Retinoids: Retinol vs Retinal vs Retinoic Acid vs..?

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝I’m confused about retinol, retinal, retinoin, retinoids, etc, and of course every product claims to be the best, what’s the actual science on it?❞

Before we get into these skincare products, let’s first note that for most people, what’s best for the skin is good sleep and hydration, a plants-centric whole foods diet, and good stress management:

See for example: Of Brains And Breakouts: The Brain Skin Doctor

However, the world of potions and lotions can be an alluring one, and there is some merit there too. So, in a nutshell:

• Retinoids are the overall class of chemicals, and not a specific type
  • Retinoic acid is the strongest form of this chemical and is prescription-controlled in most places
    • “Retinoin” is probably tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid) with the “t” having fallen off; we can only find it being used as a product name, not an actual substance
  • Retinal, when it’s not an adjective referring to the retina (the part of the eye that receives refocussed light) and is instead a noun, is a less potent retinoid than the prescription-only kinds, but still stronger than retinol
  • Retinol is a much less potent form, and is the most widely found in skincare products

All of them work the same way; it is only how serious they are about it that differs.

The mechanism of action is that they speed up the turnover (shedding cycle) of skin, so that cells are replaced sooner. As with any non-cancerous human tissue, this means that the tissue itself (in this case, your skin) will be biologically younger than if it had been replaced later.

The downside, of course, of this is that—while trying to make your skin healthier and more beautiful—the first thing that will happen is skin shedding. Depending on the retinoid type, dose, and the health of your skin to start with, this may mean anything from needing to exfoliate in the morning, to having to go to hospital with what looks like the world’s worst sunburn. For this reason, it is recommended to start with weaker products and lower doses, and work up carefully.

A note on doses: the recommended doses for these products are always truly tiny, like “use a pea-sized amount of this 0.05% serum on your face”. Take them seriously until you’re absolutely sure from experience that your skin can handle more.

Also, a tip: wear gloves when you apply any of the above products. This is because your fingers are also covered in skin, and if you don’t use gloves, then half the product that you intended for your face will be absorbed into your fingers instead. On the bright side, you’ll have beautifully rejuvenated fingertips, though.

You can learn more about the science of retinoids here, in our article about tretinoin, the usually prescription-only form of retinoic acid:

Tretinoin: Undo The Sun’s Damage To Your Skin

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product of retinal (stronger than retinol) on Amazon 😎

Take care!