Strict rules during RETINOL use

What is retinol? Who needs to use Retinol? What problems does it solve? And how do you use and choose between a retinol 0.025% and 1% formula? And what rules do you have to follow during the retinol treatment?

Hi! I’m Anna a 34 year old sceptical woman who doesn’t in general trust advertising but of course wants to look young and beautiful forever. I had heard a lot about retinol from many sources and in the end decided to give it a try.

Retinol is a Vitamin A product that works so well with skin cells and makes the skin healthy and bright and has an anti-ageing effect like nothing else. Especially if you have acne scars, deep pores, wrinkles, pigmentation and dim skin color, retinol can give your skin a new lease of life.

This happens because retinol enters the dermis and stimulates the formation of new cells and peels the old ones off. Thereby you get a healthy skin color, get rid of pigmentations but the most powerful effect of the retinol is producing collagen which makes skin tighter and brighter. The second benefit is that retinol reduces the extra oil extraction and as a result you’ll have clean pores and a strong immune system in your skin.

What you have to know before using Retinol?

You have to be 30+ years old.
You have to cover your skin with SPF50 every day (inside or outside of the house, it doesn’t matter), because retinol makes your skin sensitive and increases pigmentation and irritation much more easily and quickly. This can happen (even if you have never had pigmentation before; without spf protection you can get it.
You have to use the retinol treatment at night because of the solar reaction.
You have to start with the lowest concentration; the best one is 0.025% Retinol if you have sensitive and thin skin and 0.5% Retinol if your skin is normal.
Don’t start a retinol skincare regime in summer. Winter time is the safest and most positive time for retinol treatment. But if you decide to go on holiday to a sunny country during the winter treatment you have to stop using retinol 1 week before your trip and start again 2 weeks after you get back.

I’ve started my journey with Granactive Retonoid 2% by the Ordinary but if your skin is thin or sensitive you should Start with Retinol 0,2 % in Squalane. This is important because:

You have to check your skin’s reaction to retinol.
In a while you will start to increase the percentage of retinol concentration for your skin therefore you have to start from the lowest and work your way to the highest, but slowly. You will start to increase the concentration approximately 1-2 years after using the lowest one because the skin needs time to get used to the retinol and work well. At first you skin will become cleaner, pores will clean themselves, the skin structure will become more smooth and uniform. Don’t rush! Be patient because the skin needs time.

How to use Retinol

You have to use retinol only at night
You should clean your face with a cleanser after drying the face well with a towel or napkin. If you took a shower and feel that your skin is wet and soft, wait a bit until you get the tight feeling and then put 2-3 drops of retinol on your palms and spread that on your face, avoiding your eyes and lips. Don’t use more drops even if you think that was not enough because you have to understand whether you have a negative reaction or not. Don’t put retinol on wet skin because with water it goes really deep very quickly, which can bring about some unpleasant effects.
After 40-45 minutes with the retinol on your face, you should put a moisturising cream on your face. You need to wait that time because retinol has to go deep into your skin without obstacles and if you put a cream on immediately it will hold the retinol on the surface of your skin and you will not get a proper effect. The uniqueness of retinol is that it goes into dermis like no other product and works from deep inside.
After the first application you need to wait 7 days to fully understand you skin’s reaction. Do you have redness or anything else from the retinol? If not and everything is ok you will put the same amount of product on your skin again (2-3 drops) and this time wait just 5 days. The third session again you will put 2-3 drops on your face and will wait 3 days. From then on you will start to use the ordinary retinol every other day for 5-6 months or maybe from then on.
When you finally start using retinol every other day you can add 1 more drop if you feel that 2-3 is not enough for your skin. But don’t put any more on, because retinol is a Vitamin A and you know that using too much will bring more problems that not using enough.
Try to use a gentle cleanser every morning and smoothing cream or soothing or calming mask and afterwards a moisturising cream and of course SPF 50 Cream.
You have to protect your skin every day with SPF and it doesn’t matter whether you’re inside or outside the house you have to cover your skin, because retinol makes your skin so sensitive to the sun that you can easily get pigmentation which we don’t want to have.
I also put retinol on my neck and cleavage twice a week.

Strict rules during the RETINOL use

SPF 50 every day
No scrubs, peeling treatments or other gadgets for cleaning your face. All this can bring a redness and sensitivity plus pigmentation.
You shouldn’t use retinol in Summer. If you use retinol in winter time and are going to a sunny place you have to stop using retinol 1 week before you leave and start again 2 weeks after you get back.
You have to store any kind of retinol in the Fridge door. As this is the recommendation from all producers.

What will happen first during the retinol treatment?

The skin texture becomes soft and bright. I have deep acne scars and even my skin has become much better. My scars are still there but the texture is much better and the skin color is almost uniform.
Pores become clean, your skin will not have any new dark spots and if even if one does appear with retinol it should go away on its own.
Small wrinkles and pigmentation will start to go away.