Paula’s Choice RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment 5% AHA: Review

I’m always on a quest for new acid toners and serums to test. The Paula’s Choice 8% AHA gel was OK but it stings too much for me. The RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment 5% AHA seemed like a good one to try. Slightly less AHA than the 8% gel and more skin care ingredients so it can function as an antioxidant serum as well. Details per Paula’s Choice:

RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA refines the surface of skin with exceptionally gentle and completely non-abrasive exfoliation, at an optimal pH range of 3.5–3.9. It also offers additional benefits, including hydration, soothing antioxidants, and a mix of fortifying skin-restoring ingredients. 

What does it do?
RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA reveals youthfully radiant skin and helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This innovative daily-use formula continually revitalizes skin’s texture, visibly evens skin tone, and helps promote visibly firmer-looking, smoother skin. A specially selected mix of antioxidants helps fight the impact of free-radical damage, while ceramides and peptides bind moisture for beautifully radiant skin.

Who is it for?
RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA is formulated for normal to dry skin. It is ideal for anyone concerned with significantly improving the look of sun-damaged skin, including fine lines, uneven skin tone, loss of firmness, skin discolorations, and wrinkles.

A 1.7 oz pump retails for $33. This is for anti-aging and wrinkles. It hydrates while exfoliating with AHA or Glycolic acid. Glycolic acid adds moisture to the skin, helps reduce discolorations and wrinkles by exfoliating the skin. This treatment is a thicker serum or almost lotion style product is a peachy pink tint with a hint of shimmer and a light fruit or melon scent.

I experienced no stinging and this was much more gentle than the 8% AHA gel. It was like using a lotion or hydrating serum. That being said it also was less effective that all the AHA serums that sting. It’s gentle. This is good for normal to dry skin types and for someone who wants a lighter more gentle AHA or Glycolic acid product. I need a stronger product for my preferences.


Product Ingredients:

Water (Aqua), Glycolic Acid (alpha hydroxy acid/exfoliant), Cetyl Alcohol (texture-enhancing), Butylene Glycol (hydration), Dimethicone (hydrations/texture enhancer), Polyacrylamide (texture-enhancing), PPG-14 Butyl Ether (texture-enhancing), Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 (skin-restoring ingredient), Ceramide NG (skin replenishing), Tetrahydrodiferuloylmethane, Tetrahydrodemethoxydiferuloylmethane, Tetrahydrobisdemethoxydiferuloylmethane (skin-soothing/antioxidants derived from curcumin), Epigallocatechin Gallate (antioxidant), Salicylic Acid (BHA exfoliant/skin-soothing), Disodium Lauriminodipropionate Tocopheryl Phosphates (vitamin e based antioxidant), PEG-10 Phytosterol, Cucumis Melo (Melon Fruit Extract (antioxidant), Bisabolol (skin-soothing), Allantoin (skin-soothing), Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Dimethiconol (hydrations/texture enhancers), Tribehenin (texture enhancer), Polysorbate 20 (texture-enhancing), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, PEG-40 Stearate, Sorbitan Stearate (texture-enhancings), PVM/MA Decadiene Crosspolymer, Disodium EDTA (stabilizer), C13-14 Isoparaffin (solvent), Laureth-7 (texture-enhancing), Sodium Hydroxide (pH adjuster), Caprylyl Glycol (preservative), Ethylhexylglycerin (skin conditioning agent), Hexylene Glycol (solvent), Phenoxyethanol (preservative).

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