Review: Paula's Choice RESIST BHA 9 Treatment

After my resounding success with Paula's 2% BHA Liquid (reviewed here), I was certain her RESIST BHA 9 Treatment would be a sure bet.  I waited for a sale and eagerly bought this acne spot treatment since I was going through a particularly rough time with breakouts on my lower cheeks and chin.  In addition to tackling breakouts, this product claims to deal with "anti-aging, blackheads, enlarged pores, keratosis pilaris & wrinkles."  I'm not worried about aging yet (thank goodness!) but certainly have blackheads and pores galore.  Paula also claims her RESIST BHA 9 can "calm redness and fades marks from past breakouts," major skin problems I regularly deal with.

The blogsphere looked favorably upon this product and even though it was pricier than I liked, I willingly bought the full-sized version (0.3 oz, which really isn't that much) without trying a sample first.  Unfortunately, this was a mistake on my part because the results have been disappointingly blah and I've learned a pricey lesson in the importance of using trial sizes to determine whether a product is right for me. =(

To start at the beginning, I hated the pump dispenser on first use.   There was so much resistance I immediately wasted product from pushing down too hard and squirting a stream everywhere.  (Me: "Nooo!  My precious!")  A small slit-shaped transparent window on the side allows one to gauge how much is left inside the tube and when to re-order.  In my case, since the treatment did zilch for me and I don't plan to repurchase, this feature is pretty useless.  I'm also surprised at how easily the ink on the tube scraped off after a week of use.

The texture of this clear gel was viscous and a bit sticky but easily spreadable.  I found no detectable smell and it absorbed decently.  As to performance I can only say that it didn't make my acne worse but fell so sadly short of my expectations I can't recommend it at all.  I tried generous application, very thin layers, using first thing after cleansing, using after toner but before moisturizer, as the last step in my skincare routine, daytime only, nighttime only, etc. but absolutely could not find a successful way to use this product to achieve any of its claims.

I'd apply it to newly burgeoning breakouts, spots that had already been around for a day or so, older/healing acne, etc. but couldn't detect any noticeable effects.  The fresh spots I knew were destined to enlarge in deep, painful ways kept worsening.  Less severe spots didn't dry up any faster than usual.  My resulting hyperpigmentation faded at the usual rate.  I tried SO hard to figure out the magic formula/order/method this BHA product had to be used but nothing worked (grrrr)!  In the end I even stopped using it on my acne and only on enlarged pores but I still had little results.  Maybe for a day or so I felt the size of my nose pores improved, but that was probably my eager imagination hard at work.  I really hated feeling like I wasted my $ but the success I had with Paula's 2% BHA Liquid was probably so overwhelming I was inevitably set up to be disappointed with her other items.

Now I have a nearly full tube of product that is collecting dust on my counter.  I have so many better acne treatments in my skincare collection I will probably just use this on the side of my nose where I get congested pores and hope for the best.

Summary

• Packaging:     3/5 (hygienic; horrible pump so easy to waste product; flaky ink)
• Smell:              5/5 (no discernible smell/fragrance)
• Performance:  1/5 (doesn't worsen acne; can't say it does anything else for me)
• Value/Price:   2/5 ($20-$40 for 0.3oz depending on sales/codes; long-lasting)
• Recommend? No (2% BHA works on me so I know I don't have weird unresponsive skin!)
• Repurchase?  Never