Alastin Skincare Renewal Retinol 1 Oz

One retinol, two strengths at one price. Start at 0.25 if you have never used one, move to 0.5 when your skin is ready.

What is Alastin Renewal Retinol?

Alastin Renewal Retinol is a nightly serum in two strengths, which Alastin describes as "a lipid encapsulated retinol serum that supports smoother skin texture, improves skin tone, and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles." One pump each evening.

What is in it

Lipid encapsulated retinol is Alastin's delivery system: it improves how the retinol reaches the skin and supports the skin's natural ability to produce collagen. The encapsulation lets the retinol release gradually rather than all at once.

Silver mushroom Alastin describes as having "significantly more hydrating properties than hyaluronic acid". Oat extract calms, co-enzyme Q-10 protects the retinol's activity, and niacinamide sits high in the formula, above the retinol itself.

One thing worth clearing up about the ingredient list

You will see BHA near the end of the ingredients. In this formula that is butylated hydroxyanisole, an antioxidant preservative sitting next to BHT. It is not beta hydroxy acid, the salicylic acid family. If you have been told not to use a BHA exfoliant on the same night as a retinol, that advice does not apply to this ingredient.

Renewal Retinol specifications

Alastin Renewal Retinol reviews

• Five of our eight reviewers name the professional who sent them. Two dermatologists, a Botox nurse practitioner, a plastic surgeon, and one who recommends it to her own patients.
• Beginners do well on it. One describes a visible change in fine lines at two to three weeks and full-face nightly use after a month.
• Tingling early on, then nothing. One buyer reports tingling for the first few applications that stopped after a few uses.
• Sensitive and rosacea-prone skin has tolerated it. One reviewer reports no dryness, redness or flaking. Another says her rosacea-prone skin tolerates it perfectly. Alastin formulates for oily, combination and dry and does not claim sensitive, so this is buyer experience, not a brand claim.
• People stay on it. One reviewer is four years in, another has been consistent since her fifties.

Which strength should you buy?

Both cost the same, so pick on tolerance. New to retinol, or restarting after a break, take 0.25. Already using one comfortably several nights a week, take 0.5. You can move up later.

It sits alongside the rest of Alastin. For a peptide serum to alternate with on non-retinol nights, that is Alastin Restorative Skin Complex, and around professional treatments, Regenerating Skin Nectar.

How to Use

• Apply one pump to the face each evening, after cleansing.


• Moving up from 0.25, or from another retinol? Drop back to two to three evenings a week at this strength and build up again.


• Avoid getting it in the eyes. If that happens, rinse thoroughly with water.


• Follow with moisturizer, and sunscreen every morning. Retinol makes skin more sensitive to sun.


• At one pump nightly a bottle lasts about 4.5 months.

Is 0.5 too strong to start on?

If you have never used a retinol, start on 0.25 instead. They are the same price, so there is no saving in jumping ahead. If you already use a retinol comfortably, 0.5 is the one to take.

Can I layer it with acids or vitamin C?

Keep strong acids and exfoliants off the same night. Alternate them instead, and always follow the retinol with a moisturizer.

Can I use it in the morning?

No. Use it in the evening, and wear sunscreen the next day. Retinol increases sun sensitivity.

I see BHA in the ingredients. Is that an acid?

No. Here BHA is butylated hydroxyanisole, an antioxidant preservative, sitting alongside BHT. It is not beta hydroxy acid or salicylic acid, so the usual advice about not pairing a BHA exfoliant with retinol does not apply to it.

How long will a bottle last?

About 4.5 months at one pump every evening, per Alastin. Several of our reviewers mention it going a long way, and one has been buying it for four years.

KEY INGREDIENTS

• Lipid encapsulated retinol. Improves delivery of retinol, and aids the skin's natural ability to produce collagen.


• Silver mushroom. Significantly more hydrating properties than hyaluronic acid.


• Oat extract. Calming properties.


• Hydroxymethoxyphenyl decanone. An antioxidant that supports natural hyaluronic acid levels.


• Co-enzyme Q-10. An antioxidant that helps protect the activity of the retinol.

FULL INGREDIENTS

Water/Aqua/Eau, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Heptyl Undecylenate, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Polyacrylate-13, Retinol, Ubiquinone, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Hydroxymethoxyphenyl Decanone, Bisabolol, Ceramide NP, Tremella Fuciformis Sporocarp Extract, Betaine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Palmitate, Polysorbate 20, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopherol, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Trideceth-6 Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Polyisobutene, Laureth-23, BHA, BHT, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitan Isostearate, Potassium Sorbate

Who Is This For?

Anyone already comfortable with a retinol who wants the higher of the two strengths. Alastin formulates it for all skin types, in their words oily, combination and dry. Non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic, paraben-free, gluten-free and cruelty-free, with no added fragrance.

Your evening routine

1. Cleanse with something gentle.


2. One pump of Renewal Retinol 0.5, avoiding the eye area.


3. Moisturizer over the top.


4. Sunscreen the next morning, without exception.