How to Mix Retinoic Acid
Retinoic acid is a powerful compound from vitamin A that can smooth wrinkles, even out the skin tone and clear the complexion. Retinoic acid is only available as a prescription. The parent forms of vitamin A, retinyl palmitate and retinol, are available over-the-counter in topical form, but before the skin cells can use them, they must be broken down and converted by the body to retinoic acid. The strength of retinoic acid can also be its weakness, as some who use it report skin issues, such as redness and flaking; however, you can mix the retinoic acid with a nightly moisturizer to alleviate these problems. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cleanser
- Exfoliator
- Retinoic acid
- Skin serums that address your main concern
- Moisturizer
Instructions
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Clean facial skin of dirt, makeup and other impurities. Also include your neck if you'll be treating this area with retinoic acid. A clean surface will help your skin absorb the retinoic acid.
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Apply the retinoic acid to clean, dry skin. Use gentle upward motions across the neck and chin area, moving upward toward the forehead. Extend the cream to the hairline bordering the face, sweeping a thin film around the orbital bone of each eye. However, keep the cream away from the eyelid and directly underneath the eye, as heat from the body can cause the cream to migrate into the eye itself.
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Smooth on a serum or gel that addresses your main skin concern, such as wrinkles, redness or acne. However, if you are treating acne, be aware that benzoyl peroxide inactivates retinoic acid. Consequently, if you use the former in a topical form, do not mix it with retinoic acid. Instead, use retinoic acid at night and benzoyl peroxide in the morning.
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Hydrate the skin with a moisturizer formulated for your skin type, giving preference to one that contains hyaluronic acid spheres. Moisture levels drop as we sleep, which means we can wake up with dry skin. Layering on a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid spheres helps hold water in the skin, according to New York dermatologist Jeannette Graf, M.D. Alternately, if you prefer to skip the serum or gel, simply mix your retinoic acid with your moisturizer in the palm of your hand and apply them together in a single step. Using gentle pressure, apply the mixture to the face and neck as you did the retinoic acid.
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Tips & Warnings
Prescription strength retinoic acid can be irritating to the skin, causing redness and flaking. Build up your schedule by initially treating your skin with it twice a week for several weeks, then increase the frequency to three times per week until you're applying it daily.
If you prefer to exfoliate the skin's surface by using an alpha hydroxy acid product, do so in the morning. Dermatologist Leslie Bauman, M.D. says that retinoic acid should not be mixed with AHAs. They can be used in the same skin care routine, but AHAs should always be applied in the morning followed by a sunscreen, while retinoic acid should be used exclusively at night when the skin repairs itself.
Applying retinoic acid during daytime is ineffective, since it degrades when exposed to sunlight.
Light and air tend to make retinoic acid unstable and ineffective. Therefore, only use retinoic acid packaged in an opaque tube or pump; do not use any product that comes in a bottle or jar.
References
- Photo Credit David Oxberry/Digital Vision/Getty Images
