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Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant - US Versus Panoxyl Acne Creamy Wash Benzoyl Peroxide 4% Daily Control

Exfoliator
Face Cleanser
American Brand United States
American Brand United States

Updated on August 12, 2024

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe . They have a total of 2 ingredients in common

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for fighting acne, dry skin and brightening skin

Free From

They both do not contain any common allergens, oils, parabens or sulfates

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that needs an update? Let us know.

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

What's inside (and what isn't)

What's inside (and what isn't)

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
Buffering

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

Learn more about Sodium Hydroxide

When to use

5,492 Routines
25% use in am
75% use in pm
62% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
1,239 Routines
41% use in am
59% use in pm
85% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant 8 ingredients

3.1 /5
from 76 ratings
Expensive (26) Works Well (21) Drying (13)
skinogre's avatar

skinogre

1 year ago
Review

The first night I used Paula’s choice exfoliant just once, it cleaned up my skin scraping it whole, I was left GLOWING but it felt kind of tight like I had been using corsx salicylic acid for 3 days straight, it takes some getting used to, to the extent that the instructions literally say to start off once a week and slowly build your usage up overtime, it’s really strong but does the job well. Show more

#strong scent
#works well
Vman's avatar

Wiesław Gierczak

10 months ago
Review

Blackheads? Gone. Dry flakes? Gone. Nose? Smooth. Clogged pores who? My skin tends to be sensitive at times but it could easily handle this product.

#great value
#expensive
#light
#absorbs well

Panoxyl Acne Creamy Wash Benzoyl Peroxide 4% Daily Control 21 ingredients

4.1 /5
from 18 ratings
Works Well (5) Drying (4) Great Value (4)
Chickenugget88's avatar

🧙🏻‍♀️

4 months ago
Review

Benzoyl peroxide is awesome. It's the only thing that has actively staved off and cleared my acne. Contact treatment with this cleanser (leaving it on for 2 mins then rinsing and going in with my daily cleanser) makes it that the bp isn't interacting with my moisturiser and it's been revolutionary in clearing my cystic and non cystic acne the past 2 weeks. I prefer Differin's bp wash formulation, Show more

#great value
#drying
#works well
Clover's avatar

Clover

2 years ago
Review

Just bought my 5th bottle!
This is possibly my most repurchased product. Benzoyl peroxide is a fantastic ingredient to fight the bacteria that causes acne but it can be so drying. I consider my skin to be combination because I’m acne prone, but I defiantly lean dry and it’s hard to find products that cater to both acne prone and dry skin. Unlike many BP products I’ve tried, this cleanser does NOT Show more