Paula's Choice CLEAR Extra Strength Acne Kit

I have had a battle with my skin since I was 12. 23 years of my life. I use this once a day before bed. It does sting and burn, however my skin is so much better! Not only is my acne almost gone after 2 weeks, but the texture and pores are smoother, and overall redness is gone! I wish I had before and after. This is incredibly effective, as this was going to my last attempt before going back to the doctor. The price is high, however it is worth the cost and the bottles last. I’d suggest starting with every other day of use once a day; and working your way up. I do the 3 steps, and then use a cooling face mask (like one I keep in the freezer and reuse). Before bed I do Vaseline on my t-zone and nose and across cheeks and that has addressed any dryness I get, which has been minimal. Love this product!

I have stubborn, hormonal acne and this is the ONLY product that clears my skin. I've tried prescription creams and medicines that have not given me the clear, soft skin that this product gives me. It definitely works! I use the extra strength option and beware, you have to build up to it or your skin will become dry and flaky. Each bottle is numbered, making it easy to use but I recommend using a moisturizer as well. It is unscented and light on your skin. The regular bottles are quite big and will last a few months! It may seem pricey, but in my opinion, it's totally worth it!

I feel it’s my responsibility to write a review. The first picture is Dec 6, 2020. The second picture (same cheek) is Jan 30, 2021. This has been AMAZING for my 15 year old son. He is so happy even he wanted me to write a review. I truly think this has changed his overall happiness in his life. I had no idea how much his acne bothered him (he never really spoke about it) until he said after using the kit for a couple weeks “I actually took my mask all the way off during lunch today”. This both broke my heart (that he felt that way) and warmed my heart bc he felt much more confident. We have gone to a dermatologist and have taken medication (which I still have him taking), used various prescription creams....all to no avail. I was desperate and lying in bed one night and came across this on Amazon. I spent a lot of time reading the reviews and decided to pull the trigger for my son. I went straight to the “extra strength” as I felt his acne was pretty bad and beginning to show scarring. After a week or two, his face was VERY DRY...but we managed that with some of my nice creams. For the most part, he stayed consistent and did the full routine morning AND night. Like I said, he did get pretty dry....and maybe here or there he may skip number 3....but now, his skin is completely adjusted and he doesn’t get red or dry anymore. I really think you need to just push through when you get red and follow with a nice cream if you get uncomfortable. The texture of his skin is like night and day. The cystic acne is gone...which he seemed to get constantly and they were mainly filled with blood. His blackheads have almost disappeared. This is truly a miracle. I just felt like if anyone else is dealing with what my son was dealing with I wanted to help them by writing this review. This stuff really really works. Just look at the pics above. Not even 2 months! You won’t regret this.

I am so impressed with this product! I could visibly see the redness go down after the very first use, and it makes my skin look shiny after use! I’m excited to see what my skin looks like after a month or two of using this product cause I’m just 4 days in (as in photos) you can clearly see the difference. My blackheads which are usually dark and oily are very small and not nearly as visible. ONLY WARNING is that this does not come with a moisturizer. This does majorly dry out your skin, your going to need a strong moisturizer. I use all natural raw Shea butter, and I put it on after I use this on the dry spots and that balances out the use of this product perfectly. If you have SUPER SENSITIVE SKIN I would not recommend this for that reason. But I would recommend this product to anyone that’s struggled with stubborn acne. Ive had acne all my life, but I just had my baby , and had really clear skin the whole time I was pregnant, but now that I am not my hormones came in and totally messed my skin up. So glad this works. I’ve tried every at home remedy in the book, and almost every over the counter brand, but nothing has dramatically worked this fast.

This product is amazing however it's been saying out of stock this is the only thing that helps me with my PCOS acne when will we get this back???

*Two months updates* This kit lasted 1.5 months until the toner ran out still have a little of the wash and spot treatment. This toner is the star of the collection because I had some more acne than I’ve been used to for the week I was without mire toner. Two days back with the toner and all the active acne has responded perfectly. Stick with it! It’s so nice to have my face expressions (ie moving my forehead) without there being a deep acne pain throbbing. Still so happy with this! **Two week update*** I’ve added in the PC clear moisturizer. I think it’s helping with the redness. Also noticing all the acne that’s cleared up don’t leave behind the deep purple marks (I’m black white biracial with EDS so my skin doesn’t heal well and my skin has hyper-pigmented deep purple spots after acne goes away but it’s light pink and that’s never been experienced! So delighted! Will keep buying again and again. I’ve had horrible cystic acne. I keep trying acne set after acne set. I see a 10% improvement but it still just feels like a painful game of whack a mole. After four months on my last brand which I love for other results but acne set wasn’t fixing the issue. I remembered my skin being really clear October-February and realized I was using paulas choice exfoliating toner. So I immediately searched to see if she had any acne treatments. I had a shoot and was just a week out and had the worst breakout of my life (20+ flaming red and painful cystic acne) a week to the day. Holy cow. No new acne, and I’m betting by the time I wake up tomorrow they’ll all just be in the healing phase of hyperpigmentation. I saw some reviews bringing up results in less than a week and was hopeful. Was not disappointed. I was so excited every morning to check how well it’d worked because it felt that drastic every time. Now I had to bring in neutrogena hydroboost gel for a tad excessive drying but I also was aggressively applying the spot treatment three times a day for three days straight. But adding hydroboost gel perfectly balanced everything. I’ll never leave paula again lol.

I bought this trio because I have experience with other Paula products. More specifically the chemical exfoliants and have found them decent products. I am only a couple of days into the skin regime and have yet to notice significant change. I'll update this review periodically as time goe by to see if these products actually work, but less than a week in and not much of a difference. Update!! One week later!!! I posted two pictures, and I think it's clear what picture was the before! It's definitely clearing up my reoccurring blemishes and reducing redness. That being said, this stuff is harsh on fair skin so I have only used the exfoliant and acne treatment every other day. It definitely dries skin out! To combat the excessive drying, I have also used a Korean skin "acne" serum in place of the acne treatment on some days and use a Korean snail mucous face moisturizer. Honestly, I think the Korean products are necessary to keep this regime in check. Paula's products WILL dry you out. They will totally destroy the skin's barrier and it's essential you repair while treating your acne. The Korean products I have been using visibly repair my skin on the spot, correcting hyper pigmentation and redness almost immediately. I'll edit review in another week to see how things are going.

I bought the extra strength kit at the end of December. I have shared photos of my results from Jan 1st - Jan 15th. The bottles say it’s recommended to use twice a day but I’ve only been using them once a day (because my skin has been prone to getting very dry when using similar products) even though my face produces a lot of oil. After using Paula’s Choice acne kit, I apply moisturizer but it’s not Paula’s choice brand; it’s just unscented/no color lotion. I have noticed that without a moisturizer, Paula’s Choice would also cause my face to become dry. (FYI the products in the kit are un-scented.) I started having severe hormonal acne on my cheeks, under my nose, chin and jaw line, after having my son in 2021. I’m 27 now..had your basic, occasional teenage pimples, maybe 2-3 at a time every few weeks. But this adult hormonal acne is a different story…they’re bigger, I’ll get 4+ at a time, they’re redder and more painful. (And for background info, I’m not on any form of birth control so that’s not contributing to my breakouts.) They take forever to go away. I’ve had worse breakouts than photographed. I’ve tried everything.. proactiv, curology, and anything you could find on shelves. Nothing worked like Paula’s Choice has, so far. The pimples that usually take a month or more just to start healing, have began fading away after 2 weeks of use. It seems Paula’s Choice has helped prevent new acne as well. I have been getting 3-4+ pimples a WEEK and have only gotten 1-2 new ones in the last 2 weeks; but they haven’t gotten as big or red as the ones in the photos. I may try using the products twice a day, as recommended, to see if it helps more with future breakouts and to finish clearing up my previous acne spots. I’m satisfied with the purchase and as long as it continues working I plan on buying the whole set again. I recommend trying Paula’s Choice if nothing else has worked for you.