Editors On The One Change That Improved Their Skin

“When I turned 30 some years ago, I knew I had to start incorporating retinol into my routine. Every dermatologist or esthetician I had ever interviewed had waxed poetic about the importance of this skin-smoothing ingredient, especially when you reach your 30s (generally around the time your skin cell turnover slows down — sad). Unfortunately for me, every retinol I tried proved to be too strong for my skin. Retinol seemed to be doing the opposite of what I wanted it to do. My cheeks would turn red and instead of smooth, bright skin, I had tiny breakouts. Like everything, not all retinol is created equal. In fact, there are many different types of vitamin A and retinol is just one of them. There’s also retinyl palmitate (a little less potent that retinol), retinaldehyde (a form more potent than retinol), tretinoin (typically prescription-grade), etc. I discovered that retinyl palmitate is the best form of vitamin A for my skin type because it’s more stabilized and a little more gentle on your skin than a traditional retinol. Since then, I have sworn by products that include it, like U Beauty’s Resurfacing Compound. It has changed my skin for the better and now, I cannot live without it in my routine.”