Beauty And The Blog

Have you already discovered the wonders of retinol? If you are using a product containing this anti-aging ingredient, smart woman. For those of you who aren’t yet using retinol, you are about to be enlightened. And yes, you are smart.

Retinol is two things to our skin. 1) A cell communicating ingredient. Retinol tells your skin to start behaving as if it had younger, healthier skin cells. Yessss! (meaning smoother, glowing, radiant skin) And, 2) Retinol is a potent antioxidant that fights free radicals resulting from exposure to UVA and UVB rays (sun) and pollutants.

As I mentioned in my previous post, no one anti-aging ingredient can do it all. And that stands true for retinol. You will still need all the other goodies such as serum, moisturizer, AHA or BHA for exfoliation, along with other types of cell communicating ingredients (peptides) and skin identical ingredients (hyaluronic acid).

Retinol is vitamin A. Vitamin A can be broken down into smaller, more useful components. These are called retinoids. But you will see labels listing vitamin A, retinol and retinoids, all pretty much the same thing. However the prescription form found in products such as Renova and Retin-A is retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is fully absorbed into the skin. This is powerful stuff, and not suitable for all skin. Some of us will be very sensitive to retinoic acid and end up with red, irritated and peeling skin. For some this side effect will recede. For others, like me, it doesn’t and use of retinoic acid has to be discontinued.

For those of you who want the benefits of retinoids but can not tolerate the prescription strength, there is retinol. This is a cosmetic ingredient and is available in products made by many different companies. Retinol needs to enter the skin and then be broken down into retinoic acid. In order for it to do this it needs to be stable. Packaging counts here.

There are other forms of vitamin A that are very effective. Retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, and retinylaldehyde to name a few. Retinol and these other forms will be much less likely to cause irritation. Yet for some of you there will be a bit of redness and flaking of the skin. Since these are less potent forms of vitamin A, the negative effects almost always subside in a few days. To help alleviate this you can start slow with the product by applying every other day at first and slowly increase your use.

Using Retinol, or any of the other forms of vitamin A will give you smoother, softer and more radiant skin. We all want that, right?

So how about a few tips to follow when you go shopping for your retinol product? Yes?

1- Don’t bother with cleansers or scrubs that contain retinol; it is only on your skin for a few moments and then just rinsed down the drain. This will do nothing for your skin.

2- Only choose products in airtight, opaque packaging (no jars!). Vitamin A/retinol will break down and deteriorate when repeatedly exposed to air or light.

3- Retinol can cause irritation such as redness and flaking for those new to using it, but symptoms usually subside within a few days as your skin adjusts to regular use. If the side effects persist, then you stop using it. We can’t all tolerate vitamin A-based products.

4- If you’re new to using retinol, start by using it every other day. You can also mix it with your usual moisturizer so that your skin can acclimate to it slowly.

5-  Be sure to use well-formulated moisturizers or serums, this will help your skin tolerate retinol.

6- Exposure to sunlight can make retinol unstable, so it’s best used at night If you want to use it during daylight hours, do so underneath a a broad spectrum sunscreen or foundation with sunscreen.

7- Research has shown that using a retinol product along with an AHA exfoliant will significantly improve its effects for treating sun damaged skin.

Do you feel like you have a better understanding of retinol now? I hope so, if not feel free to ask a question in comments or contact.

Photo by selindeniss