As someone who suffers from redness and bouts of rosacea, we’re incredibly hesitant to exfoliate our skin. Despite knowing just how beneficial it can be. This made us nervous ahead of completing our Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Exfoliant review.
Thankfully, we needn’t had worried.
Although our skin felt dry and tight at first, this only lasted a couple of days. After our skin got used to the product, it was noticeably less oily and shiny and we had fewer breakouts. Especially around our jawline and mouth.
The acne scarring and pigmentation that we’re often plagued with also improved and by the end of the trial, when we were using the exfoliant twice a day, our skin was almost unrecognisable.
It’s not perfect. Our redness is better than it was but it hasn’t gone completely. In Paula’s Choice’s defense, this exfoliant doesn’t promise to reduce redness but it’s worth noting.
It’s also expensive. At £34 a bottle, it will be beyond the budget for a lot of people and because the brand recommends “soaking” a cotton pad, you end up getting through it quite quickly.
Also, as soon as we stopped using it, our skin declined. Albeit slowly, but it was a shame to see some of the texture return. This isn’t unique to the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant of course, but once you’ve had better skin it can be a hard pill to swallow to see it go backward. Especially when it costs so much to maintain.
On the plus side, the pigmentation we had before hasn’t come back so we’re still in a better position than we were.
All of this considered, if you can afford the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant it is worth the money and effort.
| Paula's Choice | £34 |
| Cult Beauty | £34 |
| SpaceNK | £34 |
| Selfridges | £34 |
| Amazon | £34 |
In our Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant review, we test whether the liquid exfoliant is as gentle as the brand claims on our sensitive skin, and if it really can clear blemishes and balance oil
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How we tested Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant
Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant Formula
How to use Paula’s Choice BHA 2% Exfoliant
Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant: Before and After
If you’ve been anywhere near a social media platform in the past few years, chances are you will have heard of Paula’s Choice.
Founded in 1995 by author and beauty expert Paula Begoun – often referred to as the “Cosmetics Cop” due to her deep research into the ingredients used in beauty products – Paula’s Choice’s mission is to create “effective, science-based skincare products that are free from harmful ingredients such as fragrances, dyes, and alcohol.”
Her products regularly trend on TikTok and Instagram and the brand is a popular choice among influencers as well as beauty journalists.
As part of her commitment to transparency and education, all Paula’s Choice products are kept deliberately minimal, in terms of ingredients.
They each come with a detailed description of how each ingredient and product works, and each is clinically proven to address specific skin concerns such as acne, fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, and uneven skin texture.
And one of the bestsellers is the Paula’s Choice 2%BHA Exfoliant.
For the past month, we’ve been putting the exfoliator to the test for our Paula’s Choice 2% Exfoliant review to see if it not only works as promised but if it’s worth the high price tag.
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mamabella The Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Exfoliant comes in three sizes. The bottle pictured is the £34, 118ml version
The Paula’s Choice BHA 2% Exfoliant is part of the wider Skin Perfecting exfoliating range. Within this range is three versions of the 2% Exfoliant – a liquid version (reviewed below), a gel version and a lotion version. Each one is suitable for all skin types, although they are better suited to one type over another.
The wider Skin Perfecting range then also includes:
The AHA products are great for smoothing the skin and giving you a healthy glow while the BHA versions are better suited for people with clogged pores and breakouts.
The peel is the most potent of the range and gives the fastest results but you have to be careful using such a strong formulation on sensitive skin.
FURTHER READING: What skin type do I have? Discover how to know your skin type with our skin types guide
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mamabella | mamabella Paula’s Choice BHA is a gentle, leave-on exfoliant that gets rid of dead skin cells and helps calm redness to smooth and clear the skin
What is Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant? Despite its harsh-sounding name, Paula’s Choice BHA is a gentle, leave-on exfoliant that gets rid of dead skin cells and helps calm redness to smooth and clear the skin. BHA stands for beta-hydroxy acid. In this product, the BHA in question is called salicylic acid and because BHAs are soluble in oil they dissolve into the oils and sebum found in your skin, helping to unclog your pores and get rid of texture.
Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant price: £11 (30ml); £34 (118ml); £55 (150ml)
How to use Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant: Paula’s Choice recommends soaking a cotton pad with the exfoliant and wiping it across your face and neck (but not your eyes). You don’t need to rinse but you will need to wear sunscreen with at least SPF 30 during the day as the acids in this product make your skin even more susceptible to the sun.
When to use Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant: If this is the first time you’re using a product with a BHA in it, try applying it every other day to see how your skin reacts before increasing it to once a day, and then twice daily. If you suffer a reaction, stop using it immediately.
Who should use Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant? Suitable for all skin types but is particularly good for acne-prone, oily and bumpy skin prone to blemishes and blackheads.
Where to buy: Paula’s Choice | Cult Beauty | Sephora
Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant alternatives: Revolution 2% BHA Salicylic Acid Toner (£9.99); Farmacy Deep Sweep BHA Toner (£15)
For our Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant review, we used it every day for a week, increased this to every night for a week, and then spent two weeks using it twice daily. You can read more about why it’s so important to test skincare for longer than a week or two in our guide: How we test skincare to see if it lives up to its claims.
In the morning, we applied it between our cleanser and moisturiser and we then added sunscreen on top. Our favourite sunscreen at the moment is the Isntree Watery Sun Gel.
In the evening, we cleansed our face, exfoliated with the Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant, applied a hyaluronic acid serum, and finished our skincare routine off with moisturiser. Once a week we also “slug” our skin using a thicker balm. You can read more about this in our skin slugging guide.
We took photos of our skin before the Paula’s Choice BHA review started, and at the end of the four weeks to track its progress. Jump to the Paula’s Choice Before and After section below.
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As skincare products go, Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant contains very few ingredients at all. In fact, there are only eight in total. The main ingredient, which gives the exfoliant its exfoliating and smoothing properties is salicylic acid.
Salicylic acid is a superstar ingredient that exfoliates the skin both on the surface and deep in the pores. It’s also an anti-inflammatory, meaning it can help reduce redness and irritation. While it helps with acne, it’s best suited for getting rid of blackheads making the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant particularly good for use on and around your nose.
In the EU, 2% salicylic acid is the maximum strength allowed in consumer products. However, you can get professional peels that contain up to 30% – these can create faster results, but cost a lot more.
Elsewhere, Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Exfoliant also contains green tea leaf extract to further soothe the skin, while butylene glycol acts as a humectant to draw and lock moisture into the skin.
The rest of the ingredients are used more to give the product its liquid consistency and to keep the other ingredients balanced.
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Paula's Choice The Paula’s Choice Exfoliant is the third step in your skincare routine – after cleansing and toning, but before serums and moisturisers
A lot of exfoliators can be quite harsh on the skin and this is why brands advise you only exfoliate your skin once a week. However, Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Exfoliant is different and is gentle enough to use every day.
The Paula’s Choice Exfoliant is the third step in your skincare routine. It has the number three on the side to help you remember.
If you’re using the exfoliant in the morning, make sure you also apply SPF after your moisturiser. It’s also advised that you keep on top of how many products you’re using that contain other BHAs and AHAs. Most can be used with one another but if you suffer any irritation, then limit their use and introduce each one gradually to determine which is the culprit.
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mamabella | mamabella The image on the left shows what our skin looked like before our Paula’s Choice Exfoliant review. The image on the right is how it looked after four weeks
Our skin went through quite a journey with this exfoliant. For the first week, our skin felt tight and drier than usual. The week after, our skin did a complete 180 and we felt like we had more oil than before we started our Paula’s Choice Exfoliant review.
By week three, however, everything calmed down and became the most balanced it’s been for a long time. The areas of pigmentation around our chin, in particular, were noticeably improved. As you can see in the images above.
Two weeks after using this exfoliant, our skin definitely looked and felt smoother. We still had blackheads and pigmentation but they looked much better than before. As the review continued, this effect increased to the point people started commenting on how radiant and clear our skin looked.
After the initial dryness, this exfoliant made our skin feel hydrated and fresh. We were less shiny and our skin felt less heavy and thick.
While the exfoliant did help a little with our redness, it didn’t get rid of it at all. As you can see in the After image above, the skin on our cheek is still flushed but, because of the reduction in marks and pigmentation elsewhere, our skin does generally look less angry.
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mamabella | mamabella if you can afford the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant it is worth the money and effort. It’s not a miracle cure, but it’s not far off
As someone who suffers from redness and bouts of rosacea, we’re incredibly hesitant to exfoliate our skin. Despite knowing just how beneficial it can be. This made us nervous ahead of completing our Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Exfoliant review.
Thankfully, we needn’t had worried.
Although our skin felt dry and tight at first, this only lasted a couple of days. After our skin got used to the product, it was noticeably less oily and shiny and we had fewer breakouts. Especially around our jawline and mouth. It also made a major dent in the blackheads on our nose.
The acne scarring and pigmentation that we’re often plagued with also improved and by the end of the trial, when we were using the exfoliant twice a day, our skin was almost unrecognisable.
It’s not perfect. Our redness is better than it was but it hasn’t gone completely. In Paula’s Choice’s defense, this exfoliant doesn’t promise to reduce redness but it’s worth noting.
It’s also expensive. At £34 a bottle, it will be beyond the budget for a lot of people and because the brand recommends “soaking” a cotton pad, you end up getting through it quite quickly.
Also, as soon as we stopped using it, our skin declined. Albeit slowly, but it was a shame to see some of the texture return. This isn’t unique to the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant of course, but once you’ve had better skin it can be a hard pill to swallow to see it go backward.
On the plus side, the pigmentation that we had before hasn’t come back so we’re still in a better position than we were.
All of this considered, if you can afford the Paula’s Choice Exfoliant it is worth the money and effort. It’s not a miracle cure, but it’s not far off.
If you can’t afford it, there are a couple of cheaper alternatives – Revolution 2% BHA Salicylic Acid Toner (£9.99); Farmacy Deep Sweep BHA Toner (£15) – but we can’t yet vouch for them in the same way yet.
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The following list of ingredients is taken from the INCI Decoder website. You can hover over each ingredient to find out more about it.
The numbers next to each ingredient represent its Irritation Rating (the number to the left of the comma), and then Comedogenic Rating (to the right of the comma).
Both ratings are scored out of five and the higher the number, the higher the chance of it causing irritation, or comedones (spots). Green means it has a low rating so is less likely to cause problems. Yellow and red numbers represent high ratings and are more likely to cause problems.
exf|aacne|so|pres, Polysorbate 20 emu|surf 0 0, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract 
aox|so, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Tetrasodium EDTA chelHover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
