Raving About Retinoids
Vanity can be so detrimental for your health, nonetheless, there is the rare occasion when superficialities can be a beneficial motivation/wake-up call.
There was once a rebellious period in my life when I was not looking after my health. I was full of angst, discovering new ways to live and not looking after my body or my mind. After a childhood of being incredibly conscious about what I was putting in to my body, I slammed the breaks on and became reckless with my diet; I ate only fast food, I poisoned my body with copious amounts of alcohol and started smoking. My mental health was at it’s worst and this went on for almost five years. The only thing that made me stop mistreating my body was caring too much about my appearance. I could see subtle changes occurring where my body was getting bigger, my skin was stretching, my face was becoming hollow and my skin was wrinkling, I was mortified.
The first time I purchased skin care products, I was 19, full of naivety, misinformation and hope. Thankfully, Clarins Double Serum had just been released in to the market, probably one of the only products available at that time that actually worked better than Vaseline, albeit, this should still not have been classed as “anti-ageing”. I used this as well as aloe vera moisturizer and L’oriel anti-aging night balm. After about a year of vigorous use of these products my skin only improved slightly but put a pause on my wrinkles getting any worse, I was craving something better. I needed something new and I needed it to work.
It wasn’t until two years ago, there was a buzz word circulating the majority of online skincare communities, “retinoids”. Retinoids have been around for decades but mostly for the treatment of acne and other skin conditions. The difference now being that there was evidence to prove that it reversed signs of aging and dramatically improved skin texture. It didn’t take long for me to find a company in the UK that would prescribe me this golden product, it was Dermatica for the monthly price of £19.99. I ripped their proverbial arms off. There have been times when I was worried I was reacting badly to this product as Dermatica use a very concentrated version of retinoids called tretinoin. With tretinoin, you must be very careful when using it long-term, additionally, different people can react differently, so please do your research before starting.
Two weeks in, my skin was peeling constantly, my face felt like it was on fire and I gained a very pink complexion but the general texture and tone of my skin was beautiful. My fine lines had faded, my pores had shrunk, my skin was tighter, I was elated. However, my skin would not stop peeling and it still is to this very day, just far less severe. I have joined a group on Facebook called “Tretinoin and retinoids users; tips, products and routine help”. This group is operated by some very knowledgeable skincare practitioners/dermatologists who will help you with any skin related issues you have. I can’t recommend joining this group enough, they have helped thousands of people and they probably know more than any other skin care professional I have used before.
It is important to mention, you will need to always use SPF on the areas you have used retinoids on as it does strip the UV protection away from your face. I strongly suggest using a good toner beforehand, a vitamin C serum in the morning and some strong moisturizers alongside with these products.
Just to add more to this wonderful compound, I have started using this on my stretchmarks and you can barely see them anymore and hopefully in a few years time, I won’t have any. If you have any questions regarding my post or this topic in general, I will be happy to answer your questions.
