How do you know the amount of retinol in a product?
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Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:11 pm

I want to start a mild retinol product slowly at first and don't know how to tell which ones have more or less retinol. For instance, I was going to try to start with Paula's Choice RESIST Barrier Repair Moisturizer, do you think that is a good one? I wish I could tell how strong or weak of a retinol product it is. I do have a sample coming, but it's hard to tell just trying it once or twice several days apart. I'll know if I have an awful reaction, but not if it's fine long term. It not too expensive though.

Background for anyone willing to offer any more detailed advice, I'd appreciate it. I'm 38 and recently looked in the mirror and noticed I'm getting old. Laughing

I have done nothing to care for my skin ever. Washed in the shower every few days and maybe a moisturizer now and again if I feel dry. Only make-up I've ever worn is lipstick.

When I had this realization I'm not getting any younger I started doing WAY too much too quick after reading everything I could. (Which caused me to find this wonderful forum.) I started exfoliating with a BHA morning and night, after also using a exfoliating scrub product, and also starting retinol, my under eyes freaked out and got puffy and crepey. Ok, realized what I did and cut way back on anything. I was also trying to wear make-up for the first time in my life, facial exercises, etc, in the meantime. Stupid, I know. It's been several weeks and my face is pretty much back to normal now. However, I can tell the effect of not using the BHA as I can almost feel a layer of dead, dry skin covering my face, mostly around the sides of my nose near my inner eye, like if I rub it hard enough it would start peeling off, so I want to get back to that in moderation, but also slowly start retinol, and afraid to do both at first.

I love the facial exercises, I'm doing a few gentle ones, mostly jawline and neck, few mouth and cheecks, avoiding the eyes altogether for now. I have the tiniest jowls forming and NL lines and just the start of wrinkles in general. (My husband says I'm crazy and sees nothing, good man.) The make-up, on the other hand, did not agree with me, if I get even the gentlest thing near my eyes they get red and puffy the next day. I am wearing spf religiously now, and cleaning and moisturizing more. Also, I notice a big difference when I eat a lot of sugar in my eyes the next day so cut WAY back on that. And I drink a lot more water now. So overall I've made some really positive changes.

I really am extremely lucky I have lovely olive skin tone that tans easily and never burns, although I tend on the oily side and have some big pores that do get blackheads I hardly ever break out with tradition blemishes. Oh, and I've started some antioxidents, and did notice a slightly better texture to my skin and pores with that and the BHA and general cleaning/moisturizing. Really, I've never much been concerned with my looks as I never had to do much to look decent, and I can put on some bold lipstick and look like I have a full face of make-up without doing anything. Otherwise make-up really never did much for me. But now I'm getting older I don't know how to hide the signs of it, lol! I'd say the biggest problem has always been my dark under eyes, but I can live with that, I have 3 kids and mostly am around other parents who have that too, ha.

I'm just hoping to start caring for my face and slow down aging as much as possible now that I'm aware of it. I'm ok with how I look and showing I'm aging, I'd just like to maintain it and slow it as much as possible. But it's harder and more complicated than I thought! My first priority is easing into a retinol product as I hear such great things about it, so any advice on that is much appreciated especially in context with re-introducing the BHA. I think the BHA has benefited me and I never had a bad reaction to it alone, but afraid if I use it too much it will cause the retinol to have too potent an effect as I'm adjusting to it and rear it's "ugly" head as they say. I was using the Paula's Choice BHA 2% lotion morning and night. I was going to maybe do the 1% once a day or every other day alternating with the retinol or even every third day with one day off maybe?

I feel a bit alone in the wilderness with it all as no one in my family know much about the topic and also no one in my Caucasian family has my same olive tone and I know that is one reason I never was able to tackle finding the right make-up and I have no idea if my skin has any special issues I should address. It's very Mediterranean looking but no one in my family has it, it's so weird! It's the running joke that strangers always ask me what ethnicity I am and I never know how to answer that I'm just the typical European white mix, you'd never ask when you see my parents, but me I look exotic, ha. I've seriously been asked if I'm from anywhere from Greek to Etheopia and in between. I think I get the olive tone from one parent, and the other gave me full eyebrows and lips and nose, and it turned out very distinctive on me. Also, was an engineer by trade and spent time mostly with men and few women and those who I did were not exactly into beauty either, ha. How I wish I had figured out all this beauty stuff years ago! OH well.

Thanks for anyone that read through all this. I'm very overwhelmed figuring it out. But I've really enjoyed reading up on this forum, very informative!

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