Retinol is basically Vitamin A and the latest break through in anti-ageing research. It is a cell-communicating ingredient that helps to create healthy new skin cells and skin-support substances in the skin. Use of retinol products have been clinically proven to even out skin tone, help with acne and erase fine lines and wrinkles. The only product to do so.

There’s no doubt that Retinol is a powerful product and should be a staple in your skin care regime if you’re 20 years old or older, but the question is which products to buy and how to use them.

Retinol is an unstable ingredient, meaning that it needs to be kept in air-tight, opaque containers. This means any retinol product in a clear container or jar is useless. There are varying levels of retinol and a good place to start your retinol use is with a product you can buy in-store with either 0.5 or 1.0% retinol.

In this blog i’ll conduct product reviews of the best over-the-counter retinol products on the market at the moment to help you in your search for one. Here are a few initial tips when it comes to adding retinol to your skin care routine:

• Start with a lower percentage and use it once every day or two days. As your skin becomes used to the retinol, you can use it more often or just keep using it every few days to maintain results without drying out the skin.
• In the first couple of weeks, you may have some redness, dry skin and purging. Purging is when all of the dirt and bacteria buried in your skin comes to the surface due to the exfoliating and renewing properties of Retinol. This sounds a bit daunting but it pays off, within a couple of weeks you will have the best skin you’ve had in years; clear, less wrinkles and healthy looking.
• Not all people can handle retinol products. A small percentage of people have skin that is sensitive to retinol, patch test the product first to see if it works with your skin.
• Retinoids have been deemed beneficial to skin as young as twenty years old and early use will mean you’ll have less skin issues to worry about when you’re older
• Retinol will make your skin sensitive to the sun. Use it at night as your moisturiser or treatment and wear broad spectrum sunscreen during the day.
• If your skin responds well to retinol you can increase the frequency and percentage you use as you get older. People in their 20s don’t need to exceed 1.0% unless told to by a dermatologist.
• Once you’re comfortable with your over-the-counter retinol product, see a dermatologist or doctor about using precription retinoids. These are harsher on the skin but pack a lot more of a punch as far as anti-acne and ageing are concerned.

All in all retinol is a powerful ingredient that should help to transform your skin. Along with sunscreen it is the only true anti-aging product on the market at the moment and you should try to include it in your skin regime to deal with premature ageing, fine lines and wrinkles and skin discolouration. If you want to try a retinoid product and you have acne-prone skin or skin with blackheads, you may want to try the Proactive Night Repairing Lotion that I reviewed. It contains a percentage of retinol low enough to use every day. It’s a good in-between step before using pure retinol products.

Keep posted for Retinol reviews!

Edit: I now have a guide to buying a retinol product and product recommendations which you can find here.