• What is retinal?
• How is retinal different from retinol?
• What can retinal do for my skin?
• What retinal product should I consider adding to my routine?
• How should I use retinal?

What is retinal?

Retinaldehyde, also known as retinal, is a type of retinoid. Retinoids are derived from vitamin A and help support natural collagen production for smoother, younger-looking skin. Vitamin A actually isn’t produced by our body naturally, which means the only way to get it is through food, supplements or topical skin care.

How is retinal different from retinol?

Most of the retinoid products you’ll find on beauty store shelves contain retinol. So, why all the focus on retinal with an A? To start, our bodies have to work to convert both retinol and retinal into retinoic acid, the active form of vitamin A that gets to work on rejuvenating your skin. The difference is that while retinol needs two steps to convert, retinal needs only one. That can make it faster in its conversion to retinoic acid.

What can retinal do for my skin?

The most notable benefit of retinal is its ability to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles by supporting the natural collagen in the skin and helping skin look and feel more smooth and firm. Collagen helps make your skin resilient, adding to the firm, supple look of healthy skin. If you think of your skin like a mattress, then collagen fibers are the springs. It also contributes to speeding up the skin’s natural renewal process and helps your skin tone look more even.

What retinal product should I consider adding to my routine?

Now that you know everything you need to know about retinal, it’s time to choose one for your skin. ISDIN Isdinceutics Retinal Advanced Dual-Phase Night Serum is an innovative biphasic serum that works hard while you sleep to reawaken your skin’s youthfulness. Its unique combination of ingredients can help you gently renew your skin and reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles. In addition, it’s specially formulated to minimize the dryness associated with the use of retinoids, helping to hydrate and soothe the skin.

How should I use retinal?

If this is your first time using a retinoid, your skin might need an adjustment period. Our recommendation is to start slow and incorporate the retinal little by little into your evening skin care routine. Here’s a suggested timeline for getting started:

• During the first week, apply it every third night.
• During the second week, apply it every other night.
• From the third week on, feel free to use it nightly if your skin feels comfortable.

If you notice that your skin does not react well to increasing the number of applications, go back to the frequency that kept your skin happy. ISDIN Isdinceutics Retinal Advanced Dual-Phase Night Serum is best used as the third step in your four-step evening skin care routine:

ISDIN Isdinceutics Essential Cleansing Oil-Based Makeup Remover & Hydrating Cleanser

This daily face wash helps deeply cleanse your skin to remove stubborn makeup, excess sebum and water-resistant sunscreen without stripping your skin of natural moisture.

2) ISDIN Isdinceutics K-Ox Eyes Dark Circles Minimizer Eye Contour Cream

This eye cream for dark circles visibly rejuvenates the eyes. A combination of vitamin K oxide, hyaluronic acid and other rejuvenating ingredients calms puffiness, fades dark circles and restores elasticity. Applying eye contour cream before your retinal serum will ensure this delicate area absorbs the ingredients it needs.

3) ISDIN Isdinceutics Retinal Advanced Dual-Phase Night Serum

This youth-boosting night serum helps visibly reduce wrinkles and fine lines. Designed with an innovative dual-phase technology, it combines the power of retinal, melatonin and bakuchiol with a Soothing Complex at the moment of application. You can add it gradually into your PM routine to unveil smooth, rejuvenated skin.

4) ISDIN Isdinceutics Age Contour Night Face Moisturizer with Melatonin

Made with a luxurious texture, this restorative night cream for aging skin supports a firmer and brighter complexion while you sleep. It promotes your skin’s natural collagen and elastin to smooth fine lines and wrinkles and address the loss of firmness and elasticity. It also boosts moisture retention for a complexion that’s visibly nourished.

There’s one more important thing to know about using any type of retinoids, including retinal: These ingredients can make your skin more sensitive to the effects of the sun, so make sure to apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen the next morning and throughout the day as directed. One option is ISDIN Eryfotona Ageless Sunscreen SPF 50, a tinted mineral sunscreen for the face that offers broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection to protect against sun damage. It also uses DNA Repairsomes® derived from plankton, to help repair sun damage while a peptide complex helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Are you noticing signs of photoaging such as dark spots, discoloration and fine lines? Learn more about how to repair sun-damaged skin with ISDIN on the LovelySkin Blog.