Can your skin get used to retinol so that it becomes less effective?
Your skin gets used to the side effects of retinol, such as flaking and redness, but not to the effect itself; the active effect on lines and pigmentation does not diminish with longer use.
Your skin gets used to the side effects of retinol, not to the effect itself. That is an important distinction. In a 10-week study using retinol 0.5%, participants experienced flaking and redness in the early stages. By the end of the study, those complaints had largely disappeared, while the product continued to work just as well.
The fact that its efficacy does not diminish with longer use is confirmed by multiple studies, including an analysis of 23 randomised trials. In those trials, continued use of retinol significantly improved fine lines and uneven pigmentation. None of those studies reported that the effect weakened over time.
The phenomenon whereby a product becomes less effective because the skin gets used to it has simply not been described for retinol in the available literature. Long-term safety and efficacy are, in fact, rated positively.
One caveat: retinol is less potent than prescription variants such as tretinoin or tazarotene. Those work more powerfully, but also cause more irritation. If after a while you feel that retinol is doing less, that may be due to the concentration or the product, not to tolerance.
Based on one open-label study (10 weeks, retinol 0.5%), a network meta-analysis of 23 RCTs, and multiple additional studies into the long-term efficacy and tolerability of retinol.
Can using too much retinol actually damage your skin?
Too much retinol can irritate and damage your skin, but at a low dose and with a gradual build-up you can benefit from its skin-renewing effects. Start low, build up slowly, and consider bakuchiol if your skin reacts sensitively.
Does retinol help against wrinkles?
Retinol demonstrably works against wrinkles and improves skin texture, although tretinoin is more potent for those who can or wish to obtain a prescription; people who experience irritation may consider bakuchiol as an equivalent alternative based on one small study.
Is retinol safe to use after microneedling?
Whether retinol is safe to use directly after microneedling has not been directly studied. Discuss the timing and dosage with your practitioner before applying it.
Does resveratrol in skin cream actually do anything?
Resveratrol in skin cream demonstrably reaches the skin and has antioxidant activity, but whether it produces any visible effect as the sole active ingredient has not yet been proven. Combination products show promising results, but anyone buying a cream with resveratrol should be aware that the evidence for resveratrol itself remains thin.
Does bakuchiol work as well as retinol but more gently?
Bakuchiol appears to target skin aging through biological pathways similar to those of retinol and is clearly gentler on the skin, but whether it is equally effective has not yet been properly investigated in large, direct comparison studies.
Does resveratrol really help protect cells against ageing?
Resveratrol protects cells impressively in the lab, but whether that also works in practice for you is uncertain: the body breaks the substance down quickly and large human studies are largely absent.