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Paula's Choice Softening Cream Cleanser for combination skin

Rated by Lovi · Unbiased, science-based skincare AI trained on real user outcomes

Paula's Choice Softening Cream Cleanser

Low

  • AverageCombination Skin Fit
  • AverageEffectiveness
  • ExcellentSafety

A weak match for combination skin; the cleansers alongside fit it better.

This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with combination skin: an oily T-zone, enlarged pores, and dry cheeks. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.

Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works

Lovi Assistant explains

  • Offers moderate cleansing for your combination skin, as Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate effectively remove impurities, though Beta-Glucan and Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract are present for soothing effects rather than targeting oily shine.
  • While the formula provides general cleansing benefits, it lacks specialized ingredients to fully address concerns like oily shine, and the inclusion of Beta-Glucan offers some anti-inflammatory action for combination skin.
  • The safety profile is excellent, with no risks of irritation due to the absence of harsh ingredients and the presence of soothing components.

How to apply

  • Use this cleanser AM and PM as part of your daily routine. Start 3×/week and build up to daily use if your skin tolerates it well.
  • Apply this cleanser as the very first step in your morning routine and right after your pre-cleanser in the evening.
  • Gently massage a small amount of cleanser onto your skin using circular motions. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.
  • For the best results , apply the cleanser directly onto slightly damp skin to help lift away excess oil.
  • Avoid the immediate eye area and do a patch test before your first use to check for any sensitivity.

People Say

★4.4Overall rating based on 1000+ reviews

Recent reviews are dominated by disappointment over its discontinuation, and some users with oily skin found the rich, creamy texture too heavy or ineffective at removing heavy makeup.

Highlights

  • Hydrating and non-stripping Mostly Mentioned
    • “leaves skin hydrated”
    • “never tight or over-washed”
    • “skin feels nourished”
  • Product discontinued Mostly Mentioned
    • “devastated it's gone”
    • “why discontinue a great product”
    • “hard to find replacement”
  • Soothing for sensitive Often Mentioned
    • “calmed my skin”
    • “doesn't sting my eyes”
  • Creamy, luxurious texture Sometimes Noted
    • “smooth and creamy”
    • “glides over skin”
    • “feels like a lotion”
  • Softening effect Sometimes Noted
    • “skin feeling so soft”
    • “improves skin softness”
    • “supple and smooth”
  • Poor makeup removal Sometimes Noted
    • “doesn't remove waterproof makeup”
    • “struggles with heavy makeup”
    • “need a separate remover”
  • Packaging issues Rarely Noted
    • “miss the pump”
    • “hard to get out of bottle”
    • “cap breaks easily”
  • Too heavy for oily Rarely Noted
    • “left a greasy residue”
    • “too thick for my liking”
    • “caused breakouts”

Sources: lovi.care, amazon.com, paulaschoice-eu.com, influenster.com, reddit.com, skinsort.com, and more

Questions and answers

Why is Paula's Choice Softening Cream Cleanser a weak match for combination skin?

This cleanser is a weak match for your combination skin because it offers only moderate cleansing and lacks specialized ingredients to address oily shine, though it is very safe and unlikely to cause irritation. A cleanser for this skin type needs ingredients that effectively cleanse without stripping moisture, target oily shine, and support the skin's moisture barrier for a balanced complexion.

Which ingredients make this cleanser a poor fit for combination skin?

This cleanser is a weak match for your combination skin because it lacks specialized ingredients to manage oily shine while cleaning. A cleanser of this type needs gentle cleansers, soothing extracts, and ingredients that provide hydration and balance to care for both oily and dry areas.

What does Beta-Glucan do for combination skin?

Beta-glucan helps keep combination skin hydrated, calm, and balanced while supporting skin barrier repair. It is unlikely to cause irritation and provides soothing moisture to both dry and oily areas.

Food Science & Nutrition, 2025Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2021

What does Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract do for combination skin?

Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract helps calm combination skin while reducing redness and irritation. This ingredient is generally well tolerated and unlikely to cause adverse reactions on mixed skin types.

Frontiers in Immunology, 2024

Where does this cleanser go in a skincare routine for combination skin?

This cleanser fits in both your morning and evening routine to wash away daily impurities. A cleanser of this type for combination skin needs balancing and oil-controlling ingredients to manage shine alongside gentle cleansing agents.

Can I use this cleanser with retinol, and in what order?

You can use this cleanser with retinol because its very gentle formula is unlikely to cause irritation. Wash your face with it before applying your retinol, and keep in mind that combination skin needs a cleanser that also tackles oily shine with ingredients like salicylic acid or niacinamide.

How often should I use this cleanser?

You can use this cleanser daily in the morning and evening as part of your routine. It gently removes dirt while keeping your skin calm, though combination skin also needs ingredients to target oily shine.

Can this cleanser clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for combination skin?

This cleanser is unlikely to cause breakouts or clog pores on combination skin, as it has an excellent safety profile with very low risks of irritation. However, because it is a weak match for combination skin, a product of this type needs specialized ingredients to balance oily shine while soothing the skin.

Can I use this cleanser around the eyes or on my body?

This cleanser is safe to use around the eyes and on the body because it has a very gentle formula without harsh ingredients. A cleanser for combination skin needs soothing components like chamomile and beta-glucan to keep skin calm while washing.

Is this cleanser fragrance-free and alcohol-free?

Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.

What the research says

  • Skin care regimens containing beta-glucan improved hemoglobin index, skin hydration, and transepidermal water loss compared to vehicle control in 20 patients undergoing fractional laser therapy.

    Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2021

  • Novel beads of alpha-cyclodextrin and soybean oil achieved high adapalene encapsulation (>96%), demonstrated good skin tolerance without adverse reactions in human volunteers, and provided stratum corneum penetration in pig skin comparable to commercial gel and cream formulations.

    Pharmaceutical Research, 2008

  • Apigenin protects against UVA-induced cytotoxicity and senescence in normal human dermal fibroblasts, decreases MMP-1 expression, and when applied topically as a cream in human subjects, increases dermal density and elasticity while reducing fine wrinkle length, skin evenness, moisture content, and transepidermal water loss compared to control cream.

    International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 2016

  • Treatment with topical formulations containing beta-glucan combined with nanofractional radiofrequency plus magnetic nanofractional radiofrequency showed the best efficacy and was tolerable and effective in Chinese women with abdominal stretch marks compared to control groups.

    Dermatology and Therapy, 2023

  • Topical beta-glucan mildly improved striae gravidarum, 1565-nm non-ablative fractional laser showed better results than topical beta-glucan, and the combined strategy further improved striae gravidarum atrophy compared to single treatment.

    The Journal of Dermatology, 2022

  • Topical application of oat beta-glucan ameliorates epidermal hyperplasia and accelerates epidermal barrier recovery by promoting keratinocyte differentiation through dectin-1-mediated ERK and p38 signaling pathways that upregulate CaSR expression.

    International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2021

  • Topical chamomile oil combined with a night splint significantly improved the symptomatic and functional status of patients with severe carpal tunnel syndrome compared to placebo, while electrodiagnostic parameters showed no significant changes.

    Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2015

  • German chamomile solution applied twice a day healed peristomal skin lesions significantly faster than once-a-day 1% hydrocortisone ointment in colostomy patients, with a mean healing time of 8.89 days versus 14.53 days.

    Ostomy/wound Management, 2011

  • Topical chamomile reduces the incidence and delays the occurrence of phlebitis due to amiodarone infusion in coronary care patients compared to a placebo of lanoline.

    Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2017

  • The cytotoxic effect of sodium lauryl sulphate on normal human keratinocytes was significantly decreased when combined with cocamidopropyl betaine, Tween 20, and Tween 80 at concentrations well below the critical micelle concentration.

    Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2003

  • Repeated application of concentrated water-in-oil emulsions over four weeks caused no skin irritation, positively affected skin properties, and delivered almost 50% of the applied fluorescein sodium, with isopropyl myristate showing superior penetration performance compared to liquid paraffin in healthy volunteers.

    International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2019

Why other cleansers fit combination skin better

  • A botanical face cleanser with hops and willow bark extract continuously reduced skin sebum levels without reactive seborrhea after treatment in 21 healthy volunteers compared to a sodium laureth sulfate cleanser, with neither cleanser causing skin irritation.

    Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2019

  • Combined ascorbyl palmitate and sodium ascorbyl phosphate treatment significantly reduced facial sebum secretions in healthy female volunteers compared to a placebo control over 90 days.

    Drug Research, 2017

Ingredients

Acrylates C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Beta-Glucan, Butylene Glycol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract Matricaria Flower Extract, Chlorphenesin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Disodium Edta, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycine Soja Oil Soybean Oil, Hexylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Laureth-4, Paraffinum Liquidum Mineral Oil, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Phenoxyethanol, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Hydroxide, Water

Behind this fit score

Lovi calculates every fit score 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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How does it fit your skin?

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

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