My AHA moment
Layering to win 💪🏾
Wanted to write the for a while now, but decided to make it more of a personal account than yet another ‘how to’. Let’s call this a ‘how not to’ lol. I have always been wary of retinol. I know, as a professional aesthetician, the numerous benefits, especially to ageing skin (yes, I’m starting to accept this lol). I tried it once, a few years ago and found my skin got really sore and scaly. Truth is, I wasn’t patient enough, and I was too vain to push through the peeling stages. I decided to give it a go again, 4 weeks ago, but this time I needed to understand both the how to’s and how not ‘to’s. I get asked so many questions about AHAs , BHA’s, Vitamin C and Retinol/ Retin A. How shall I use it for the best results? How can I combine it for maximum efficacy? Can I use all at once? What’s layering? Before I go into my own personal and recent experience combining retinols and acids , I think we need to first understand what these are and what they are meant to do for the skin. Acids include alpha-hydroxy acids (such as glycolic and lactic), and beta-hydroxy acids (eg salicylic acid). Retinoids are a vitamin A derivative, these include over-the-counter retinol as well as prescription-only tretinoin, a.k.a. Retin-A. Both ingredients are excellent for resurfacing the skin, fading dark spots and softening wrinkles. So if one active is good, wouldn't a routine with two or three actives be even BETTER? There’s no simple answer to this. Let me explain. For most of us, the end game is to have brighter, more even skin tone. Certainly for me, that and softening the signs of aging would be amazing. The three best ingredients for me would therefore be acids, Vitamin C and Retinol. Acids are fantastic because they exfoliate away dull, dead skin and gently remove discolourations over time. AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) target the surface layers of the skin, while BHAs (beta-hydroxy acids) also unclog pores. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that boosts radiance and helps fade sun damage. Retinol has a long-standing, evidence-based utility in treating acne, photoaging, hyperpigmentation and mild acne scarring, all of which are an ongoing concern for quite a number of us Becky wannabes. You could of-course use these their own and achieve great results, but if like me, you want visible, measurable results, it’s worth considering including all in your routine, UNDER THE SUPERVISION of your dermatologist or aesthetician. What happens if you don’t? What happens if you get all these amazing products and slap them all on with no real strategy or understanding of what you’re doing? THIS!!!
Day 3
Day 5
Why did I do this to myself?? To show you Ofcourse *insert nervous chuckle* -How did I get hear? I’ll tell you Morning: My regular face wash Regular Toner Niacinamide Vitamin C Regular moisturiser SPF Night time My regular face wash Regular Toner Niacinamide Retinol Regular moisturiser There are so many reasons why my skin reacted the way it did. Firstly, there's more risk of irritation when you're using two strong exfoliators at the same time. This can disrupt your skin's barrier and leave you inflamed, just like I did. Secondly, retinol struggles to work on acidic skin. It’s a very weak derivative of vitamin A, and in order for your skin to be able to use it, the retinol must be converted into retinoic acid by the body. The hydrolysis reaction is greater at neutral pH, which means the conversion process is more optimal on non-acidic skin. Thirdly acids penetrate better at a lower pH. I was layering a retinol with a higher pH over an acid, neutralising the acid, raising its pH, rendering it ineffective. I literally woke up, after only 3 days of this ‘slap it all on’ routine, itchy, burning, tight and covered in these angry looking blotches. Now that we’ve covered how ‘not to’ .. I’ll tell you how I went from that .. to this
Day 7 of corrective measures By learning how ‘my skin’ can tolerate the combination of both acids and retinols. There are 3 basic ways 1. Alternate nights - retinol one night, acids on the other
2. Layering- If like me, you want to use an acid and a retinoid at the same time, you can,but only if you've got time to wait in between layers! Lightest to heaviest texture, typically, this is the acid, wait about 20 minutes, then apply the retinoid. This will allow your skin's pH to return to normal. As mentioned earlier, the retinoid may not convert quite as well as it would without the acid, but layering and spacing would help to an extent.
3. Splitting- Quite simply, using Acids in the morning and Retinoids at night. Nighttime for retinoids as it can make your skin photo sensitive. I went for option 3 😊 Morning: My regular face wash Regular Toner Azelaic Acid (alternate days) Niacinamide (alternate days) **Vitamin C Regular moisturiser SPF Night time : My regular face wash Regular Toner Retinol Regular moisturiser I know many of you will want to know what brands I use, but to be perfectly honest, that’s not what this write up is about. It’s about knowing what works for YOU, reading, testing, and seeking the guidance of a trained dermatologist or aesthetician. It’s about understanding and reading product labels and knowing the pH content of the products you use and how they interact with one another. In summary, don’t just slap things on your face and then ‘assume’ they don’t work. Chances are, you’re simply not using them in the right order, rotation or combination for maximum effect. Before discarding and writing off a perfectly good product, take the time to trace your ‘steps’ back... like me.. you’ll find your AHA moment 😊 ... Becky x ** There are some, who believe it’s not always wise to combine Acids and Vitamin C. Again, it’s about finding out what works for YOUR skin. I did the work, I know what works for me. I’ll do another post some time on this . Some believe Acids destabilise Vitamin C, this isn't entirely true. For my skin, and for a number of my clients , I have found that layering two pH-compatible Products actually gives great results. Using an acid, right before your vitamin C could actually ENHANCE your results. Acids help prep the skin for better absorption of active ingredients, including vitamin C. The general idea is to slough away (exfoliate) the barrier-forming dead cells, increasing the rate of penetration of the vitamin C.
#pigmentation #melanin #AHA #BHA #Retinol #acids #sundamage #irritation #niacinamide #azeliacacid #retinA #regimen #goodskin