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Paula's Choice vs Kiehl's

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

Paula's Choice and Kiehl's are American skincare brands known for thoughtful arrays of serums, cleansers, moisturizers, toners, and more. The former relies on key ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c to suit oily skin and combination skin best, while the latter features trusted ingredients like glycerin and squalane to suit dry skin and skin with dark spots best. Both brands harness glycerin to significantly increase skin hydration and restore barrier function, though Kiehl's additionally utilizes squalane to counteract oxidative stress and stimulate fibroblast migration. Ultimately, the brands differ through their foundational formulations and the specific skin types they target.

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

unilever.comtracxn.com

Kiehl's is an American skincare brand founded in 1851 and owned by L'Oréal S.A. since 2000.

loreal.comen.wikipedia.org

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

Popular Paula's Choice vs Kiehl's products

People Say

Paula's ChoiceKiehl's
  • Fast Absorption and Lightweight Texture 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”
    • “absorbs instantly — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “feels like nothing — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
  • Skin Texture Improvement 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”
    • “leaves skin feeling silky — Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate”
  • Glow, Brightening, and Radiance Often MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “Acne marks are gone — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “woke up glowing — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “Skin looks radiant — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
    • “visible glow — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
  • Deep and Intense Hydration Not notedMostly Mentioned
    • “Keeps skin moisturized for 24+ hours — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “skin feels incredibly soft afterwards — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”
    • “Feels like a drink of water — Kiehl's Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate”
  • Non-Irritating and Gentle 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”
    • “experienced zero irritation — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “fragrance-free — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Acne and Blemish Clearing Often MentionedNot noted
    • “Helped clear my cystic acne — Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser”
    • “heals blemishes faster — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “controlled my back and chest acne — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
  • High Price and Value Concerns Mostly MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “surprisingly small bottle — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
    • “tiny tube — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “pricy daily staple — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
    • “Very expensive product — Kiehl's Clearly Corrective™ Dark Spot Solution”
  • Purging and Breakouts Sometimes NotedSometimes Noted
    • “skin purged — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “caused cystic acne — Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster”
    • “caused cystic acne — Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate”
    • “cystic acne for some — Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream”
  • Unpleasant Scent or Smell Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “smells clinical — Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum”
    • “faint lab smell — Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum”
    • “smells like hot dog water — Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate”
    • “smells like grain — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
  • Irritation and Burning Rarely NotedSometimes Noted
    • “burnt skin off — Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment”
    • “ruined my skin barrier — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “stung my face — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “burned my face immediately — Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque”

Paula's Choice vs Kiehl's routines for dry skin

Buy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,309.98 · 84% fitBuy Paula's Choice routine · SAR 1,588.72 · 79% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Paula's Choice vs Kiehl's routines for oily skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · SAR 1,883.71 · 89% fitBuy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,172.23 · 80% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Paula's Choice vs Kiehl's routines for combination skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · SAR 1,601.99 · 89% fitBuy Kiehl's routine · SAR 2,149.18 · 83% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

Questions and answers

Paula's Choice or Kiehl's: which is better?

Both brands are similarly effective, with Paula's Choice providing a High routine fit for acne-prone skin and Kiehl's providing an Average routine fit for acne-prone skin. Reviewers frequently note that Paula's Choice helps with fast absorption and lightweight texture, while Kiehl's helps with deep and intense hydration. Both brands feature high price points and value concerns.

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

Paula's Choice and Kiehl's both offer high routine fit levels for dry, oily, combination, sensitive, mature, dark spot, dry sensitive, and oily acne-prone skin types, but Paula's Choice achieves a High routine fit for acne-prone skin while Kiehl's reaches an Average fit. Paula's Choice focuses its brand routines best on oily, combination, and acne-prone skin, whereas Kiehl's centers on dry skin, skin with dark spots, and combination skin. Reviewers note that Paula's Choice delivers better fast absorption and skin texture improvement, while Kiehl's excels in glow, brightening, radiance, and deep hydration.

Paula's Choice or Kiehl's for dry skin?

Both brands achieve a High routine fit for dry skin on the products on this page. Paula's Choice relies on fragrance-free formulations with key ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerin, while Kiehl's provides options featuring squalane and glycerin.

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

Both brands offer cleansers with high fit levels depending on your skin type. For instance, the CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser from Paula's Choice and the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash from Kiehl's both achieve a Superior fit for oily and oily acne-prone skin on this page.

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

Both Paula's Choice and Kiehl's face similar high price and value concerns among reviewers on this page, meaning neither brand is clearly more affordable than the other.

Between Paula's Choice and Kiehl's, which brand does better for skin texture improvement?

Paula's Choice does better for skin texture improvement than Kiehl's. The products on this page help smooth texture and provide anti-aging serums.

Which brand has more fragrance-free products, Paula's Choice or Kiehl's?

Paula's Choice has more fragrance-free products, as every product on its page lists no fragrance in its ingredients, whereas Kiehl's includes fragrance in two of its products.

Paula's Choice or Kiehl's for treating acne-prone skin?

Paula's Choice is better suited for treating acne-prone skin, as Lovi rates its routine fit as High compared to Kiehl's Average. Reviewers note that Paula's Choice excels in acne and blemish clearing, making the products on this page a strong choice for this concern.

Paula's Choice or Kiehl's for oily skin?

Both Paula's Choice and Kiehl's fit oily skin at a High level. Paula's Choice relies on fragrance-free formulations with key ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, whereas the products on this page for Kiehl's feature options like the Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner and Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream.

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

Both brands offer strong options, but Paula's Choice is better suited for oily and acne-prone skin while Kiehl's excels in deep hydration and brightening. Reviewers note that Kiehl's delivers lightweight, non-greasy moisturizers with deep hydration, whereas Paula's Choice focuses on targeted treatments with fragrance-free formulas.

Paula's Choice or Kiehl's for sensitive skin?

Both brands offer a High routine fit for sensitive skin. Paula's Choice features fragrance-free products on this page, while Kiehl's includes a couple of items with added fragrance.

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

Paula's Choice offers the Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50, which has a High fit for dry skin, combination skin, and dry sensitive skin, and an Average fit for acne-prone skin, oily skin, oily acne-prone skin, skin with dark spots, sensitive skin, and mature skin. Kiehl's features the Better Screen UV Serum, which provides a High fit for skin with dark spots, combination skin, sensitive skin, acne-prone skin, and mature skin, alongside an Average fit for oily skin, dry skin, oily acne-prone skin, and dry sensitive skin.

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

Paula's Choice is a better fit for acne-prone skin, offering a High routine fit compared to an Average fit for Kiehl's. The products on this page for Paula's Choice excel in acne and blemish clearing, while Kiehl's reviewers more frequently mention breakouts and skin irritation.

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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