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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 addressing diverse complexions through thoughtful, ingredient-led formulations. Paula's Choice relies on hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c within its serums, cleansers, moisturizers, and toners to suit combination and oily skin, whereas the latter utilizes similar hydrating elements across moisturizers, serums, eye products, and cleansers to best serve mature and sensitive skin. Both brands differ in their foundational approaches, as the former targets specific concerns like acne, dark spots, and aging through targeted treatments, while the latter offers gentle, nourishing compositions for delicate barriers.

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

See multi-brand routine · 99% fit

Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Paula's Choice vs Estée Lauder routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

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

Paula's Choice is better for fast absorption, smoothing skin texture, and brightening, while Estée Lauder excels in deep hydration and plumping. Lovi rates Paula's Choice as having a High fit for dry skin, whereas Estée Lauder has an Average fit.

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

Paula's Choice offers a fragrance-free lineup with a high routine fit for dry skin and skin with dark spots, whereas Estée Lauder includes some scented products and achieves an average fit for those specific skin types. Both brands provide high routine fit levels for oily, combination, sensitive, acne-prone, mature, dry sensitive, and oily acne-prone skin.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for dry skin?

Paula's Choice is a better fit for dry skin, offering High routine fit compared to Estée Lauder's Average routine fit. The products on this page help improve skin hydration and texture using key ingredients like hyaluronic acid.

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

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

Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder both offer top-performing cleansers, with Paula's Choice achieving a Superior fit for oily, acne-prone, and combination skin on the products on this page. Estée Lauder's cleansers also deliver gentle and non-drying results, earning high ratings for sensitive and dry sensitive skin.

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

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder are noted on this page for having a high price point as a common drawback. Reviewers find that both brands share similar pricing concerns regarding value.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for dark spots?

Paula's Choice is a better fit for skin with dark spots, as the products on this page achieve a High routine fit compared to Estée Lauder's Average fit. Niacinamide helps reduce cutaneous pigmentation and suppress melanosome transfer.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Antioxidants, 2021

Which brand has a stronger fragrance across its products, Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder?

Estée Lauder has a stronger fragrance across its products, because while every product on the Paula's Choice page lists no fragrance in its ingredients, some Estée Lauder products include fragrance. Reviewers sometimes note a strong fragrance for Estée Lauder.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for oily skin?

Both brands offer an equal fit for oily skin, with Lovi giving them a high routine fit. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas with key ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, while the products on this page for Estée Lauder also provide strong options for this skin type.

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

Paula's Choice is better suited for dry skin with its Replenishing Moisturizer receiving a High Lovi fit level, whereas Estée Lauder's Re-Nutriv moisturizer has a Low Lovi fit for dry skin. Paula's Choice also offers more fragrance-free moisturizer options across the products on this page.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for sensitive skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder are well-suited for sensitive skin, with Lovi giving both brands a High fit level for this skin type. Paula's Choice relies on fragrance-free formulations containing soothing antioxidants like green tea and vitamin E, while Estée Lauder offers gentle cleansers and deeply hydrating products.

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

Paula's Choice offers Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50, which has a High fit for dry and combination skin, while Estée Lauder offers DayWear Moisturizer, which has a Superior fit for dry skin, dry sensitive skin, sensitive skin, and mature skin. Both sunscreens are fragrance-free.

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

Both Paula's Choice and Estée Lauder achieve a High routine fit for acne-prone skin on the products on this page. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas with active ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, while Estée Lauder offers reviewers gentle cleansers and lightweight feel.

Paula's Choice or Estée Lauder for mature skin?

For mature skin, Paula's Choice is a better fit with a High routine fit level compared to Estée Lauder's Average routine fit level on this page. Paula's Choice products on this page help improve firmness and smooth skin texture using ingredients like retinol.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2000

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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