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Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus CeraVe Acne Control Gel

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus CeraVe Acne Control Gel This pore-care exfoliator is formulated around Salicylic Acid and Phytosphingosine to refine the look of pores and refine skin texture. This acne treatment is formulated around

By Peptide Skincare & Beauty Editorial TeamPublished

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus CeraVe Acne Control Gel

This pore-care exfoliator is formulated around Salicylic Acid and Phytosphingosine to refine the look of pores and refine skin texture.

This acne treatment is formulated around Salicylic Acid and Glycolic Acid to clear breakouts and refine skin texture.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Methylpropanediol

Butylene Glycol

Polysorbate 20

Salicylic Acid

Phytosphingosine

Hydroxyethylcellulose

Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract

Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract

Epilobium Angustifolium Extract

Bisabolol

Tetrasodium EDTA

Sodium Hydroxide

Water, Methylpropanediol, Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Salicylic Acid, Phytosphingosine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Extract, Bisabolol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide

Salicylic Acid 2%

Glycerin

Glycolic Acid

Lactic Acid

Niacinamide

Ceramide NP

Ceramide AP

Ceramide EOP

Carbomer

Cetearyl Alcohol

Behentrimonium Methosulfate

Triethyl Citrate

Sodium Hyaluronate

Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate

Cholesterol

Chlorphenesin

Disodium EDTA

Hydroxypropyl Guar

Caprylyl Glycol

Xanthan Gum

Benzoic Acid

Salicylic Acid 2%, Water, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, Niacinamide, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Carbomer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Triethyl Citrate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Cholesterol, Chlorphenesin, Disodium EDTA, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Caprylyl Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Phytosphingosine, Benzoic Acid

Reviews

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Phytosphingosine is a phospholipid naturally found in our skin as a building block for ceramides.. It helps moisturize, soothe, and protect skin.

Phytosphingosine contributes to your skin's natural moisturizing factor (NMF). The NMF is responsible for hydration, a strong barrier, and plasticity. Our NMF decreases with age. Increasing NMF leads to more healthy and hydrated skin.

Studies show products formulated with NMF ingredients help strengthen our skin's barrier. Having a healthy skin barrier reduces irritation and increases hydration. Our skin barrier is responsible for having plump and firm skin. It also helps protect our skin against infection, allergies, and inflammation.

Fun fact: Phytosphingosine is abundant in plants and fungi.

More ingredients that help boost collagen in skin:

Salicylic Acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid or BHA) is a well-known ingredient for treating skin that struggles with acne and clogged pores. It exfoliates both the skin's surface and deep within the pores to help clear out buildup, control oil, and reduce inflammation.

Unlike AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), salicylic acid is oil-soluble. This allows it to penetrate into pores which makes it especially effective for treating blackheads and preventing future breakouts.

Salicylic acid is also known for its soothing properties. It has a similar structure to aspirin and can calm inflamed or irritated skin, making it a good option for acne-prone skin that is also sensitive.

Concentrations of 0.5-2% are recognized by the U.S. FDA as an over-the-counter topical acne product.

It can cause irritation and/or dryness if one's skin already has a compromised moisture barrier, so it's best to focus on repairing that before introducing this ingredient into your routine.

While salicylic acid does not increase sun sensitivity, it’s still important to wear sunscreen daily to protect your skin.

If you are looking for the ingredient called BHA or Butylated Hydroxyanisole, click here.

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!

Similar Comparisons

The reference edit

Ingredients, questions
& further reading.

Connected source records selected through this article’s public topic index.

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Formula cabinet

Ingredients & structured notes

Ingredient index

Paula's Choice Calm Redness Relief Toner Normal To OilyIngredients explained

  1. 01Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
  2. 02It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
  3. 03Expand to read more
  4. 04Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
  5. 05One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
  6. 06Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.
  7. 07BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting…
  8. 08It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive.
  9. 09It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula.
  10. 10A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  11. 11A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  12. 12Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
  13. 13Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
  14. 14High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
  15. 15The finely ground version of whole oat kernels that has well-established skin soothing, skin-protecting and antioxidant abilities. We have a shiny description of oat extract in skincare here. It is a real goodie ingredient for dry, irritated, inflam…
  16. 16Beta-Glucan is a nice big molecule composed of many smaller sugar molecules (called polysaccharide). It’s in the cell walls of yeast, some mushrooms, seaweeds, and cereals.
  17. 17It’s a real goodie no matter if you eat it or put it on your face. Eating it is anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and even lowers blood cholesterol.
  18. 18Putting it on your face also does a bunch of good things: it‘s shown to have intensive skin repairing & wound healing properties, it’s a mild antioxidant, a great skin soother, and moisturizer, and it even shows promising anti-aging benefits.
  19. 19The manufacturer of the ingredient did a published study with 27 people and examined the effect of 0.1% beta-glucan. They found that despite the large molecular size the smaller factions of beta-glucan penetrate into the skin, even into the dermis (…
  20. 20Bottom line: Beta-glucan is a great ingredient, especially for sensitive or damaged skin. It soothes, moisturizes, and has some anti-aging magic properties.
Source · incidecoder.com ⟶
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Product index

Related product references

Product

Paula's Choice Calm Redness Moisturizer

Paula's Choice Calm Redness Moisturizer Paula's Choice Calm Redness Moisturizer ingredients explained: Sodium Hyaluronate⁠, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein⁠, Petrolatum⁠, Glycerin⁠, Hydrogenated L…

Source: incidecoder.comView reference →
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Comparison edit

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