Why Retinol is Good for Your Complexion.

Retinol is a highly effective skincare ingredient. It increases the cell turnover in the skin and increases collagen production. This leads to fresher, younger skin which is firmer. Complexion tone and texture are more even, and wrinkles and fine lines appear minimised. It is commonly included in high-end cosmeceutical products marketed for ageing skin. While it can be combined with other ingredients, you must be careful to get the maximum benefits from it and not irritate or sensitise the skin. 

What Retinol can be Combined with

I will run through some of the top ingredients you can or cannot choose with Retinol and if there are any caveats on how they can be used together. Combining different skincare ingredients will give you maximum impact on improving the texture of your complexion, firming your face and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Hyaluronic Acid

Combining Retinol with Hyaluronic Acid is no problem. Hyaluronic Acid is a very potent moisturiser. It hydrates and plumps the skin. Combined with Retinol, it can reduce dryness and irritation while also minimising the appearance of fine lines and rankling. Using the two ingredients together gives them more radiant, youthful skin.

Vitamin C

Again using Retinol and Vitamin C in your skincare regime is perfectly safe and allows you to optimise the benefits of these super skincare ingredients to give you more radiant skin. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and it is used to protect your complexion from the ageing damage caused by free radicals. This helps prevent ageing and improves your face's skin tone and texture. It also brightens and smooths your face. When used alongside Retinol, the impact on your skin is noticeable. Your skin will look brighter, be protected from ageing, and have a youthful look.

Nicotinamide

Combining nicotinamide and Retinol works excellently. Nicotinamide is a type of vitamin B3 used in skin care to improve the skin's barrier function and reduce inflammation. While it is excellent for skin in its own right, used alongside Retinol, it helps protect your complexion from redness and irritation. This can allow you to continue using Retinol when otherwise your skin would be too sensitive.

SPF

An intense SPF such as Dermalogica's Dynamic Skin Recovery, which has an SPF of 50, is the most basic form of skin care you can add to your regime. Using an SPF when using Retinol maximises the benefits of both ingredients. 

Ingredients to avoid when using Retinal

Salicylic Acid

This powerful exfoliating agent unclogs pores and evens skin tone. I wouldn't recommend using it with Retinol, as it can over-irritate the skin and prevent you from using either ingredient.

Glycolic acid

Glycolic acid is another powerful exfoliating agent that improves skin tone and texture. However, it is best to be careful when using it alongside Retinol, as it can lead to irritation.

Combining ingredients for specific skin types

While we receive many, many questions On skincare from people, the most common group of questions we cash on is how to combine the different ingredients to give maximum bang for your buck. I'm sharing 4 quick points on combinations that work for different skin types.

Ageing skincare

Retinol and Hyaluronic acid, used alongside vitamin C, give a brilliant result for ageing skin. Retinol increases the rate of cell turnover, increasing collagen production and skin elasticity and firmness. This provides a more even skin texture and tone, reducing wrinkles and working alongside vitamin C, which not only protects the skin through its antioxidant action but also brightens and freshens the skin. Add Hyaluronic acid's plumping and softening impact, and you have a terrific skincare regime for ageing skin. An SPF must be included to protect from skin pigmentation and further ageing.

Acne-prone skin

For this type of skin, combining Retinol and Benzoyl Peroxide with nicotinamide will improve the treatment and appearance of acne-prone skin. Benzoyl peroxide is an exfoliant with an antibacterial action. This helps unblock pores, even the skin and reduces infection in pores. Retinol again increases cell turnover, freshens the skin, and exfoliates it. This reduces the incidence of pores becoming blocked. Salicylic acid can be used instead of Benzoyl Peroxide, which the skin tends to be oily, and blemishes are not overly inflamed.

Dry skin

When we're dealing with dry skin, what we're looking to do is hydrate and repair the skin. We want to improve the strength of the skin's barrier and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Sometimes, this skin can be more sensitive, so we must keep that in mind when combining ingredients and building the ideal skincare regime for dry skin. I love using Retinol combined with Hyaluronic acid and nicotinamide to help hydrate and repair your complexion. This is an excellent combination for great results and more radiant-looking skin without dehydrating the skin further.

Dull skin

When you need to brighten the skin and make it look refreshed and youthful, use vitamin C, which improves the skin texture and tone noticeably. Use high-quality vitamin C alongside Retinol (which increases collagen and cell turnover in your complexion) and then finally combine it with Alpha Hydroxy acids (Glycolic Acid) or Beta Hydroxy Acids (Salicylic Acid). These three ingredients provide fresher skin and tackle fine lines and wrinkles.