Tretinoin is a more potent retinoid than retinol and will show results faster. While these active ingredients both combat signs of photoaging (aka wrinkles, rough skin, uneven skin tone, and enlarged pores), tretinoin-based products like Night Shift are more effective for fighting acne.
Retin- A (Tretinoin)
Retin-A is referenced as being 100 times stronger than retinol. It also has a more immediate effect because it is formulated as retinoic acid; unlike retinols, no conversion by the body is required. As such, many users of Retin-A experience notable improvements in as little as 4-8 weeks.
As such, Retin-A is much more powerful than retinol. Even the lowest strength Retin-A is stronger than the highest strength retinol product. Retinol is sometimes added to over-the-counter (OTC) acne medications, but it's not an acne treatment in itself. It's used most often as an anti-ager.
In addition, several over-the-counter products containing retinoids, such as retinol, are available. Because they're not as strong (and thus less irritating), they are not as effective in reducing wrinkles as tretinoin; but they do improve the appearance of photo-aged skin.
Retinol and tretinoin are both retinoids, which means they are compounds that come from vitamin A. They're both commonly used in topical creams to treat a number of skin conditions.
"You can use tretinoin or [over-the-counter] retinols forever."
The difference between them is depth and speed! Retin-A penetrates immediately and into deeper layers of your skin to repair instantly. Retinol takes a while to penetrate and repair. They are both good quality anti-aging skin care products.
Tretinoin gel, cream, or lotion requires a prescription because it's more powerful than retinol. Doctors prescribe tretinoin to treat skin conditions like: Acne. Psoriasis.
Generally, it is fine to use tretinoin every night, but you may not want to because of the initial side effects, especially when you first start. You should only use tretinoin as prescribed to avoid significant skin irritation, redness, and other side effects.
Retin-A is the brand name for the medication Tretinoin. Retin-A is a synthetic form of vitamin A and it's available only through prescription. Tretinoin is retinoic acid and is considered an active ingredient.
Once your skin has fully adjusted to high-concentration retinol products, you should be able to transition to the gentlest tretinoin without much irritation or peeling. When your Retin-A prescription no longer causes unwanted reactions, consider talking to your board-certified dermatologist about a stronger one.
On the whole, it's best to think of botox as a treatment for wrinkles that are apparent with moving facial muscles (smiling, furrowing your brow, frowning) while tretinoin can help treat the fine lines and sun spots resulting from UV exposure.
On average, it takes eight to 24 weeks of treatment for tretinoin to produce noticeable improvements in wrinkles and other signs of aging. One short study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, which used a . 025 percent tretinoin cream, found a “statistically significant improvement” after just 84 days.
If you stop using the medication or are inconsistent with your treatment, any improvements you see may disappear over time. Always use the product as prescribed by your healthcare provider (Rodan, 2016).
1% tretinoin, or one unit of tretinoin per 100 units. The weakest cream contains . 005% tretinoin, or approximately 5% as much tretinoin as the strongest . 1% cream.
Tretinoin is a medication used to treat acne and sun-damaged skin. It can't erase deep wrinkles, but it can help improve the appearance of surface wrinkles, fine lines, and darks spots. Tretinoin is also known as retinoic acid. It's the generic name for synthetic vitamin A.
Tretinoin is sometimes referred to as Retin-A, making it easy to confuse with retinol. Further adding to the confusion is the fact that both tretinoin and retinol are “retinoids,” a class of chemical compounds that either are or related to vitamin A.
Tretinoin is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug. Tretinoin is classified as a "retinoid." (For more detail, see "How Tretinoin Works" section below).
Tretinoin Does Not “Bleach” Your Skin
Contrary to popular belief, tretinoin is not a “bleaching agent” or medicine designed specifically to lighten your skin tone. While tretinoin can even out patches of hyperpigmentation and cause a mild change in your skin tone, it doesn't affect melanin synthesis.
After 4-6 weeks, your skin will get used to tretinoin and will begin to be noticeably smoother and more even. A lot of the initial irritation will settle down and true “retinization” of your skin is in full force.
Absolutely. The skin should always be protected during the day and restored at night. Since retinol is reparative, you should apply at night.
The 0.1% tazarotene cream produced significantly higher treatment success rates than the 0.05% tretinoin cream at weeks 12 and 20. Between the 0.05% formulations, tazarotene and tretinoin were comparable in treatment success rates, although in OIA, tretinoin tended to provide higher improvement rates.
Preliminary results from the tazarotene versus tretinoin trial suggest that once-daily tazarotene is more efficacious than once-daily tretinoin in reducing the numbers of papules and open comedones, and achieves a more rapid reduction in pustules. Both drugs appear to be equally efficacious against closed comedones.
Understanding which types of wrinkles each one treats can help you make the right decision. For example, an over-the-counter or prescription-strength retinol or retinoid cream is noninvasive and cheaper than Botox. (Retinols are weaker versions of retinoids, which are available by prescription.