- Hello, and welcome back
to the Adore Beauty YouTube channel.
Today, we are talking about retinol serum.
Specifically, we're gonna break down the difference
between our top four best-selling retinol serums
so you can make the right choice for you.
So if you wanna know A, what a retinol serum does
and B, which one is right for your skin type
and your budget,
keep watching 'cause I'm gonna break it down.
We're gonna make it really damn easy.
Before we break down these best-selling retinol serums,
we're gonna briefly touch on what is vitamin A
and specifically what is retinol.
So, vitamin A is the gold standard
of anti-aging skincare ingredients,
but you might more commonly know of vitamin A as retinol.
So, retinol is a form of vitamin A.
So it's pretty strong and it can be irritating
for some skin types or if you haven't used retinol before.
If you wanna find out more about the intricacies
of the different types of the sliding scale of vitamin A,
our beauty editor, Joanna, has done a skincare notes video
all about retinol and vitamin A and what the heck it is.
So, what does retinol do for skin?
So if you wanna bring in the big guns
into your skincare routine,
vitamin A is that ingredient.
It's gonna come in on it's big like monster truck
to do just everything that you're looking for
in an all-rounder product.
It is gonna help treat the appearance of signs of ageing,
things like fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation.
It also assists with cellular turnover.
So, it has a bit of exfoliation in there.
What that's gonna do is improve the overall tone, texture
and appearance of your skin.
It's a nice little all-rounder ingredient.
So it's very important to always use the right product
for your skin type and start slow.
Start with one night a week,
then the next week you might do two times a week
and then so on and so forth.
See how your skin feels.
It's not uncommon to see some irritation
using a vitamin A product.
So you always wanna use any vitamin A product
including a retinol serum at night time.
And what does that mean?
We wear sunscreen in the morning
because these kinds of ingredients can make the skin
more sensitive to the sun.
Actually, a bit of tough love,
if you can't commit to wearing a sunscreen every day,
don't bother buying a retinol serum
because you're just gonna undo all the work
that the product is doing.
So now you kind of know what retinol is,
which bloody retinol serum do I buy?
The first retinol serum we're gonna talk
about today is from The Ordinary.
I'm sure many of you have heard of this brand before.
This one is called The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane.
When it comes to affordability,
you really aren't gonna find a more affordable retinol serum
on the market because it's $12.70.
So, what's actually in this serum?
It has 1% retinol.
So, that's actually quite a high strength of retinol
when we're talking about percentages,
but it also comes in a couple of different variations.
So for example, you can get the retinol 0.2% in squalane.
It also comes in 0.5% in squalane and then 1% in squalane.
So if you're a very, very new beginner to retinol,
you can always start with the 0.2%
and work your way up, which is quite nice.
So, one thing about The Ordinary retinol is that
the packaging isn't that great for stability.
You wanna use this up quite quick.
The packaging isn't air tight in terms of, you know.
It comes out in a pipette like this.
It's not a pressurised pump, just bear that in mind.
But again, it's $12.70.
It's a very minimalist formula,
so not a lot of extra things have gone inside the bottle.
It's a lightweight kind of oil consistency.
I find it takes a little bit to sink in.
If you're new to using vitamin A
and you want kind of a low commitment, low cost entry point,
then you can't really go wrong with this one.
Next up, we have Skinstitut.
So this Skinstitut Retinol serum is one of the top sellers
on Adore Beauty, it's $34.30.
So we're the next step up from The Ordinary
in terms of price.
But this is an affordable cosmeceuticals retinol serum.
This formula contains 0.25% of retinol.
So, it is gentler than that 1% retinol with The Ordinary
but it also contains peptides,
and peptides are another kind
of anti-aging skincare ingredients.
So essentially that means that it's really suitable
if you are new to vitamin A, new to retinol.
There's gonna be very low chance of irritation
using this product.
Most skin types shouldn't have an issue with it.
In terms of texture,
this one is kind of like a light weight,
gel lotion consistency.
It also doesn't peel under other moisturisers and serums,
so it just makes it really easy to layer this
with other products in your routine.
This one is for you if you want an introductory
but still effective cosmeceuticals retinol serum
that's still at the more affordable end of the scale.
The third serum we're talking
about today is the next step up.
This one is the SkinCeuticals Retinol.
This one comes again in a couple of different strengths.
So we have the 0.3%, the 0.5% and the 1%.
So basically, if you are new to retinol but you want more of
that high-performance cosmeceuticals product
with the cosmeceutical price tag,
then you would start with the 0.3% of the SkinCeuticals
and work your way up to the number one.
So when you finish your tube of 0.3%,
you might then buy 0.5%,
and then when you've finished your tube of 0.5%
then you buy the 1%.
And this one is $97.
The 0.3% retinol is specifically designed to be tolerated
for more sensitised, irritated skins.
So for those of you with more reactive sensitive skin types,
and you might be a bit scared to introduce vitamin A
into your routine,
the 0.3% in the SkinCeuticals is an excellent option
because it's been specifically designed for you.
Texture-wise, we're talking about a lightweight,
gel lotion-y consistency.
But the thing to note about this product is because it is
at that slightly higher price point
and it has that sophisticated formula,
it can be really easy to overdo it
because it feels nice on the skin,
and you're like, "Oh yeah, I might just do a bit more."
So, still the same rules apply
when introducing this retinol into your routine,
go slow and only a pea sized amount.
So, a tube of this will last you ages.
It's for that person
who wants the most effective ingredients
with the least risk of irritation.
And now for the fourth and final retinol serum
in this little journey that we're going on together
is the Aspect Retinol Brulee Serum.
30 ml again but this one is the most expensive serum
we'll be talking about today.
It's 135 bucks,
but how is it different to the other three?
Well, this is the advanced retinol serum.
If you are a beginner,
turn around, do not come this way
because this formula is super strong
and it's been formulated for people
who have tried these other retinol once
and their skin has built up a tolerance to the product,
and then they move up to this one.
So this one actually contains 0.5% of retinol palmitate,
which is actually a gentler form of vitamin A,
but it's encapsulated in a molecular film of retinol.
It still packs a punch because it's like that
plus the retinol around it.
Push that on your face.
But there's a lot of things that are in this serum
that aren't in the others.
It has a bunch of antioxidants in it.
Antioxidants are an ingredient
that helps to prevent the skin from environmental dangers.
And so that kind of just helps
in terms of the overall fight against things
that cause premature ageing in the skin.
So, it's a very thin, light, gel texture.
It kind of just doesn't feel like anything on the skin.
It also feels quite cooling on the skin.
So it sinks into the skin really nice.
It feels lovely on the skin,
but don't be deceived because again, it's very strong.
So still go slow, all the same rules apply.
This product is for you if you are ready to go
to the next retinol serum level,
including paying the next price bracket up.
And so there you have it.
That is the difference between our top four
best-selling retinol serums.
If you have any questions,
please do pop them in the comment box down here.
If you've tried any of these,
let us know how you went and click here for more videos,
because there's lots more fun to come.
But otherwise, catch you next time.