The Ordinary Retinol

First of all, what is retinol and retinoids?

Retinol is pure vitamin A. Retinoids are actually different derivatives of vitamin A. When applied to the skin, they help accelerate the rate of skin turnover and thus help improve the appearance of wrinkles, pigmentation and acne. Retinoids include, for example, tretinoin (Retavit), Adeline, retinyl palmitate, retinyl propionate and of course - retinol!

Tretinoin = Ritonoid acid - the most researched and proven ingredient in the world of care. The only ingredient that is defined as "antiaging" by the FDA. It is only sold by prescription because its side effects are not simple, it can be very drying and cause irritation and peeling at first.

How is it related to retinol? When retinol comes into contact with the skin, it undergoes 2 transformations until it becomes tretinoin:

retinol -- > retinaldehyde --> retinoic acid.

Because of these transitions, not all of the retinol turns into tretinoin, and this makes it more delicate, and therefore also sold in the networks and not by prescription. Tretinoin is 10-20 times stronger than retinol, but that does not mean that retinol is not effective at all. I think that retinol is an excellent way to acclimate the skin before starting treatment with tretinoin, in order to reduce the unpleasant side effects. Please note that retinoids must not be used in any way Pregnant!

The Ordinary has serums of retinol in squalene in different percentages 0.2%, 0.5% and 1%. It is recommended to start from 0.2% and go up to 1%.

It's a serum with squalene oil, note that it's an oil for everything! Some connect and some don't - that's why it's important to me that you pay attention to this. I have dry skin so I really like it (and oily in general). Besides retinol and squalene oil, it also contains jojoba oil, and is without essential oils, fragrance or alcohol.

I've been using retinol 0.2% for about two months and I haven't seen any change in my skin, neither for the better nor for the worse, but it makes a lot of sense! Retinol is a long-term commitment. It takes a long time to see changes from it, especially when I started from a low percentage.

All in all, I like the product because of its simplicity, and because of the possibility to increase the percentage over time, but I am not sure about its effectiveness, I believe that over time when I increase the percentage I will know more and of course I will update you!

Edit: My update in the comments!

Update: Estee Lauder has purchased more than half of The Ordinary's shares. Estee Lauder is a company that tests on animals. Therefore, unfortunately according to my standards I can no longer refer to The Ordinary as "cruelty-free" 🐰💔 for your consideration.