Hannah Betts Better… Not Younger: My 12- week test to find the right mid-life retinol
- Hannah started with Environ, a brand that’s been an expert in vitamin A for years
- READ MORE: It used to scare me… so why am I finally using retinol?
You may remember back in September I confessed that, despite a quarter of a century as a beauty guru, I had only just dipped a toe into retinol use.
Retinols are vitamin A compounds that work by speeding up cell turnover, the rate at which new collagen and elastin are generated, and more besides — with famously complexion-enhancing results.
As a result, retinols are celebrated as the gold-standard damage-defier and have become an obsession for skin buffs around the globe.
However, in a case of ‘when they’re good, they’re very good, but, when they’re bad, they’re horrid’, retinols have to be used with caution.
While they can boost ageing complexions, they also have a reputation for being abrasive, causing redness, inflammation (ironically, a big skin-ager), even burning.
Retinols are vitamin A compounds that work by speeding up cell turnover, the rate at which new collagen and elastin are generated, and more besides — with famously complexion-enhancing results
So you, like me, may have been too wary to venture there. Determined to sort fact from fiction, I set out on a 12-week experiment.
My opening foray was with Environ, a brand that’s been an expert in vitamin A for three decades.
Its entry-level is Youth EssentiA Vita-Peptide C-Quence Serum 1 (£99.95, facethefuture.co.uk) — or try Skin EssentiA Vita-Antioxidant AVST 1 (£55) for its more budget take — which when mixed with Youth EssentiA Antioxidant Defence Creme (£74) is extra nurturing.
Environ recommends using the above products, which contain the most tolerated retinol formula retinyl palmitate (or the ester, fat-soluble form), morning and night.
I started more sparingly, with three evenings a week, playing things by eye/feel. I was careful not to use it after exfoliating, and to layer on moisture before and after, known as the ‘sandwich’ method.
No sensitivity ensued, meaning I was soon deploying my regime nightly. And, behold, after two or three weeks the legendary retinol glow set in. My complexion gleamed — plump, firm, vigorous, seriously lit from within.
Knowing how much fellow beauty editors admire Medik8’s wares, I moved on to its Crystal Retinal 3 (now £38.70, sephora.co.uk), a 0.03 per cent encapsulated retinaldehyde billed as ideal for beginners.
Retinaldehyde is a retinal rather than a retinol (the classic form), which Medik8 considers more effective, without any added irritation. Again, my skin flourished, lusty, beaming.
Now that I’ve reassured myself that vitamin A can boost rather than blast my dermis, I’m exploring budget options.
In September, I mentioned The Ordinary Retinols, as used by my NHS dermatologist focus group. Sold in increasing potency from 0.2 per cent via 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent, they’re a bargain (now £6.21, boots.com).
Skincare demystifiers Q+A have a new Retinol Facial Serum (from £10.20, qandaskin.com) that I’m excited to sally forth with.
Hannah Betts’s opening foray into retinol products with Environ, a brand that’s been an expert in vitamin A for three decades
Also available at Sainsbury’s and Holland & Barrett, the brand’s eight-week independent trials showed impressive results, with 94 per cent of users stating skin looked brighter and more radiant, the same percentage noting that the formula felt less drying than other retinols they had tried. A 0.2 per cent retinoid, it should suit newbies.
A guinea pig reports that, when combined with Q+A Collagen Booster Serum (£12, sainsburys.co.uk), her skin looks so bouncy and dewy that strangers are unBritishly voicing their admiration on public transport.
I always advocate an SPF 50 by day regardless, but it’s particularly essential after vitamin A use, when skin will be more exposed.
I won’t be jumping at every new vitamin A product. One can over-do it, and my skin has managed well enough for 52 years without it. But my face relished its Environ routine, my complexion plushly spurred.
I’m interested to see how my skin fares now that winter is upon us, my lips cracked, my eye area sore, and my skin tighter and drier. Using a retinol product three nights a week is ample, with moisture hits in between.
I also plan to return to the only retinol product I cherished before this initiation: Michael Prager Night Oil with Retinol (£90, skin care.drmichaelprager.com).
A gentle, nourishing, overnight repair serum with a low (0.4 per cent) dose, it boasts the highest concentration of free fatty acids, peptides and antioxidants for collagen stimulation and pigment regulation. Cue serious wow factor by morning.
@hannahjbetts
RACE YOU TO IT!
MY ICON OF THE WEEK
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg, who turns 77 this month, uses make-up to create smoky eyes and accentuate her cheekbones
The designer, who turns 77 this month, says: ‘For me, it’s all smoky eyes and high cheekbones.’
She is a fan of Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Illuminating Pen (£20.25, boots.com) with Nars The Multiple (£24.75, narscosmetics.co.uk) and Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Cheek Blush (£35, charlottetilbury.com).
PERFUMES IN CANDLE FORM
(£43, dior.com)
The modern Miss Dior: fresh, floral, in a pretty ceramic holder with ‘millefiori’ motif
(£45, uk.glossier.com)
Glossier’s best-selling skin scent: all pink pepper, tender iris and woody ambrette
(£59, Fenwick)
Radiating the bright citrus of the cult 1916 cologne, Colonia, sported by Cary Grant
(£66, sisley-paris.com)
Sisley’s verdant country classic brings summer to your winter hearth
(£70, ormondejayne.com)
A seductive, long-burning suede, leather, wood and tobacco leaf symphony
COSMETIC CRAVING
Regular readers will know that I’ve never found anything to replace the late, lamented Kevyn Aucoin Neo-Limelight Highlighter in Ibiza, an iridescent lilac glow that I used as an under blush to give me the cheekbones Mother Nature failed to.
The quest continues. However, Kiko Glitter Baked Highlighter (£17.99, kikocosmetics.com) has come closer than anything else: not glittery glittery, but with a sparkling, pearlescent luminosity that lends fetching emphasis. Buildable for what Kiko refers to as ‘tailored radiance’, it’s a bestseller, going viral earlier this year when TikTok declared it a dupe for Fenty’s costlier version. A desk-to-dancefloor winner.
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