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Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder

Rated by Lovi · Unbiased, science-based skincare AI trained on real user outcomes · How the Fit score works

Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder are American skincare brands known for offering cleansers, moisturizers, serums, toners, and more, built around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c. The first brand fits oily skin and combination skin best, while the second suits acne-prone skin and mature skin best. Both brands differ in their formulations, as the first brand's key ingredient glycerin significantly increased skin hydration and restored barrier function, whereas the second brand's use of hyaluronic acid lengthens the effect of botulinum toxin.

Paula's Choice is an American skincare brand founded in 1995 and owned by Unilever since 2021.

unilever.comtracxn.com

Estée Lauder is an American skincare brand founded in 1946 and owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc..

en.wikipedia.orgelcompanies.com

This page compares some of the most popular Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.

Popular Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder products

People Say

Paula's ChoiceEstée Lauder
  • Fast Absorption and Lightweight Feel Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “Absorbs quickly and leaves no greasy residue behind. — Paula's Choice Clear Oil-Free Moisturizer”
    • “absorbs instantly — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “watery consistency — Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster”
    • “Absorbs quickly into the skin — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+”
  • Smoothing Skin Texture Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “skin becomes very smooth — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
    • “skin is insanely soft — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
    • “skin never been this silky — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
    • “skin feels like a baby's bottom — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
  • Deep Hydration and Plumping Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “skin drinks it up immediately — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “The formula is incredibly hydrating and leaves my skin feeling smooth. — Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv”
    • “texture is dreamy — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme”
  • Non-Irritating and Gentle Formulas Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “Finally a vitamin C product I can use — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
    • “no stinging — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “doesn't strip the skin — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée”
    • “Doesn't strip my skin — Estée Lauder Soft Clean Moisture Rich Foaming Cleanser”
  • Glow, Radiance, and Brightening Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “visible glow — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “acne scars faded — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “Discoloration almost gone — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
    • “gives me that glass skin look — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
  • Anti-Aging and Firming Results Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “skin looks plumper — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
    • “softens lines and wrinkles — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
    • “Helps with skin firmness and reduces the appearance of lines. — Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv”
    • “Instantly blurs fine lines. — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Eye Balm”
  • High Price Point and Value Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “tiny tube — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “Sooooo expensive — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
    • “way too expensive for the size — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “too pricey — Estée Lauder Micro Essence Treatment Lotion”
  • Unpleasant Smell or Scent Complaints Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “smells like grain — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “smells like hot dog water — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “Scent is too overpowering — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+”
    • “strong scent — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée”
  • Packaging Issues and Leaks Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “dropper leaks — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “dropper can be unpredictable — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
    • “lid is hard to open — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Cleansing Gelée”
    • “Please make a jar or refill that is not as big and heavy. — Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv”
  • Purging and Breakouts Sometimes NotedRarely Noted
    • “gave me tiny red bumps — Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair”
    • “Caused small bumps on forehead — Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+”
    • “cystic acne — Estée Lauder Micro Essence Treatment Lotion”
    • “skin purged — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”

Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder routines for dry skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · AED 1,244.08 · 85% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · AED 1,653.06 · 77% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · AED 1,660.65 · 89% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · AED 1,743.92 · 75% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · AED 1,512.70 · 89% fitBuy Estée Lauder routine · AED 1,225.96 · 75% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder: which is better?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder offer high routine fit levels across all skin types, making neither brand universally better than the other. Paula's Choice delivers better results for fast absorption, skin texture smoothing, and brightening, whereas Estée Lauder provides superior deep hydration and plumping.

What is the difference between Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder?

Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas with active ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, whereas Estée Lauder includes fragrance in select products while emphasizing deep hydration. Both brands offer high routine fit levels across all major skin types.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder are a High fit for dry skin on this page. Reviewers report that Paula's Choice delivers fast absorption and smoother texture, while Estée Lauder offers deep hydration and plumping.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder: which cleanser is better?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder offer cleansers with high fit levels for various skin types, but Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas across all products on this page. Estée Lauder provides gentle and non-drying cleansers with deep hydration, though some products on this page contain fragrance.

Which is more affordable, Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder feature high price points as a primary drawback mentioned by reviewers, placing them on similar pricing tiers.

Between Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder, which brand performs better for smoothing skin texture according to review themes?

Paula's Choice performs better for smoothing skin texture. Review themes show that Paula's Choice does better for smoothing skin texture.

How do the fragrance inclusions compare across products from Paula's Choice versus Estée Lauder?

Paula's Choice lists no fragrance across every product on its page, whereas Estée Lauder includes fragrance in a couple of items on its page.

Which brand does better for deep hydration and plumping based on review themes?

Estée Lauder does better for deep hydration and plumping based on review themes. The products on this page help deliver deep hydration, while sodium hyaluronate helps improve skin quality and signs of skin aging.

Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2015Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

Both brands offer a High routine fit for oily skin, but Paula's Choice is often preferred for its fast-absorbing and lightweight feel. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free products on this page and emphasizes targeted exfoliants and boosters, whereas Estée Lauder provides options like the Micro Essence Treatment Lotion that helps oily skin.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder: which moisturizer is better?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder offer effective moisturizers on this page, with Paula's Choice featuring fragrance-free formulas and Estée Lauder providing options that reviewers note for deep hydration. Depending on your skin type, Lovi rates both brands as a high fit for dry, oily, and sensitive skin.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Both brands offer a High routine fit for sensitive skin, but Paula's Choice has every product on its page formulated without fragrance, whereas Estée Lauder includes fragrance in some items. Reviewers note that both brands provide gentle formulas, though Paula's Choice better targets smoothing skin texture.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder: which sunscreen is better?

Paula's Choice Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50 and Estée Lauder DayWear Moisturizer both offer high fits for many skin types on the products on this page, but Estée Lauder stands out with a superior fit for dry skin, dry sensitive skin, sensitive skin, and mature skin. Estée Lauder's DayWear Moisturizer lists fragrance in its ingredients, while Paula's Choice lists no fragrance across its range.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for acne-prone skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder are a High fit for acne-prone skin on the products on this page. Reviewers report that Estée Lauder helps with fewer breakouts and purging than Paula's Choice.

Research behind their key ingredients

Behind this comparison

Lovi compares products by their fit scores, calculated from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.

  • Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Co-founder, Medical Director

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer

  • Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Co-founder, CEO and CTO

    PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex

  • Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc

    Medical Board

    Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine

  • Aishani Shah, MD

    Aishani Shah, MD

    Medical Board

    Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD

  • Asya Zubkova, MS

    Asya Zubkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member

  • Hanna Kurets, MD

    Hanna Kurets, MD

    Medical Board, Medical Advisor

    Dermatology MD

  • Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Medical Board

    Dermatology and diagnostic consultant

  • Victoria Derkova, MS

    Victoria Derkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist

How does it fit your skin?

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