Paula's Choice CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment Cream with Peptides, Vitamin C & Licorice Extract, Anti-Aging & Wrinkles

I was introduced to this product by a friend who has similar skin/complexion. She looks fabulous so I decided to give it a whirl.Things you should know:1. My beauty routine consisted of occasionally washing my face. And by occasional— I mean rarely.2. I was always fortunate to have ‘good’ skin it didn’t break out or have big pores BUT it was super sensitive.3. I’m lazy and will not do anything that requires a lot of work.4. I’m 50. The pictures are in order of progress — blue top was day of first application —the next 3 are from the first 10 days and the last one is as of tonight.With all that said — I was instructed in detail about using the product.1. Start slow — every other night2. Keep it away from your eyes.3. Use sunscreen and be very careful going out in the sun after a treatment.I started slow (2 applications following the instructions) and did not put it ‘near’ my eyes. I stop at my brow and just below my darks circles. It burned my skin off as if I was in Chernobyl when it exploded. It was AWFUL and it took 10 days to heal. (See pics)What I realized was with my sensitive skin I really should have put more time between applications. So once I healed — I then waited 6 days between applications as I had some dryness and a little sensitivity on my cheeks.I’ve been using the product now for a little over 3 weeks only had 4 applications and I’m already seeing marked improvement.My “11s” are much less obvious (see pics). My skin looks brighter and healthier. Lastly it’s a smooth as a baby’s rump — I suspect that has a lot to do with burning off the top 4 layers of skin, but I digress.This product is intense but effective. It will burn if you don’t ease into using it. Also — when they say don’t put it on your eyes — what they mean is anywhere near your eyes. Give a wide birth or else you risk having your face look like mine did. My eyelids were literally burned and I never touched them with the product that’s how strong it is. Now I keep it focused on my cheeks and a very tiny amount on the side of my eye for those dreaded crows feet.Other things of note: this is part of a very simple routine.Morning1. Wash face2. Use hyaluronic acid serum3. Use Vitamin C serumEvening1. Wash face2. Use Retinol (slow at first - then work up to the right cadence for you)3. Use moisturizerI use Beauty Counter products for the serums I use in the morning.I use Verse for my sunscreen and moisturizer.Obviously, PC’s retinolCerave Moisturizing Face WashI purchased everything except the Beauty Counter products through Amazon.I love all of the products and will continue using them.Hope this helps you make good decisions.

I have not used it consistently to give a great review. I will say it has not made me break out when I have used it. It does not make my skin dry. I have oily skin but I have noticed less product of oil. I will keep using it.

I love this brand. Perfect for any skin tone!

I’m pushing 50 and have some fine lines and wrinkles. Trying a few things before Botox😬 I’m horrible with skin care routines and this is my first retinol product. I started using it every night and after a week or so my skin was flared up and red. I backed off and only use it every few days now. It’s lightweight and not oily, not much of a scent. Not sure if it’s helping with the wrinkles or not but they don’t seem to be getting worse. I guess I’ll keep on keeping on

This stuff is amazing. I use it 3x a week and so far works great. I've been only been using for 3 weeks and can tell I have a smoother face.

I received this product 4 days ago I was so excited knew it had to be good stuff by the price and someone telling me about it , well I used it once Friday i didn’t really look at reviews or anything just read use 3 times weekly I guess so your skin could get used to it well I used it as soon as I got it, everything was fine then I decided I was going to use it Sunday two days later then wait 3 days before I used it again for my 3rd time but I haven’t made it there yet , I may have used to much when I applied and to soon together I used a daily wash no burn I used my pore cleaner and it burnt like hell and then I used some night cream and it burnt like hell omg my face was so damn red on my cheeks it gave me bad anxiety I didn’t know what I was using that was causing it then I started to take a few steps back read the reviews on this and seen I wasn’t the only one experiencing burning I wish the bottle would say that instead of skin irritation it says everything but that which I guess that’s what it means but it should pacifically say burning/redness may occur as of many people have experienced this burning and red sensation my face has been on fire for an hour now but the redness is starting to go away but my pores are freakin huge it seems like I guess from the irritation, I tried to put on some hydrating lotion only for it to feel like my face was being burned off , I’m going to say this is my fault as I didn’t read more into this before I used it I’m going to take a few days on putting anything on my face like at all besides cold water then start all over with a very little amount and only twice a week for a while and see if that helps with my pore cleaner and night cream issue I also started using acne cerava wash hoping I’d be able to still use that for my black heads but idk will see how my face feels in the morning as it is slightly still burning and keep in mind this is a 24-48 hour side effect I’m experiencing yes I see it said to test it the first 48 hours on a part of your skin I did not see that until now I’ve never had this problem with skin product but I should of known with how expensive and my lack of knowledge for retinol but the product it self when using did not feel like this at all , it’s everything I’m using on top of it it’s the pore cleaner I used and night cream I used that caused this flare up and i know it’s this product because I’ve used the other products before and have been for a while and nothing like this happened before I need to see the ingredients and if I can use all of my other cleaners together with this product , I’m sure there’s one I cannot but I am definitely starting my journey over and going to be more precautions & I will come back here and let yall know how it worked out for me on the other hand I really hope this redness and burning feeling is gone by morning or I’m going to the doctor .I just want to share my experience so the next person who’s thinking about using this for the first time takes extra precautions I did not know this product was so strong !!

GOOD QUALITY , KEEPS SKIN HYDRATES AND SMELL GOOD