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Paula's Choice vs Avène

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

Paula's Choice and Avène are skincare brands that offer serums, cleansers, moisturizers, and toners. The American brand, founded in 1995 and owned by Unilever since 2021, uses hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c, suiting oily and mature skin best. Meanwhile, the French brand, founded in 1990 and owned by Fondation Pierre Fabre, formulates its gentle moisturizers, protective sunscreens, targeted serums, and soothing cleansers with glycerin to suit oily acne-prone and combination skin. They differ in their specific product lineups and founding origins, while both utilize glycerin to significantly increase skin hydration and restore barrier function.

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

unilever.comtracxn.com

Avène is a French skincare brand founded in 1990 and owned by Fondation Pierre Fabre.

pierre-fabre.comavene.co.ukaveneusa.com

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

Popular Paula's Choice vs Avène products

People Say

Paula's ChoiceAvène
  • Lightweight and fast absorption Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “visible glow — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “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”
    • “immediate radiance boost — Avène Vitamin Activ Cg Radiance Concentrated Serum”
  • Gentle and non-irritating Often MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “leaves face clean but not dry — Avène Cleanance”
    • “Nothing has ever worked to soothe or heal my skin like these before. — Avène Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Balm”
    • “Perfect cleanser for sensitive skin. — Avène Milk Cleanser”
    • “Finally a vitamin C product I can use — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
  • Smooth texture and anti-aging Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “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 looks plumper — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
    • “skin instantly felt firmer — Avène Hyaluron Activ B3 Concentrated Plumping Serum”
  • Unclogs pores and controls acne Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “cleared my bumps — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “skin becomes very smooth — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
    • “Helped clear my cystic acne — Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser”
    • “Keeps me matte for hours — Avène Cleanance Cleansing Gel”
  • Barrier repair, deep hydration and soothing Not notedOften Mentioned
    • “Calmed my angry red skin overnight — Avène Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective Cream”
    • “Saves my skin in winter — Avène Cold Cream”
    • “Healed my over-exfoliated skin in days — Avène Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective Cream”
  • High price and small size Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “Its a bit pricey but so worth it!! — Avène Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Balm”
    • “a bit pricey — Avène Cleanance”
    • “Tiny tube for the money — Avène Cold Cream”
    • “surprisingly small bottle — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
  • Causes dryness, purging, and irritation Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “Left my face tight — Avène Cleanance Cleansing Gel”
    • “it didn't do anything for my dark circles — Avène RetrinAL EYES”
    • “no difference — Avène Antirougeurs Fort Relief Concentrate”
    • “peeling and flaking — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
  • Packaging issues and product flaws Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “turned orange in weeks — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “dropper leaks — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “dropper can be unpredictable — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
    • “bring it back — Avène Antirougeurs Fort Relief Concentrate”

Paula's Choice vs Avène routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 98% fit

Paula's Choice vs Avène routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Paula's Choice vs Avène routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 95% fit

Questions and answers

Paula's Choice or Avène: which is better?

Paula's Choice offers a Superior routine fit for oily, acne-prone, and mature skin on this page. Avène provides a High routine fit for those skin types, while the two brands are equal for dry, combination, sensitive, and dark spot skin.

What is the difference between Paula's Choice and Avène?

Paula's Choice has a Superior routine fit for oily skin, oily acne-prone skin, acne-prone skin, and mature skin, while Avène has a High fit for those skin types. Reviewers find that Paula's Choice is better for lightweight absorption, anti-aging, and unclogging pores, whereas Avène is better for gentle soothing and barrier repair.

Paula's Choice or Avène for dry skin?

Both brands offer a High routine fit for dry skin, making them equally suitable options. Paula's Choice provides fragrance-free products with active ingredients like niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, whereas Avène is known for its gentle, thermal spring water-based formulas that soothe dry and sensitive skin.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Dermatologic Therapy, 2022

Paula's Choice or Avène: which cleanser is better?

Paula's Choice offers a Superior Lovi fit for oily, acne-prone, and combination skin across its cleansers, such as the CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser. Avène also provides good options like the Cleanance Cleansing Gel, which has a High fit for oily acne-prone and acne-prone skin.

Which is more affordable, Paula's Choice or Avène?

Reviewers note that Avène is associated with a high price, while Paula's Choice mentions a high price among its product flaws.

Paula's Choice or Avène: which brand is better for anti-aging and smoothing texture?

Paula's Choice is better for anti-aging and smoothing texture because reviewers note it provides smooth texture and anti-aging serums. Lovi rates the routine fit for mature skin as Superior for Paula's Choice and High for Avène.

Which brand has a better routine fit for dry sensitive skin, Paula's Choice or Avène?

Paula's Choice has a better routine fit for dry sensitive skin, with Lovi fit levels reaching High compared to Average for Avène.

Paula's Choice or Avène: which brand offers fragrance-free products across all items?

Paula's Choice offers fragrance-free products across all the products on this page, whereas Avène includes fragrance in several of its formulas.

Paula's Choice or Avène for oily skin?

Paula's Choice is a better fit for oily skin, offering a Superior routine fit compared to Avène's High fit level.

Paula's Choice or Avène: which moisturizer is better?

Paula's Choice offers a high routine fit for dry skin with options like the Replenishing Moisturizer, while Avène provides a superior fit for dry skin through the Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Balm. Both brands feature fragrance-free moisturizer options on this page.

Paula's Choice or Avène for sensitive skin?

For sensitive skin, Lovi finds Paula's Choice has a High fit and Avène has a High fit. Paula's Choice offers fragrance-free products across its entire page, while Avène includes fragrance in nearly half of its options.

Paula's Choice or Avène: which sunscreen is better?

Paula's Choice offers the Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50, which has a High routine fit for dry and combination skin and an Average fit for oily skin. Avène features sunscreens like Cleanance, which has a Superior routine fit for oily skin and High fits for combination and acne-prone skin.

Paula's Choice or Avène for acne-prone skin?

Paula's Choice is a better fit for acne-prone skin, offering a Superior routine compared to Avène's High level. The products on this page help unclog pores and control acne effectively.

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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