Beauty Talk: Flipside of Retinoids

Image: www.marieclaire.com
After the post I made on Retinoids’ use in skin treatments some time ago I came across an article in Marie Claire Magazine covering pros and cons of this well-known anti-aging treatment. I had to make a follow up post and talk about the flipside to Retinoids.

According to some skin experts, Retinoids can actually be damaging to the skin. First of all Retinoids can cause inflammation which in the long run can result in more damage as compared to the beneficial effect on wrinkles. As we all well know, inflammation actually accelerates aging.

Retinoids are also believed to thin the skin and make it “lose it’s cushion”.

Finally, overuse or misuse of retinoids can lead to chronic skin irritation, dryness and other problems, leaving your skin in a worse state than before the treatment.

However, the experts quoted in this article didn’t give clear explanations supporting their anti-retinoids statements. For example, I am not sure why using retinoids leads to skin “losing its cushion”. So, in the end, we all should just keep in mind that though there is a negative opinion about retinoids, the jury is still out on this popular anti-aging treatment till we get more information.

Beauty Talk: What Retinoids Can Do For Your Skin

Retinoids, a form of Vitamin A, are used in more and more skin care products to address various skin issues. How do they work? Retinoids interact with retinoic acid receptors in skin cells. This way they can affect such processes as cell growth and turnover, synthesis of proteins including collagen and elastin etc.

So what can retinoid do for your skin?

Eliminate wrinkles:
Up till now retionoids are admittedly the only topical treatment that shows dramatic improvements in treating wrinkles. But retionoids work miracles on not very deep lines. To erase or minimize deeper wrinkles you will need some help from fillers.

Even out skin texture:
With years skin thickens and develops rough dead areas. Retinol can help you to smooth out your stratum corneum – skin’s outer layer.

Treat dark circles:
Retionoids stimulate collagen production and help to thicken skin over blood vessels. This way they can minimize appearance of dark circles.

Diminish dullness:
With age skin cells turnover slows down resulting in loss of healthy skin color and glow. Speed it up with retinol treatment and get your glow back!

Fight Blackheads and Whiteheads:
By helping to remove dead skin cells retinols will help to clear up your complexion.

Minimize pores:
Retinoids can help to reduce oil and clean out pores.

Don't forget that retinoids increase sun sensitivity and can have some side-effects such as redness, dryness, itching, and burning.