Paula's ChoiceBOOST 10% Azelaic Acid Booster Cream Gel Face Serum with Salicylic Acid, Oil-Free Skin Brightening Serum for Face, Fragrance-Free

I'm pretty much always a skeptic when it comes to trying new skincare products but I had heard good things about Paula's Choice and decided to give this a try. I've been dealing with bumpy texture, congested pores, and cystic acne this summer (possibly due trying different facial sunscreens and/or switching from NuvaRing to an IUD) and was starting to feel distraught about the state of my skin. I added this product to my normal routine (Glossier's Milky Jelly face wash, Herbivore's Blue Wave serum, Good Light's We Come in Peace microbiome serum, acne stickers for spot treatment) and within just a few days my skin has started to look & feel so much better. My acne is clearing and the scars are healing much faster than usual. I will definitely keep using this!

I've tried a whole lot of products but nothing showed immediate results like this did. Took away all redness which has plagued me for a decade. My skin is so light and even toned, it almost looks bleached because I'm just so used to redness. I mix it with a niacinamide serum after toner and before moisturizing and it has not only softened my skin, it has changed the texture. Once again, Paula's Choice absolutely knocks it out of the park.Edited in Nov to add: after two months, I switched mixing it with my serum to mixing it with my moisturizer and it seems to yield better results that way, even though I didn't think it could get any better! Helps even the skin tone and texture and mattifies my final step even when mixed with a heavy moisturizer that usually leaves my skin shiny. I'm 38, daughter is 14 and we both use this daily. It's a must-have staple in both our daily routines and even with two people using it twice daily, this little tube lasts us about 3 months. It's a little pricey but totally worth every penny.

Paula’s Choice is pretty expensive. Sometimes you can get cheap when it’s on sale at Ulta/Sephora. No scent but it does sting a bit. It does leave my skin smooth but it’s not for moisturizing. It helps with pores. And pretty effective. I’ve been using this and the naturium brand which is cheaper.

Works extremely well and does not have much of a scent. May purge at first, but the product is extremely light on your skin.

This product has become my holy grail. Whenever I get a pimple I just apply this and it's cleared up ALOT faster than usual and the dark mark doesn't appear as dark because this helps to combat the hyper pigmentation so they have an easier time fading, I love it so much.The only con I would say is that it make the area u applied it to a little itchy.

I feel like this product has potential. I’ve used it for 3 days and it didn’t break out my skin. However, it made my skin feel like it was burning and it stings. I wanted to wait at least a week to see if the feeling would subside but it’s uncomfortable. I think it may be too strong for my skin.

I have acne. It’s mild now. four months ago (and for the last two years before that), my face was a swollen, blotchy mess much of the time.Then I started using this, and I took a photo of my face every day for all that time to see the progress, because here’s the thing about azelaic acid: It can behave like a (safe, non-resistance-forming) antibiotic for your skin, but it is very slow to show results. As I review my photos, I can see that for about two months of using this I didn’t really have a noticeable improvement. But then, after that, I can see a gradual improvement. By month four, my skin is so much better that I don’t think I’ll ever stop using this.No, my skin isn’t perfect. I have redness on my nose that appears to have resulted from acne, and I still get small zits here and there, but my days of deep, swollen, achy, itchy zits that last for weeks are gone. I haven’t had one like that in well, about two or three months.If you’re considering getting this, but you’re put off by the price, I get you. I thought so too. But this bottle lasts about two months if you use it twice a day, because you really don’t use a lot. So it isn’t as bad as it seems.I use this product as the very last in my night time skin routine — and I use it anywhere I can feel I will have a zit, anywhere I have one, and where I’ve recently had one — but I also just put a thin amount in the places I know have a tendency to breakout.I also use it in the morning, but then only a very small amount beneath sunscreen and makeup. It has a tendency to pill unfortunately, so you’ll need to be particularly careful with it. In the daytime use an extra tiny little bit of it. Moisturize the areas it will be on extra, let the moisturizer sink in, apply this, and gently pat products on top, don’t rub. For real, don’t rub or it’ll come right off (you can rub it in when applying it, just not once its been on your skin for more than about a minute).It can be a bit itchy. In my case its really only itchy when its on too thickly. This also gets better over time.I’ve found other spot treatments to be too harsh and drying, and/or not work well. This isn’t the fastest spot treatment, but if you can be patient, this is just awesome.

I was shocked when I received this product! The photo made it look quite large, but in reality, it’s tiny – it’s even smaller than a sample size! It doesn’t even measure the size of a finger. And for $14, this is just absurd. I definitely would not recommend it.