Paula's Choice

About Paula's Choice

Paula's Choice is a skincare brand founded in 1995 by the journalist Paula Begoun. It built its business largely through direct-to-consumer sales and presents its products as science-focused and free of marketing jargon. In 2021 Unilever acquired the brand from the private equity firm TA Associates.

What 49 formulas reveal

Paula's Choice is present in INCIMondo with 49 products, mainly face care plus cleansers and make-up removers. Its most frequent ingredients after water – GLYCERIN, XANTHAN GUM, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL and SODIUM HYALURONATE, the salt form of hyaluronic acid – are functional basics, with no fragrance among them.

The additive figures match: none of the 49 formulas lists fragrance ingredients or parabens, and denatured alcohol (ALCOHOL DENAT.) appears in just 1 (2%). Silicones are the exception, found in 20 formulas (41%).

Reading a Paula's Choice ingredient list

The brand presents itself as free of marketing jargon, which makes the INCI list the natural place to start. Ingredients are listed in descending order of concentration down to 1%, after which the order is free – so an ingredient highlighted on the front may sit well down the list.