What is retinol? Why it’s a miracle skincare ingredient for women over 40 – and best products to buy

What is retinol? Why it’s a miracle skincare ingredient for women over 40 – and best products to buy

If I had to recommend one 'anti-ageing' ingredient that works above and beyond anything else, it would be retinol. No other ingredient has been as consistently proven to reduce lines, minimize pores, pigmentation and acne blemishes, more than retinol. And now is the perfect time to start using the one active ingredient that's guaranteed to transform your tired, oxygen-starved face into a brighter, smoother, firmer complexion. This is our beginner's guide to starting your skin on retinol for the first time. Firstly, what is retinol exactly? For the uninitiated, retinol is a derivative of Vitamin A. There are varying forms starting with the gold standard, Retin-A or Tretinoin, which is a prescription-only treatment FDA approved to treat acne as well as the signs of ageing. This is the most effective but the most potent, which can cause peeling and irritation in the short term. When it comes to the type of retinol used in cosmetic products, there are varying forms of vitamin A derivatives, from pro-retinol (retinyl palmitate, retinyl acetate, and retinyl linoleate) a milder, yet weaker form of vitamin A that gets converted into retinoic acid by the skin at the cellular level, to pure retinol, which is closer