what exactly does retinol do it is one of the most Googled questions and I think it’s a really important one to answer particularly for those of you who might be new to my channel hello and welcome retinol is probably the ingredient that gets the most attention and interest in skin care and with good reason there is a lot of fear about it because of potential worry and anxiety around starting it but then there is all this promise it’s the golden ingredient the ingredient is going to deliver everything from solving acne to improving the appearance of aging skin so today’s video is really about what it does to the skin why we see benefits and why it’s worth it so let’s get into it so retinol is perhaps the most frequently formulated retinoid now retinoid is the family name and retinol is part of the family we also have other retinoids like retinaldehyde or granactive retinoid but we’re going to talk about retinol today and it’s an ingredient derived from vitamin A and it’s basically a hormone which means that when we apply it to our skin it gets absorbed and it interacts with receptors called retinoid receptors now to interact with those receptors that retinal molecule has to be altered so the key does not yet fit the lock retinol goes through something called oxidation twice so one oxidation step gets it to retinaldehyde and another oxidation step gets it to something called All Trans retinoic acid or tretinoin now that is the gold standard retinoid so a member of the family and the reason it’s a gold standard is because that is the key that unlocks the retinoid receptor so we need to get the retinol into the active form for it to have its effect on our skin what happens when that occurs well retinoid receptors combine with areas of our genes they’re called retinoid receptor responsive genes and they switched them on or change their function in some way now the fascinating thing about our skin is that within skin cells there are up to 3 000 possibly more genes that are influenced by the impact of that retinoid interacting with the retinoid receptor and there’s different types of receptors as well so let’s look at the different genes that the retinoid receptor interacts with and what impact that has on the cell and ultimately the skin so the first area where retinoids have a really positive impact is on Cell turnover so improving the rate of cell turnover and this is in reference to the epidermis the outermost layer of our skin I have a hectare on my knee today so what that means is by speeding up cell turnover we improve the way the stratum corneum which is the outermost part of our epidermis looks and functions so it becomes more Compact and it becomes thinner and more flexible but equally the epidermis itself gets thicker and differentiation occurs more effectively so the upshot of all of that means that we get a smoother brighter looking more even textured surface of our skin then the next major win is that retinoids binding to these responsive genes affect our fibroblast function now the fibroblast is that hard-working cell down in the domus which is the source of our collagen it’s where elastin is manufactured it’s where hyaluronic acid is created and is really the building blocks of the Skin’s deeper structure and it’s obviously loss of collagen and damage to elastin and lower production of hyaluronic acid that has an impact that leads the appearance of wrinkles skin looking sagging and generally losing that kind of Juicy plumpness that we associate with youth and really driving thickness of our dermis that’s really the role of the fibroblasts there’s other things as well but those are really key in terms of the signs that we associate with premature aging so retinoids have the ability to flip the switch and make the fibroblast move up a gear producing more collagen but also limiting the breakdown of collagen that we already have by a negative impact which prevents the extra production of something called Matrix metallic proteinases now those are enzymes that are up regulated when you’re exposed to UV rays that Chomp up our precious collagen so our retinoids protect us from this happening so the net effect of that is thicker firmer more elastic skin who doesn’t want that let’s move on to pigmentation and melanin distribution retinoids have an impact on that too so Sun Exposed Skin tends to have irregular melanin distribution with the development of things like Sutherland tigers or age spots um which are these kind of fixed round flat Brown structures that appear on the skin typically on sun exposed sites and very common on the face but also on the backs of the hands and the decolletage and retinoids help improve the appearance by improving the distribution of melanin through the skin what that looks like to us is brighter more even toned youthful looking skin next let’s move on to cell adhesion now that’s just a fancy way of saying how the cells stick together now in acne we have a problem with that abnormal cell adhesion leads to comedone formation so that’s where skin becomes congested the pores become blocked and that’s the precursor lesion that leads to eventually creating breakouts and inflammatory lesions like papules pustules cysts and so forth so the reason retinoids are so fundamental to treating acne is because they prevent that primary lesion from happening in the first place by preventing that abnormal stickiness in the poor the pores become clear which looks better anyway but also reduces the risk of breakouts in the future so that’s why we’re so reliant on retinoids for acne prevention then perhaps the final group is the way that retinoids work to increase the circulation in our skin so they actually build blood vessels that bring fuel to the dermis so that’s essential things like amino acids that are building blocks of structures like collagen so more fuel equals better supply of essential ingredients to keep our skin healthy robust and looking beautiful so we can see that retinoids have an incredibly far-reaching effect on our skin and it’s not surprising that they have a positive impact on so many different skin disorders whether we’re talking about melasma whether we’re talking about acne whether it’s inflammatory or comodonal even rosacea these are conditions that all have an ability to respond to retinoid receptor stimulation and not only help improve the problem but help make the skin look better which is something that we all want of course there are lots of different types of retinoids and you have to choose the right one for your skin concern if you have rosacea you definitely want to control the acute phase of the disorder first before thinking about introducing a retinoid and you want to go very gently but there is a role to play in most of the common skin concerns as long as you understand what its purpose is and the right way to go about it final things to remember retinoids are always used at night they tend to not be stable during day due to their sensitivity to break down under the exposure of UV rays they shouldn’t be used when pregnant and they should be used with caution with other active ingredients in particular Alpha hydroxy acids and benzoyl peroxide so do your research when you’re starting out with a retinoid and build a routine carefully and with consideration for how different ingredients work together if you’re looking for a place to start to build your retinoid routine can I direct you to my retinoid Revelation series which is such a great resource for helping you through all the challenges of the first six weeks it tends to be the first six weeks that are the most Troublesome when it comes to things like dryness and irritation but it’s all very manageable so do check out that series to ensure you choose the right retinoid .
Thanks for reading