Product Review: Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid

Paula’s Choice’s Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid is a Salicylic Acid based toner/lotion designed to unclog pores for combination and oily skin. It promises to “reshape the pores” and offers a “dramatic improvement to the skin’s appearance, feel and function.” I used this for about a week on my “summer normal” skin (my skin is more “normal” in the summer and dry to very dry in the winter) and am ready to report my findings!!!

Key Ingredients: methylpropanediol, salicylic acid, green tea, BHA (beta hydroxy acid)

Product Ingredients:
Water, Methylpropanediol, Butylene Glycol (slip agents/penetration enhancers), Salicylic Acid (beta hydroxy acid/exfoliant), Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract (anti-irritant/antioxidant), Polysorbate-20 (solubolizing agent), Sodium Hydroxide (pH balancer), Tetrasodium EDTA (chelating agent).

The ingredients in this product are pretty straightforward and the claims made by Paula’s Choice are right on board with the ingredients listed. It penetrates the skin very well due to the second and third ingredients on the list, making this form of Paula’s BHA exfoliant particularly aggressive (as compared to the 2% BHA Gel, which doesn’t have these ingredients). All of this is good for people with clogged pores, particularly those with acne, blackheads, etc but this type of exfoliation is good for all skin types. BHA (and AHA’s for that matter) exfoliant are great for anti aging and can be used (according to Paula’s website) with retinoids and Retin A (which I use regularly).
 

One of the claims about this product are that it is “100% non irritating.” Unfortunately, I did not find that to be the case. To be fair, though, I do not have acne or blackheads or very oily skin. While testing, I used it in place of my normal acid containing  toner (Biologique Recherche P50), which I use every morning and evening. After about four days of using this product, the skin around my nose and on my chin became very dry, flaky and itchy. At that point, I stopped using the liquid and began applying my Skin Actives Every Lipid Serum to take care of the problem (which it did). So while it should work for people with skin like me (it does say it’s suitable for all skin types), it definitely didn’t work for me for every day use. Now, I will use this again in a few weeks but this time will only use it once per day. If that still doesn’t work, I’ll use it every other day until I find a cadence that works. BHAs are excellent for aging skin and this product deserves another shot!

Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHa Liquid is available for $19.95 for a four ounce bottle on the Paula’s Choice website here, making it a very economic purchase for a product of this type.

Ages of Beauty rating: ***