Mastering Body Retinol: Tips, Recommendations, and Mistakes to Avoid

Hey, guys! In today’s article, I’m going to be sharing with you my top body retinol recommendations. Retinol is a fantastic ingredient to apply to your skin. It can be taken up into the skin and converted to retinoic acid. The downstream effects of that, when used long term, are an increase in collagen production, ultimately smoothing out the look of wrinkles and fine lines.

Retinol can also get rid of some of the other visible signs of photoaging, such as sun spots, model hyperpigmentation, and it can improve skin texture. But there’s no reason to restrict the use of retinol to just your face. The skin on the rest of your body certainly can benefit from using a topical retinol. Not only for improving the look of sun spots and photo damage, but it can also improve skin texture overall.

If you deal with thinning, crepey skin that happens as a result of age, then using a topical retinol long term can boost collagen production in the deeper layers of the skin, helping to firm out the skin. Beyond the cosmetic benefits of using a topical retinol, it helps your skin perform better overall. It can help the moisture barrier be stronger and perform better to protect you from irritating things getting in and from losing water. So, long term, it can help your skin not be as dry.

Choosing the Right Retinol Product:

Believe it or not, even though retinols are drying as a side effect of using them, with long-term use, your skin barrier actually gets stronger and performs better. Not only that, using a topical retinol makes it so that if you are someone who tends to heal with hyperpigmentation, the retinol, having it on board working in your favor in your skin, will reduce the risk of hyperpigmentation. Retinol also can help your skin handle the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation better.

Most people worry that using a retinol will make them more sensitive to the sun. It doesn’t actually make you more sensitive to the sun, believe it or not. It makes your skin better able to handle the damaging effects of the sun. You do absolutely need to wear sunscreen when you are using retinol because it smooths out the surface of the skin, allowing for the sun to come into the skin in a more concentrated manner. But it doesn’t actually increase your sensitivity to the sun. In fact, it reduces the damage that would otherwise occur from exposure to the sun.

So, it’s actually beneficial to have on board to combat environmental stressors. Where on the body might you want to use a retinol? Really, anywhere: chest, arms, legs – these are all areas that could benefit. Another benefit of using retinol on your legs or arms, for example, is if you have stretch marks. Retinol is one of the very few things that holds promise for improving the look of stretch marks on the body, just by boosting up collagen production in the deeper layers of the skin.

How do you choose a retinol for the body? Truthfully, it can be a little challenging. There aren’t that many on the market. A word of warning when you are navigating the market: read ingredients very carefully because some products will claim to be a retinol product. If you read the ingredients, though, you’ll see the ingredient is retinol palmitate. Now, retinol palmitate is a form of topical vitamin A that acts as an antioxidant, but it does not do the collagen-boosting effects that an actual retinol will do. So, ignore anything that has retinol palmitate. It’s fine to use, but don’t think of it as a retinol. It’s not a retinol. It doesn’t do what retinol does.

Key Considerations for Application Areas:

Now, getting into the products, I will start off by saying the products that you use on your face, you certainly can use on the body. Whether or not that’s going to be cost-effective depends on how much of your body you want to treat. If it’s only a small area, like say just your arms, then by all means, use the products that you use on your face.

Remember with retinol, you do not need a heaping glob. You just need a thin film for the delivery of that active ingredient. You do not need a massive glob of product. So, you certainly can use the stuff that you’re using on your face on your body. For example, adapalene, aka Differin, is the first one I’ll recommend. This is FDA approved for acne. It’s actually a form of topical vitamin A already in its active state, so your skin doesn’t have to do anything to it to get it ready to start working. It’s already ready to go. We have data showing that adapalene, when applied topically, can improve the look of sun spots, help kind of clear up some of them, and many of the visible signs of photoaging. So, that is a great choice because it’s already in its active state. It may be more irritating to you than retinol, and the product itself is not particularly moisturizing. So, some people may be looking for more of a moisturizing body cream with retinol.

Don’t sleep on adapalene. It’s definitely effective and can be used on body sites. But if you want to use it to a really large area, like both of your legs, for example, it may be a little bit too expensive.

Number two is another one that’s great for more focused areas, and that is the Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream. This product is super moisturizing, and while it takes a while for the retinol to start working, the product itself really does improve the look of textural irregularities and imparts great hydration immediately. This is a fantastic product, one of the best on the market for sure. Johnson & Johnson, the Neutrogena brand, has a stellar track record when it comes to the number of patents for retinol and research behind retinols. They were right there alongside the research for Retin-A. Johnson & Johnson was simultaneously doing research on retinols and coming out with these patents. So, I mean, that is a brand that you can really trust when it comes to retinols. Neutrogena, Johnson & Johnson brand, their R&D for their retinols is fantastic. And that product, I stand by. They make one that I obviously recommend that is free of fragrance, comes in a jar, which the jar packaging is more than fine. Don’t worry about it; they’ve stabilized the retinol, so it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about the jar thing. It’s actually been demonstrated to be effective in clinical studies on actual patients, so we know it works.

Understanding Retinol Formulations:

Moving along, say you want to treat a more widespread area, like all of your thighs for improving the look of stretch marks. You want to use retinol in a body cream, something that’s going to be moisturizing. Highly recommend checking out Advanced Clinical Retinol Firming Cream. You can get this at Walmart. They have an encapsulated retinol in their retinol products that protects the retinol and allows for kind of a sustained delivery, similar to the Neutrogena product. This brand also claims to be cruelty-free, or at least they say they don’t test on animals. So, if you’re looking for that, definitely check this out. The product itself is very moisturizing. It’s free of fragrance. In addition to the retinol, it also has green tea in it, which is an antioxidant that can help in fighting off some of the free radicals that are generated from environmental stressors that contribute to aging.

Now, of course, antioxidants in skincare products are not always the most stable. But it’s nice that it’s in there for whatever it’s worth, and perhaps, if anything, it also helps in aiding in the stability of their retinol. So, this is a great product, super affordable. For $12.92, you get 16 ounces of it. The nice thing about this product, too, is that it’s got a pump. Now you don’t have to worry about jar packaging. There’s a lot of false fear around jar packaging and ingredient stability. The retinol is fine in a jar package, but dang, sometimes it is just hard to get stuff out of a jar, scooping it out. It’s just a little bit… I don’t know, it’s a personal preference. I too prefer a pump than having to open, you know, unscrew tops and things like that. It’s just much easier, and I prefer a pump. So, this comes with a pump, which is really awesome. Highly recommend checking it out. You can get it at Walmart or Amazon, and Amazon is an authorized distributor of their products. So, you know you don’t have to worry about that.

Yeah, it’s actually pretty challenging to find retinol body moisturizers or retinol body products that are free of fragrance. It’s really hard actually. So, that’s one. The next one is definitely not inexpensive. It’s by good old Perricone MD. I recommended this, I think, in an Ulta article. It’s called Cold Plasma Plus Fragile Skin Therapy. It’s currently sold out on their website, but I think you can get it at Ulta or Sephora. Forty-nine dollars for six ounces. This product, in addition to retinol, also offers a peptide, hepta-peptide seven. Now, peptides in skincare products, at any rate, they act as humectants. They help your skin be better moisturized and look smoother and firmer simply by helping with hydration. This hepta-peptide seven peptide, the company that makes it claims because the peptide mimics some of the sequences in the innate immune system. They claim that the peptide helps in promoting healing and repair.

They have a study that is an industry study, so not peer-reviewed or anything, in which they claim that in postmenopausal women who are vulnerable to crepey skin as a result of age-related change and loss of estrogen, they claim that this peptide, when applied topically, has a firming effect. So, if you’re someone who’s got that crepey skin, if this peptide works like they claim it does, that would be an additional benefit of it. And if anything, simply by having something that is moisturizing and hydrating, it will plump up skin cells and just smooth out the look of fine wrinkles and lines. And you know, that’s something that we’re all obviously desiring.

Gradual Incorporation and Potential Side Effects:

I have to sneeze. I am a really loud sneezer now. This product also has 3-0 ethyl ascorbic acid. That is a form of vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that when applied to the skin can, in theory, get in and boost up collagen production and help with hyperpigmentation. However, as you guys know from my articles, vitamin C is not super stable. So, they have all these other forms of vitamin C, and 3-0 ethyl is one such form that is more stable. However, there’s very little to no data on the efficacy of 3-0 ethyl ascorbic acid for the anti-aging benefits that ascorbic acid offers. So, don’t think of it as a vitamin C that’s going to do those things that you’re seeking. But at any rate, 3-0 ethyl ascorbic acid seems to be an effective antioxidant. So, probably helping mostly in this product to protect the retinol and keep it stable. And there’s also some data to show that 3-0 ethyl ascorbic acid inhibits tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for pigment production.

So, it, you know, may have a skin-brightening effect and help with hyperpigmentation, which, you know, when you’re seeking a product like this, you’re presumably looking to improve some of the visible signs of photoaging, and hyperpigmentation often goes along with that, like on the upper chest, and again, the forearms, the backs of the hands, and that sort of thing. Perricone MD is cruelty-free, so, you know, I know a lot of you guys are seeking that. Not inexpensive, but truthfully, I have actually been very impressed with a lot of the Perricone MD moisturizers. They’re very good. There’s a hypoallergenic one that’s actually quite good. You know, this product is really marketed to those with crepey skin. I think the peptide kind of potentially offers a little bit more in that arena, but you certainly could use it for, you know, other benefits of using a retinol on skin on other body sites besides the face.

Number five is Paula’s Choice Retinol Skin Smoothing Body Treatment. This is $29 for four ounces. Paula’s Choice products are fantastic. The ingredients are very good. Beyond the retinol, this product is super moisturizing. It’s formulated with shea butter, which helps keep the skin hydrated and helps seal in water, reducing trans-epidermal water loss. This product also has grape seed oil and evening primrose oil. Those are going to help soften dry skin cell edges. Those oils also have antioxidants in them that have anti-inflammatory effects, which will help with concerns around skin aging. And also, if you have irritation, it will kind of help with that because retinol can be pretty irritating. And evening primrose oil actually, when applied topically, there’s some data to support its use for people with eczema. So, it’s a good emollient. I mean, Paula’s Choice products, they typically go above and beyond to avoid commonly problematic ingredients. So, that’s great. It’s also got tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. Now, this is a form of vitamin C, a stable derivative of ascorbic acid. While it doesn’t have as much research backing ascorbic acid itself, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is known for its antioxidant properties and potential skin-brightening effects. It’s a good addition to the formula, especially when combined with retinol.

Now, let’s talk about the texture of the Paula’s Choice Retinol Skin Smoothing Body Treatment. It’s a creamy and rich formula that absorbs well into the skin without leaving a greasy residue. This makes it suitable for daily use, and you can easily incorporate it into your skincare routine.

One key aspect to highlight about Paula’s Choice is their commitment to transparency and science-backed formulations. They avoid using fragrances and other potential irritants, making their products suitable for various skin types, including sensitive skin. This is crucial when using retinol, as it can be irritating to some individuals, especially when starting a new retinol regimen.

When applying any retinol product to your body, it’s essential to start gradually, especially if you’re new to retinoids. Begin with a lower concentration and frequency to allow your skin to adjust. This can help minimize potential side effects like dryness, redness, or peeling.

If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, The Ordinary offers a Retinol 0.5% in Squalane, which can be applied to the body as well. The Ordinary is known for its straightforward formulations and affordable prices.

Budget-Friendly Alternatives and Product Recommendations:

Remember, consistency is key when using retinol. Results may take some time to become noticeable, so be patient and stay diligent with your application. Additionally, always use sunscreen during the day when using retinol to protect your skin from sun damage.

In summary, incorporating retinol into your body care routine can be beneficial for addressing concerns like sun damage, fine lines, and stretch marks. Whether you choose a specialized body treatment or use a retinol product designed for the face, paying attention to the ingredients and starting slowly will contribute to a positive experience with this powerhouse ingredient.