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Retinol: A derm favorite in the industry, and a buzzword for skincare shoppers alike. Popularized as an anti-aging lifesaver, we're here to share how to best incorporate the popular retinoid into your everyday life, what you should know about it, and how to best use it to achieve the most benefits and results.
What exactly is retinol?
Retinol is a type of retinoid, a derivative of Vitamin A, which is the group of fat-soluble vitamins commonly found in carrots, eggs, and sweet potatoes. While many people are under the impression that retinol is an exfoliant, it is actually an antioxidant.
What does it mean and what does it do?
Using Retinol Serum in your skincare routine helps promote skin cell turnover, which can help issues such as: improving the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin texture, dark spots, and combating acne. However, it can be extremely irritating on the skin, which is why we highly recommend slowly integrating it into your routine by first starting to use it a few times a week, and then slowly building a tolerance for it.
Since retinol is such a powerful ingredient, it's important to be cautious about what you are pairing this with in your daily routine. To be specific, you cannot mix retinol with AHAs (Glycolic Acid Toner, Alpha Hydroxy Acid, Lactic Acid, Mandelic Acid Treatment, Apple Cider Vinegar Acid Peel), BHAs (Beta Hydroxy Acid Serum, C-50 Blemish Night Treatment), PHA Toner.
What all of those ingredients listed have in common is that they are all exfoliating, which means they are likely to cause more irritation and dryness when paired with Retinols. If you are using either of these alongside retinol, we highly suggest using them on alternate evenings and starting off slowly.
Can you use retinol with Vitamin C?
Vitamin C Serum is an antioxidant that protects the skin from environmental pollutants, whereas Retinol Serum rebuilds the skin. Essentially, this means that using both simultaneously would cancel each other out. Our recommended approach is that it's best to use Retinol Serum in the PM, regardless of what other skincare products you're pairing with it. And if you're using Vitamin C too, then we would recommend using it in the morning to get the most of both products.
Can you mix hyaluronic acid with retinol?
Yes, you can! In fact, you can mix retinol with Hyaluronic Acid Serum and Ceramide Night Treatment, which is good for hydration, and SPF, which is even more important to use since Retinol can make your skin more sensitive to the sun.
Lastly, we highly recommend that if you are using any prescription skincare to first check with your dermatologist/doctor prior to using retinol.
Chat to our askINKEY team about skincare ingredient pairings specific to you.
Written by one of our askINKEY skincare advisors
Our askINKEY team are available 24/7 on our live chat. A friendly bunch, all experts with deep product knowledge, ready to make skincare as simple as possible. Whether you are an ingredient expert or starting your journey, no question is too big or too small, no judgement or jargon, we’re here to help and be part of your journey.
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Source: Dr. Caren Campbell
What are retinols, retinoids and acids and how should they be used for an optimal anti-aging routine? The debate is real, and it seems every civilian skincare ‘expert’ has a different take. Can they be used in the same skincare routine? Can they be combined at the same time? Must there be a 30 minute waiting period in between layering products? Is this multi-step routine just a marketing ploy to sell more product? So many questions. And as helpful as the skincare addiction subreddit and research-obsessed beauty bloggers can be, a faster and more reliable route to scientifically sound information might be in speaking directly with a board-certified dermatologist on what the latest research shows.
Below, Dr. Caren Campbell, MD, a board certified dermatologist in San Francisco, offers her advice on the do’s, don'ts, facts and fictions of combining acids and retinoids for an optimized anti-aging routine.
What is a retinoid or retinol and why do we need it?
Retinoids are a family of natural and synthetic forms of vitamin A that are dermatology's gold standard topical agent to prevent and treat early signs of aging. It has a long-standing, evidence-based utility in treating acne, photoaging, hyperpigmentation and mild acne scarring. The retinoid family is an umbrella term that includes retinols and other vitamin A expressions, though the retinol term has come to refer to over-the-counter forms of retinoids, while the word 'retinoid' now is mostly used to communicate prescription-strength variations, including retinoic acid (tretinoin), adapalene (formerly prescription only and now over-the-counter in forms like Differin) and tazarotene.
What are acid products like AHAs and BHAs and do we need them?
A variety of acids are utilized in dermatology to improve acne, photodamage, hyperpigmentation and scarring. Common acids include alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA) and beta-hydroxy acids (BHA). The most commonly utilized AHAs include lactic, glycolic, citric and mandelic, while salicylic acid represents the only BHA. These acids help kill acne bacteria, remove dead skin cells from the pore and increase skin cell turnover. They can be helpful for certain skin types, but are often very drying and irritating. In my opinion, acids offer the most benefit to mature skin types and work well for the occasional chemical peel. Whether or not a person needs an AHA or BHA in addition to a retinoid as part of a daily skincare routine may be best left to consultation with a board-certified dermatologist.
What is all of this fuss about not combining both of these products in one go for fear of the pH of each neutralizing one another?
This hype only applies potentially to use of retinols and acids together, not retinoids. Retinols are 20 times less potent than retinoic acid given that they require conversion to retinoic acid to exert their effects. This conversion of retinols to their active retinoic acid form requires a chemical reaction called hydrolysis, which in one study in a lab was shown to be more effective at neutral pHs (which would have impacts for layering with an acidic product). Whether or not this study applies to the real world and deserves all the attention it has been given in the acid and retinol debate is doubtful.
One study even showed an increased efficacy of glycolic acid used with retinol over retinol or glycolic acid alone. If the neutral pH was needed, the combined retinol and glycolic acid would have been less effective than retinol alone. As we learned earlier, retinoids are far more effective than retinols and this study was only shown in a lab setting and likely has very little bearing on the real world.
Ultimately, using retinols in an acidic environment (ie one in which you’ve just applied a layer of an acidic skincare product like an AHA or BHA) may reduce conversion to the active retinoic acid in a lab, but whether or not this has any practical consequences is unlikely. Either way, using both an acid and retinol can exponentially increase irritation and dryness. This is why I personally feel it is not worth the risk of combining the two. Retinoids alone win for me hands-down. The exception is for pregnant and breast-feeding women for whom acids are often recommended over retinoids.
Credit: Dr. Caren Campbell
How do you use both of these products in your own skincare routine?
I honestly avoid acids during my normal routine unless I am doing a glycolic acid peel every other month. I would be a walking lizard, shedding layers of skin if I used my retinoids and an acid in my regular skin care routine. Instead, I would recommend getting your skin used to a retinoid and then using an acid weekly or monthly to exfoliate. Or if a retinoid is contraindicated given you are trying to conceive, pregnant or nursing, then acids may be beneficial for you, but retinoids are the work horses for anti-aging and acne. Acids are the occasional frosting on top.
So what’s the bottom line?
I highly recommend that you splurge on a visit to a board-certified dermatologist for a tailored skin care plan. Retinoids should be a mainstay of any good skincare routine, but they do take time to get used to. To start, use a pea sized amount every fifth night, combined with a good moisturizer on a dry face. Once you grow accustomed to that, then apply your retinoid every fourth night, then after a month every third night, then every other and so forth. Unless advised otherwise by your dermatologist, treat your acids as a treat for a deeper exfoliation once a month or once a week at most.