How and Why Retinol Alone Will Improve Your Skin

Retinol has the same reputation today as hyaluronic acid did yesterday. Retinol products are praised on the internet, sold by the mountains in stores, and almost solve all your problems.

Its miraculousness is true, but this beauty product needs to be handled properly. We have described the most common mistakes in retinol use and shared the facts that will help keep your skin young.

Let's put all the chemistry lessons down since science language may only mess everything up. Retinol is a vitamin and a component; you can call it what you want. Its brothers are retinoic acid, retinyl acetate, and retinaldehyde, but the beauty world uses only one term for all of those: retinol. We offer to call it a youth tool.

Sadly, but truly, every one of us starts to get old at the age of 25. Skin cells work like they can't have burnout until that age, but after 25 years of life, they need support to be perfect, just like we all do. Your young face is 50% genetics and 50% skincare. And you better work on the other half using retinol. Maybe you don't know that you get the youth vitamin from foods such as vegetables, legumes, milk, and liver, but why struggle to eat what you don't like when you can sacrifice 10 minutes before sleep?

So the thing is that your skin starts to work worse than it has in the past 25 years. Wrinkles form, Venus rings appear a little at a time, skin elasticity is lost, and age spots emerge. Of course, it doesn't mean that at the age of 26, you will wake up as an old, dry woman, just as it doesn't mean that aging is something terrible. It is natural, but you can "work" today to look younger ten years later.

Retinol will act as a manager who drives the rest of the employees - the skin cells. It accelerates the process of cell renewal of the epidermis, normalizes the work of sebaceous glands, because of which the pores seem gigantic and rashes appear, and also brings order among those cells that are responsible for the production of collagen, hyaluronic acid, and elastin. All of the latter are related to the quality of the skin: its laxity or elasticity, tightness, and color.

Those who have just learned about the power of retinol can make a big mistake. They buy everything that has the youth ingredient and put it on their faces furiously every day and every morning. All in all, they have had no result at best, or their skin has been ruined at worst. Fruits are also a source of vitamins, but if your diet consists only of them, you will get indigestion and a high level of sugar in your blood.

Rule №1

Gradualness and balance are everything when it comes to beauty. First things first, your skin needs to get used to retinol. When you're just at the beginning, you use it once the first few weeks, then twice the next week, and only after your skin has adjusted can you use it every other day. It usually takes a month and a half to two months to get used to it. Retinol is a strong component that should be introduced gradually into skin care. One bad thing it does have: after your first use, retinol may pull out a bunch of impurities from the epidermis and provoke skin flaking. It is alright since it accelerates cell regeneration, and for the glow finish, it must be cleared at the start.

Rule №2

Retinol is for evening use only. You put it before your sleep, never in the mornings or on days. The sun's rays mercilessly destroy the components of youth when they meet. Using retinol during the day will have no effect. It will also happen when storing youth cosmetics in a hot and sunny place, as well as if you do not close the tube tightly. A waste of money and nothing more.

And there is another side effect in addition to the retinol killer. Because of the youth tool, the skin becomes more sensitive to sunlight, which means hyperpigmentation. The solution is to introduce SPF protection in the morning after using retinol. If you care about your skin, SPF should already be part of your grooming routine, so it is not a big deal.

Rule №3

Retinol is never applied to wet skin. Surely, you can do that, but it will be an overdose of the vitamin. Less retinol is as useless as more retinol. In that awful case, water appears as an amplifier, and skin absorbs the component in large amounts. With more retinol, you will only get more irritation of the skin, and we are all aware that "If it hurts, it's working" is not true. It means that you did something wrong.

Of course, thanks to TikTok, there is another trend in skincare. It is called cycling and needs retinol. The thing is easy: you exfoliate your skin with AHA and BHA acids and use retinol to help it recover and rebirth as the skin of a baby, smooth and shining. It is prescribed by dermatologists, and some hear about this skin trick from the Internet and hurry, making mistakes. They use acids with retinol in one day.

Retinol is mismatched with acids and, more than that, with vitamin C. You can use them together, but on different days. For example, cycling means that the first day is for retinol. The second day is for rest. The third is for acids, and the fourth is for rest again. The next day, you start over with retinol. Rest means that you just clean your face in the morning and use cleansing products and night cream before going to sleep. And again, always use sunscreen, no matter what day of the cycle it is, and wash it out with micellar water in the evenings.

Remember that retinol is not compatible with sunlight? Unfortunately for your wallet, it means that youth cosmetics cannot be cheap. To protect the product from the sun's rays, they create special tubes. It must be firmly closed. So the cosmetic with the pipette is not our friend but an enemy who wants to fool you. Another beauty traitor are those products that don't have a warning that retinol should not be used by pregnant women. It is contraindicated because it's harmful to the baby. And do not choose false retinol that has a sign saying you can use the cosmetics every day.

Well, three little tips for the future. If you are using a retinol for the first time, choose one that contains moisturizing ingredients. If you have oily skin, go for a serum, and if you have dry skin, go for an oil.