Retinoids are the Barbie of the beauty world. Youthful perfection in spades but somewhat divisive because, while they’re joyful to play with for some, they’re plain irritating to others.
On the face of it, retinoids are full of shiny, sparkly promise – Reverse wrinkles! Fade spots! Plumper! Smoother! – but it can be a bumpy friendship to forge in the real world. All that glossy hope in a box can quickly morph into red, itchy, flaky exasperation (if you’ve seen the Barbie movie, you’ll know what happens if you play too hard – it gets “weird”).
“Retinoids and retinols are both derivatives of vitamin
