How does retinol work?Updated a year ago
Retinol works by ultimately telling the skin cells to multiply in a better way. It promotes new cell creation, which improves dead skin cells shedding and collagen production.
These changes in cell behavior create retinol’s very wide and well-documented range of effects, especially when it comes to improving skin texture, reducing visibility and depth of wrinkles, addressing signs of breakouts, and reducing the visibility of dark marks and hyperpigmentation.
To do this, it must first convert into retinoic acid, which binds and activates receptors that we have throughout our body, including in the skin cells.
Every form of retinol must convert to retinoic acid before it can impact the skin. Retinol has to convert twice — first to retinaldehyde and then to retinoic acid — while retinaldehyde only undergoes one conversion, so it’s more potent. Other forms that are commonly used in cosmetic retinol products, like hydroxypinacolone retinoate or retinyl palmitate, have a very hard time converting into retinoic acid at all.