Retinol: 7 beginner's mistakes
7 mistakes that prevent you from using retinol like a pro
You hear everywhere that retinol is one of the best active ingredients for many problems, but you're wondering why in some cases it can aggravate your wrinkles, spots, acne or simply be ineffective. In this guide, I'll give you my take on 7 classic mistakes that prevent you from applying retinol like a pro.
Choosing a product that doesn't suit your skin type
Clinical Treatment 0.3% Retinol + 2% Bakuchiol
An excellent retinol product for all skin types. It combines 0.3 % retinol with 2% bakuchiol for anti-aging, anti-blemish and anti-spot action. This is a truly effective product. If you're just starting out, I recommend using it every 3rd day.
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Granactive retinoid 2% Emulsion
This simple yet effective retinol cosmetic contains granactive retinol. A less irritating form than pure retinol. With 2% of granactive retinol, we're on a medium concentration that's suitable for most people. A serum with retinol and granactive retinoid ideal for beginners
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A common mistake is to use a product that doesn't correspond to your skin type. For example, you may find that your skin has become more oily and prone to imperfections since you started using retinol. It's possible that it's not the retinol that's causing this, but the product you're using. For example, Drunk Elephant's A passionni is particularly oily, which means it's perfectly suited to dry skin, but can create imperfections if you have oily skin. When choosing an active ingredient, pay attention to the other ingredients in the product. An effective product that is suitable for all skin types is Paula's choice. It can be found in concentrations of 0.3% or 1%. Another solution for a gentle start is to use The Ordinary's granactive retinol at 2%.
Making the wrong cosmetics combinations
The second mistake is to make the wrong combination of products, which can destabilize retinol and render it inactive. And I've noticed that there are quite a few questions on this subject. For example, can you put pure vitamin C in with retinol right after it? To be absorbed, pure vitamin C needs a very low pH level of less than 3.5, whereas retinol requires a higher pH level of around 5.5 to 6. When you mix vitamin C and retinol, the pH of the vitamin C increases and that of the retinol decreases, reducing the effectiveness of both active ingredients. If you want to use vitamin C and retinol in your skincare routine, you have four options
Either use vitamin C in the morning and retinol in the evening, or alternate retinol and vitamin C every other evening, or wait 30 minutes between applying vitamin C and retinol, or use a vitamin C derivative instead of pure vitamin C. The vitamin C derivatives I can recommend are ascorbyl glucoside, with a PH between 5 and 7, or ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, with a PH between 4 and 6. If you choose this option, the cheap and effective products I can recommend are those from the Ordinnary. Ascorbyl glucoside, a water-soluble vitamin C derivative, or Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, a lipophilic vitamin C derivative, which I recommend when you have pigmentation problems.
Other ingredients, such as exfoliating acids, require a low PH, and include glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids. The criteria for determining an acid's potency are its concentration and, above all, its PH: the more acidic it is, the more powerful it will be. As for integrating an exfoliating acid into your skincare routine, I can suggest 3 options: either you use it in the morning, just after vitamin C, and the acidity of the 2 active ingredients will make them more effective, but more effective also means more irritation. Another possibility is to exfoliate your skin just once a week and not use retinol that evening, and the last possibility is to wait a good half-hour between the application of an exfoliating acid and retinol.
For beginners, I'd like to make it clear that you shouldn't use all 3 ingredients at the same time. My advice is to start with retinol, and once you've tolerated it perfectly well for a few weeks, add pure vitamin C and then start exfoliating your skin again once you've tolerated the previous 2 active ingredients. If you start all at once, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
Stop taking retinol because your wrinkles are getting worse
The third mistake is to stop using retinol because your wrinkles have worsened since you introduced it into your skincare routine. The first effect of retinol, before it has any effect on wrinkles and collagen, is that it dries out your skin. If you have oily skin, you won't complain, but if you have normal to dry skin, it can exacerbate your wrinkles, particularly around the eyes. To remedy this, you need to introduce retinol gradually: one day in 3 is a good frequency to start with. The other factor to take into account is the retinol concentration of the products you use; start with low concentrations of 0.2 or 0.3%. You also need to moisturize your skin properly after cleansing. To do this, I recommend applying a soothing, moisturizing lotion such as Time Revolution with fermented ingredients or Cosrx Advanced Snail Mucin with snail mucin, then applying a moisturizing cream suited to your skin type, and finally applying the retinol. Of course, after a while, you can apply retinol before your moisturizer to increase its effectiveness.
Among my recommendations for moisturizing creams: if you have dry skin, you can use Bioderma's atoderm intensive baume or Paula's choice omega complex cream, if you have normal to combination skin, I can recommend Iunik's beta glucan cream or Galliné's moisturizing face cream. It's true that it's not cheap and has a peculiar smell, but I've been using it for a while now and I find it not bad at all. And for oily skin, the Ordinary's natural moisturizing factor and uriage's bariederm Cica daily gel cream are good options.
Stop taking retinol because your spots are getting worse
The fourth mistake is to stop using retinol because your spots have worsened, even though this active ingredient is supposed to combat hyperpigmentation. This phenomenon can have 3 different causes: The first is that, as you know, one of the actions of retinol is to accelerate cell renewal, which has the effect of removing dead cells from the surface of your skin, thus refining the most superficial part of your epidermis. And it's not uncommon for skin spots to be a little more conspicuous temporarily, as the deeper pigments rise to the surface and may become more visible. The other possibility is that by using retinol, your epidermis becomes more sensitive to the sun, and if you expose yourself to the sun without protection, your melanocytes will tend to produce more melanin. As a result, instead of fighting your hyperpigmentation, retinol will make it worse. The same phenomenon can be seen with exfoliating acids. My advice is not to start retinol in summer or just before a vacation in the sun, and to wait until you're sure you can protect yourself from the sun before introducing retinol. The last possibility is that retinol has created irritations because the dosage is too strong or the frequency of use doesn't suit you, and these irritations can turn into red inflammatory spots and then brown spots. And this is a good opportunity to remind you that it's never a good idea to continue using an irritating product over the long term. Never hesitate to reduce concentrations or use a product every other day.
Stop taking retinol because your acne has worsened
The fifth mistake is to stop taking retinol because your acne has worsened. When you start taking retinol and you have acne, it can get worse at first, and this is called the purging phenomenon, which can last up to a month. The purging phenomenon is when acne lesions appear all at once as a result of the accelerated cell renewal triggered by retinol.
The other possibility is that retinol irritates your skin and this will aggravate the imperfections on your face. To combat this, you need to moisturize your skin well and start retinol gradually.
Do not combine products
The sixth mistake is not to combine retinol with other active ingredients to increase its effectiveness. In fact, you shouldn't hesitate to combine retinol with other active ingredients depending on your particular problem. If your main problem is wrinkles, combine retinol with peptides, vitamin C, exfoliating acids and, of course, niacinamide. If your problem is blemishes, you can combine it with vitamin C or derivatives that are less irritating, alpharbutin, glycolic acid, etc.). azelaic acid and niacinamide. If your problem is acne lesions, don't hesitate to combine it with salicylic acid, azelaic acid and niacinamide.
The seventh mistake is not giving your products enough time.
Be aware that for all cosmetic products, there is a minimum application time before you see results, and you need to be patient. It's true that as soon as we buy a product with an active ingredient that will perfectly integrate our skin problems, we're impatient to see the results, and unfortunately it takes time. Whether it's for hyperpigmentation, acne or wrinkles, it generally takes between 2 and 6 months to see full results. The mistake is to give up too soon.
There are certain active ingredients like hyaluronic acid or products like moisturizing creams for which you can see almost immediate results, and when you find out how to moisturize your skin perfectly you don't have to wait months to see that you're on the right track.
With exfoliants, results are also relatively rapid, but with retinol, whether for anti-aging or spot-fighting, the minimum is 2 to 3 months before you see any results, so be patient and consistent in your skincare routine.
As a bonus, I'll give you an eighth mistake
Have unrealistic expectations.
When you read the marques claims on cosmetic products, it's not surprising that you expect a lot, but you have to be realistic about what skincare products can really do. Retinol has a definite effect on fine lines and wrinkles, but not to the point of making them disappear completely. If you use the right products, leave them on for as long as you need, combine the active ingredients correctly but are still disappointed, you can turn to aesthetic medicine. One doesn't preclude the other, quite the contrary, and generally the two approaches are complementary, hence the creation of this YouTube channel. Getting back to retinol, just because you don't notice any major visual changes doesn't mean that at the cellular level there's no improvement. And to be more objective about the results, it's always a good idea to take a photo when you start a new treatment, as sometimes the changes are very long-term but hardly noticeable in the moment. Thank you for watching this video, and please feel free to leave your comments.