Retinoids are derivatives of vitamin A, one of which is retinol.

In skin care, 4 retinoids are used, which provide effects that have different intensities. The weakest is retinyl palmitate which is the ester of vitamin A and palmitic acid. Next, in increasing order of effectiveness, are retinol, retinaldehyde, and tretinoin.

The first 3 retinoids must be converted to tretinoin, the active form of retinoic acid, to be effective. The chain of conversions is as follows: retinyl palmitate => retinol => retinaldehyde => tretinoin. The effectiveness depends on the number of conversion steps. Retinyl palmitate takes 3 steps to take action, retinol takes 2 steps, retinaldehyde takes just one, and tretinoin starts working immediately.

It seems logical to use tretinoin in skin care products. However, the more effective a retinoid is, the more it dries and irritates the skin. Therefore, tretinoin can only be prescribed by a doctor. The rest of the retinoids are available in a variety of skin care products.

Retinol is so popular because its effectiveness is somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t cause as much irritation as the more active forms of retinoids, and it is quite gentle to the skin. However, it’s still effective. But you have to wait a while — up to 12 weeks — to see the results.

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