Paula's Choice 2% BHA alternatives Cheapest
By maker list price, the The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Exfoliating Toner is the cheapest mapped alternative at $13.50, against $37 for the Paula's Choice 2% BHA. Only models with a verified list price are ranked here.
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A 240 ml bottle for $13.50 that is alcohol-free, vegan and cruelty-free, but the active is 7% glycolic acid, an AHA, not salicylic acid. The Ordinary makes no fragrance-free claim.
The same 2% salicylic acid and the same fragrance-free, alcohol-free, vegan and cruelty-free claims, in a 120 ml bottle for about half the list price. Naturium says its acid is encapsulated, a different delivery from the one Paula's Choice describes.
This is a soothing toner built on 77% heartleaf with no BHA, so it is not a like-for-like exfoliant. It is fragrance-free and cruelty-free with a 250 ml bottle for $23, but it does not replace a salicylic acid exfoliant.
Cheaper at $25, but the bottle is 100 ml and COSRX lists betaine salicylate rather than salicylic acid, with no percentage. Its US page makes no fragrance-free, alcohol-free, vegan or cruelty-free claim.
250 ml for $29, alcohol-free, vegan and cruelty-free, but the active is 5% glycolic acid rather than salicylic acid. Pixi's own ingredient list includes fragrance.
The active ingredient decides this category: salicylic acid (a BHA) and glycolic acid (an AHA) exfoliate differently, so a cheaper bottle only matches if the maker names the same acid. After that, compare bottle size and the fragrance-free, alcohol-free, vegan and cruelty-free claims each maker prints.
The overall ranking on the Paula's Choice 2% BHA alternatives page weighs every published spec. This page answers one question only, so a model can rank first here and lower overall. The DupeScore beside each model is the overall figure.
