u/Fervvour

Hello! An esthetician told me recently that I should switch off The Ordinary retinal as its poor quality and doesn’t work well. She recommended one for 66 bucks that’s one ounce from a brand I’ve tried from her before that felt more gimmicky than affective. I’m not apposed to spending money on skincare but wondering if retinal is a product I have to go pricier on to get a good one? Looking for any brand recommendations, specifically retinal not retinol.

Edit: I started on TO retinol, worked up to their retinal, and then tried tret. My skin tolerated it, I just didn’t notice a huge difference so went back to retinal as its gentler but my skin isn’t too sensitive so I think I’ll be fine with most options.

Hello!! I’m going to give a little context of my skincare routine and why I’m asking but TLDR, esty gave me skincare recs that helped as well as some info that didn’t, a routine that a lot of people said had too many actives etc and is now recommending I switching my retinol as mine is “low quality” but the one she recommended is very pricy for one ounce. Looking for opinions and alternatives.

For a little background on my current routine, I never had much skincare trouble for most of my life. About two years ago I got off birth control and started getting really bad cystic acne that wouldn’t go away. I finally caved and went to an esthetician. I was just using a retinol and niacinmide and she introduced me to more actives. I have mixed feelings, as she’s a small business owner I want to support and she introduced me to benzoyl peroxide and mandelic acid, both of which helped and I now rarely get acne but had some issues with giving me too many actives at once.

NOW where my question comes in. I reached back out to her as my skin is more clear of acne but I still have some texture and coloration issues and wanted to get back on a retinol. For context, before going to her, I started on The Ordinary retinol, worked up to their retinal, and then out of curiosity and wanting glassier skin, tried tret before going back to retinal when I didn’t see much of a difference (over time).

She told me when I told her what retinal I was using that “ The ordinary is a low quality, one ingredient brand deck. That’s literally how they frame themselves. There’s no complexity in their ingredients or formulations. The products I use have clinical backing, studies and proven efficacy. They also aren’t one trick ponies, they have a multitude of ingredients to benefit the skin and support your skin longevity.”

I am more than willing to change, but I started using the ordinary because I was put off by long ingredient lists and not knowing what they do. I’m happy to get a more complex formulation, I just want to make sure it’s a good product vs small package trendy stuff. She also said once we get on a different retinal, she wants to ween me off the benzoyl as too long of use can cause oxidation stress and break down the skin but the retinol turn over should take its place.

She recommended a line by another local business owner but the issue is that it’s 60 dollars for 1 oz. I am willing to spend money if needed but a lot of her products on her site are very little amounts for a high dollar figure and I wanted to ask people who know more about this than me if yes 1000% you need to spend that for a good retinol or if they’re mostly the same? Also if anyone agrees the ordinary is a poor quality version, are there any better recs? The one she recommended me says this

“RENOVA - a retinaldehyde serum with micro-encapsulation technology that slowly delivers retinal to the skin to minimize irritation and a barrier shield to protect the integrity of the active a true powerhouse that targets acne, pigment, texture, and fine lines while maintaining a hydrated barrier.”

Again, I spend a decent amount on some of my skincare stuff, but Im hoping that every product I use doesn’t have to cost 50+ dollars, i.e. she recommended me face reality benzoyl for 30 bucks when I can get one at target for 5. Sorry this is so long I just wanna be clear!