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La Roche-Posay vs Paula's Choice

La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice are two well-known skincare brands offering cleansers, serums, moisturizers, and more. The French brand is loved for its nourishing glycerin, soothing thermal water, and brightening niacinamide, which suit skin with dark spots and mature skin best. Meanwhile, the American brand relies on hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and vitamin c to fit oily skin and acne-prone skin best. While both brands feature glycerin, they differ in their heritage, specific formulations, and primary skin type recommendations.

La Roche-Posay is a French skincare brand founded in 1975 and owned by L'Oréal S.A. since 1989.

laroche-posay.com.aufr.wikipedia.org

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

unilever.comtracxn.com

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

People Say

La Roche-PosayPaula's Choice
  • Fragrance-free and Gentle Formulas Mostly MentionedOften Mentioned
    • “Great retinol for beginners — La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum”
    • “Only cream that doesn't sting — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Eye Cream”
    • “zero scent — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”
    • “Finally a vitamin C product I can use — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
  • Skin Texture Improvement Often MentionedMostly Mentioned
    • “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 smoother — La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum”
  • Hydration and Moisture Mostly MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “absorbs instantly — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”
    • “skin feels plump — La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum”
    • “legs stopped flaking — La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream”
    • “Provides an internal level of hydration without leaving any heavy finish. — Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Pore-Reducing Toner”
  • Acne Clearing and Oil Control Sometimes NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “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”
    • “clears acne blemishes — La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser”
  • Good Texture Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “absorbs instantly — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
    • “absorbs quickly — Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA”
    • “Absorbs like a dream — Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum”
    • “lightweight and absorbs quickly — La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum”
  • Brightening and Fading Dark Spots Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “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”
    • “skin looks brighter — La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum”
  • Price vs Size Value Sometimes NotedMostly Mentioned
    • “expensive for the size — La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum”
    • “Too expensive for the size — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Eye Cream”
    • “Tube is tiny for the price — La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5”
    • “surprisingly small bottle — Paula's Choice Skin-Smoothing Retinol Body Treatment”
  • Strong Fragrance and Scents Sometimes NotedOften Mentioned
    • “scent is awful — La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum”
    • “overwhelming floral smell — La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum”
    • “smells like grain — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “smells like hot dog water — Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster”
  • Packaging Issues and Faulty Pumps Often MentionedSometimes Noted
    • “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”
    • “pump stops working — La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream”
  • Product Texture and Pilling Often MentionedRarely Noted
    • “sticky, oily film — Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant”
    • “pills under makeup — Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster”
    • “pills like crazy — La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer”

La Roche-Posay vs Paula's Choice routines for dry skin

Buy La Roche-Posay routine · £73.19 · 88% fitBuy Paula's Choice routine · £210.78 · 86% fitSee multi-brand routine · 99% fit

La Roche-Posay vs Paula's Choice routines for oily skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · £280.77 · 92% fitBuy La Roche-Posay routine · £164.76 · 81% fitSee multi-brand routine · 97% fit

La Roche-Posay vs Paula's Choice routines for combination skin

Buy Paula's Choice routine · £235.40 · 90% fitBuy La Roche-Posay routine · £181.95 · 83% fitSee multi-brand routine · 96% fit

Questions and answers

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice: which is better?

La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice both fit dry skin, dry sensitive skin, and skin with dark spots at equal levels on the products on this page, while Paula's Choice has a Superior routine fit for oily, combination, sensitive, acne-prone, mature, and oily acne-prone skin. Paula's Choice does better for skin texture improvement, acne clearing and oil control, good texture, and brightening and fading dark spots, whereas La Roche-Posay does better for fragrance-free and gentle formulas and hydration and moisture.

What is the difference between La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice?

La Roche-Posay is best for hydration and sensitive skin with fragrance-free options, while Paula's Choice is better for acne clearing and skin texture improvement. Both brands offer high or superior fit levels for mature skin and skin with dark spots.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice for dry skin?

Both La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice achieve a High Lovi fit for dry skin. La Roche-Posay is well known for its hydration and moisture benefits, while every product on the Paula's Choice page lists no fragrance.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice: which cleanser is better?

Both brands offer cleansers that fit different skin types well, but Paula's Choice achieves a Superior fit level for oily and acne-prone skin types on this page. Reviewers note that Paula's Choice is better for acne clearing and oil control, while La Roche-Posay does better with fragrance-free and gentle formulas and hydration.

Which is more affordable, La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice?

Reviews note price, value, and size concerns for the products on this page for La Roche-Posay, while reviews note high price and packaging issues for Paula's Choice.

How do La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice compare regarding fragrance-free options?

La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice both offer options, but Paula's Choice has better fragrance-free coverage since every product on this page lists no fragrance. In contrast, 21 of 35 products on the La Roche-Posay page list no fragrance, while the remaining products feature fragrance.

Which brand performs better for brightening and fading dark spots?

Paula's Choice performs better for brightening and fading dark spots, while La Roche-Posay is also a strong option for skin with dark spots. Both brands offer targeted products that help improve uneven skin tone.

The British Journal of Dermatology, 2002Antioxidants, 2021

What are the main packaging or pump issues associated with each brand?

Reviewers note that Paula's Choice has packaging issues and faulty pumps, whereas the products on this page for La Roche-Posay sometimes have packaging, pump, and nozzle issues.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice for oily skin?

Paula's Choice is a Superior fit for oily skin on the products on this page, while La Roche-Posay provides a High fit level. Paula's Choice does better for acne clearing and oil control.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice: which moisturizer is better?

La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice both offer moisturizers with a High fit for dry skin and dry sensitive skin on this page, while La Roche-Posay is owned by L'Oréal S.A. and Paula's Choice is owned by Unilever. Lovi finds that La Roche-Posay fits skin with dark spots, mature skin, and dry skin best, whereas Paula's Choice fits oily skin, acne-prone skin, and mature skin best.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice for sensitive skin?

La Roche-Posay and Paula's Choice both achieve a High fit for sensitive skin on this page. Paula's Choice products on this page list no fragrance, while La Roche-Posay offers fragrance-free and gentle formulas.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice: which sunscreen is better?

La Roche-Posay provides a sunscreen with a superior Lovi fit level for sensitive skin, skin with dark spots, combination skin, acne-prone skin, mature skin, and oily skin, whereas the sunscreen for Paula's Choice is rated High for dry skin and combination skin. Lovi fit levels for the products on this page indicate that La Roche-Posay is better suited across a wider range of skin types for sun protection.

La Roche-Posay or Paula's Choice for acne-prone skin?

Both brands are great choices for acne-prone skin, with Paula's Choice achieving a Superior fit level and La Roche-Posay achieving a High fit level. Paula's Choice is noted by reviewers for doing better with acne clearing and oil control.

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.

How does it fit your skin?

Scan your face, then any product: Lovi shows how well it fits you and what fits even better.