Does Retinal have any potential side effects?Updated a year ago
We already touched on how retinal is gentler than retinoic acid, but does it have any potential side effects? As with any potent skincare ingredient, there are some very mild potential retinal side effects that you might want to be aware of, even though they don’t occur in most cases.
In clients with acne-prone skin, we do find that a small amount may experience a bit of purging, which is a minor breakout that occurs as the skin’s regeneration process speeds.
It is possible (though unlikely) that retinaldehyde may cause slight irritation, in the form of redness, flakiness, or stinging. It’s usually best to increase moisturization while still using the product until the skin becomes acclimated and the irritation stops. This is far more common with full-strength retinoic acid.