Search in article with over 120 million searches on google the interest in retinol and its vitamin a derivative cousins has never been higher now i talk a lot about retinoids on this channel but i do sometimes forget the perspective of somebody who may be starting out on their retinal journey for the
first time so in today's article i want to go right back to basics and talk about the really essential things you need to know if you are starting out on your retinal journey so firstly let's address what retinol is now retinol is true vitamin a now it's not active in the skin in that form what happens is it gets
converted via two enzyme steps of oxidation into the active molecule which is all trans retinoic acid or tretinoin which is what we use on prescription and is considered the gold standard of acne treatment and also tackling the signs of premature aging but when we think about what it's actually doing this skin it's
fascinating retinol is actually a hormone now that might blow your mind slightly isn't something we think about i think when we think of skin care ingredients but vitamin a is going inside skin cells binding to receptors that switch on the transcription of genes at the very level of our dna i think that's
kind of amazing when you think about it you compare that to other much less sophisticated skin care ingredients it's clear to see why retinoids lead the way when it comes to transforming our skin so it's going inside cells it's binding to receptors it's switching on genes what are the processes in the skin that
retinoids can influence well it turns out they influence pretty much every facet of how our skin functions from cell differentiation and proliferation so at the level of the epidermis which is the top layer of our skin it is speeding up cell turnover it is improving the way they differentiate so they reach
their target structures more effectively and in terms of what we see with the skin that means a brighter smoother textured complexion they switch on fibroblasts the cells in our skin that pump out collagen elastin and glycosaminoglycan so more collagen means thicker skin it means fewer wrinkles and it also
helps us actually repair our existing wrinkles it's not just about prevention we think about pigmentation what do retinoids do for pigmentation well it turns out they actually ensure the even distribution of melanin granules the pigment part of our skin more evenly more effectively mean that we don't tend to
get clumps and therefore areas of hyperpigmentation so much what does it do in our pores well it turns out it helps improve the way cell adhesion occurs that means we are less prone to clogging up our pores with comedones keeping pores clear means fewer breakouts that's one of the really key ways that
retinoids help reduce the risk of acne relapse they're anti-inflammatory so they influence cell cytokine production and again that's part of how they help so much in acne and finally they increase the development of blood vessels in our skin what we call angiogenesis which means plenty of nutritional
value is reaching our skin and supporting health and function so like i said there isn't much that retinoids don't do i hope you'll see that now that retinoids have the potential to benefit lots of individuals whether it's in terms of putting together a great strategy for aging gracefully or for dealing
with pigmentation or for managing acne really with acne they are absolutely fundamental to skin success um so for most of us one of those or maybe several of those buckets will be of interest um and when it comes to starting a retinoid i really do think it's the time when you want to strip everything else
out of your routine so if retinites are on the menu you want to think about prioritizing those first and the reason i say that is because the first six weeks can be a little bit up and down nothing to be scared of i think to be forewarned is to be forearmed but it really does mean you want to give them your
undivided attention so what does that look like i think it means you've got your basics in place so we've talked about your cleanser you're moisturized your spf spf daily habit is fundamental when you're starting to use a retinoid and if you're worried about the signs of aging it should be in there as a thing
that you don't even think about doing it's just part of what you do but those are the foundations that need to be in place before you start to use your retinoid now in terms of which one you pick if you go for retinol that's fine start at the lower end of the strength spectrum for most retinoids there will be a
range always go low there really is no need to rush this is the habit of potentially a lifetime and we don't want to irritate or overly stress our skin at the beginning we just want to build that kind of conditioning behavior think about getting ready to run a marathon you don't go out and try to run 13
miles you know a half marathon on day one you do things incrementally so too with retinoids so you choose the right one low strength you have your tools start out with a less frequent application schedule and know what you're building up towards ideally retinoids should be used daily if you can tolerate it
um and i like to start them off three times a week in the first instance we always use retinoids at night many of the retinoid family are unstable when it comes to ultraviolet so we don't want to use them during the day so night time is the time for using your retinoid we like to quantify how much you're
using these are potentially strong and significant ingredients that we're using so we want to be measured and we want to do the same thing with a degree of reliability so we measure now the fingertip unit is what i use that means it's a line of cream from the crease at the end to the end of the fingertip at
the beginning we use no more than a p or half that line half a fingertip unit so it's important to visualize it and to be consistent with it each time you use your retinoid then we want to apply it correctly now there are not many instances when i don't use the retinoid all over the face if only for the fact that we
want to get that brightening smoothing lit from within effect all over our skin and not just on our problem zone so even if your acne is just down on the lower part of the face believe me you're going to want to use it all over to get that brightness so 13 dot technique comes in very handy here again three
dots on the forehead three on each cheek that's up to nine two on the nose two on the chin you're gonna hear me saying this a lot but i do believe it's key when it comes to getting an even application of product all over our face which for certain types of products we want that we want to be systematic we
don't want to skip bits we want the benefits all over because that's what's pleasing to the eye now when you're starting out you might want to be extra cautious and do your retinoid step over moisturize it's what we call buffering i am a big fan of the buffer and that's because it really does give you control
because even when you're an established retinoid user there'll be days when your skin is a bit drier it's more irritable and you just know that if you use your retinoid full strength on to cleanse skin it's going to be too much so at the beginning feel free to moisturize first and then once your moisture has
absorbed in apply your retinoid on top this does not negate its benefits it does not stop it from working do not worry about it blocking the effects of your retinoid i hear that from so many patients still those who've been i've been looking after for a long period of time they worry about this but it's nothing to be
concerned about your retinoid has the ability to penetrate into your skin very effectively and moisturizer won't keep it out so we've got an even layer possibly over moisturizer for being careful and we want to avoid the danger areas that if you're not used with a retinoid on your skin can cause
problems so i want to flag up the area around the eye the creases of the nose and the lips and the neck those are four hot spots that if you put your retinoid on there accidentally you may well wake up to redness and dryness and possibly even some irritation swelling don't do that so the way i like to
approach that is to buffer off those areas first i talk about my moisturizer goggles many of you will have heard this term before but if you haven't it literally means putting on a layer of moisturizer with a generous touch so that you've got physically present moisturizer on your skin it just stops you from
accidentally transferring active ingredients onto the eyelids without realizing it's so easy to kind of just rub your eye across and that can sometimes cause alarming problems you know you don't have that so let's be careful the lip balm on the lips again is a great way to buffer the lips and protect them as well
and just consciously wipe the area by the crease of the nose to avoid product building up there with those little kind of thought out tips in advance you'll find that you don't make mistakes similarly moisturizer in the neck can help avoid product transferring onto the neck when you go to bed
sometimes it just creeps down whether it's when you're smooshed against the pillow or you know something just transfers out accidentally so again moisturizer on the neck will help avoid that too now a really common question is what age is the right age to start using a vitamin a product if you've got
breakouts that's a no-brainer it's whatever age you start to get breakouts and that could mean that you're on a retinoid from your teens through into your 20s 30s and beyond because for many women that tendency just doesn't tend to go away if it's for aging prevention i think your 20s is a good time to think
about it um it does definitely depend on what your habits have been how much sun exposure you've had over the course of your life but i think if you're starting to see that early madness the skin is just not quite as juicy as it used to be maybe you're a little bit less tolerant to a night of not perfect sleep and
maybe you're starting to see those first very early faint fine lines around the eyes or maybe the skin is just not moving the same as it used to around the eyes those are signs that subtle changes are a foot and at this point when you start to use an active ingredient like a retinoid you can make a big difference
provided you're using that all-important sunscreen of course so i think mid to late 20s is a good time to think about it if there's nothing else wrong with your skin if there's something else wrong with your skin then earlier is fine too situations where we shouldn't use a retinoid really are limited to pregnancy and
those with skin conditions that retinoids don't suit so we don't use in in pregnancy because vitamin a is a signaling molecule in the developing fetus so we don't want any confusion arising it's very unlikely topical retinoids are absorbed systemically to the extent that they would interfere with this but we just
don't take any risks when it comes to babies and conditions like eczema and rosacea there may well be a point in time during your journey that your skin is able to tolerate a retinoid but it's something that needs to be done with real care and a final note on combining retinoids with other active ingredients i
think possibly the most common situation is people wanting to combine acids and retinoids and if you're starting out i would urge real caution when it comes to this firstly retinoids in my book are so much more powerful than the typical acids and i mean by typical acid i mean alpha hydroxy acid so
lactic acid or glycolic acid in terms of benefits retinoids are up here acids are like way down there so at the end of the day complicating your life by adding in an acid which might make your retinoid penetrate more deeply that might compound the potential for irritation without giving you much more
yield seems pointless to me i would much rather you got used to using that strength of retinoid and then escalated up to a stronger one i think you'll see far greater benefits and your life will be much simpler so that would be my route if we're talking about combining retinoids with other active
ingredients if your skin is very tolerant there is no problem with using an acid i would tend to use that in the morning but i think that if you watch the rest of this series hopefully i'll persuade you that there are other active ingredients that will give you more benefits that are probably worth your consideration
before adding in alpha hydroxy acids beyond that there are lots of other ingredients you could consider i mean if you've got acne you'll want to think about benzoyl peroxide or possibly azolic acid and niacinamide either way the space for those ingredients is in the morning i tend to leave the retinoid to
do its thing by itself at night and use the morning slot to incorporate any additional active ingredients and do that cautiously get yourself used to using your retinoid titrate it up and then think about adding in any additional actives yeah be careful retinoids do change your skin but you will need to approach
any other ingredients with that little bit of extra caution to ensure things go smoothly so there's no doubt that retinoids have the power to transform skin and to do so in lots of different settings i couldn't practice without them they're fundamental to the way i treat my patients the fundamentals of the way i
treat my own skin but they do require respect especially when you're starting out so take it slow be respectful and don't rush it above all else be consistent use the same tools to support your skin on your retinoid journey and know that the first six weeks might be a little bit up and down but as you get used
to what they do for your skin and how your skin behaves you will learn to manage it and
There is no doubt that we will see results if you stick with it, so I hope today’s article has helped you, if you are thinking of starting, please consider taking the leap, it will be worth it and let me know how it goes, and if you have enjoyed this series of articles so far,
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