I often get asked which retinoid and at which percentage is best, and it really depends on your goals and your skin. I explain all of that and more in this video.
Topical retinoids are super hot right now and one of the most frequently asked questions i get are i’ve been using topical retinoids should i go up on the strength will i benefit from using a higher strength and how can i increase the strength and minimize irritation at the same time in this video i’m going to be addressing all these questions and concerns
Retinoids are by far the most steady ingredient probably out there but especially when it comes to improving skin aging retinoids belong to this large family of vitamin a derivatives how it works to improve signs of aging we see improves fine lines wrinkles uneven skin texture and skin tone for acne it helps to unclog pores retinoids they actually normalize and
In some ways accelerate that skin turnover and improve that dullness of the dead skin buildup that often is seen over time with age two they actually stimulate collagen production thereby increase the thickness of the skin overall which tends to decrease again as we get older and these things also are further exacerbated or made worse with chronic sun exposure
It also improves the amount of hyaluronic acid that helps to overall give skin elasticity and plumpness and so in essence retinoids really helps to improve not completely reverse but improve the process of skin aging now retinoids as i mentioned is a large family and there’s a lot of different derivatives the true active form is retinoic acid which is known as
Tretinoin and this is a prescription and tretinoin is the most studied when it comes to retinoids for improving skin aging now a part of that retinoic acid family in addition to tretinoin is tazira team which is also a prescription retinoid one of the main downsides to retinoic acid is its irritation right it’s got all these great benefits but obviously nothing
Is perfect and because of that the skin care industry has really tried to venture out and find other derivatives that may have similar efficacy improving skin aging but less of the irritation and therefore we have in our world right now in the skincare world all the different types of retinols and right now the heights that do have really good clinical studies in
Demonstrating the efficacy for improving skin texture skin tone fine lines and they’re definitely less irritating and that is one thing that we do know very well when it comes to topical retinoids is that they are irritating and this higher concentration leads to more irritation so obviously when it comes to efficacy retinoic acid or tretinoin family is going to
Be more effective than right now which is going to be slightly more effective than retinol but it’s actually the reverse when it comes to irritation so retinols are going to be a lot better tolerated than right now the heights but right now the heights are going to be better tolerated than retinolic acid or tertinoin so when it comes to anti-aging what has been
Shown to be effective over-the-counter retinol right now the high do have pretty good data and they do work really well when it comes to prescription strength it’s tretinoin 0.025 0.05 and 0.1 percent that exist as prescription and similar type of strength for taser routine so now let’s talk about are there any benefits to using a higher strength and what the
Studies show because that’s kind of what i can tell you guys raised from clinical studies well there are a handful of clinical studies well-structured studies that compare very strength of either tretinoin or comparing tretinoin to teseratine and i wish it was a straightforward answer and it’s not right because some of the studies are somewhat contradictory what
I mean by that there are a few studies that show truth no one 0.025 compared to tretinoin 0.1 there hasn’t really been any statistical significant clinical differences what i mean by that is you are not really able to distinguish a significant improvement by looking at the skin between the two concentrations furthermore when they took biopsies of the skin there
Wasn’t again a significant note difference between the two now the higher concentration may have a slight overall improvement but again not enough to make a statistical significant difference however from these studies what we do know is that very low concentrations which don’t exist is prescription but you may find them safe through curology or other services
That may offer a very low strength that are not standard prescription for example the 0.001 percent that strength of tretinoin has not shown to be really any more effective than just a control a vehicle like using a bland moisturizer so i think one thing that you definitely want to be mindful of is when you are using tretinoin in particular you definitely want
To go with prescription at least 0.025 if not higher or you would take it over the count right now and those definitely have good data for efficacy when comparing tretinoin to tysaritine at the various different concentrations what has been shown is that yes tazeratine is more effective and provides faster improvement than tretinoin at all the various different
Concentrations however what we do know for all the studies out there on retinoids is that higher concentration leads to more irritation so something to consider when you are picking your formulation again now one thing i get asked about too is you know if i’ve been using a retinoid every single day for some time am i still going to get benefit if i can’t tolerate
It using every day for some reason but maybe a few times a week and the answer is yes if you’ve been using the topical retinoid for every day for three months or six months and for some reason you want to cut back on the use for whatever reason you are still able to get continued improvement or maintenance of the improvement if you use it three times a week
There’s no studies that show are you gonna get improvement using it once a week so i would say go with the studies three times a week you’re still going to get benefits if not continuing improvement of your skin some other things you want to think about if you are thinking of changing to a higher strength number one what is your skin care goals what is your skin
Health status if your goal is merely to prevent and maybe delay and if you have very mild signs of aging like say you’re in your early 20s early 30s and you want to just really get on top of the game when it comes to aging more gracefully then really i don’t see any benefit truly by going up on the strength because you’re going to just get more irritation and not
Maybe even be able to tolerate the regular use so this is where using an over counter retinol on a regular basis or just sticking with your low strength tretinoin is where it’s really gold another thing to think about is if you have very damaged and aged skin where you have not only fine lines or wrinkles but you are getting you know deep wrinkles these are things
That topical retinoids will not solve no matter how high the concentration is this is where pairing with resurfacing laser microneedling deeper chemical peels botox and fillers are all going to be really helpful and it’s all working together right another thing to think about is have you given your retinoids enough time to work before you switch topical retinoids
Regardless whether it’s over-the-counter retinol or prescription the two benefits really comes with six months to a year of use so if you just started a topic or retinoid you’re six weeks into it and you haven’t noticed a significant improvement well guess what you’re not going to by going up on a higher strength besides the irritation so really give it some time
And reconsider it after using it for six months to a year one thing we didn’t talk about was acne now one thing that studies have shown hands down higher strength does improve acne more effectively you definitely may be able to benefit from seeing a dermatologist and getting on a higher prescription strength if you are interested in increasing and you want to try
To minimize the irritation here a few things that you can do to hopefully help you better tolerate and minimize some of the burning peeling and flaking of your skin number one you want to start off very slowly and what i mean by that is maybe consider only using it once or twice a week gradually see if you can increase to every night use use it at night you may want
To even consider that retinol sandwich technique which is cleanse your skin apply moisturizer to damp skin wait for that to dry give it you know five to ten minutes apply your retinoids spearingly and then put on your moisturizer a trick that i recommend is putting little vaseline at the corners of your mouth your nose your eyes just so that way they don’t collect
In these areas and because these are the areas that tend to get extra flaky and dried with tretinoin or topical retinoid use adding on one night a week and over the course of four to six weeks gradually see if you can increase to every night use so i hope this video provided some insight and answer some of your questions my honest opinion is the best thing is just
To pick a retinoid formulation that you like that you’re able to tolerate and able to use on a long term basis please comment below with your questions and i will try to go through them individually and answer all of that again thank you so much for watching you can find more information on skincare on my social media on instagram and tech talk and i will see you guys next time you
Transcribed from video
Which Retinoid Should You Use? Types and Percentages | Retinol, Tretinoin, Retinaldehyde, Tazarotene By Dr. Jenny Liu