This post is in partnership with Paula’s Choice and Pretty In My Pocket!
I should start by saying I’m a huge Paula Begoun fan. She’s a complete renegade in the skincare industry and the ultimate myth buster and founder of Paula’s Choice. I’ve been following her for years so to have the opportunity to meet her this month was huge for me! Whether or not you agree with all of her views what I’ve always appreciated about her books and advice is that they come from a place of research and proven facts versus following rumors and trends.
I’m excited to be partnering with Pretty In My Pocket to offer an exclusive 20% off code and free shipping through this link. If you’re not familiar with Pretty In My Pocket it’s a great network to follow beauty enthusiast to see their favorite products and reviews. You can register at prettyinmypocket.com/login to join the community and share your favorites! (Let me know if you do so I can check out your page!).
Over the years I’ve dabbled in Paula’s Choice c as part of my routine, and have honestly loved everything I’ve ever used. I bow down to her 2% BHA and SPF produts! My experience this time around was much more profound (usually I read about a product and try it) while this time I started with a phone call to her customer service team to discuss my skin and skincare goals and then together we created a full regimen.
I’m someone that deeply believes in balancing my skin so that it’s always “normal”. However, I don’t necessarily have a normal skintype. Like many that don’t sway drastically in one direction (always dry or always oily…), I get dry in the winter and oily in the summer. My main concerns if I’m not taking care of my skin is pore size, and hyperpigmentation. I also want to be preventative with anti-aging since I’m now in my 30s and those lines in my forehead are becoming more prominent and I like to have some type of skin brightener (I’m a big vitamin C fan!) on hand. Lastly, I’m all about an eye cream and keeping the area around my eyes hydrated so I don’t develop crows feed and a sunscreen is an absolute must for me –and should be for everyone!
Based on this explanation we worked out the following regimen: 
The Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-Aging Essential Kit for Wrinkles & Breakouts appropriate for both dry and oily skintones the set includes:
- Resist Perfectly Balanced Foaming Cleanser (6.4oz) – eliminates oil and leaves skin soft
- Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment 2% BHA (3oz) – exfoliant with 2% BHA to shrink pores and smooth wrinkles
- Resist Youth-Extending Daily Mattifying Fluid SPF 50 (2oz) – hydrating day moisturizer with SPF
- Resist Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator (1.7oz) – lightweight moisturizer that hydrates without causing breakout.
We also added three additional products:
- Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner – tones skin to smooth wrinkles and build colllagen for firmer skin
- Resist Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum with Vitamin C treatment – Fights multiple signs of aging and brightens
- Resist Anti-Aging Eye Cream – softens the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
I love that all Paula Choice products are fragrance free and non-irritating. I’ve always felt that if any ingredients are being added just to add scent or enhance the experience that don’t actually have any skin benefits I prefer they not be formulated in my product. It’s why I’ll often use a sensitive skin product, even though I’m not sensitive if all the ingredients are the same and the only difference is for the sensitive version it’s fragrance free.
My regimen goes in this order:
Morning: Resist Perfectly Balanced Foaming Cleanser, Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner, Resist Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum with Vitamin C treatment (brighten and boost my skin with antioxidants since I have a lot of former sun damage), Resist Anti-Aging Eye Cream (it’s like a balm that absorbs beautifully and deeply hydrates the eye area), and Resist Youth-Extending Daily Mattifying Fluid SPF 50 (my SPF and moisturizer that I close my routine with).
For the evening I add the Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment 2% BHA (to remove the dead skin cells and deep clean my skin and pores!) before I apply the Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner (to add the hydration back after the deep exfoliation). And then either stop after the serum or use the Resist Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator as a night moisturizer in place of the Resist Youth-Extending Daily Mattifying Fluid SPF 50 (you don’t need an SPF product in the evening).
This may seem like a lot of product (or very little when you consider Koreans on average use 18 products morning and night — a fact I learned from hearing Paula speak), however all of her formulas are light and meant to be layered. So often we see products with a million benefits in one bottle which is very hard to achieve. To get the appropriate levels of all of the active ingredients to make them efficacious is very challenging, where as layering helps each formula focus on what you’re trying to correct. My skin is in top form when I use this collection. It’s hydrated and glowing which is all I can ask for until we discover the fountain of youth.
I’m excited to be partnering with Pretty In My Pocket this month to offer an exclusive 20% off code and free shipping through May 31st through this link. If you’re not familiar with Pretty In My Pocket it’s a great network for follow beauty enthusiast to see their favorite products and review. You can register at prettyinmypocket.com/login to join the community and share your favorites! (Let me know if you do so I can check out your page!).
As I mentioned earlier I had the pleasure of meeting Paula this month for an intimate breakfast and talk for the launch of her new Calm Redness Relief collection.
She opened with “we love making our skin sensitive.” And urged the importance of being gentle on your skin and take care of it as if it were sensitive. Going back to not using products that use fragrances and dyes or any other harmful ingredients.
“The sun is the devil” – another favorite quote. Within the first minute of being outside the damage happens to skin. The first minute! So on that walk to the subway or through the window of your office, you need to make sure you’re wearing at least an SPF 30. “If you don’t have sunscreen on the back of your hands, face and chest, You will age ugly.” I love her quotes! She’s 62 years and her skin for sure does not reflect it so take a queue. I’ll admit even I forget about my hands and with social media and always holding products in pictures I do not want my hands to age.
As for the new Calm Redness Relief collection, it’s available in Normal to Oily and Normal to Dry and formulated for extra sensitive skin to relieve redness and calm irritation. Boosted with anti-inflammatory ingredients, the blends for both skin types are the same, just the textures are different.
To learn more and receive 20% off your next purchase + free shipping, visit (link works through May 31st!): paulaschoice.com/prettyconnectespring
Have you tried Paula’s Choice before? Let me know your favorite products!
