Hi @MaddLinds and very belated congrats on your baby! I’ve got a few thoughts on your skincare routine.
You don’t need 2 retinol products for the same part of your face. Kiehl’s claims their serum can be used around the eye. If you’re applying it there (in addition to the rest of your face), then don’t also use the RoC retinol eye cream. Otherwise you’ll risk irritating the heck outta that skin by using too much retinol. Plus, more isn’t necessarily better when it comes to skincare: retinol’s been shown to be effective at very low amounts—as low as 0.02%. I don’t know what % is in the Kiehl’s serum, but I assume it’s higher than that.
Don’t jump straight into daily use of that (or any) retinol serum. Retinol (and other forms of vitamin A) can be quite drying and irritating. If you’re new to vitamin A, ease into it: start using that serum just a couple times a week—never twice on the same day—for 2-3 weeks. Then increase use to 3 times a week for a while. Keep gradually increasing usage til you’re at a comfy-for-you frequency, which could be daily, every other day, or even just 2 or 3 times a week. You might still experience some drying and flaky skin, but you’ll be less likely to “burn your face off” so to speak. If you’re already easing into the Kiehl’s serum, hooray! Keep at it.
No need to let your face dry down for 20 minutes after applying retinol. Doing that increases the chance of water loss from your skin, and you don’t want that—especially while using vitamin A. Once the Kiehl’s serum seems to have settled into your skin, which should only take a minute at most, move on to your next skincare step.
Wear a broad spectrum sunscreen during the day whenever your skin’s exposed to sunlight. If you already do this, great! I just feel obligated to mention it. 🙂 Contrary to popular belief, retinol doesn’t make your skin more sensitive to the sun. In fact, retinol alone is not the reason to use sunscreen. UV rays cause many “signs of aging,” including some wrinkles. There’s no point using any skincare products to reduce wrinkles/lines if you don’t also stop the sun from causing more of them. One nice thing about the end of daylight saving time is less sun exposure, thanks to 4 or 5 PM sunsets. 😂 Still apply sunscreen each morning you’ll get sun exposure, including time you spend sitting near a window with open blinds/curtains (UVA rays penetrate glass and bounce off surfaces like walls, floors, etc.). But if you’re like me, you appreciate not having to reapply sunscreen as frequently throughout the day vs. long summer days.
Lines around eyes are unavoidable. They’re formed mostly by repeated facial expressions, so the only way to fully prevent them is to stop smiling, crying, frowning, sneezing, laughing, etc. I realize some folks are self-conscious of their undereye lines and I won’t invalidate your concerns and personal preferences. Just know that retinol can reduce the appearance of those lines but won’t “erase” them or stop new ones from appearing. No topically applied skincare product can do that. I’m in my early 50s and all my visible wrinkles are under my eyes. I usually tell folks I earned those lines through decades of emotional expression. Heck, I had to zoom in on your photos to even see your lines, and I’m wearing readers right now. I do think retinol will reduce their appearance for you, with consistent use. But yeah, everyone gets those lines and it takes in-office/clinic procedures to truly remove them.
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