You should be using a retinoid in your skin care routine.
Retinoids are arguably the best skin care ingredient of all time, being the most effective and well-researched ingredient for anti-aging.
The benefits of retinoids include:
- Reduction of wrinkles and fine lines
- Improves skin texture
- Reduces hyperpigmentation and age spots
- Preventing acne, and treating acne to a lesser extent
- Reduction of acne scars
- Increases skin firmness and elasticity
As you can see, retinoids improve basically everything related to youthful skin.
In addition, they are relatively cheap (compared to other anti-aging skin treatments), easy to access (over-the-counter options available), and easy to use (just apply once a day).
Basics of How Retinoids Work
First, retinoids are vitamin A derivatives, which basically means they’re vitamin A that you apply to your skin. They work primarily by:
- Increasing skin cell turnover: Your skin cells naturally turnover, in that they shed old skin cells, and generate new healthy skin cells to replace them. Retinoids speed up this process.
- Increased collagen production: Collagen is important for making your skin firm, elastic, and youthful. Retinoids boost your body’s production of collagen.
Think About Retinoids for the Long-Term
Retinoids should be thought of with a long-term mindset. They are not a quick fix, unlike, for example, a fix for acne. You should be patient with results.
Retinoids, and anti-aging in general, are about slowing aging over the long term by applying them consistently.
With retinoids, results typically start after about 2-3 months, with gradual and compounding improvement over time.
To give an idea, say you start retinoids at age 20, and your skin currently looks your age (20). Then, as the years go on, your results might look like this:
- After 10 years (age 30): skin looks 25-27
- After 20 years (age 40): skin looks 30-33
- After 30 years (age 50): skin looks 35-38
As you can see, the gap between your perceived skin age and your actual age widens gradually with long-term use.
Types of Retinoids
There are different types of retinoids which vary in strength. Stronger retinoids are more effective, but they are also potentially more irritating to your skin.
From weakest to strongest:
- Retinol
- Adapalene
- Tretinoin
- Tazarotene
A good guideline is that you should choose the strongest retinoid that you can handle with your skin sensitivity, because stronger retinoids are more effective.
Start with the weakest to test it with your skin, and if you tolerate that well, then upgrade.
Similarly, you can start by first applying it only once per week, then gradually increasing the frequency up to every other day or every day.
Start with retinol, then adapalene, and then tretinoin.
Retinol → Adapalene → Tretinoin
Tazarotene is optional and we’ll talk more about that towards the end of the post.
Retinol
Retinols are the weakest form of retinoid. Here are some recommendations to get started:
Neutrogena Stubborn Marks PM Facial Treatment | Shoppers Drug Mart
Applying Retinoids
You should use retinoids in your evening skincare routine, applying them before bedtime. This is because they help your skin regenerate, which naturally occurs during sleep.
Apply a pea-sized amount (that’s all you need). Ideally, leave it on for 15-30 minutes before applying your next product, to allow it to absorb properly.
Wearing Sunscreen with Retinoids
It’s important to note that applying sunscreen is extremely important when using retinoids, despite already being important if you’re not.
This is because retinoids make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, making them more susceptible to UV damage from the sun and higher risk of sunburn. This is because retinoids increase skin cell turnover.
This is also why applying retinoids in the evening is best, because allowing it to work during sleep avoids any potential sun exposure.
Retinoid Purging
For the first few weeks of applying retinoids, your skin may become worse. This is called purging, where your skin rapidly turns over, which can lead to more acne.
This is expected and temporary, and should not be mistaken for irritation. There isn’t really a way to prevent purging, but starting more gradually may help if you really want.
You may also experience skin dryness or skin peeling, so be sure to apply enough moisturizer. This is because retinoids increase skin cell turnover (which makes your skin peel) and because they decrease sebum production (which makes your skin drier).
Adapalene (Differin)
Adapalene is the next higher strength from retinol.
It is only available by prescription in Canada, despite being available over-the-counter in the US.
The easiest and cheapest way to get it is to buy it from US websites.
Differin, which is the most popular brand name of adapalene, is available on iHerb at a very reasonable price:
Differin, Adapalene Gel 0.1 % Acne Treatment, Fragrance Free, 0.5 oz (15 g)
Another popular product is La Roche Posay Effaclar adapalene gel, but it is more expensive, and probably unnecessary, but it is another option:
La Roche Posay Effaclar Adapalene Gel 0.1% Acne Treatment
Going to a doctor for a prescription is technically another option, whether it’s your family doctor, or a walk-in clinic. However, you should beware, for a few reasons:
- Potential rip-off: In Canada, (prescription) Differin is often more expensive and basically a rip-off price, upwards of $150-200 per tube, because of various Canadian factors like regulations and availability. In comparison, buying it on iHerb is only about $30.
- Evidence of acne treatment: Your doctor may only prescribe adapalene for acne symptoms, not solely for anti-aging purposes. So, if you had little to no acne, you may have to do some persuading and insisting. Hopefully it works, but results vary based on your doctor’s discretion.
Tretinoin (Retinoic Acid, or Retin-A)
Tretinoin is the next strongest, being stronger than adapalene.
Tretinoin is the original retinoid. It was the first topical retinoid to get approved by the FDA way back in 1971. It is the retinoid which has been most extensively studied, and the retinoid with the most established track record for its effectiveness.
It’s also what I currently use.
It can cause more irritation and dryness, because it is stronger.
In Canada and the US, it is only available by prescription, so you can’t order it online from iHerb.
This leaves 2 options:
- Go to your family doctor (or walk-in clinic) to get a prescription.
- Go to an online telemedicine doctor like Felix or Maple.
Surprisingly, tretinoin is often just as cheap or even cheaper than adapalene or even retinol, despite being stronger and more effective.
Doctor prescription: With your family doctor or a walk-in clinic, in Canada, you have to navigate the Canadian health care system a bit. This is because they primarily only prescribe tretinoin for treating acne, not primarily for anti-aging purposes.
You should explain your acne issues, and ask for a prescription for tretinoin.
You may have to exaggerate your acne, depending on how much acne you actually have. Perhaps playing up how it’s causing you mental health issues.
I personally had obvious severe acne, so this was easy, but it may be more difficult for you.
You should also explain how you’ve tried retinol and adapalene, and your skin handled them well, so your skin is suitable to try tretinoin.
Also, beforehand, you should do your homework so you have an understanding of tretinoin, so that you can speak clearly and confidently to the doctor.
Online telemedicine: Another option is to use an online telemedicine website. The 2 most popular in Canada are Felix and Maple, but there are others also.
You make an appointment online, fill out a questionnaire, and upload pictures of your skin. Ask for tretinoin for acne treatment, and they will almost certainly prescribe it to you, especially as long as you have at least some acne. The impersonal nature of telemedicine means the doctor will be less scrutinizing about your acne.
Get Tretinoin Online in Canada – Free Discreet Delivery | Felix
Tazarotene (Tazorac)
Finally, there is tazarotene, or brand name Tazorac.
Tretinoin and tazarotene are roughly similar, in terms of effectiveness and irritation. Some evidence shows tazarotene gives results faster, but both give similar results in the long-term. Some say tazarotene is slightly more irritating, and also slightly more expensive.
Also, it has limited to no availability in Canada.
In my opinion, it isn’t worth getting into.
Summary
Here’s a basic summary of everything about retinoids:
- Retinoids are the best anti-aging skin care ingredient
- Start with retinol, then move on to stronger options like adapalene and tretinoin
- Use them consistently
- Apply at night, use sunscreen daily
- Be patient for gradual, long-term results