SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.3 Refining Night Cream 30 mL

What is SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.3?

SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.3 is a concentrated facial cream with pure retinol, used at night, in a 30 mL size. SkinCeuticals recommends it for normal, oily and combination skin, and names discoloration, blemishes and aging among the concerns it is made for. The brand describes it as ideal for skin new to retinol use.

What retinol does, in the brand's words

SkinCeuticals describes retinol as a vitamin A derivative that promotes cell turnover to help improve the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and discoloration, and says it helps minimize blemishes and refine the appearance of pores. Those are the brand's claims for the ingredient rather than measured results. SkinCeuticals publishes no study, trial or consumer panel figure for this product, so there is no number to set beside them.

What else is in it

The second group the brand names is a Soothing Complex: bisabolol, which SkinCeuticals derives from the chamomile plant, and boswellia serrata extract, from frankincense. The brand says the pair provide soothing benefits and help comfort the skin, and that the cream is formulated to minimize the irritation commonly associated with the use of retinol creams. Both sit low in the published ingredient list, boswellia serrata resin extract at position 16 of 22 and bisabolol at position 19 of 22, with no percentage published for either. Retinol itself is at position 13 of 22, and the 0.3% figure comes from the key ingredients block rather than from the list.

Where it goes in the evening

SkinCeuticals sets out a night order of its own, and Retinol 0.3 is the second step in it. The step the brand places first is SkinCeuticals Resveratrol B E Night Antioxidant Serum, applied before this cream goes on.

Where it sits on our shelf

Every product we carry from the brand is gathered on our SkinCeuticals page.

This cream is filed with the rest of our treatments and serums.

Product specification

Size	30 ml
Form	Cream. The brand calls it concentrated
Key ingredient	0.3% retinol, as the brand publishes it
Soothing Complex	Bisabolol and boswellia serrata extract
Skin types the brand names	Normal, oily, combination
Concerns the brand names	Discoloration, blemishes, aging
Fragrance	No PARFUM entry in the ingredient list
Routine step	Evening, before other skincare products

SkinCeuticals directs a pea-sized amount on clean, dry skin in the evening, avoiding the eye area, left to absorb before other skincare products go on. The brand says to limit initial use to once or twice a week, building to every other night, then every night as tolerated. Retinol belongs in a routine built around formulas that will not clog pores.

Key ingredients, as SkinCeuticals publishes them

0.3% Retinol. SkinCeuticals describes retinol as a derivative of vitamin A. It sits at position 13 of 22 in the list below.

Soothing Complex. The brand's name for bisabolol and boswellia serrata extract. No percentage is published for either.

Full ingredient list, as published by SkinCeuticals

Aqua / Water / Eau, Propanediol, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Alcohol Denat., Dipropylene Glycol, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Allyl Methacrylates Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Isopropyl Myristate, Retinol, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Citrate, Boswellia Serrata Resin Extract, Dimethiconol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Bisabolol, Citric Acid, Bht, Propyl Gallate

This is a PM step. SkinCeuticals says retinol cream may increase photosensitivity and directs a high protection, broad spectrum sunscreen on any day this product is in use, which is what the sunscreens we carry are for. The brand publishes no instruction about layering retinol with an acid or a second active, so our suggestion is to keep those to other evenings.