Navigating the Tretinoin Dilemma: A Guide to Gentle Alternatives and Skincare Balance
Introduction: Why are people stopping their Tretinoin
We have had years of influencers telling their followers they absolutely HAVE to use tretinoin to have the skin of their dreams. Many are finally admitting they are done with trying to make it work for their skin. Read on if you have also been struggling for what to do instead.
Building a full skincare routine around tretinoin alternatives, picture here Cyberderm Retin Erase with brightening skincare with turmeric Be Light Pigment Control and mineral sunscreen Ava Isa Every Morning SPF 30
Why Abandoning Tretinoin Might Be the Right Move: the downfall of more is more
The daily use of tretinoin and its prescription brethren has been a hot topic on social media for years now. The general advice was to find a way to use a prescription retinoid every single day and to continually ramp up concentration as tolerated. It became a hamster’s wheel of expectation that more is always better. However, after years of this strategy, many of tretinoins most vocal advocates are admitting defeat. What are they doing instead and what can you do if you have had similar struggles.
Skincare Beyond Tretinoin: How to Build a Comprehensive Skincare Routine
The heavy focus on Vitamin A (retinoids, retinols, Bakuchiol etc) is like a trainer only focusing on exercise while ignoring the benefits of other lifestyle changes like nutrition, sleep, stress management etc. Our skin benefits from more than just Vitamin A type products. While most people can benefit from including it in their routines, it does not have to be daily. For many, using a Vitamin A 1-2x weekly at night gives lots of benefits and then allows for alternate nights to include other type of products.
Korean skincare is actually known for almost never incorporating Vitamin A in its products. The obsession with Tretinoin and retinoids/retinols seems to be more American in nature. When you couple this with a lack of understanding on what truly makes a good sunscreen and the importance of prevention, you get a really myopic strategy that means a lot of hard work on the correction side of things for consumers.
Key Tip: A well balanced skincare routine should include lots of hydration (serums and moisturizers), the best possible sunscreen for daily prevention, anti-oxidant support and exfoliation.
Gentle Tretinoin Alternatives: Power Without Irritation
Retinoid alternatives like Bakuchiol and Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate are sometimes seen as ‘less’ than retinoids and retinols because they are not as ‘strong’. It’s true that both of these are known for causing less irritation than their counterparts but it does not mean they are not providing excellent skin health benefits. At the end of the day, a product does not work if it stays in the tube. We actually created both our Cyberderm Retin+Erase and Natrèceutiqe Bakuchiol Building Blocks because our Dermatologist co-founder Dr. Sharyn Laughlin found that most people were not using their prescriptions.
Bringing it back to our exercise metaphor, if you are training so hard one day that you can’t walk for the rest of the week, you are not getting the full benefit. In fact, the stress on the body and the resulting inflammation can actually be more damaging.
Key Tip: You can swap out your prescription tretinoin for one of these alternatives if you simply cannot stand the irritation and the dryness. Or you can add these products in if you want to use on alternative nights with your prescription to help make it more tolerable.
Adapting Skincare for Mature Skin and Tretinoin Use
The truth is that what a 20 year old influencer can tolerate may be very different than a woman in her 50’s, especially as she approaches menopause. We know that as estrogen naturally starts to decline through perimenopause and menopause, your skin and body make less sebum, are less efficient at wound healing, are more prone to inflammation. Women lose about 30% of collagen during their first 5 years of menopause so it’s important to include a collagen boosting ingredient like Vitamin A in your routine. However, these compounding factors may mean that you don’t tolerate your retinoid as well as you once did.
As our exercise metaphor would show, there are benefits to weight training as you get older, especially as you are menopausal. However, you need to balance the increase in muscle mass and benefits for bone health against creating too much oxidative stress and inflammation. Balance is key and probably even more important as you get older.
Key Tip: Mature skin especially has to find a balance between efficacy and irritation and inflammation.
Fortunately, we have a full line of supportive skincare and tretinoin alternatives that can help you find the perfect balance for your skin in correction and optimal skin health. Take a look at our tretinoin alternatives and full line of clinical skincare. At The Sunscreen Company, we love to offer the best in continuing skincare and sunscreen education, so make sure to follow us on IG @thesunscreencompany.