so we’ve had a little shift in our scheduling where I was doing this every Saturday morning at 10 A.M and then I thought to myself let me spread it out to every other Saturday morning at 10 A.M but then honestly I just missed interacting with you guys on Saturday morning so we’re gonna do a long format video three Saturdays a month at 10 A.M just bear with me as I try to figure out this new flow of Life having launched my office last year a year and a half ago and the skincare line a year ago I’m trying to figure out how to wear all of these hats and do it all at once but the reality is my love for the community really started on Instagram and grew into YouTube and I just can’t seem to cut it down this week I thought what better way to start the year than to give you guys my five golden rules on incorporating a retinoid into your So, skincare routine and why is this fitting because today is my birthday and with every year that passes I am not one so if you are a beginner a moderate or an advanced user this applies to all of you if you guys want a little refresher on retinoids you can watch the Deep dive on retinoids that I did before but briefly retinoids are the class okay it’s the class of vitamin A that helps your skin renew itself and be stronger and better for you in the long run but they’re not all created equal treta knowing is that prescription is that active form of retinoid that makes a difference in your skin red and null is what people know retinoids as and that gets converted into retinal which then gets converted into that retinal acid tretinoin that’s already active in your skin but there’s a whole series of events in between and even before the retinol so starting from lightest we have retinol Esters and those are retinol propionate retinal palmitate retinal acetate and they are the least effective forms of retinoids but they’re also a good entry point for people who are either very sensitive or do not know how to start then the retinal Esters become retinol and that’s what you guys are so marketed basically on the grand scheme of things beauty companies beauty industry markets retinols and you will hear this is 0.3 percent pure retinol like the L’Oreal or skin Medica or SkinCeuticals because retinol has become the mainstream synonym of retinoids but retinols are not active when they’re applied to the skin they have to get converted into retinols and then that gets converted into retinoic acid which is the active form aka the prescription so retinols are 10 to 20 percent less potent than retinoic acid um again they’re good if you are a beginner and if you’re super sensitive and you want to go past the retinal Ester stage look for an encapsulated form of a retinol encapsulated simply means it has a little capsule around it that slowly breaks off throughout the day or whatever the timeline is so the retinol gets slowly introduced to your skin so it’s a slow release then retinal is a step above the retinol like I just said it’s a good alternative if you’re looking for more efficacy but you’re just not ready to take the plunge into a retinoic acid it’s more stable and it is a gentle vitamin a derivative but there is a better version than retinol now which is also known as renoic acid esters and this is the cousins also known as hydroxypenicolon retinoate or Grime active retinoid from the ordinary and this has been around now for a few years it is the cousin form of retinoic acid but it is less irritating so if you are somebody who you think you could take the plunge you’re ready to start a prescription but you tend to be sensitive this one’s for you if you’re too scared to do a prescription this one’s for you and if you can only tolerate a prescription once a week but you want to have something more consistent in your routine I would strongly suggest that you look for a retinoic acid Ester also known as hydroxypenicolon retinoate and then last we have renoic acid AKA tretinoin AKA prescription that you need from a doctor aka the most effective one but you do not need to go wrong and strong from the beginning so golo meaning go low on the type of retinol and go slow meaning slowly incorporate it start by using it once to two times a week only for a few weeks and slowly add a night three times a week for a few weeks and slowly add a night four times a week for a few weeks until you can use it every night now there are some people out there who can use a prescription only once a week and they tell me that’s all I can do is use a retinoid once a week because I can only tolerate the prescription once a week there are six other nights a week in which you can use a less strong version of the retinoid like I just mentioned a retinol a retinol or even the retinoic acid Ester on those other nights of the week without getting any irritations so I want you guys to be adventurous in how you’re playing with retinols and how you’re viewing them as a longer term part of your skincare routine you don’t have to use the same one every single day and you can go low and go slow to incorporate but once you’ve reached your maximum sort of Tolerance level for a certain type of retinoid you can go back and go to a lighter version that basically fills in the gaps on the other nights of the week so that is Golden Rule Rule Rule numero uno number two should we exfoliate when we are using a retinoid on the same night absolutely not if you are a beginner this is something that I do not recommend for all the newbies out there people get very excited they want to start exfoliating they want to start using retinol they want to start doing all the good stuff on their face their face blows up they get redness inflamed skin barriers they freak out they no longer know how to approach the whole situation so I would rather you guys see the gains slowly and get excited by the gain slowly than try to do it all at once so exfoliate two to three times a week and I prefer exfoliating only at night and on the other night to use the retinoids that you’re choosing to use now for the more advanced user can you exfoliate while using a retinoid absolutely I have been able to tolerate both for years but it’s not something that I developed overnight so if you are incorporating a retinoid do not exfoliate on the same night your skin will thank you for it that is the beauty of skin care you have to experiment and get to know your skin and see how your skin responds number three if you are a sensitive Soul buffer now what do I mean by buffer two years ago the moisture sandwich became a thing which basically was serum retinol moisturizer I just thought it was stupid because I don’t like stupid terms that basically or maybe I don’t know it’s a marketing term but genuinely what does buffer mean it means put a layer of something basic underneath put a layer of a moisturizer underneath depending on how sensitive you are and then use the retinol last so if you’re very sensitive you would put and I will show you guys you’d use serum first right you would use this you would get that on your face you use the moisturizer on top right I’m demoing it for you guys this is for the sensitive ones or the ones who are too scared and then you get your retinol right here I have the L’Oreal you use this one last but you’re gonna tell me but the retinol is a serum Serene power using that last I don’t care because you’re sensitive where’s the camera because you’re sensitive I’d rather you use the serum than the moisturizer than the retinol so that the retinol is not going directly on your skin increasing your risk of irritation now if you are a tank and you can bulldoze your way through the skin care you take the retinol put that one first okay go to town rub it in and then use your serum right and then use your moisturizer that is how I approach buffering versus not buffering the other thing I would say is around the eyes when you are buffering this is where I use a thicker cream I am not prone so much to milia I get them very rarely I’ll use Vaseline I will put the Vaseline underneath my eyes right and then I will go and take a dab of the retinol and put it on top the Vaseline is a thick ointment it’s harder for things to get through it but that is a really good way to buffer as well if you are not prone to Melia now number four when starting and honestly even for the more advanced users including myself I do not put the retinol over here why because I shed like a snake I constantly get irritated around my mouth it is an area that is notorious among people and patients that they cannot tolerate vitamin A’s around their mouth and they tend to get really flaky and really red and being in a state of chronic inflammation is the worst thing you can do for your skin so I avoid this area or I use a much lesser what’s the word I’m looking for unless you’re strong a less intense retinoid meaning I go for the like I mentioned to you guys at the very beginning the retinol esters or even an over-the-counter retinol can you buffer around your mouth sure you can buffer around your mouth as well but personally I do not love using Vaseline around here because I get clogged and rule number five you need to follow it the next day with sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen and I’m not a sunscreen militant kind of but you really do have to protect your skin what is the point of taking all of this time to invest in your skin to build a stronger Foundation to have better looking skin if you are not protecting it useless so let’s quickly jump into product recommendations starting with quote unquote retinal Alternatives now is this a true alternative to retinol no but does it have some Merit in the field of collagen production and stimulation yes and that is because y’all if you are pregnant this is what I personally used Ula Henriksen indeed Labs also has Baku shell pads I love this one because it is a beautiful purple Hue and it just goes on seamlessly it does give your skin a little bit of a glow and it’s a really really pretty product it retails for 60 dollars it has like I said because shell it also has a little bit of glycolic acid and lactic acid which is fine to use if you’re pregnant um and this is an exception to rule number two which I told you guys was never exfoliate and use a retinoid on the same night because it is actually a retinoid alternative now a red and nil derivative but before even talking about criminal Esters is a very light hybrid of a retinol this is extremely for beginners or very sensitive skin people Universal Pro retinol by glossier things I hate I hate that they call it a pro retinol because it is misleading in a marketing term it is actually not a pro retinol at all it has retinol sunflower rate which is composed of sunflower fatty acids and retinol but it’s not actually any form of a pure retinol at all but it’s great for beginners it is priced at 35 dollars it probably will not irritate your skin and at least it’s something for you guys to start off with if you are nervous and if you do not know exactly where to start when it comes to retinol Esters everyone talks about this French one the a313 I’ve been talking about it for years the reason I think it has such a cult following is because it gives the skin an instant gratification the next day that all comes down to formulation but when you look at the actual composition of the a313 it is a light version of retinoids it is actually a retinol a mix of retinol Esters actually retinal acetate retinal palmitate and retinol propionate it has a very silky and ointment like texture when you actually see it and I will say I still get occasionally itchy when I use this again formulation but my skin the next day looks extremely smooth and like like an ice skating rink I can’t explain it it’s almost like it filters your skin overnight so that is all formulation I don’t think the retinol is working that fast but I like the instant gratification of that product now when you’re talking about pure retinols very easy one for you guys to
3 and I think it’s because this has more of an encapsulated technology so if you are more in the sensitive one I pick this if you’re ready to go a little bit stronger I’d go for SkinCeuticals easily accessible easy to find for you guys SkinCeuticals retails at 70 80 dollars whereas the L’Oreal is around 39 to 40 dollars or so I do hate The Dropper I don’t think I need to keep saying that but I’m back 2023.
Hey the dropper if you if you’re new to my channel hate The Dropper um the skin suitables at least comes in a Squeeze Pop squeeze tube now retinaldehydes which are the step before retinoic acid a van is a great one they have their retinol 0.1 at 74. it is a 0.1 percent retinol cream um yellow tinted and it also has their thermal spring water which is supposedly helpful for any sort of redness that you may or may not have and last but not least are the retinoic acid esters the cousin of retinoic acid the hydroxypenicolon retinoate also known as Grand active retinoid you have the ordinary one that a lot of people are used to seeing and we’re talking about a lot during the pandemic but more recently Caroline hirons launched her retinoid one and two by skin rocks and they are hydroxypto colon retinoate this retinoid one is at 0.
2 percent so it’s the entry level I have the two and this one is mixed with red and now so it will definitely be more irritating than the retinoid one but they are interesting products to try especially if you want to jump in and from the readings of the reviews people are not getting that much irritation from them so they seem to be doing great for people who are scared to take the plunge and going stronger or who are ready to go you know a little bit more than a retinal but don’t want a prescription yet and then last are prescriptions so different used to be a prescription up until a few years ago it is now available over the counter do not use this if you are pregnant do not use this if you are pregnant do not use this if you are pregnant it is a synthetic retinoid it is also known as adapalene and it is the cousin version of this is a very old tube tretinoin which is the prescription format and this is the one that you get from your local board certified dermatologist it comes at various strengths you also can get them encapsulate them you can also get them in micro versions it comes in different types of formulations now but this is the classic old school tretinoin that you can order here!
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