@Dreamcthr1 Really, any product that contains a good amount of retinal (retinaldehyde) or another members of the vitamin A family (retinol, tretinoin, adapalene, etc.) can all help with wrinkles, boost collagen production, and reduce hyperpigmentation. Vitamin A does all that stuff. But none of those products are overnight miracles. As with most topical skincare products, it can take 4-8 weeks to see results. Patience and consistency are key.
Also, don't rely solely on vitamin A. Make sure you also use broad spectrum sunscreen (at least SPF 30) each day your skin's exposed to sunlight, all year long, regardless of weather or season. Sunscreen's the best preventative anti-aging skincare product on the market. (UV damage causes many "signs of aging," including some wrinkles.)
In terms of speed, wellโฆ tretinoin is probably your best bet. Tretinoin is retinoic acid, the active form of vitamin A our skin can use immediately. Our skin cells donโt have to convert tretinoin to an active form first. But again, itโs not an overnight miracle. It's available only by prescription in the US; you can get the brand name Retin-A or generic tretinoin.
Retinaldehyde/retinal is one step away from retinoic acid: our skin cells must convert it to an active form. It works slower than tretinoin. I use retinal because itโ
s less irritating than tretinoin (and retinol, for me) yet still very effective. My product of choice is Avene RetrinAL 0.1 Intensive Cream (contains 0.1% retinaldehyde). There are other retinal products out there:
Medik8 Crystal Retinal comes in various strengths, and I donโt recommend starting with anything higher than 0.1% (thatโs their Crystal Retinal 10 Serum). A possible less expensive option is
Youth To The People Retinal + Niacinamide Youth Serum 1 oz/ 30 mL
. Even less expensive is
Maelove Moonlight (contains several essential oils, so beware if your skinโs sensitive to those).
Retinol is what youโll most often find available over the counter. Itโs two steps away from retinoic acid, requiring two conversions to an active form. Itโs slower than retinal and tretinoin, but that doesnโt mean itโs ineffective. There are
tons of retinol serums and moisturizers on the market. If I wasn't already using retinaldehyde, I'd try the fairly new
The INKEY List SuperSolutions 1% Retinol Serum 1 oz / 30 mL
because I used to use their lower strength retinol serum. If you're a vitamin A newbie, you might wanna start with a lower strength product anyway... something like Paula's Choice RESIST Barrier Repair Moisturizer with Retinol 1.7 oz/ 50 mL or
Maelove Stargaze. There's also the stronger
Paula's Choice CLINICAL Anti-Aging 1% Retinol Treatment 1 oz/ 30 mL
but beware of starting with a higher % of retinol hoping for quicker results. You can irritate the heck out of your skin that way. (This is also true for retinaldehyde, and a doctor can help you decide which % of tretinoin to start with if you go that route.)
Another option is
granactive retinoid (HPR). Itโs an ester of retinoic acid that, theoretically, needs no conversion to an active form. Thereโs not much clinical data on how effective HPR is, so youโre kinda playing guinea pig when you use it.
The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion 1 oz/ 30 mL
is a popular option.