PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE REDNESS RELIEF MOISTURIZER FOR NORMAL TO DRY SKIN - BEST FACE CREAM FOR SENSITIVE SKIN, BEST FACE CREAM FOR REDNESS
PAULA’S CHOICE | REDNESS RELIEF MOISTURIZER FOR NORMAL TO DRY SKIN
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Products I'm into: Paula’s Choice Calm Collection - Best Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, Best Face Cream for Redness. You can catch the full piece here.
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I’m always seeking out gentle, effective skincare for sensitive skin. Not because I have sensitive skin necessarily, but because I know many people who believe they do.
It always makes me kinda sad when I recommend (or give!) a skincare product to someone and they say they’re afraid to use it because their skin reacts adversely to so many products that they avoid using anything new on their face. That sucks!
It’s hardly a way to maintain your skin health. And, sensitive skin isn’t healthy skin. It’s imbalanced skin. The solution isn’t to avoid skincare entirely. Rather, it’s to understand what’s throwing your skin out of whack and find a skincare routine comprised of products that work to calm and eliminate skin sensitivity.
So while I may not have sensitive skin per se, I get it. And I’ve been there. I test out so many products that it’s not uncommon for me to sensitize my skin. Glycolic Acid is often the culprit.
From time to time, my skin can become red, reactive and inflamed for a day or two. When it does, I put the brakes on anything harsh or overly aggressive. I remember one incident where even water aggravated my skin! As I recall, that time was retinol-induced.
SKINCARE HACKS: GLYCOLIC ACID IS THE NATURAL DEODORANT THAT WORKS!
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have a love-hate relationship with Glycolic Acid, the most potent of the class of alpha hydroxy acids, and would really prefer to just use it in my underarms as a daily deodorant.
Glycolic Acid is such a popular and effective ingredient that I can’t avoid it. There are so many really well-formulated treatment toners with high concentrations of Glycolic Acid and I feel compelled to try them all! Even the 20% Glycolic Acid toners come across my desk — and my bathroom sink. So yeah, I can overdo it as easily as anyone.
I’ve also made no secret of the fact that I trust Paula’s Choice for all skin types, even sensitive skins. I have so many of the brand’s products in my regular daily skincare routines. Among them, of course, is the the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster — hand’s down the best anti-aging serum on Earth. I’ve spoken of it multiple times on the blog and even recently promoted it on my TikTok channel. Psst…you can catch it here!
PAULA’S CHOICE 10% NIACINAMIDE BOOSTER – BEST NIACINAMIDE SERUM FOR CLOGGED PORES
In addition to the 10% Niacinamide Booster, I’m also a big fan of the Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant. I use the silky refining toner twice daily in conjunction with Paula’s Niacinamide serum to clear out my pores and keep my skin functioning optimally. In fact, I consider both products to be skin health essentials and rarely, if ever, go without them.
I’ve long had my eye on the Paula’s Choice Calm collection — formulated specifically for calming redness and irritation. Calm comprises a full range of skincare for sensitive skin — from cleansers to sunscreen and everything in between. I’ve just begun to explore it and am excited to share my initial thoughts.
Each Calm Redness Relief product is formulated with skin-replenishing plant oils, anti-aging actives and antioxidant-rich extracts “that research has shown to be among the most soothing for temperamental skin.”
My first foray into the Paula’s Choice Calm range includes the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Toner, the brand’s Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin and the two sunscreen in the collection — one for normal to dry skin, the other for oily and combination skin.
It’s no surprise to me that I’ve found each of the products I’ve tried quite well-formulated, effective and pleasurable. The Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Toner is superbly hydrating and soothing and has become one of my favorite hydrating toners.
Additionally, the Redness Relief SPF 30 Mineral Moisturizer for Normal to Oily Skin is very likely one of the best mineral sunscreens for oily skin. It has one of the lightest textures for a mineral sunscreen that I’ve ever come across. I still can’t believe it’s a 100% mineral facial sunscreen. I suspect alien technology may be at play.
With that, let’s take a look at what I consider one of the best toners for sensitive skin, the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin…
Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin
Similar to the approach taken with the two mineral SPF sunscreens, the Paula’s Choice Calm range offers two separate face creams — a richer one for normal to dry skin, and a lighter one for oily and combination skin.
Admittedly, I have not had the opportunity yet to test the Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Oily Skin. However, I have been using the Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin for several weeks now and really like the formula.
The brand’s Redness Relief Moisturizer for dryer skin types is richer than I was expecting it to be. In fact, it’s one of those face creams that barely works in a tube. It’s that thick. It’s even thicker than my favorite moisturizer for dry skin and all skin types in the cold, the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream.
PRODUCT REVIEW: SKINFIX BARRIER+ TRIPLE LIPID-PEPTIDE CREAM – BEST FACE CREAM FOR DRY SKIN
So while I like the Redness Relief Moisturizer formula a lot, there’s a high bar when it comes to evaluating a face cream for dry skin. And I’m the ideal test case in a low-humidity climate like New York City in February and March.
Over the last several weeks, the weather here has vacillated between wintry cold and warmer days that feel like a glimpse of summer. So I’ve had the unique opportunity to try out the Redness Relief Moisturizer on both warm and cold nights.
With its high concentration of replenishing plant oils as well as emollient lipids like ceramides and cholesterol, the product has certainly been an effective moisturizer on the coldest of nights. Again, it’s rich; but interestingly, it absorbs nicely into skin, leaving a comfortable, occlusive film over the skin to help prevent trans-epidermal water loss — the leading cause of skin dehydration and one of the causes of skin aging.
Maintaining sufficient hydration levels year-round is essential for skin to function at its peak. Healthy functioning skin is simply better able to defend against external aggressors like pollution, UV, and free radical attacks. And healthy skin is better fortified against signs of aging like lines, wrinkles and sagging.
What Is Trans-Epidermal Water Loss and What Causes Trans Epidermal Water Loss?
For a deep dive into trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL, there’s an excellent article on the health website Skin Better titled, What Is Transepidermal Water Loss and Why Is it Important? It’s available to read here.
In the piece, the author explains TEWL as follows:
“The skin is comprised of three primary layers: the epidermis, the outermost layer; the dermis or middle layer; and the hypodermis, the undermost layer. When water passes from the dermis through the epidermis and evaporates from the skin’s surface, this is known as transepidermal water loss (International Journal of Pharmaceutics).
While TEWL is a process that your skin naturally regulates, certain factors that can damage the skin’s barrier function can also affect TEWL levels. Circumstances such as injury, low-humidity weather conditions and topically applied products that dry out the skin can impact TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients.
Transepidermal water loss can contribute to a variety of dry skin conditions, and although it is a natural process, there are ways that you can help your skin stay moisturized and hydrated. Hydration refers to the water content of the skin, whereas moisturization is the skin’s ability to retain those water molecules. Therefore, your skin needs both elements to maintain desirable levels of TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients. Humectants help to draw moisture to the epidermis, either from the air if it is humid enough, or from the underlying dermis in low-humidity conditions. Because water content that is drawn from the dermis can be lost through TEWL, it’s important to combine the use of humectants with occlusives. Together, these ingredients create a reservoir of moisture in the epidermis and act as a barrier on the skin to help prevent TEWL by sealing in that moisture. The occlusive agents simultaneously keep pollutants, toxins and harmful bacteria out (Skin Therapy Letter).”
The Best Face Creams For Dry Skin
In addition to the Redness Relief Moisturizer’s blend of emollient plant oils like Jojoba Seed Oil and Squalane, which do have soothing properties for the skin, there’s perhaps a 3-4% concentration of Allantoin — a common, yet relatively effective soothing extract that’s considered by the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team to be among the best ingredients used in skincare.
What is Allantoin and why is it among the best skincare ingredients for soothing irritated skin? The Paula’s Choice Research Team defines it this way:
Allantoin is a byproduct of uric acid that can be extracted from urea and is the result of metabolic processes that occur in most organisms - among them animals (including humans) and bacteria. It can also be extracted from comfrey (taken from the roots and leaves) and is proven safe and effective because it does not contain the potentially irritating alkaloid compounds that occur in the comfrey plant.
It serves as an effective soothing agent and has moisturizing properties, giving it value especially in products designed to treat sensitive or compromised skin. It can also help mitigate skin’s response to stronger active ingredients and is often included in formulas to help buffer any potential adverse effects.
In cosmetics, it is used in concentrations up to 2%, but in clinical settings it can be used in greater amounts, where research has shown it can have an impact on healing. In the United States, it is FDA-approved as an over the counter (OTC) skin protectant in concentrations of 0.5-2%.
The Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer is effective for sensitive and irritated skin as much for what’s in the formula as what isn’t. If you struggle with sensitivity or sensitization, the last thing you want to be using is a face cream with fragrance in the form of essential oils, fragrant components, or drying alcohols. Of course, in classic Paula’s Choice fashion, the Redness Relief Moisturizer is free of these known skin sensitizers.
While the formula does contain both antioxidant Vitamin E and Vitamin C (in the form of Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate), I do wish it contained higher concentrations of antioxidant botanical extracts to help protect skin against free radical damage. It’s not entirely devoid of antioxidants, but its lack of soothing botanicals like Green Tea Extract, Centella Asiatica and even Bisabolol (the active component of chamomile) is surprising given the brand’s firm emphasis on antioxidant protection.
Honestly, while I do like the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer, it can’t compare to my favorite face cream from the brand, the Paula’s Choice Omega+ Complex Moisturizer. That baby is gold for dry and even sensitive skin.
Catch my review of the Omega+ Complex Moisturizer on the blog here.
PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE OMEGA+ COMPLEX MOISTURIZER - BEST FACE CREAM FOR DRY SKIN
What I like about it: Rich in replenishing emollients, the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin is an effective face cream for dry, dehydrated skin. I love its occlusive effect that helps to prevent trans-epidermal water loss and the fact that it quickly absorbs into the skin surface, despite its rich texture.
What I don’t like about it: I do wish it contained even more antioxidant oomph in the form of soothing botanicals like Green Tea Extract, Centella Asiatica and Bisabolol for enhanced protection against environmental aging. That feels like a rare miss from Paula’s Choice.
Who it’s for: Normal and dry skin — but especially dry, sensitive skin types.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin for $31 here. (Check out the oily skin version here.)
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The Ingredient List of the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief SPF 30 Mineral Moisturizer for Normal to Oily Skin:
so 0 0, Chamomilla Recutita Matricaria Flower Extract (Skin-Soothing) so|aox 0 0, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (Green Tea Extract/Skin-Soothing) aox|so, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract (Licorice Extract/Skin-Soothing) 
so|sb, Alumina (Stabilizer) vc|abrasive/scrub, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Hydration/Skin-Soothing) so|h, Glycerin (Hydration) sii|h 0 0, Panthenol (Skin Replenishing) so|h 0 0, Algae Extract (Skin Replenishing) emo|h, Lauryl PEG-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone emu|surf, Polyhydroxystearic Acid (Texture-Enhancing) emu, Triethoxysilylethyl Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Hexyl Dimethicone (Texture-Enhancing), Caprylyl Glycol (Preservative) h|emo, Butylene Glycol (Hydration) h|solv|vc 0 1, Diethylhexyl Carbonate (Stabilizer) emo, Triethoxycaprylylsilane (Texture-Enhancing), Disodium EDTA (Stabilizer) chel, Phenoxyethanol (Preservative) pres, Chlorphenesin (Preservative) pres|amicThe Ingredient List of the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief SPF 30 Mineral Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin:
emo 0 1-2, Cyclopentasiloxane (Hydration) emo|solv, Glyceryl Stearate (Emollient) emo|emu 0 1-2, PEG-100 Stearate (Texture-Enhancing) surf|emu 0 0, Butylene Glycol (Hydration) h|solv|vc 0 1, Pentylene Glycol (Hydration) solv|h, Cetearyl Alcohol (Emollient) emo|vc|emu|surf 1 2, Dimethicone (Hydration) emo 0 1, Glycine Soja Sterols (Soybean/Emollient) emo, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer (Texture-Enhancing) vc, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract (Oat Extract/Skin-Soothing) aox|so|emo|abrasive/scrub, Glycerin (Hydration/Skin Replenishing) sii|h 0 0, Sodium Hyaluronate (Hydration) sii|h 0 0, Allantoin (Skin-Soothing) so 0 0, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E/Antioxidant) aox 0 0, Hydrogenated Lecithin (Skin Replenishing) emo|emu, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C/Antioxidant) aox|sb, Superoxide Dismutase (Antioxidant) aox, Ubiquinone (Antioxidant) aox, Ceramide NG (Hydration/Skin Replenishing) sii, Methicone (Hydration) emo, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 (Texture-Enhancing) cci, PEG-10 Dimethicone (Texture-Enhancing) emu, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract (Cucumber Extract/Skin-Soothing) so|emo, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient) emo, Tribehenin (Emollient) emo, PEG-10 Phytosterol (Texture-Enhancing/Emollient) emu, Sorbitan Stearate (Texture-Enhancing) emu 1 0, Polyhydroxystearic Acid (Texture-Enhancing) emu, Alumina (Stabilizer) vc|abrasive/scrub, Polysorbate 20 (Stabilizer) emu|surf 0 0, Aluminum Stearate (Texture-Enhancing) col|vc, Xanthan Gum (Texture-Enhancing) vc, Caprylyl Glycol (Preservative) h|emo, Disodium EDTA (Stabilizer) chel, Ethylhexylglycerin (Preservative) pres, Phenoxyethanol (Preservative) pres, Chlorphenesin (Preservative) pres|amicThe Ingredient List of the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Redness Relief Toner for Normal to Dry Skin:
sii|h 0 0, Cyclopentasiloxane emo|solv, Glycereth-26 h|emo|vc 0 0, Allantoin so 0 0, Genistein aox, Carnosine aox|cci, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate so|h, Epigallocatechin Gallate aox|so, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract so|sb, Boerhavia Diffusa Root Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emo, Dimethiconol emo|h, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Oleic Acid emo|emu, Linolenic Acid sii|emo|surf|perf, Palmitic Acid sii|emo|emu 0 2, Linoleic Acid sii|emo|surf, Phospholipids sii|emo, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Polysorbate 20 emu|surf 0 0, Hydrogenated Lecithin emo|emu, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer vc, Xanthan Gum vc, Laureth-4 emu|surf 4 5, Laureth-23 emu|surf 0 3, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Disodium EDTA chel, Ethylhexylglycerin pres, Phenoxyethanol presThe Ingredient List of the Paula’s Choice Redness Relief Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin:
emo 0 0-2, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Petrolatum emo, Cetearyl Alcohol emo|vc|emu|surf 1 2, Dipentaerythrityl Hexacaprylate/Hexacaprate emo|emu|vc, Tridecyl Trimellitate emo, Phenyl Trimethicone emo, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Ceramide NP sii, Cholesterol sii|emo 0 0, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate sb|aox, Dimethicone emo 0 1, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Hydrolyzed Jojoba Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein h, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract aox|so|emo|abrasive/scrub, Hydrogenated Lecithin emo|emu, Whey Protein cci, Tridecyl Stearate emo, Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate emo, Myristyl Myristate emo 2 0-5, Linoleic Acid sii|emo|surf, Linolenic Acid sii|emo|surf|perf, Decarboxy Carnosine Hcl, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer vc, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer vc, Cetearyl Glucoside emu|surf, Cetyl Alcohol emo|vc 2 2, Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax emu, Aminomethyl Propanol buff, Disodium EDTA chel, Phenoxyethanol pres, Benzoic Acid pres, Chlorphenesin pres|amic, Sorbic Acid pres
