The At Home Key to Your Best Skin Yet
Retinol is one of the highest regarded ingredients in skin care to help fight acne, reduce scarring, diminish pigmentation, smooth wrinkles and fine lines, tighten pores, and give you the best glow you could ask for. However, retinol is not something you can just start using and reap all the benefits from quickly, it is an incredibly powerful ingredient that needs to be started correctly to ensure you avoid the irritation and dryness that are often also associated with retinol.
What is retinol?
Retinol is a part of the retinoid family, which are derived from Vitamin A. Retinoids work by increasing skins cell turnover rate and stimulating collagen. When done right, retinols can give you the best skin of your life! How do you begin a retinol? You start slow. You want to start using retinol just once or twice a week, applying it with your moisturizer, and avoiding sensitive thin areas like near the eyes, and around the nose. As you continue to use retinol, you will start to notice the texture of your skin improving, acne fading away, and dark spots disappearing.
There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to using retinol, here are some of the key things to follow for your best results
Make sure you are applying your retinol in the PM. Applied in the morning, retinol breaks down in the light and will not work to its potential. Retinol makes your skin much more sensitive to the sun, as you are exposing fresh, new skin much more quickly, so you need to ensure you are diligent about applying your SPF every morning. Sensitivity to the sun makes fall the perfect time to start out your retinol routine, when the gloomy weather is upon us.
Retinol is not friends with a lot of the active ingredients you may be using already. You do not want to apply retinol with any Vitamin C, AHAs, BHAs, or benzoyl peroxide as it will make your skin too sensitive, over exfoliated, and irritated. Use your other favourite products on the nights you’re skipping the retinol, or use them in the morning instead.
Avoid applying retinol to wet skin. Our bodies love water, and will drink in as much as it can, so when you apply retinol to wet skin, it absorbs with the water and is able to penetrate more deeply than it should. This can result in unwanted irritation and sensitivity. You want to apply the retinol to clean, dry skin.
Because of the results retinol gives us, it is easy to want to use it daily to give us the fastest results possible, but in reality, retinol will work against, and not with you, this way. You want to start using retinol slowly, and when your skin is acclimated, you can begin using it more often as your skin tolerates it. If your skin feels sensitive or irritated it is best to skip the retinol until it feels and looks better.
There are a few different products we love with retinol, here are your best options.
Zo Skin Health Retinol Skin Brightener: Perfect for those struggling with pigmentation, retinol skin brighteners come in a few different strengths to ensure the stubborn dark spots are gone and your smooth, new, clear skin shines through!
Zo Skin Health Wrinkle + Texture repair: One of our favourites, this product helps banish fine lines and wrinkles and helps fight all the signs of aging using 0.5% retinol.
Zo Skin Health Radical Night Repair: Once your skin has acclimated well to retinol, you may be able to use this incredibly strong anti-aging product that uses 1% Retinol.
Come in for a skin consultation and we can find which option will work best for your concerns, and we will get you hooked on retinol this fall!
