I’m going to give spoilers right off the bat: this brand is fantastic. Whatever the product, you can always rely on Paula’s Choice. And I’m not saying this because this is a hidden sponsored post (honestly, I wish) or because I’m trying to grab the brand’s attention (I’m aware of my irrelevancy), I’m saying this because Paula’s Choice is that good.
I purchased all of my items, and I will repurchase most of them.
In this post I won’t dwell much on what each ingredient does because when Paula’s Choice lists their ingredients they do something I find quite exciting – they put what they are for in between brackets, so you’ll always know what that chemical is for. We’ve seen brands that are big on skincare education (just take a look at The Inkey List’s packaging) but for me, Paula’s Choice takes the cake.
Resist Skin Restoring Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF50 (60ml – 42,69€)
This is the moisturiser with the highest SPF I tried from Paula’s Choice. It’s the most occlusive of the three sunscreens I’ve tried, which makes sense since it’s meant for normal to dry skin. Even though it is the thickest and the closest to a traditional facial sunscreen of the ones on this post, it’s not heavy nor difficult to spread. It also has a light sunscreen scent.
Performance wise, I never felt the need to reapply the moisturiser throughout my outing (but then again, I never do with anything with an SPF of 30 or higher) and my skin always felt hydrated when I used it. On rare occasions I felt my skin was a bit too greasy.
Lovely user experience aside, it is a very well formulated cream. There are a lot of famously great ingredients here: glycerin, niacinamide, shea butter, vitamin E. And apart from containing a lot of hydrating and emollient elements, this contains a decent amount of skin soothing (allantoin, licorice extract, aloe vera, oat extract) and antioxidant ingredients.
Skin Restoring Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF50 Ingredients List: Aqua, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate (Octinoxate 7.5%, sunscreen), Homosalate (5%, sunscreen), Ethylhexyl Salicylate (Octisalate 5%, sunscreen), Benzophenone-3 (Oxybenzone 5%, sunscreen), Silica (opacifier and texture enhancer), Glycerin (hydration), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (Avobenzone 3.0 %, sunscreen), Cetearyl Alcohol (texture enhancer), Dimethicone (hydration), Butylene Glycol (hydration), Pentylene Glycol (hydration), Potassium Cetyl Phosphate (emulsifier), Cyclopentasiloxane (hydration), Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract (skin-restoring), VP/Eicosene Copolymer (texture enhancer), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter (emollient), Allantoin (skin soothing), Niacinamide (skin-restoring), Tocopherol (vitamin E/antioxidant), Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract (skin soothing), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract (hydration, soothing), Atractylodes Macrocephala Root Powder (antioxidant), Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract (skin soothing), Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Extract (antioxidant), Portulaca Oleracea Extract (antioxidant), Mahonia Aquifolium Root Extract (antioxidant), Diethylhexyl Syringylidenemalonate (antioxidant), Sarcosine (skin softener), Capryloyl Glycine (skin softener), Maltooligosyl Glucoside (skin softener), Cetearyl Glucoside (skin softener), Dimethiconol (texture enhancer), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer (stabilizer), Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate (hydration), Hexylene Glycol (texture enhancer), 4-T-Butylcyclohexanol (emollient), Glyceryl Stearate (texture enhancer), PEG-100 Stearate (texture enhancer), Sodium Hydroxide (pH adjuster), Xanthan Gum (stabilizer), Disodium EDTA (chelating agent), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Caprylyl Glycol (preservative), Ethylhexylglycerin (skin softening).
Defense Essential Glow Moisturizer SPF30 (60ml – 38,62€)
This moisturiser is meant for all skin types. It may not be enough on its own for very dry skin, but it’s quite a hydrating moisturiser, even though it is so light and fluid and easy to spread – particularly for a sunscreen. What I loved more about it is how good my makeup looked on top of it. I actually think it prolonged my foundation wear time, and it help my skin look plump and smooth throughout the day.
As you can see from the swatch, it has a little bit of colour. This helped make my complexion look a little bit more even and better looking. It had just a very faint, but pleasant, sunscreen scent.
This moisturiser focuses more on antioxidants (9 different ones!) and skin restoring ingredients (peptides, niacinamide, phospholipids, etc), but it does not neglect hydrating and emollient ingredients either. It is packed full of good stuff, and I think it shows, because it was my favourite to wear and it made my skin look great.
Defense Essential Glow Moisturizer SPF30 Ingredients List: Aqua, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (emollient), Zinc Oxide (nano, sunscreen), Titanium Dioxide (nano, sunscreen), Glycerin (skin-replenishing), Isononyl Isononanoate (emollient), Butylene Glycol (texture enhancer), Cetearyl Alcohol (emollient/texture enhancer), Potassium Cetyl Phosphate (emulsifier), Dimethicone (hydration), Glyceryl Stearate (texture enhancer), Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract (skin-soothing), Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract (antioxidant), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil (non-fragrant antioxidant plant oil), Tetrapeptide-30 (skin-restoring agent), Linoleic Acid (skin-restoring agent), Resveratrol (antioxidant), Ascorbyl Glucoside (vitamin C/antioxidant), Niacinamide (skin-restoring), Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E/antioxidant), Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (vitamin C/antioxidant), Bisabolol (skin-soothing), Tocopherol (vitamin E/antioxidant), Phospholipids (skin-restoring agent), Lecithin (skin-restoring agent), Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols (antioxidant/hydration), Xanthophylls (antioxidant), Pullulan (texture enhancer), Sodium Gluconate (hydration), Xanthan Gum (texture enhancer), Sclerotium Gum (texture enhancer), Alumina (texture enhancer), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (skin-replenishing), Citric Acid (pH adjuster), Triethoxycaprylylsilane (texture enhancer), C13-14 Isoparaffin (solvent), Acrylates Copolymer (film-forming agent), Polyhydroxystearic Acid (dispersing agent), Caprylyl Glycol (hydration), Polyacrylamide (film-forming agent), Ceteareth-20 (texture enhancer), Aluminum Stearate (texture enhancer), Laureth-7 (emulsifier), Ethylhexylglycerin (preservative), Phenoxyethanol (preservative).
Resist Super-Light Daily Wrinkle Defense SPF30 (60ml – 42,69€)
This is Paula’s Choice’s sunscreen offer for combination and oily skin. It is tinted, and you can notice the colour on the skin just a little bit more than with the Defense Essential Glow moisturizer, but not to the point where it looks like makeup. But you do notice that this evens out the complexion more than the Defense Essential Glow.
Even though there are not a lot of hydrating/emollient ingredients in this sunscreen, and it is in fact the least moisturizing of this list, my skin did not feel dry when I used it. This was enough for me during the day, I didn’t need to add another moisturiser. Just like the Essential Glow sunscreen, this one focuses more on the antioxidants, and it has a few skin-soothing ingredients. But the Super -Light Daily Wrinkle Defense also has the “lightest” and least impressive ingredients list of the moisturisers.
Resist Super-Light Daily Wrinkle Defense SPF30 Ingredients List: Aqua, Cyclopentasiloxane (hydration), Zinc Oxide (Nano, broad spectrum sunscreen agent), PEG-12 Dimethicone (texture enhancer), PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone (texture enhancer), Lauryl Lysine (skin-conditioning agent), Sodium Chloride (stabilizer), Trihydroxystearin (texture-enhancing), Dimethicone Crosspolymer (suspending agent), Resveratrol (antioxidant), Quercetin (antioxidant), Epigallocatechin Gallate (antioxidant), Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E/antioxidant), Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (vitamin C/antioxidant), enisonedA (skin-restoring), Bisabolol (skin-soothing), xilaS Alba (willow) Bark Extract (skin-soothing), Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract (antioxidant), Haematococcus Pluvialis (Astaxanthin) Extract (antioxidant), Hydrolyzed Corn Starch (texture-enhancing/mattifying agent), Polysorbate 80 (texture-enhancing), Hydrolyzed Silica (texture-enhancing/mattifying agent), Triethoxycaprylylsilane (texture enhancer), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (emollient texture enhancer), Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate (texture-enhancing), Caprylyl Glycol (preservative), Hexylene Glycol (preservative), Ethylhexylglycerin (preservative), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) (colorant), Phenoxyethanol (preservative).
1% Retinol Booster (15ml – 59,97€)
Paula’s Choice retinol booster contains the maximum amount an over-the-counter retinol product is aloud to have: 1%. You can mix this with a serum or moisturiser but I used it directly on my skin after cleansing and before my night cream. This bright yellow serum has a very thin, runny texture, so mixing it with something else might make it last longer. It has a somewhat chemical smell that is not too unpleasant but is noticeable.
I have a bit of difficulty noticing retinol effects on my skin, particularly because I use it mostly to prevent wrinkles, but what I can say is despite it’s strong concentration, I didn’t notice any peeling or sensitivity (and I don’t use this sparingly!), which leads me to believe this is very well formulated – in fact, it has a lot of skin soothing and replenishing ingredients.
It’s also one of the most expensive products (particularly per ml) on this list, but one I consider worth it. There is another 1% Retinol product from Paula’s Choice that I’d like to try before repurchasing this one, but I’ll certainly buy a retinol serum from them again.
Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Booster Ingredients List: Aqua, Glycereth-7 Triacetate (emollient/texture-enhancing), Glycerin (hydration/skin replenishing), Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Oleosomes (emollient/skin-soothing), Isopentyldiol (hydration), Polyglyceryl-10 Behenate/Eicosadioate (texture-enhancing), Butylene Glycol (hydration), Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract (antioxidant), Polysorbate 20 (texture-enhancing), Retinol (skin-restoring), Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate (texture-enhancing), Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract (skin-soothing), Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract (skin-soothing), Ceramide NP (hydration/skin replenishing), Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 (skin-restoring), Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate (skin-soothing), Allantoin (skin-soothing), Epilobium Angustifolium (Willow Herb) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract (skin-soothing), xilaS Alba (Willow) Bark Extract (skin-soothing), Arctium Lappa (Burdock) Root Extract (skin-soothing), Hydrogenated Lecithin (skin-restoring), Caprylyl Glycol (emollient), Dipentaerythrityl Tri-Polyhydroxystearate (texture-enhancing/emollient), Bis-Glyceryl Ascorbate (antioxidant), Ethylhexyl Methoxycrylene (texture-enhancing), Disodium EDTA (stabilizer), Xanthan Gum (texture-enhancing), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Sorbic Acid (preservative).
Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (118ml- 39,64€)
Very short ingredients list for a Paula’s Choice product, but I guess quality over quantity rings very true in this case since this is one of their more popular products. Everyone loves this. I had a good experience using it but I have trouble validating some of the most extreme claims people make about it because my skin does not need a lot of exfoliation, so I use it very occasionally.
When I neglect my skincare routine, and particularly when I don’t cleanse my fase all that well (or at all, lets be honest), that’s when my pores get clogged and a few blackheads and the sporadic pimple pops up, and that’s when I remember to use this. It’s not as strong as a peeling mask, which is my preferred way to deal with the issue, but it’s well balanced enough that even though I can feel the tingly sensation of the chemical exfoliant, I never get dry, or peeling, or sensitive skin when I use it (which happens with other products).
Besides the exfoliant (BHA) this contains green tea extract, that calms and soothes the skin.
Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant Ingredients List: Aqua, Methylpropanediol (hydration), Butylene Glycol (hydration), Salicylic Acid (Beta Hydroxy Acid, exfoliant), Polysorbate 20 (stabilizer), Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract (skin calming/antioxidant), Sodium Hydroxide (pH balancer), Tetrasodium EDTA (stabilizer), Phenoxyethanol (preservative).
Final Thoughts
Paula’s Choice is one of my favourite, definitely top 3, skincare brands. The products are very well balanced, and the targeted treatments are formulated taking into account the side effects of the main ingredients as well, so as not to cause adverse reactions on the skin.
I’ve had difficulty in the past finding a good sunscreen that also worked well as a moisturiser. Usually it’s either one or the other, but I can’t be bothered applying two different creams in the morning and underneath my makeup. I found my favourite (of all time): the Defense Essential Glow. It’s lightweight but still feels moisturising and makes my makeup look amazing. Also that little bit of tint helps when I don’t wear makeup at all. Even my husband mentioned it was his preferred one from all the three.
I would say they are placed mid-price, and you can find a lot of good products with a more affordable price tag, but the formulations are not as complete, user experience is usually not as pleasant, and skin sensitivity is not taken into account as much.
Paula’s Choice does not disappoint.
