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Paula's Choice vs Clarins

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

Paula's Choice and Clarins are distinct skincare brands established in America in 1995 and France in 1954, respectively. Paula's Choice features serums, cleansers, moisturizers, and toners built around hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c, suiting oily skin and mature skin best. Meanwhile, the French brand is loved for its nourishing moisturizers, targeted serums, delicate eye products, and refreshing toners harnessing soothing shea and replenishing squalane, which suit sensitive skin and mature skin best. While both brands address similar concerns with specialized offerings, they differ through distinct active ingredients like glycerin, which significantly increases skin hydration and restores barrier function, compared to shea butter and squalane, which reduce redness, protect the skin, increase collagen, and fight damage.

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

unilever.comtracxn.com

Clarins is a French skincare brand founded in 1954 and owned by Famille C (Groupe Clarins).

groupeclarins.comen.wikipedia.orghappi.com

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

Popular Paula's Choice vs Clarins products

People Say

Paula's ChoiceClarins
  • Lightweight and fast-absorbing formula 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 immediately — Clarins Double Serum Eye”
  • Glow and radiance Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “visible glow — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “acne scars faded — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “skin drinks it up — Clarins Double Serum”
    • “skin looks brighter immediately — Clarins Cryo-Flash Cream-Mask”
  • Texture smoothing and refinement 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”
    • “neck feels smoother — Clarins Extra-Firming Neck & Décolleté Cream”
  • Deep hydration and softness Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “keeps skin moist — Clarins Multi-Active Jour”
    • “woke up with baby soft skin — Clarins Multi-Active Nuit”
    • “no more dry patches — Clarins Super Restorative Night Cream”
  • Anti-aging and firming results Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “visibly tighter, lifted skin — Clarins Super Restorative Night Cream”
    • “plumped my fine lines — Clarins Double Serum”
    • “softened crow's feet — Clarins Double Serum Eye”
    • “skin looks plumper — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
  • Pore cleansing and clarity Often MentionedNot noted
    • “cleared my bumps — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “Helped clear my cystic acne — Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser”
    • “pores look smaller — Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster”
  • High price and small size Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “surprisingly small bottle — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
    • “tiny tube — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “way too expensive — Clarins Double Serum”
    • “too expensive for results — Clarins Total Eye Lift”
  • Unpleasant smell or scent issues Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “smells like grain — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “smells like hot dog water — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “weird glue-like smell — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
    • “smells like perfume — Clarins Multi-Active Jour”
  • Packaging and pump issues Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “dropper leaks — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “dropper can be unpredictable — Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster”
    • “Cap broke immediately — Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser”
    • “dispenses too much product — Clarins Total Eye Lift”
  • Dryness, flaking, and irritation Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “not moisturizing enough — Clarins Total Eye Lift”
    • “caused redness — Clarins Double Serum Eye”
    • “made my face burn — Clarins Cryo-Flash Cream-Mask”
    • “peeling and flaking — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”

Paula's Choice vs Clarins routines for dry skin

See multi-brand routine · 98% fit

Paula's Choice vs Clarins routines for oily skin

See multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Paula's Choice vs Clarins routines for combination skin

See multi-brand routine · 95% fit

Questions and answers

Paula's Choice or Clarins: which is better?

Paula's Choice is better for oily and acne-prone skin, while both brands offer equal fit levels for dry, combination, sensitive, and mature skin. Paula's Choice helps provide superior pore cleansing and lightweight formulas, whereas Clarins is known for deep hydration and anti-aging results.

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

Paula's Choice is best suited for oily, mature, and oily acne-prone skin, whereas Clarins excels for sensitive skin, mature skin, and skin with dark spots. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas with key ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, while Clarins is known for its luxurious textures and botanical ingredients that help provide deep hydration and firming results. Both brands offer high-priced products and high fit levels for dry and combination skin types.

Paula's Choice or Clarins for dry skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Clarins achieve a High Lovi fit level for dry skin. Paula's Choice products on this page list no fragrance, while almost all Clarins products contain fragrance.

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

Paula's Choice cleansers have a Superior fit for oily and acne-prone skin on this page, whereas Clarins cleansers generally offer an Average fit for those skin types. Lovi finds that Paula's Choice is better suited for clearer, pore-cleansing results, while Clarins leans toward hydrating and gentle formulas for dry skin.

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

Both brands feature high price points among their reviewer feedback, so neither stands out as more affordable. Review themes indicate that high price and small size apply equally to both brands.

How do Paula's Choice and Clarins differ in their use of fragrance?

Paula's Choice offers fragrance-free products, as every item on its page lists no fragrance in its ingredients. In contrast, Clarins mostly includes fragrance, with only 1 of the 24 products on its page listing no fragrance.

Which brand performs better for anti-aging and firming results?

Clarins performs better for anti-aging and firming results. Paula's Choice helps with texture smoothing and refinement, and retinol supports collagen accumulation in naturally aged human skin.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2000

What are the main founding details and parent companies of Paula's Choice and Clarins?

Paula's Choice was founded in 1995 in the United States and has been owned by Unilever since 2021, while Clarins was founded in 1954 in France and is owned by Famille C (Groupe Clarins).

Paula's Choice or Clarins for oily skin?

Paula's Choice is a better fit for oily skin, as Lovi rates its overall routine as Superior compared to an Average fit for Clarins. Paula's Choice also tends to perform better for pore cleansing and clarity.

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

Paula's Choice and Clarins both offer effective moisturizers, with Paula's Choice providing a Superior fit for oily and acne-prone skin types and Clarins excelling in deep hydration and anti-aging results. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free formulas across all products on this page, whereas almost all Clarins moisturizers contain fragrance. Both brands match closely in routine fit for dry, combination, sensitive, and dry sensitive skin.

Paula's Choice or Clarins for sensitive skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Clarins offer a High routine fit for sensitive skin. Paula's Choice is fragrance-free across its products, whereas almost all Clarins products contain fragrance.

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

Paula's Choice is a better choice than Clarins for acne-prone skin, as Lovi rates its routine as Superior compared to Clarins' High level. Furthermore, the products on this page for Paula's Choice are completely fragrance-free, whereas Clarins formulas frequently include added fragrance.

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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