Lately, the lines on my face have taken on a life of their own!
Three months after the birth of my second child, sleep deprived and lacking interest in my skin care routine i.e. feeling too lazy to take off my make up, forgetting to exfoliate and using coconut oil to cleanse, tone and moisturise, I was feeling like I’d aged a million years.
After doing a bit of research on ingredients that are proven to help with wrinkles and fine lines in particular, I rediscovered one at the top of the list, Retinol (VitA). I had forgotten about this miracle worker and was excited to road test it again. After all, celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Jenifer Anniston, Halle berry and Heather Graham all swear by it, thanks to an article in Cosmo on celebrity skin, by Amelia Gayle, and look how amazing their skin looks well into their 40’s.
Maybe it was tiredness, lack of time or just reaching for the familiar, I grabbed a product off the shelf from a pharmacy and began at once to administer a pro retinol cream at night.
After a week, I really noticed a difference in the texture, tone and vibrancy of my skin. This of course gave me more incentive to keep going and I included an aha mask twice a week and exfoliant once a week.
Two weeks later, I was overjoyed with the results. My faith in anti-ageing products restored!
Last night, after reading more good things about retinoids, I grabbed for the packet and began perusing the list of ingredients. Something I would usually always do before purchasing a product, but for some reason this time, I trusted a brand I had used before and didn’t think twice about it.
Well, I couldn’t believe my eyes!
There were over 15 nasty pasty ingredients in the retinol cream! I scanned it into my thinkdirty app and it came up a 10, being the highest level of dirty…doh.
This brought me to an interesting conundrum. In trying to rid my skin care, household and personal hygiene products of unnecessary nasty chemicals, the one product I’d been using on my skin, giving me fantastic results, making me feel confident in my complexion again and had begun turning back the clock (just a little) was riddled with them!
It’s such a shame that so many companies are still using toxic ingredients in their products and that many of us, ironically myself included, are unwittingly exposing ourselves to them, unless we give the ingredient list a thorough examination, often in tiny writing or hidden under a lift up tab at the bottom of the box.
After more research, to my relief, I found many other brands offering much more natural alternatives. Mukti have an intensive night serum which is high in VitA and will get to work on reducing those fine lines.
This helps prevent, reduce and slow the signs and appearance of ageing, age lines and premature ageing.
For something stronger, a prescription for Tretinoin 0.05% is a much more intensive treatment which can be used once your skin has adjusted to your over the counter retinol cream or serum, and is a favorite of Dermatologist, Elizabeth Tanzi.
Proven to be effective in managing acne, eczema, skin pigmentation and wrinkles!
Redness, skin irritation and sun sensitivity are possible side effects of using retinol products.
It’s important to use them at night time only as using during the day can actually cause you to age faster as the skin becomes more susceptible to the sun.
Elizabeth Tanzi, a dermatologist at the Institute of Dermatological Laser Surgery, confirms the importance of starting slowly with over the counter retinol creams before trying the higher strength prescription creams.
It is not recommended to use retinol or any products containing VitA during pregnancy.
Most importantly, remember to apply sunscreen religiously during the day.
Retinol really does work. I’ve seen it in my own skin in just over a few weeks.
I might even go as far to say it’s a miracle cream!