We believe everyone deserves to have a skincare routine with reliable products that deliver real results.  Learning what's right for you begins with ingredient research.  Staying informed on ingredients will help you find effective products that help you achieve the clear, smooth, glowing skin you desire.

What is Retinol?

Retinol is classified as a retinoid, which is essentially a form of Vitamin A.  Tretinoin and RetinA also belong to this family of ingredients.  They are widely used throughout skincare due to their potent effects on the skin. Retinol's chemical composition allows it to penetrate and move past your skin's barrier, reaching deeper layers within your skin.

Why Retinol is Used in Products?

Retinol goes past the skin’s barrier into your skin’s middle layer.  Once inside this layer, it helps to boost your body's production of elastin and collagen creating a plumping effect that helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.

While the goal of using Retinol is to promote skin firmness and anti-aging, including it in a skincare formula comes with risks and side effects.  We know this will sound provocative, but we don't love it and we don't formulate with it and here's why:

• Building up a tolerance:  Because Retinol is so strong, it is recommended that you build up a tolerance to it.  Skincare brands tell you to use it 2x per week, then 3x per week and so on until you find the perfect balance within your routine.  Oftentimes, Retinol doesn’t play well with other ingredients so it’s a bit of trial and error playing skin scientist on your face until you reach that sweet spot of results without side effects.
• The side effects:  Not everyone experiences side effects from Retinol but there is a large group of the population that does. Severe flaking, redness, persistent dry, rough patches and sometimes atopic dermatitis can develop. In our 30 years of skincare, we've tried so many different versions of Retinol.  Few, if any, work for us because what good is having the appearance of diminished wrinkles if your face is highlighted in redness.  With Retinol, two things can be true at the same time.
• Sun Sensitivity:  If you are sticking to your SPF like you should, you will need to reapply it often because Retinol increases your skin’s sensitivity.  This is the vicious cycle of using a serum to help repair the skin to really fight the other products that are meant to help protect your skin from aging. Just sounds like too much hassle to us.  It feels like taking another pill to combat the symptoms that the previous pill created.

How Retinol Affects Your Skin

The reason Retinol works is because its potent chemical components work to shed old, dead skin cells and reveal healthier skin underneath.  However, the potency of Retinol that led it to become so popular has also been shown to impact the overall health of your skin.

This is part of why Europe has imposed strict regulations on its use in products and only allows very low concentrations of Retinol nowadays which kind of defeats the purpose of having this potent ingredient in your routine. In general, Europe tends to take a more conservative approach to ingredients, especially in light of newer alternatives and replacements with excellent data.

The accelerated skin turnover process can lead to dryness, irritation, redness and breakouts.  These side effects can have unwanted domino effects.  For instance, your skin’s moisture barrier is compromised when using Retinol which exposes your skin to environmental aggressors of all kinds.

Dry skin leads to rough patches and/or flakiness.  Irritation and redness can cause further inflammation resulting in acne.  Breakouts of course lead to further irritation and pain, not to mention a decreased sense of confidence.

Read more about the restrictions in Europe here.

Effective Replacements

The fact is you can still combat aging and hydrate your face without Retinol and its potential side effects.  The use of peptides in skincare products has been clinically studied to improve skin health and reduce signs of aging just as effectively.

Peptides work by reviving your skin at the cellular level. Benefits include:

• strengthen your skin's moisture barrier
• improve its visible elasticity, firmness and lifted look
• reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• noticeably brighten, balance, and even out your skin tone

This makes peptides a gentler and effective alternative to use in skincare routines.  Choosing to use products with peptides over retinoids will improve your skin's tone and texture without compromising efficacy and comfort.

So the question is, if you can encourage collagen and elastin and smooth out texture without Retinol, why would you risk the side effects?

Check out SKIN AT WORK THE DAY & NIGHT DUO! This All-in-one Day Serumoisturizer and All-in-One Night Repair Cream work together to gently repair your skin’s barrier and flood it with hydration.  Using the combination of peptides above, they work to improve your skin health without any known, damaging side effects.

Don’t Settle For Less

Ineffective products can and will lead to frustration and disappointment.  Nobody likes to spend money on a product that leaves your skin worse off than before.  Having an in-depth understanding of ingredients, such as Retinol, empowers you to be more prepared and informed when looking for reliable products that will give you the results you desire.

Here at SKIN AT WORK, we believe in ingredients that take the guesswork and trouble out of your life while still delivering best in class results.  That comes from formulating with well studied, well tolerated ingredients that do more help than harm.  It also comes from having potent concentrations of these ingredients that will deliver those big, head turning wow changes that we all seek and deserve.

When you look in the mirror every day, we want you to say WOW.  To touch your skin and feel the bounce under your finger.  To see that main character energy glow.  To know that efficacious concentrations of cutting-edge technologies are harmoniously balanced to give you the best results with the least amount of risk so that you can get on with your day, your week, your year with an uninterrupted, easy routine for fabulous skin health.

Here's to your best skin!