Dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh offers five tricks to recover skin from a retinol burn and get it back on track as quickly as possible
If you’ve ever experienced something called retinol burn, you’ll already know how uncomfortable and worrying it can be.
However, if you experience retinol burn, which is becoming an increasingly common side effect of regular retinol usage, swift action can significantly reduce the impact. There are a few simple steps you can take to quickly recover skin from a retinol burn and get it back to normal.
Use a hypoallergenic recovery salve
If you experience retinol burn you must stop using all retinol products immediately until your skin has repaired itself. But its also essential to intensely moisturise your skin to help it stay flexible as it heals.
Salves are more effective than creams when used for the purpose to dry and flaking skin repair. It’s crucial to use a skin recue salve that contains minimal chemicals, preservatives and no perfumes at all. It should also be designed for ultra-sensitive skin because during a retinol burn phase, your skin is highly sensitive.
Hydrosil Turmeric Butter & Milk Salve is designed for atopic and very sensitive skin and contains intensely hydrating, anti-inflammatory and soothing ingredients for dry, flaking and tight skin. It also has ingredients to dampen itching and irritation.
Switch to water-free cleansing
Water contains chlorine and can also be very drying and caustic on very sensitive skin, so when the skin is in recovery mode from retinol burn, it’s best to avoid washing the face with water. Also, avoid any foaming cleansers or make-up removers as both usually contain solvents which can be very harsh on recovering skin.
During the 2–3-week recovery period from retinol burn, it’s best to switch to water-free cleansing, both, for cleaning skin and for make-up removal. Use a cream cleanser for very sensitive skin, free of chemicals and perfumes. Kalme Cream Cleanser is a richly moisturising, water-free, chemical-free and perfume-free cleanser for very sensitive and red skin. It will clean off most dirt and make-up, leaving skin moisturised.
Re-balance skin bacteria
The skin is naturally inhabited by both good and bad skin bacteria, which live in the skin’s microbiome. Good skin bacteria help feed skin barrier repair. Retinol burn temporarily damages the skin barrier, and when this happens, bad skin bacteria can get deeper into the epidermis and cause inflammation and infection. To prevent things escalating, it’s essential to keep bad bacteria suppressed and allow good bacteria to flourish and multiply while the skin is recovering from retinol burn.
Using anti-bacterial washes to control bad bacteria is not the answer when the skin is in such a vulnerable state. Anti-bacterial washes wipe out good skin bacteria and these types of products are too harsh when the skin is in an ultra-sensitive state.
Clarol Silver Serum is a light skin serum that contains a patented silver ingredient, proven to suppress the growth of bad skin bacteria, while not inhibiting the growth of good skin bacteria. Its perfume-free and chemical-free formula makes it safe to use on very sensitive skin, and over a given period, it can quickly rebalance bacteria on damaged skin, allowing good skin bacteria to grow.
Boost skin barrier repair
Boosting the growth of good skin bacteria is a key to rebuilding healthy skin barrier function after retinol burn damage. The best way to do this is via skin prebiotics, which are essentially food for good skin bacteria to feed off and multiply. Serums can hold more concentrated amounts of prebiotics than creams and they can be layered under other products and cosmetics.
TeQ Serum contains two extracts of Mexican agave, both of which are potent skin prebiotics. One extract is more hydrating than hyaluronic acid, so this is an excellent prebiotic and ultra-moisturising serum to use on skin recovering from retinol burn.
Wear a mineral SPF
Skin, after the use of retinols, is much more vulnerable to UV damage, and skin recovering from retinol burn is even more vulnerable. A daily SPF when using retinol is a non-negotiable essential, come rain or shine, winter or summer. Due to recovering skin being so sensitive, the SPF used during this period needs to be as low-reactive risk as possible. Mineral SPF’s are better than chemical filters, and of the two common mineral SPF’s, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, zinc is the more stable option as it’s also anti-inflammatory.
Kalme Day Defence SPF40 is a day cream for very sensitive skin that contains anti-inflammatory and anti-redness ingredients as well as 24-hour moisturisation and a pure zinc SPF40. It’s for ultra-sensitive skin and is free from both chemicals and perfumes.
Recovery routine for retinol burn
While retinol burn is not healthy for your skin, the good news is that your skin will recover with the right treatment and should hopefully look more glowing and smoother than it did before the retinol burn.
Treated correctly, retinol burn should start to recover within 2-3 weeks. The burning and irritation itself should subside after a week, and the recovery from the dryness and flaking should go away within four weeks.
Even if skin recovers sooner, keep on your recovery routine for eight weeks and don’t re-introduce any retinol products before then. If your skin has not recovered within eight weeks, you should see a dermatologist for an assessment.