Monday, June 25, 2012

My trip to La Roche Posay Thermal Centre in France - The business end of things

Seriously ladies, this year keeps getting better and better and the highlight of 2012 so far without a shadow of a doubt is the recent press trip to La Roche Posay in France.  Ooh la la!  The purpose of the trip was to learn more about the brand and learn I did.  We were there for a couple of days and one day was purely all things La Roche Posay, so that's what this post will be about and later on today I'll talk you through the down time and where we stayed etc.

Now, let me preface this by saying that me being the numpty I am, brought my camera, oh yes.  Do you think I brought my memory card?  No.  Dopey here left it at home, so I had to rely on my phone, the lovely Lorraine from and the interwebs.

We went to the La Roche Posay labs where we had a little presentation about the history of the company and saw all of the products available to the lucky French folk.  They've got lots of make up products on the market there including eyeshadows and blushes.  Lahffly!

Next we went to the Thermal Centre where patients who suffer from ailments like eczema, psoriasis, scarring from burns, mouth ailments and skin dryness after chemotherapy attend.  We donned our white coats and very attractive blue shoe covers and had a tour of the centre much to the amusement of the patients.  What surprised me the most is that every treatment ranging including high pressure sprays, baths and mouth rinses are performed using only water from the La Roche Posay springs.  I wasn't too sure about this to be honest until we were able to test the strength of one of the sprays and stick our hands in front of the stream of water.  After the water dried on my hand, I could feel such a difference in my skin compared to the other hand.

The Treatment Centre isn't just for French patients though.  They need to be referred by a doctor and if they stay for the three weeks, it's paid for by the French Social Security.  It's also open to patients from abroad and the full list of prices for the treatment can be found here.  Note that this doesn't include transport and accommodation.

We went to a workshop for kids that shows them how to apply their cream properly and makes it fun so they'll do it themselves.  There was a beautiful little girl and boy there who were wondering why there were so many mammies in the class!  They were little dotes and were given a bag at the end with some cream and a certificate which they were delighted with, awww!

Next was a make up workshop where a make up artist was on hand to show us how she applies make up to patients and had a woman there who had finished her cancer treatment.  She explained that she wanted to make the women look and feel like themselves again, just a more beautiful version of themselves.  The patient was facing us during the demonstration and when she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror, her face lit up and I immediately got a lump in my throat.  She was delighted with how she looked and said she felt like herself again.

Aside from the Thermal Centre, there's also a newly renovate spa for those who just want to be pampered and we had a really relaxing facial and body treatment.  Now, I think the body treatment was called the Velvet Body Wrap but I'm not 100% as the therapist didn't speak English, I didn't speak French, so there was a lot of "Ooh la la? Non, ahhh ooh la laaaaa" and much gesturing but we got there in the end!  I was positively glowing and relaxed apres the treatment and would go back in a heartbeat!

There really is so much to learn about the brand and so many products I want to try, so I'll be doing my best to try and review as many as I can here on the blog.

What's your favourite product from La Roche-Posay?



  1. Swit swoo! How fabulous Karen, sounds like it was a fantastic experience! I love their Effaclar Gentle Gel Cleanser, it's the business.

    1. It was a brilliant experience Simone! I must give that cleanser a go next :)

  2. Heaven - I'm in heaven - were you floating around singing this all weekend ? - it sounds amazing not only paradise but they are doing amazing things there

    1. I spent the whole time with eyes huge and a constant loop of "oh my God, oh my God" running around my noggin hehe

  3. It must have been so interesting Karen! I love LRP and how into skincare they are if that makes any sense!

  4. LRP Saved my daughters poor skin (dote suffers from eczema) and so it is much loved in Casa Skew...

  5. Oh wow! Great post Karen and what a fab trip.

    I've too many fave LRP products to mention but of their recent(ish) releases the Rosaliac AR Intense Serum is a must have for me.


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