Inkey List Retinol??

[emmarsenault]

I have acne prone, combo skin and I haven’t used a retinol before. I heard it might help with acne and I want to know if that’s true? If so, is the inkey list a good retinol to start out on?

[thebarbaby]

I used a while tube of inkey list retinol and had no luck. I'm currently using Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Night Cream with Niacinamide + Peptide 1.7 oz/ 50 mL and i like it so far. only thing is, it has fragrance in to which I didn't realize until after i bought it (i didn't look at all the ingredients /: )

[WinglessOne]

Hi @emmarsenault ! I also have combo skin. I used The INKEY List Retinol Fine Lines and Wrinkles Serum 1 oz for over a year with no problems. It's not the retinol serum I started with, though: I began with First Aid Beauty FAB Skin Lab Retinol Serum 0.25% Pure Concentrate which is VERY gentle. I tried the FAB serum first because I wanted to see if my skin would tolerate retinol at all. After 1-2 months of use, I switched to The Inkely List's serum. 

Whichever retinol serum you start with, start very slowly. Use it just one night a week for a couple weeks. Then increase usage to 2 nights a week for a while, then 3 nights, and so on until you're at the frequency you're comfy with. Some folks use retinol every night, others use it every other night, etc. Any usage is effective, honestly; it'll just take longer to see results with less frequent usage.

When I switched from the FAB retinol to The Inkey List retinol, I started with using it just once a week, then gradually built up usage to every other night. I wouldn't call The Inkey List's a strong retinol product, but it's not weak either: if you overuse it from the start instead of letting your skin build tolerance, you can get a lot of irritation from it. You've probably heard about "retinization," the period of time your skin gets drier and flakier as it adjusts to retinol, possibly with lots of new acne popping up as retinol speeds up the acne process (this is retinol purging that crud from your skin; that's a good thing). This often happens when you start prescription retinoids like tretinoin, but can also happen with OTC retinol. That's normal. What's not normal is lots of redness, burning, stinging, and a rash; that's a bad reaction signal, and if it happens you should stop retinol and consult a dermatologist. 

Also, retinol isn't an overnight miracle. It can take 3-4 months of consistent use to see noticeable results. So, don't bail too quickly on it. 🙂 Wear sunscreen (minimum SPF of 30) each day your skin's exposed to sunlight, whether or not you use retinol. (Retinol doesn't make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. But there's no point using it if you don't also stop the sun from creating more damage and undoing retinol's hard work.) 

Retinol is one of several ingredients in the retinoid category. Another retinoid is adapalene, which some dermatologists recommend for acne. Adapalene is the active ingredient in Differin: you can get it over the counter, or ask a derm (or you primary care doc) for the prescription strength version. La Roche-Posay also makes an OTC adapalene product. You might also want to consider one of those options. I'm told Differin definitely has an "it'll get worse before it gets better" effect on skin, with lots of purging, so don't be alarmed if that happens. It should calm down within a month. 

[meou]

@emmarsenault retinol promotes cell turnover and can help unclog pores so it can help with acne - I haven't tried the inkey list retinol before but it uses a 0.5% granactive retinoid and a 1% RetiStar stabilised Retinol (the latter I haven't heard of) but since it is sold OTC in Canada it means that it is of a lower strenght overall than 1%.

For any retinol you want to start low and slow so go once a week and apply on top of your moisturizer to buffer the product. 

[emmarsenault]

Do you have any retinols you have tried that work well and aren’t through the roof expensive?

[meou]

I'm actually using the The Ordinary Retinol 0.2% in Squalane, Signs of Aging Serum 1 oz/ 30 mL  which is probably as cheap as you can get and I've had no irritation or purging.