The Ordinary Squalane + Retinol is What My Skin Has Been Waiting For.

 I've struggled for years to successfully incorporate Retin-A into my routine.  Years ago, an esthetician urged me to use Retin-A after I paid her a compliment on how youthful she looked.  Not too long after, I saw a video on YT where a lady described meeting a woman with incredible skin who owed it all to retinol. 

Shortly thereafter, I got my hands on a couple of tubes (of varying strengths).  After using a tiny amount all over my face, I began to experience the infamous Retin-A side effects.  My skin was dry, flaky, and peeling like crazy.  Immediately, I stopped using it.  Conventional advice says to push through that awkward period where your skin is getting used to Retin-A but I didn't listen.  So I fell into this cycle of trying Retin-A, experiencing the side-effects, then stopping immediately just before arriving at the promised land of perfect skin.  

Then came the emergence of retinol, a gentler form of Retin-A that quickly gained popularity in the beauty industry.  Although I was excited about the news, I didn't immediately jump on the bandwagon.  In the back of my mind, I still wanted to conquer my battle against Retin-A so I didn't give retinol the chance.  

Finally, I broke down and tried The Ordinary's Retinol 2% Emulsion.  I really wanted to like this product...I really did....but I'm just not a fan.  I'm sure it probably does a decent job at promoting cell turnover but I didn't notice much difference because I didn't like the product enough to use it consistently.  The fluid it's in isn't hydrating and kinda has a strange smell therefore I wasn't motivated to keep using it.  

Then, one day, I learned of Ordinary's Squalane & Retinol.  At first,  I thought I was dreaming.  Is it possible that someone combined my favorite oil ever with retinol?  I couldn't contain my excitement.  Once my order finally arrived, I inspected the contents closely.  It looked just like my other bottle of squalane, except it was infused with an anti-aging powerhouse.  So far, I've used this retinol oil with absolutely no side effects.  It's only been a couple weeks but I'm very pleased with how smooth and refined my skin looks so far.  This morning, I learned that The Ordinary is on sale on Deciem's website so I took the plunge and upgraded from 0.02% strength to 1%.   If you haven't incorporated retinol or Retin-A into your skin routine, I urge you to do so. People who use it for years literally look a decade or 2 younger.  The sooner you start using Retin-A/retinol, the better.

Ordinary's Retinol-Squalane is one of my favorite recent purchases because it marries an amazing, lightweight oil with the ultimate skin refining ingredient. Match made in heaven.