Vitamin A: Retinol, Retinoid, Tretinoin.

How to use retinol and retinoids?

    Vitamin A or retinols and retinoids can help reverse photo damage which is what happens when you know you go out and uv ray attacks your skin cells as well as things like fade hyperpigmentation and reduce acne causing bacteria so that's kind of like what you might see on the surface but then under in the dermis it can also help to stimulate collagen and elastin and it's probably one of the only ingredients apart from vitamin c that can help to do that which is why it's also marketed like an anti-aging ingredient but it was first actually researched to help with acne. 

There are so many different kinds of Vitamin A. If you have a product that contains tretinoin which is one of the most effective ingredients and tretinoin is also known as trans retinoic acid and is a bioactive compound that our skin picks up on and uses to work its magic you can see it in a lot of over-the-counter as well as curology they also have tretinoin which is why it's so effective and it's all about pros and cons because that can be a little drying. And then you have things like retinol so retinol needs to go through a two-step conversion process to transform into the old trans retinoic acid so it goes through a double step which means it won't be as potent but it will still have the effects and maybe a little less drying or irritating than straight up retinoic acid.

And then you have things like retinol esters and this conversion process goes through a three-step process so we're like extending the amount of time that this ingredient needs to convert on our skin which might take your skin a little bit longer and therefore once again because it goes through three steps or more it won't be as irritating but it might not be as effective as the retinoic acid but there's a catch because in the world all is fair and because of the potent effects retinol can increase the chances of these irritating or sensitizing effects on the skin which can cause the skin to potentially experience you know the peeling ,flakiness, dryness redness. 

Carrots actually contain natural sources of vitamin a and vitamin a is also really good for your eyesight but beta carotene is a carotenoid found in the chlorophyll contained in plants bacteria different foods usually the ones that are orange so similar to vitamin a you can think of it as a really gentle and more soothing alternative. Beta carotene has a very little affinity to affecting the retinoic acid receptors this means that its effects on the skin are very very mild since it's not an active ingredient but it does give similar effects over a longer extended amount of time.

It's found that it can convert to retinol esters as a precursor to vitamin a and this just means it will take a little bit longer for the beta-carotene to convert into that retinoic acid which is what our skin needs to do its thing and therefore bring very mild results to our skin if used so the process is beta-carotene to retinol esters to retinol retinal and then retinoic acid so you can see why you know the more steps you have the longer it will take right and then to add on to beta-carotene. we also have pink algae which is also a form of pro-retinol found in the retinoid family so what is pink algae this is a type of microalgae microbe that's known to adapt and survive in really harsh and natural conditions and it's found in the sea salt fields and super salty lakes where other algae species might have actually just perished and if you  have ever seen those really gorgeous pictures of like a random pink lake and it's just flat this is actually called lake helia in australia and it's pink because of this algae so it's like the dead sea but pink beautiful.

This pink algae is found to be rich in beta carotene as well as vitamin b12 ,magnesium ,calcium ,iodine , potassium and antioxidants so that's a lot for this humble little algae right as for the skin benefits it might be able once again to help with gently resurfacing the skin fighting oxidative and free radical damage and might even help to stimulate a bit of that collagen production for that plumper glowing fresh and youthful skin. This ingredient is quite unique and you won't really find it in many products. 

The carrot seed oil which is that natural form of vitamin a so it's just naturally brightening,softening and  calming and it doesn't create any of those like drying effects so that's an option if you're looking for like a toner there's also the carrot carotene relief cream wow that's a alliteration right there carotene relief cream. 

Rosehip oil is just another one of those ingredients that we really love especially if you have oily skin rose hip oil is great because it's fast absorbing and it's a rich antioxidant that can also subtly help with hyperpigmentation over a long period of time. If you have acne and it will really help to calm and just kind of like brighten and even out the skin tone very subtly. 

Probably the most important with anything is please wear spf in the mornings because this is probably the most beneficial and most effective ingredient ,you want to protect your skin especially if you're using these active ingredients out in the sun so spf.