Everyone wants amazing looking skin, but not everyone has the time to come in for monthly, or even weekly, skin treatments. Between these treatments, though, there is a way to help keep your skin looking fresh and rejuvenated: skincare products! Everyone should have a morning and nighttime skincare regime. It doesn’t have to be complicated with a million products, but for your nighttime routine, there is one product must-have that will help revitalize your skincare game and help you achieve your skin goals: retinol.

What Is Retinol?

Retinol is a synthetic derivative of vitamin A that falls under the broader category of retinoids. When applied as a topical cream, retinol will convert into a retinoic acid through specialized enzymes in your skin. This in turn helps to promote cell turnover and prevent your pores from clogging, keeping your skin healthy and clear.

What are the Benefits of Retinol?

Retinol helps improve the appearance of your skin. Certain retinols will help tackle specific skincare concerns better than others, but your general retinol can help treat a wide variety of skin concerns.

Acne:

Acne is caused by dead skin cells and/or oils blocking your pores, creating whiteheads, blackheads and other types of pimples. Acne scarring develops from picking or popping at your acne, creating pink, red or dark spots that can last for just a couple of weeks or permanently remain on your skin. 

Retinol works to prevent your pores from clogging, helping prevent future breakouts, while easing acne inflammation and swelling caused by breakouts. While retinol can’t always help severely sunken or raised scarring, it can help even skin tone and texture, leaving your skin looking and feeling refreshed.

Enlarged Pores:

Enlarged pores are the visible skin depressions on the surface of your skin. These contain one or more openings to the skin ducts that carry sweat and oils from their respective eccrine glands and sebaceous glands. Enlarged pores can be caused from a number of factors, including, but not limited to:

• Genetics
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Hormonal changes
• Oily skin
• Acne
• Sun damage

When your pores are enlarged, body hairs, oils, bacteria and more pass through, clogging your skin and making your pores bigger and/or creating acne.

Retinol works to help treat enlarged pores by increasing your cell turnover, making your skin thicker and preventing your pores from clogging even more.

Hyperpigmentation:

Dark spots, also known as hyperpigmentation, develop from a buildup of melanin (the amino acid that gives skin color) and can be caused by a variety of different factors, including, but not limited to:

• Sun damage
• Hormonal changes
• Medications
• Inflammation
• Genetics
• Aging
• Skin irritation

These dark spots are painless, but they can be treated. Topical retinols help by lightening the pigment of these spots.

Melasma:

Melasma is a skin disorder where an increase of melanin in your skin is produced from exposure to light, heat and certain hormone levels (such as pregnancy), creating dark spots or patches. These can often look like flat, freckle-like patches. With the help of topical retinols, these spots can fade.

Stretch Marks:

Stretch marks are a common skin condition where rapid weight loss or muscle growth stretches the skin. These marks first appear as pink, red, or purple before fading into white or silver marks. By applying retinol to these stretch marks, they can fade and become less noticeable. 

Wrinkles:

Wrinkles are inevitable. They’re formed from aging, smoking, sun exposure, dynamic facial expressions, sleeping positions, and so much more, as all of these factors can slow your skin’s production of collagen and elastin, making your skin thin. By using topical retinol over the course of several months, the breakdown of collagen slows down, making your skin more elastic and treating your wrinkles.

Which Type Of Retinol Should I Use?

First and foremost, medical grade retinol will always be stronger than anything you buy over the counter. Medical grade retinol contains a high concentration of active ingredients, making them more potent. We here at AW Medspa carry a variety of different types of retinol, so we can help match the right retinol for you and your skin needs.

What are the Benefits of Retinol?

From the moment you start using retinol, it takes effect. It can take several weeks to see an improvement in your skin. However, retinol is a very powerful tool to help fight acne and slow the signs of aging, so sticking with it can help lead to clearer, healthier skin.

What are the Side Effects of Retinol?

In some cases, your skin may look worse from what is known as a retinol purge. A retinol purge is a temporary reaction from an increased cell turnover, bringing all impurities under the skin to the surface, causing breakouts, dry, flaky skin, peeling, itching and burning, and redness. This is all normal, and only lasts for a few weeks. By sticking it out, you can see clearer skin and a decrease in fine lines and wrinkles.  

There are ways to help manage these side effects:

• Avoid applying retinol to any areas that have a sunburn, skin irritation, or broken skin
• Use an SPF 30+ in the morning and reapply every 2 hours
• Limit your sun exposure
• Use a strong moisturizer, such as ZO’s Hydrating Creme, which temporarily relieves symptoms of severely dry skin and calms skin irritation by replenishing your skin’s natural moisture

What is the Best Retinol to Use?

If you want to bypass these unpleasant side effects, we here at AW Medspa recommend using Skinbetter Science’s Alpharet Overnight Cream. This skincare product uses ingredients found in retinol in addition to alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) to provide visible skin rejuvenation with little to no irritation. Reap all the benefits of retinol, such as an improvement of lines, wrinkles, and uneven skin tone and texture, without the downside. And for those who have more oily, acne prone skin, you can use Alpharet Clearing Cream to improve skin clarity and the appearance of pores and overall tone and texture.

When is the Best Time to Use Retinol?

Retinol should always be applied at nighttime, and will be your second-to-last step, being applied right before your moisturizer. You will apply a thin layer to your entire face, even bringing it down to your neck and decollete.

Depending on which retinol you use, you will apply retinol anywhere from once a week to once a day, with once a day being the goal (or as close to once a day as you can get). The best way to determine which retinol is best for you and your skin is to speak with your provider. You can schedule a free skincare consultation with your provider and get started on your journey today!

Call or text 847-466-5933 to get scheduled, or click BOOK NOW in the top right corner.