Do you believe Paula Begoun ???
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free skin care · Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:40 pm

I would never rely on Paula for skincare advice. I'm sure her products work as well as anything else in the grocery store... just more costly. It's amazing to me she has a following. She has no credentials to speak of. She rather just pushed herself out there on a website with a catchy title and a "beauty bible". Incredible.

free skin care · Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:16 am

I agree with her about as often as I agree with my MD... She pretty much just rejurgitates what any average dermatologist will tell you which is what any average medical school professor will teach you. Like most doctors, she's not interested in "thinking outside the box"

I have a really good pediatrician. But when my son got severe eczema, she couldn't help except for saying use a steroid/ hydro-cortisone cream. I didn't want to go there as he was an infant and it covered a lot of his body. I went to a chinese medical practitioner and at her advice cut all sugar out of our diet. it cleared up. added sugar, it came back. cut out sugar, it cleared up. had fare ups whenever we splurged. when i told his dr, she said "im sure you think cutting out the sugar helped..."

Paula B. is like that. She does have good info, but if you tried to tell her that a product you like works really great for you... if she hasn't found a double-blind placebo controlled study that she likes about it, she'll tell you "i'm sure you think this product helped..."

free skin care · Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:29 am

UmEnis wrote:

I agree with her about as often as I agree with my MD... She pretty much just rejurgitates what any average dermatologist will tell you which is what any average medical school professor will teach you. Like most doctors, she's not interested in "thinking outside the box"

I have a really good pediatrician. But when my son got severe eczema, she couldn't help except for saying use a steroid/ hydro-cortisone cream. I didn't want to go there as he was an infant and it covered a lot of his body. I went to a chinese medical practitioner and at her advice cut all sugar out of our diet. it cleared up. added sugar, it came back. cut out sugar, it cleared up. had fare ups whenever we splurged. when i told his dr, she said "im sure you think cutting out the sugar helped..."

Paula B. is like that. She does have good info, but if you tried to tell her that a product you like works really great for you... if she hasn't found a double-blind placebo controlled study that she likes about it, she'll tell you "i'm sure you think this product helped..."

Well I think that's a very reasonable thing to do. If there are no studies behind it, there would be no reason for any professional to recommend to anyone. Chinese herbalists are in a different category because their work is based on anecdotal experience, which is NOT an acceptable form of evidence to recommend it to the general public. If any health care professional were to recommend something that isn't standard of treatment guidelines, he would be subject to discipline because this just isn't how it works. If he recommended to a sick patient that drinking herbal teas would work, when there are no studies to back it up, and when there was actual drug therapy available, he would be in a lot of trouble.

That's why Paula doesn't recommend anything unless there are studies to back up what she says. To say otherwise would mean she blindly tells people to do things without any studies to show why it works, and that's not her philosophy.

Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:36 pm

I've read her review book and it's completely biased. It's like PR for her beauty brand. So I don't really believe all of it and if her team of experts really extensively tested it out.

On the other hand, I've tried her BHA 2% lotion and I find it to be good for making my pores smaller but stopped working after a while.

free skin care · Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:33 am

wiggity wrote:

So I don't really believe all of it and if her team of experts really extensively tested it out.

They dont test out all the products. I would think this would be nearly impossible to do reviews that way since there are different skin types. The review are based on ingredients.

free skin care · Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:40 am

Just wondered if everyone is happy with what you are using?

free skin care · Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:34 am

I have to say that after trying the serum treatment from her Resist line that my overall opinion has changed about her range of products. I like a good dose of marketing, it's fun to read but hers dosent contain much what so ever The truth is in the pudding though, it really is quite a good serum and I'm very pleased with this product and the results it has provided my skin with.

free skin care · Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:12 am

I am glad that Paula is out there to criticize products. It opens up the doors for us to assess the products and help each other find our HG product.

Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:46 pm

She lost her credibility after she started selling her skincare lines. Conflict of interest.

free skin care · Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:18 pm

She served her purpose but has overstayed her welcome in my opinion. She is absolutely right that 90% of all skincare is a just a basic oil in water formulation. Now that I have educated myself on both how to formulate and what those ingredients in the list are, I have saved myself a fortune on being sucked in by skincare companies. That's the good part.

But like every self appointed expert you have to be critical of what comes out of her mouth. Her reviews are opinion based on ingredients list. While this is a good general guide it isn't the absolute gospel on skincare.

The scientific community don't know everything, or even close to anything really. Just because there doesn't exist a study to prove something works doesn't mean it doesn't. Many medical pioneers struggled to have their views accepted
in the past, even being ostracized for them, then of course years later it's proven they were right all along.

Unproven is not the same as proven useless. Which is the mantra Paula preaches.

Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:23 pm

sister sweets wrote:

I would never rely on Paula for skincare advice. I'm sure her products work as well as anything else in the grocery store... just more costly. It's amazing to me she has a following. She has no credentials to speak of. She rather just pushed herself out there on a website with a catchy title and a "beauty bible". Incredible.

It appears that what the anti-Paula folk on here resent is the fact that she uses science to back up her "opinions". Those "obscure journals" that some people mention are most often peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Look, If you want to buy into cosmetic companies marketing campaigns or buy the most expensive and "neat" looking thing on the market, I say go for it.

However, if you care about science, and you want to learn how to look at cosmetics in a more objective and truly scientific way, then follow Paula's advice.

As its been said here before NO WHERE ELSE besides with Paula will you find someone recommending products other then their own. NO WHERE will you have people teaching you how to read ingredient lists. NO WHERE else will people point you to objective scientific articles on an ingredient or method. In almost no other place will you hear that many drugstore items are as good as their $75 counter parts. So what if she sells her own products. If I knew as much about the industry and the science behind good skin care as her, and if I cared as much as she did at dispelling cosmetic myths, I would create my own line as well. The proof that she is objective is that she always recommends other products besides her own.

If you prefer to rely on marketing or what people say "works for them" then don't bother with Paula and leave it at that.

free skin care · Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:24 am

Paula is too rooted in old skin care paradigms and always acts like she knows it all. Just look at her- she doesn't look that great for her age.

Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:08 pm

I kind of decided to put a lot of trust in her and switch to mainly PC products. Whether or not this is a good choice I don't know. I'm tired of endlessly researching which product is best etc etc, I'd rather use one or two product line-ups. Her retinol and antioxidant serums get very positive reviews so I just went with that. I may not be right but that's where I'm at, at the moment.

free skin care · Tue Dec 30, 2014 11:13 pm

I use a few of products. I like them but unfortunately they are kind of boring. Therefore, I need to include in my skin care routine, some good looking and/or smell good products that may contain breakthrough ingredients, to make my routine felling like a special treat.

My skin care routine is based on her advices about what works + some products which includes new ingredients without independent studies to back their claims up.

For instance in the morning I use the Lierac red serum on top of her Vit-C serum (+ moiturizer and sun screen). This way I'm sure I use some effective products and I get to use products that may have a "plus value" other than what is only proven.

One thing is sure, every products I bought that were poorly rated by her ended up being a waste of money.

If a product is poorly rated by Paula or contains ingredients she says aren't good I don't buy it.

So, yes I think she has good skin care products and good advices, but she is very conservative and pretty by the book. Which is very good to help me out in skin care product choices.

Sat Jun 20, 2015 4:50 pm

I tried her entire Resist line for 6 months and nothing worked for me. So boring too. I don't trust her reviews at all. Sad

free skin care · Sun Jun 21, 2015 5:26 pm

I select my skin care very carefully. I rely on the unbiased opinions of reviewers here and makeup alley. If people here don't like something; they will tell you why.

Unfortunately some bloggers like everything. They are sent products for free to review and some seem to write a positive review about everything.

I do like that Paula offers sample sizes of her skin care.

I do like her Resist spf 30 tinted zinc based sunscreen (reviewed) and her 2% bha. I think her some of her newer products are pricy (ie spray oil).

She is one opinion not the final decision. Also she does promote her products at the same time as she mentions other best products.

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