When shopping for skincare, many people think the more of a healthy skin ingredient, the better. The reality is that skincare still falls under this general rule: everything in moderation. Instead of looking for more of a good ingredient, look for how the product uses that ingredient synergistically with other ingredients, including skincare’s superhero retinol.

Retinol is an unstable molecule (meaning it’s easily broken down before you want it to). The way a product is formulated, stabilized and delivered into the skin impacts how much of the active ingredient penetrates to provide benefits to your skin. This means that the percentage stated on a package does not always equal how much will be delivered into the skin. Retinol products with the same stated percentage can deliver very different results depending on how the formula is formulated, packaged, stabilized and delivered – the more stable the retinol – and the formula, the better your results will be. Conversely, without a stable formula, the ingredient activates before the product ever reaches your skin, resulting in less retinol when applied.

Once retinol goes into the skin, it is converted into the active molecule, retinoic acid, which is what fosters change in your skin. The more retinol that is delivered deeper into the skin, the more retinol will be available to be converted into retinoic acid providing better results. When researching retinol products, it’s important to look beyond the percentage. The delivery system determines how much retinol will actually be transported deep into the skin. A retinol formula with the advanced delivery technology will typically be more effective than a retinol product with conventional delivery systems, no matter the percentage. Because of this, retinols with lower percentages that are stable and have the right delivery system can actually provide better results.

PCA SKIN®’s retinol solutions use the patented OmniSome delivery system to stabilize 0.5% retinol and deliver more effective product deeper into the skin over a ten-hour period than retinols with higher percentages listed on their labels. Our time-release delivery minimizes irritation because smaller deposits of the ingredient are being made over a ten-hour period, instead of releasing all at once. You get a full night’s treatment while you sleep! As an added bonus, you’ll be able to use your retinol more frequently and see better results.