Retinol: What is it and do you need it?

As someone that is in her late 20’s, well let’s be real, as someone that is in her last year/months of her 20’s, anti-aging products are calling my name! And the mother of all anti-aging ingredients is none other than retinol. But before we get into what retinol is, can we talk about how anti-aging makes aging feel wrong? Aging is a privilege that a lot of people don’t get to experience, so we should all look forward to it. The older I get, the happier I am! I feel more comfortable in my own skin now more than ever, I actually learn from my mistakes and enjoy taking accountability, and I know what I want out of life. I get more in touch with who I am as time passes, so I’m absolutely loving getting older. Instead of calling it anti-aging, let’s embrace this amazing journey that we’re on and call it ‘aging-gracefully’ cause that’s exactly what we’re doing.

So what exactly is retinol?

Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A and comes in various forms, all with varying strength, which can be a bit intimidating when you first start looking into retinol. The easiest way to break down retinoids is by strength, with the strongest being prescription only treatments that have retinoic acid or retin-a, to the weakest being adapalene. Let’s break down each of the different levels of retinoids, starting with adapalene. 

Adapalene, or differin, is actually used to treat acne. This was a super surprising fact for me when I started researching retinoids, they originally started as acne treatments, but somewhere along the way they became the holy grail of aging-gracefully treatments. Adapalene slows the pore-lining growth process and desensitizes the skin to inflammation, making it an ideal acne treatment. 

Next up in the retinoid family are retinoid esters, which include retinyl palmitate, retinyl acetate, and retinyl linoleate. These are great for sensitive skin and people that are beginning to incorporate retinoids in their routine as they are the weakest in the retinoid family. 

Up next is retinol, which is the strongest retinoid that you can get over the counter. It has less side effects than retinoid acid, and you definitely have to work your way up to this ingredient level so that you don’t experience retinoid dermatitis, which is an irritation of the skin that leads to dryness, scaling, and skin peeling.  Retinol works at a cellular level to convert to retinoic acid, so it takes longer to work than the actual prescription of retinoic acid. 

The last retinoid I’ll touch base on is retinoic acid or retin-a. Since this is the strongest and requires a prescription, it works a lot faster than retinol since we’re skipping the conversion phase in the skin. 

What does retinol (or retinoids) do?

So now that we know the different levels of greatness that retinol blesses us with, let’s talk about what it does! Retinoids are basically a gift from the heavens. They work deep in your skin by affecting gene expression and encouraging collagen production, skin smoothing, and evening of pigmentation, not to mention that they can actually treat acne! In other words, they make sure your skin stays as youthful and beautiful as it can! Which is why it’s such a staple in the aging-gracefully movement. 

As magical as retinoids are, they are very unstable when exposed to sunlight, so it’s always best to use this ingredient in your nighttime routine and ensure that you wear sunscreen the next day cause we gotta protect retinoids at all costs! 

When it comes to results, you want to be patient as it takes 6 to 12 months to see visual changes in any fine lines when you use retinol. Now if you upgrade to retinoic acid, you may see results within 12 weeks of treatment. 

So now that you have a better idea of what retinol is and what it can do for you, try including it in your nighttime routine as it can only help you age more gracefully. I normally use mine about twice a week, depending on what’s going on with my skin. I’m currently using The Inkey List Retinol Anti-Aging Serum and I love it! With a price tag of $9.99, it’s very difficult to not like it. Once I’m done with this formula, I will explore the skincare world for my next retinol serum and update you.