Description
0.25% retinol with depigmenting action from ZO Skin Health. The entry step in the line: 0.25% encapsulated retinol with depigmenting agents and bakuchiol.
What it does
Retinol works on pigmentation by a different route from a classic depigmenting agent: it speeds up keratinocyte turnover, so pigment that has already been made rises to the surface and is removed faster. That is why melasma protocols combine a retinoid and a depigmenting agent.
Delivery is by oleosomes—plant-derived lipid vesicles—that release the retinol gradually. That is why it is better tolerated than the concentration suggests.
Bakuchiol is derived from Psoralea corylifolia and is often sold as a “plant retinol”. It is not: it is not a retinoid and does not share its mechanism. What it does have is reasonable evidence as a conditioning and soothing agent, which is exactly the role it plays here, alongside ascorbyl glucoside, which adds the vitamin C route to skin tone.
Who it is for
Your first time with retinol, or skin that does not tolerate higher concentrations. ZO sells this line in Spain in three strengths—0.25%, 0.5% and 1%—designed so you can step up without changing product. If pigmentation is your main concern, start here and step up once your skin is used to it.
Key ingredients
- Encapsulated retinol 0.25% — texture, tone and fine wrinkles, with controlled release
- Oleosome system — slow-release plant lipid vesicles
- Bakuchiol — conditioning and soothing; not a retinoid, it accompanies the retinol
- Ascorbyl glucoside — a stable vitamin C derivative, working on skin tone
Details from ZO Skin Health’s Spanish portfolio. The full ingredient list (INCI) is the one printed on the pack, and that is the one that counts.
How to use it
At night, on clean, dry skin. Start twice a week, move to alternate days and build up to daily use as your skin tolerates it. Sunscreen during the day.
Contains vitamin A (a retinoid). It is applied at night, and sun protection is essential during the day. Start twice a week and build up as your skin tolerates it. Not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding: ask your doctor.
Retinol and exfoliating acids, never on the same night: alternate the nights—together they do not add up, they irritate. And on an open or scabbed wound, no retinol until the skin has closed: on an open wound it delays re-epithelialisation (Hung et al., 1989).
Size
50 ml.
Not sure whether it suits you? Ask us at your next consultation: the routine is adapted to your skin, not the other way round.
A study of your skin
Study your skin with this product in it. Eight questions and a study of your skin: we cross-check what you tell us against the ingredient list of every product and against the published evidence, and send you back the routine that suits your skin and your preferences, with this product in its step. If it is not right for you, we tell you and suggest an alternative.
Validated and supervised by a team of specialists in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.
YakyX –
Estoy empezando con este en el tema del retinol. De momento contenta