When you think of BHA, you probably think about the Paula’s Choice BHA Toner. It’s an award-winning product for a reason! But are there solid alternatives to this toner?
Like all thing in skincare, it’s a matter of personal preference. I personally like toners that hydrate, instead of exfoliate. I prefer my serums to be the exfoliant of choice. And that allows me to use my toner everyday (sometimes multiple times a day!), instead of 2x a week.
Introducing: the Bubble Super Clear Acne Treating Serum. I know, it sounds intense, especially if you don’t necessarily have a lot of acne. But hear me out!
What’s Good about the Bubble Acne Serum
Let’s get the easy part out of the way: the main ingredient of the Paula’s Choice toner is salicylic acid at 2% (the maximum concentration the FDA allows for acne treatments). So in that sense, you’re getting the same acne-fighting potency, at a fraction of the price ($35 vs $17).
Excellent Price, Solid Ingredients
This serum sets you back $17, which is an extremely fair price. In addition to the salicylic acid, you’re also getting an extra BHA boost with the willow bark extract. You’ll often see that in “clean” products or ones that do not want to go through a drug registration (the same process for “acne” products or SPF). So you actually get 2%+, which is more than the Paula’s Choice one, which does not have the extra willow bark extract.
But similar to the Paula’s Choice product, you also get green tea extract (for calming and antioxidants). Both products do have a solid amount of humectants in it, which will help your skin with hydration.
The Paula’s Choice product has 8 ingredients, but the Bubble one boasts 22. That does not necessarily mean it is a better formulation or that it is more effective. It just simply means that there’s more variety of what benefits are possible.
Of the additional ingredients, I appreciated that Bubble had squalane and glycerin, which help with hydration and improving your skin barrier health. They also added in a lot more fats and oils because it is an emulsion instead of a water-based product.
Notably, you’re getting colloidal oatmeal (excellent for calming your skin), centella extract (again, amazing for calming), and a couple plant oils/extracts. There’s also zinc PCA, which I have seen recently as an oil-control ingredient in the Peach Slices Oil Control Balancing Mist.
Useful Packaging
At $17, you will often see brands cut corners with their packaging. That could be easily clogged pumps or stock designs. But this is an airless pump that successfully delivers product when pushed down. I also think the volume of product dispensed is appropriate — I use two pumps to cover my entire face and neck.
A pet peeve of mine is when products dispense so much product that it saturates your face and you have an excess. And that’s just from one pump. So what do you do with the rest? (Probably just put it on the rest of your body, which is an inconvenience and a waste of money.)
The cap also stays on without being difficult to remove. I’ve traveled with this product and the cap remained secured. And most importantly, no product was lost!
No Irritation, No Burn
For me, I get a tingling sensation when I use certain exfoliants. It happens whether it’s AHA or BHA. But thankfully with this serum, I don’t get that tingling. But it’s important to note: tingling is not necessarily a good or bad thing. Again, it is a personal preference. I prefer to not have that tingle.
I think the wealth of soothing ingredients in the formulation help prevent that tingle and burn. I also am shockingly able to apply this over my entire face (including over my closed eyes).
And this product plays well with others, layering in my entire nighttime routine. And I typically use this 2x a week, along with a hydrating serum right before this.
Where the Bubble Serum Could Improve
I try to keep my reviews balanced by bringing up some areas of improvement or things I did not like about the product. Some products are harder than others. And this was a tough one for me to think of areas of improvement.
Not the Love of Neem
If you haven’t heard of neem oil, you’re lucky because it means you haven’t dealt with pests on your plants. I’ve recently dealt with some super fun mites in a couple of my houseplants, and the way I treated them was with neem oil.
You can buy 100% neem oil on Amazon, and you basically pour some of it into a dilute detergent solution and spray your plants.
But seeing the 100% neem oil really changed my brain chemistry because it was oddly chunky for a liquid. It also had such a unique smell that was almost like nuts but also herbaceous at the same time.
I bring this up because one of the ingredients in this serum is neem seed oil. I didn’t notice it until I actually deep dove into the ingredient list. And that’s a plus because it means I did not smell it in the formula!
But after seeing it, I am a little weirded out that there’s neem oil in it. BUT I have seen the wonders of neem for my plants. So I trust the process and believe that the neem is also improving the health of my skin.
With that said, I would have loved it if the brand did not advertise the neem oil as a hero ingredient because that was an instant turn-off for me on their website!
Again, I have almost no negatives about this product, so I really was grasping at straws for something negative to say about this product!
Excellent Alternative to Paula’s Choice BHA
If you’re in the market for something cheaper than the PC toner, this will likely fit the bill for you. It easily fits into your weekly routine, and it can be used daily. But do we really need to exfoliate daily? No.
Who is this Bubble serum good for?
People who like exfoliating serums instead of toners
People who have sensitive skin
People who want to save money
Who is the Bubble acne serum not good for?
People who want watery exfoliating toners
People who prefer minimal ingredient lists
People who only shop at Sephora
Where to Buy the Bubble Acne Clearing Serum
It’s available at a bunch of retailers, which each have their own sales:
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