Nothing in skincare has as much evidence behind it as vitamin A, and nothing goes wrong as often. Both facts have the same cause: it works by asking the skin to change, and change is uncomfortable if it is asked for too fast.
Start low, and stay there a while
Begin with the lowest strength the range offers. Two nights a week for two weeks, then three, then every other night. Only move up a strength once the current one causes nothing at all — and that can take months, which is fine.
Medik8’s Crystal Retinal ladder exists for exactly this: the same molecule at rising strengths, so moving up is a step rather than a leap.
Less is genuinely more
A pea-sized amount covers a whole face. More does not work faster; it works angrier. Apply to dry skin — damp skin lets it in faster than you want at the beginning.
Buffer if you need to
Moisturiser first, then retinol, is a legitimate technique for sensitive skin, not a compromise. So is moisturiser after. Both slow the delivery down, which is the point.
What is normal and what is not
Mild dryness and a little flaking in the first weeks are ordinary. Burning, swelling, weeping or a rash are not — stop and let the skin settle before you try again at a lower strength.
The old advice to push through a “purge” has done a lot of damage. Skin that is irritated is not skin that is improving faster.
The non-negotiable
Sunscreen every morning, from the first night you use it. Retinol thins the dead surface layer while it thickens the living one underneath, and the surface is what was taking the first hit from the sun.
If your skin is reactive or you have tried and failed before, a cosmetologist can start you on a professional protocol and hand the routine over once your skin has settled into it.