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Paula's Choice vs The INKEY List

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

Paula's Choice and The INKEY List are skincare brands offering serums, cleansers, moisturizers, toners, and more. The American brand is known for hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c, suiting combination skin and oily skin best, while the British brand is known for glycerin, suiting sensitive skin and combination skin best. Both brands feature glycerin, which significantly increased skin hydration and restored barrier function. They differ in their founding years, ownership, and specific top-rated formulas for acne-prone, dark spot, and mature skin concerns.

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

unilever.comtracxn.com

The INKEY List is a British skincare brand founded in 2018 and owned by Brand Evangelists for Beauty Limited.

cosmeticsbusiness.comprnewswire.comtheinkeylist.comtracxn.com

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

Popular Paula's Choice vs The INKEY List products

People Say

Paula's ChoiceThe INKEY List
  • Lightweight and fast-absorbing Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “Provides an internal level of hydration without leaving any heavy finish. — Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Pore-Reducing Toner”
    • “Absorbs quickly and leaves no greasy residue behind. — Paula's Choice Clear Oil-Free Moisturizer”
    • “sits beautifully under makeup — The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream”
    • “Gel consistency — The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Serum”
  • Improves texture and smoothness Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “skin becomes very smooth — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
    • “bumps be gone — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
    • “skin is insanely soft — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
    • “Skin feels softer — The INKEY List PHA Toner”
  • Gentle and non-irritating formula 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”
    • “Great for sensitive skin — The INKEY List PHA Toner”
    • “Never tight or stripped — The INKEY List Salicylic Acid Cleanser”
  • Affordable price and value Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “Good for the price — The INKEY List Salicylic Acid Cleanser”
    • “One of the best balms for quality and also price — The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm”
    • “unbeatable value — The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Serum”
  • Radiance, glow, and dark spots Often MentionedRarely 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”
    • “Visibly reduces acne scars — The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Serum”
  • Reduces redness and soothes skin Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “Safe and gentle especially for my dry, sensitive skin — The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm”
    • “calmed my menopausal redness — The INKEY List ECTOIN HYDRO-BARRIER SERUM”
    • “calms redness instantly — The INKEY List 10% Azelaic Acid Serum”
    • “calmed redness immediately — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
  • Packaging issues and small size Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “surprisingly small bottle — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
    • “dropper leaks — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “Pump breaks easily — The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Serum”
    • “Very difficult to squeeze out at first — The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm”
  • High price and poor value Mostly MentionedNot noted
    • “tiny tube — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
  • Unpleasant smell or scent Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “Smells like BBQ/meat — The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Serum”
    • “Smells like chemicals — The INKEY List Polyglutamic Acid Serum”
    • “smells plasticky — The INKEY List ECTOIN HYDRO-BARRIER SERUM”
    • “smells like grain — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”

Paula's Choice vs The INKEY List routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Paula's Choice vs The INKEY List routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 95% fit

Paula's Choice vs The INKEY List routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which is better?

Paula's Choice does better for improving texture and smoothness as well as radiance, glow, and dark spots, whereas The INKEY List does better for reducing redness and soothing skin and offers a more affordable price and value. Both brands achieve equal routine fit levels for dry, oily, combination, acne-prone, mature, dark spot, dry sensitive, and oily acne-prone skin, while Lovi rates The INKEY List as Superior and Paula's Choice as High for sensitive skin.

What is the difference between Paula's Choice and The INKEY List?

Paula's Choice helps improve skin texture and radiance better, while The INKEY List offers a more affordable price and helps soothe redness. Lovi fits Paula's Choice best for combination, oily, and acne-prone skin, and The INKEY List best for sensitive, combination, and oily acne-prone skin.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List for dry skin?

For dry skin, both Paula's Choice and The INKEY List provide a High routine fit. The products on this page for both brands offer well-regarded moisturizing options and gentle formulations that help support dry skin types.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which cleanser is better?

Both Paula's Choice and The INKEY List offer cleansers with a Superior fit for oily and acne-prone skin, such as the CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser and the Salicylic Acid Cleanser. Lovi rates the Paula's Choice cleanser as Superior for sensitive skin, while the Salicylic Acid Cleanser from The INKEY List is also rated High for sensitive skin.

Which is more affordable, Paula's Choice or The INKEY List?

The INKEY List is more affordable, offering lower prices and better value on the products on this page.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which brand is better for improving skin texture and smoothness?

Paula's Choice is better for improving skin texture and smoothness. Lovi shows that the products on this page for Paula's Choice do better for improving texture and smoothness.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which brand is better for radiance, glow, and dark spots?

Paula's Choice does better for radiance, glow, and dark spots, helping improve uneven skin tone and texture across the products on this page.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Antioxidants, 2021

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which brand is better for reducing redness and soothing skin?

The INKEY List does better than Paula's Choice for reducing redness and soothing skin. Lovi rates The INKEY List as Superior for sensitive skin, while Paula's Choice is High.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List for oily skin?

Both Paula's Choice and The INKEY List offer a High routine fit for oily skin. Paula's Choice is noted for improving texture and smoothness, while The INKEY List provides more affordable options.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List: which moisturizer is better?

Both brands offer moisturizers with a High routine fit for dry, oily, and combination skin, but The INKEY List is particularly noted for affordability and hydrating, lightweight formulas. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free options with a wide variety of key ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerin across the products on this page.

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

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List for sensitive skin?

For sensitive skin, both brands offer good choices, but Lovi rates The INKEY List as Superior and Paula's Choice as High. Reviewers note that The INKEY List does better at reducing redness and soothing skin.

Paula's Choice or The INKEY List for acne-prone skin?

Both Paula's Choice and The INKEY List fit acne-prone skin with a High routine fit level on the products on this page.

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

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