What is Retinol? What Does Retinol Do?

A powerful anti-aging, skin purifying and skin cell regenerating property, retinol is one of the well-known ingredients in skin care. It is essentially a form of the nutrient Vitamin A. It is used to treat acne and reduce signs of aging. Retinol as a skin care ingredient; helps increase cell production and collagen to reveal smoother, more even skin.

What is Retinol?

Retinol is a type of retinoid made from vitamin A. Like other forms of vitamin A, retinol works by increasing skin cell production. The natural skin cell turnover, which is rapid when you are young, slows down as you age. Older skin cells remain in the surface layer longer. This affects both the visible and internal condition of the skin. Because old and dead skin cells cause thinner, drier and harder skin.

Retinol, a form of vitamin A; By increasing skin cell turnover, it can reduce the appearance of signs of premature aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, sun spots, and uneven texture. Additionally, it can visibly reduce pore size. With this feature, it helps prevent future acne. However, increased cell turnover may initially cause dryness or sensitivity. Therefore, it is important to support your skin with appropriate moisturizer and SPF application and consult a doctor.

What Does Retinol Do?

It increases skin cell production. It helps prevent pores from clogging. It also helps increase collagen production while exfoliating your skin. This can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. With all these features, it gives your skin a fresher, fuller appearance.

What are the Benefits of Retinol?

Although not as powerful as other retinoids, retinol has the same ability as other forms to accelerate cell renewal and increase collagen production. This makes it an effective ingredient in reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Retinol also has a peeling effect. This effect also helps treat hyperpigmentation and acne. Benefits of retinol can be listed as follows:

Treats acne

It can help treat different types of acne by preventing clogged pores. Acne occurs due to dead skin cells or oil clogging the pores. As a result, whiteheads, blackheads and pimples occur.

Retinol helps prevent clogged pores because it increases cell production and removes dead skin cells. Other retinoids, such as retinol, also help reduce oil production and inflammation. But all retinoids can make acne worse before it gets better. This happens because the initial cell renewal clogs your pores. Actually, the reason is to cleanse your skin.

Helps prevent hyperpigmentation

It helps prevent dark spots where you have more skin pigment due to hormonal changes, sun damage or acne scars. Increasing cell regeneration; It helps exfoliate the skin, softening the outer layer of the skin and allowing new skin cells to grow faster. This helps soften the skin and lighten the appearance of dark spots for a more even skin tone.

Reduces fine lines and wrinkles

As you age, you lose collagen and elastin, which help keep skin plump and elastic. Wrinkles begin to appear when the skin begins to thin and lose its elasticity. Retinol accelerates cell renewal and skin thickening by promoting collagen and elastin production. This helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

What are the Types of Retinol?

Retinol is a type of retinoids, a class of vitamin A derivatives. No matter which retinoid you choose, they all need to be converted to retinoic acid to work. Retinoic acid increases the rate of cellular renewal by binding to retinoid receptors in the skin. Thus, it softens lines, brightens dull skin and controls acne. However, pure retinoic acid may be too harsh for most skin types. Instead, scientists have developed other forms of vitamin A that need to be converted several times before it eventually turns into retinoic acid and delivers these skin-transforming results. in different forms types of retinol is as follows:

• Retinoic acid (Tretinoin): It is the purest form of retinol. Since it does not need to be converted, it takes effect immediately. This also means it can be harsh, drying and irritating for most skin types.
• Tazarotin: This is another prescription retinol with potential side effects. It does not activate as many receptors as retinoic acid. Therefore it is slightly less effective, especially for acne.
• Granactive Retinoid: This retinoid is on the newer side. It has many positive features that make it a product to watch. Similar to retinoic acid, it does not need to be converted and is incredibly effective. However, granactive retinoid is much less irritating than tretinoin.

How to Use Retinol?

Retinol used in skin care; It is applied topically as a cream, lotion or serum. If you’re new to retinol, you can follow these steps every other night:

• Wash your face using a mild cleanser.
• Dry your skin without rubbing it.
• Take a pea-sized amount of retinol and apply it to your face in a thin layer. At this point, be careful not to apply it around the mouth and eyes.
• Apply moisturizer to your face.
• If you apply retinol during the day, be sure to use a sunscreen with high SPF protection.

It may take a few weeks for your skin to adapt. You may experience acne during this process. Research also shows that it can take up to three months of retinol use to see improvement. If using retinol every other night doesn’t irritate your skin, you can start applying it every night. However, you must consult a doctor for the most accurate method.

Before applying any new skin care product, it is important to do a patch test on your skin (for example, on the inside of your wrist) to see if there is a reaction.

In skin care, retinol is usually found in concentrations between 0.0015% and 0.3%. However, there are many different products with many different concentrations. How much and how often you use retinol will depend on your skin type and your specific concerns. Before you start using retinol, you need to consult a dermatologist. Your dermatologist will help you determine the dosage and frequency you should use. Additionally, although retinol is considered safe, it can irritate your skin. However, it can make you more prone to sunburn and sun damage. However, compared to other retinoids, retinol is generally better tolerated by most people. However, this form of vitamin A may interact with other active skin care ingredients. This can increase the likelihood of your skin becoming irritated. Here are some common skin care ingredients you may want to avoid mixing with retinol:

• vitamin C
• benzoyl peroxide
• Beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) such as salicylic and glycolic acid
• Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs)

When these skin care ingredients are combined, their effects can be strong enough to damage your skin. However, you can use a variety of skin care ingredients if you use them alternately and on different days or times. Be sure to talk to your dermatologist about which skin care ingredients you can layer or use separately.