Beauty And The Blog

Are you using a night treatment that includes the active ingredient retinol? Or the prescription strength form Retin-A? And are you using a leave on chemical exfoliant (cream, lotion, liquid or gel) to remove the layer of dead skin cells on your face (so that awesome retinol, a cell communicating ingredient, can really penetrate the skin)? Would you happen to be applying them both in the evening?

Retinol and Retin-A do their best work at night. While your body is at rest and in repair/rejuvenate mode. Used during the day these products can cause reactions in the skin from the sun, such as redness and burning. They can also be neutralized by sun exposure. So you aren’t really doing yourself any favors by using these ingredients during the day..

But if you are using anAHA or BHA product in the evening along with your retinol or Retin-A, you may not be getting the benefits you think you are.

There are dermatologists and chemists claiming that retinol or Retin-A and AHA/BHA used together may reduce the efficacy of each other, and possibly cancel out the benefits of each other completely. And there are others who say this isn’t true. Confused? Me, too.

What do I do? Take the safe road on this one. It’s simple, really. In the morning cleanse, tone, apply AHA or BHA, serum with antioxidants (such as vitamin C) and a day cream with high quality moisturizers (such as hyalauronic acid or shea butter) along with an SPF of 15 or greater. The SPF can be in your day cream, which I like best, or a separate product. But that means an extra step in the routine if it is a separate product. Just don’t skip it. I mean it, retinol and Retin-A will make your skin more sun sensitive and you could very easily burn. What does sunburn mean? Sunburn=Damaged Skin. Isn’t that what you are trying to avoid and/or remedy?

Then for evening all you need to do is follow the same steps omitting the AHA or BHA. Swap out the day moisturizer for a night treatment cream containing retinol, antioxidants and those same quality moisturizers I mentioned earlier. If you do use retin-A, apply that to dry skin and let sink in. Then apply a night moisturizer that does not contain retinol (retinol on top of Retin-A would be too much on the skin, causing stinging, burning and redness). Easy, right? Now jump into bed and let your products do their work.

Just thought a post on this was a good idea  as I have seen it brought up on a few skin care forums, and it makes sense to me. How we use our anti-aging skin care is as important as what we are using. However not all medical skin care professionals agree. But since it is being brought up and discussed I feel it is a good idea to make the minor change in your skin care routine until we know for certain if the vitamin A products and AHA/BHA products are compatible for application at the same time. That way we are not potentially wasting our good products.

Have you been applying AHA or BHA at the same time as your retinol or Retin-A? Have you noticed results that please you or a lack of results? Share, we all want to know!

Photo by taro23