Retinol. We’ve all heard of it. Most of us have heard the horror stories. But do you know why Retinol is so harmful to your skin and a waste of your money? An official line on Retinol is “Retinol is a potent form of synthetic vitamin A. Data from an FDA study indicate that retinoid ingredients may speed the development of skin tumours and lesions on sun-exposed skin.” Let’s start with what Retinol does to your skin.

What does Retinol do?

When Retinol is applied to your skin, it will prompt the surface skin cells to turnover and die rapidly, making way for the new cell growth underneath. Umm hold on a minute, that doesn’t even sound that bad does it? Well, by encouraging your skin to do this process you are not only burning the top layer of your skin, you are interfering with the molecular biology of those cells and disturbing the natural protection surface layer.

The new skin you are exposing has not had enough time to build up its natural protection and that can mean you are exposed to Skin Cancer, Pigmentation Spots and premature Ageing. This is no daily use product and we highly advise against any use of Retinol based products.

What are the long-term side-effects of Retinol?

Retinol has also been said to thicken your skin. Think of when someone has worshipped the sun for a very long time, they always have much thicker skin and can look drastically older than they are. If you want the Retinol benefits but in a less damaging way to your skin, there are Natural Alternatives to achieve just that. Keep reading and we'll tell you all about it!

Research into a Retinol Alternative

Our Founder & Biogerontology Dermatologist, John Hamilton has dedicated 20 years into research of skin Anti-Ageing. In the past 5 years he has closely followed a study into Cell Decay and says, “nearly all skin care products have got it totally wrong in Anti-Ageing”. New understanding into Cell Ageing is showing that unless you have potent Antioxidants reaching the deeper layers of your skin, your efforts could well be void. Remember just using a cream on its own will only be able to sit on the surface layer of the skin.

Natural Oils instead of Retinol

This is where Natural Oils step in. Natural Oils containing the most powerful, unadulterated Antioxidants will act as a carrier for the Natural Vitamins being applied to your skin, delivering them to the dermis to boost repair, Free Radical Protection and Anti-Ageing. Cell Decay studies show that 90% of slowing Cell Ageing comes from Antioxidants. Want Retinol like benefits that are kind to your skin and much much more? You need to enrich your skin in potent forms of Antioxidants found in Unadulterated, Therapeutic Grade, Natural Plant Oils which contain Vitamins and Proteins required to create collagen.

Seems like quite a mouthful but we promise it isn’t just a load of jargon. We found that the Natural Vital Oils we use brought back suppleness to the skin which is paramount in stopping lines and wrinkles. The Vital Oils can go deeper into your skin than a normal cream therefore providing protection and regenerating collagen, allow your skin to spring back to youthful shape and smoothness. Don't forget, if your skin isn't supple, it cannot bounce back and repair itself. Keeping your skin hydrated and supple is one of the absolute, most important factors you should be considering when developing an anti ageing skin care routine.