2 answers
★ Best answer
Start with the lowest concentration you can find and use it just 2-3 times a week, gradually increasing frequency over a few months - most skin irritation comes from jumping in too fast. Make sure you're using a pea-sized amount on completely dry skin (wait 20 minutes after washing), and always follow up with a good moisturizer and sunscreen during the day. If you're still seeing redness, peeling, or breakouts after a few weeks at low frequency, your skin might just be sensitive to retinol itself, and you could try a gentler derivative like retinyl palmitate instead.
The irritation you're seeing isn't necessarily a sign you're doing something wrong - retinol genuinely does cause a rough patch for most people at first, and that's actually the adjustment phase. I made the mistake of using a decent-strength retinol every night right away and my skin got angry and flaky for weeks, but I stuck it out on the advice to use it less often instead of ditching it entirely. The key is understanding *when* to push through vs when to back off: if your skin is just a bit dry and peeling, that's normal retinization, but if you're getting a rash or serious inflammation, you might need to space it out further or use a lower concentration. What's your current routine looking like - are you moisturizing heavily after, and what strength retinol are you using?
Ashley_98 asker
Using a basic retinol every other night with heavy moisturizer, nothing fancy. Skin's just flaky, not inflamed, so I'll stick it out! 💪
Your answer
Log into answer.