some other ingredient happened to clog my pores.

Lily, sensitive skin, Dermstore review

Cicaplast Balm B5 Compared

There are a lot of products out there that claim to soothe or repair the skin, but then contain ingredients that could potentially irritate the skin further! Let’s take a look at a few of them:

Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream
I loved this before discovering the Cicaplast Balm B5 and in its defense it does have some nice soothing ingredients. But it also features several essential oils, albeit near the end. The Klairs is also not very moisturizing when used alone, though oily skin may prefer the finish.

Rovectin Barrier Repair Cream Concentrate
A thicker cream with some good barrier repair ingredients like ceramides and fatty acids, but unfortunately contains rose essential oil. I found this moisturizing, but not very soothing.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Moisturizer
Despite the name it actually has a light almost fluffy texture that feels comfortable on the skin! It features colloidal oatmeal for their skin soothing benefits, but I still find the Cicaplast to be more effective overall.

Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Moisturizing Cream
In terms of function this will be similar to the Rovectin in that it supports a healthier barrier but isn’t great at actually soothing irritated skin. If anything my skin burned when using this one!

Prequel Skin Utility Ointment Multi-Purpose Skin Protectant
A thicker balm that contains 45% petrolatum for when your moisture barrier is compromised, plus ceramides and bisabolol to help repair the skin. I didn’t find this as calming as the Cicaplast, but it’s an excellent option for slugging.

Curious how other moisturizers compare? I’ve reviewed 38 different ones and here are the best picks for dry and mature skin!

Final Verdict

FAQs

Jenny Wu

Passionate about science-based skincare. Tested hundreds if not thousands of products since my 20's. Working regularly with brands like iHerb, Ulta, CurrentBody, and MedStar Health to share my knowledge and experience in all things beauty. Learn more.

Skin profile: 35+, dry/combination, focused on well-aging, hydration, and a healthy glow ✨