Hi Girls!,

So for the past three years my skin has seen more downs than it's seen ups. I've witnessed my acne go from non existent, to moderate, to partially severe, and there I began a journey of cocktailing all sorts of crazy, expensive, pretty packaged garbage all in the name of vanity. Not to digress from this review, (I plan to talk more about skin in the future) I basically tried anything and everything, and to no avail continued with painful breakouts and worse; scarring. I became pretty lackluster about skin care regimes until I finally decided I would try one last time to invest more patience, research, consistency and even a tad more money to find the skin I had always dreamed of before I would settle to accept what it had become. And that's when I discovered Paula's Choice.

To give you some background info on this company, Paula's Choice skin care creates products containing ingredients that have been scientifically tested and proven through peer reviewed scientific journal articles. So what does all this loco mean? It means there is a scientific guarantee that what you are buying will to some degree actually DO something- and something good! Essentially, you are not buying "empty" products that have what I describe as "fillers" - basically a bunch of useless "science-y stuff" that smell nice and make you feel like something is happening.

So, I've just completed three interesting months of trialing this exhaustive 'Skin Balancing' 7-step kit hoping to get my skin back to a happy medium. I made sure not to pick anything specifically targeting acne, just to give it the pimple-fighting break it deserved, and I was aiming to restore back the moisture I had lost from years of over drying out my face. Therefore, I went with something recommended for normal skin types, and to sum it up shortly, I was pleasantly surprised!

Price: $222.00 (Currently on sale for $188.71) 

Purchased from: Paula's Choice - Online

7 steps - all steps JUST as essential. It does sound tedious, and it kind of is, 7 steps! Who has time!? Well apparently I do, and I was glad to find each step is just as important as the next.

STEP 1 - CLEANSER: The best cleanser I have ever used hands down, no arguments about it. This stuff actually removes makeup! Like ACTUALLY!! Not only that but its super gentle and doesn't have a chemical smell (if anything it smells like soybeans?) nor does it have that nice tingly sensation which believe it or not I don't enjoy - less irritation for my poor little face. I am still shocked it lived up to it's claims, and I will find it difficult to try anything else. Paula's Choice is only sold online, so I imagine I'll have to find a replacement while I wait for new bottles to be shipped *sad face*.

STEP 2 - TONER: I'm one of those people that were convinced that toners did nothing. I only ever bought one as a last step of wiping away traces of makeup after cleansing, and removing any flakey skin from around my nose, mouth and hairline. I'm not a fan of alcohol astringents either so I wasn't particularly drawn to this. However, I gotta say, my stubborn beliefs were short lived after I spent a week without it and something was different. I noticed the pores around my nose magnified. And that sufficed, back to using it I was! Also my skin was definitely flake free after the first use and for a serious foundation wearer I am eternally grateful.

STEP 3 - BHA 2%: BHA otherwise known as salicylic acid, was the only acne-catered step in the whole system. It worked awesome in smoothing the skins surface, at the 1 and a half month point my skin was relatively bump free, and the skin on my forehead and the bridge of my nose was incredibly pore-less and had a tight appearance, wasn't dull, or tired looking (sometimes when the surface is both oily and dry pores tend to enlarge and the skin becomes puffy and textured). This ingredient next to benzoyl peroxide is like the godfather of surface rejuvenation, the BHA is absorbed into the pore and all the inflammatory toxins are purged, revealing a brighter complexion. I think this product is amazing, but from what I observed it did very little for deep tissue scarring, or even reduced the redness of minor scars, but I anticipate that's a whole other battle I'll have to conquer elsewhere.

STEP 4 - ANTIOXIDANT SERUM: This step is designed to address skin texture and preventing/reducing fine lines. It is silicon based so it feels like a makeup primer (and apparently it can be used as one) and gives your skin that slippery feeling, which is okay, but not preferred. It claims to fight the signs of aging, so unfortunately it wasn't easy to see how well it actually works, but I imagine judging by reviews on the site (4/5 stars from 221 reviews) it seems to stand up to it's promise, plus it contains Retinol which is a superstar ingredient in the anti-aging game.

STEP 5 - MOISTURISER (NIGHT): Umm, yeah, how to put this? It's not my favourite. It's a mix between a gel and a lotion, it's cold, and it isn't fun to apply. I don't know if I'm being fussy, but it's not a product that will be missed. Perhaps it did it's job well and among the other products went sadly unnoticed, but let's just say, I'm looking forward to trying something else.

STEP 6 - SPF 30 MOISTURISER (MORNING): I liked this for the one and only reason that it's been the only sun protection that hasn't broken me out. It's not oily, heavy or thick, in fact it's almost milky. For such reasons, I welcome it to my skincare family with open arms, and I have very little interest in exploring alternatives. My only one complaint is that it did have a slight burning sensation at first which took some time to calm down, unless I applied makeup straight after.

STEP 7 - OIL ABSORBING MASK (WEEKLY): This is serious stuff! It somehow magically pulls all the nasty out of your skin and brings it to the surface. Beware, you will encounter some major planets on the side of your face the following few days, but within a month it subsides and is good for regular upkeep. I recommend it for those weekends - or weeks - we tend to have, where our skin is buried under makeup and we neglect the care it deserves, it's a really awesome product to get it back to super clean and breathing again. 

So there you have it ladies, my detailed review on the Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Kit! Overall I'm very happy with the results, and my skin has never felt this good!  I look forward to ordering my next system from this company. I'm hoping to find something to minimize my scars so it will be interesting to see what else they have to offer. Have you girls tried Paula's Choice before? I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Jazz x