There was ice cream, and then Dairy Queen introduced the Blizzard.
There were taxi cabs, and then Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp invented Uber.
And, in skincare, there were powerhouse ingredients like retinol and vitamin C, but then companies started to introduce the retinol and vitamin C esters. (Cue dramatic musical intro, please.)
The beauty of retinol and vitamin C is, of course, that there is more research behind them than almost any other ingredients to treat and prevent signs of skin aging. Retinol has been shown to inhibit the breakdown of collagen and to stimulate skin cells (fibroblasts) to increase collagen synthesis (Nature, 1996). On the other hand, vitamin C has been shown to be necessary for the formation of collagen, specifically in the processing (hydroxylation) of two amino acids (lysine and proline) to form collagen. Vitamin C is so essential to firm, youthful skin that a vitamin C deficiency results in the weak and loosened tissues of scurvy.
The problem with these ingredients is, however, their stability. Retinol, for one, is very unstable and loses biological activity on exposure to UV light, air, heat, water, and lipid peroxidation (British Journal of Dermatology, 2010). Similarly, vitamin C in its traditional form, L-ascorbic acid, irreversibly degrades with exposure to UV and light to an inactive form called DHAA ([easyazon_link identifier=”0071793984″ locale=”US” tag=”cosmeticswiki-20″]Cosmeceuticals and Cosmetic Ingredients[/easyazon_link]).
While many publications talk about the importance of opaque, airless containers for retinol and L-ascorbic acid formulations, few delve into the details behind the efficacy of stabilized retinol esters and vitamin C esters versus the original. Here, I’ll discuss both, and share my opinions at this time.
Retinyl Retinoate is an Excellent Retinol Substitute
Although retinol has been associated with wrinkle reduction and skin smoothing, the retinol ester retinyl retinoate may be even better: A 2011 study in Skin Research and Technology determined that 0.060% retinyl retinoate cream decreased depth and area of wrinkles as well as a 0.075% retinol cream. (In case you hate math: If fewer retinol esters produce the same effect as retinol, retinol esters must be even more potent than retinol!)
In the study, which was double-blind, randomized and controlled, 11 Korean women used a 0.060% retinyl retinoate (retinyl ester) cream for three months. Every four weeks, a series of measurements including a global photodamage score, photographs and image analysis were taken. Further, the visual wrinkle improvement and maximum roughness improvement rate (R2) for 0.060% retinyl retinoate cream were 22% higher than that of 0.075% retinol cream after 12 weeks.
This is particularly significant because non-ester retinol substitutes like retinyl palmitate are far weaker than retinol. Retinyl retinoate, on the other hand, has real potency significantly surpasses that of retinol.
Retinol esters also beat retinol in terms of gentleness. A 2010 study in the Journal of Dermatology and a 2012 study in the International Journal of Dermatology found that retinyl retinoate induces less transepidermal water loss than other forms of retinoids. Retinol esters may therefore retain more water in the skin and be able to help to prevent retinoid-associated irritation.
And retinyl retinoate is more stable than the original: One study found that retinyl retinoate is more stable in the presence of light and heat than retinol (Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 2008). An increase in stability matters because it indicates that retinyl retinoate does not necessarily need to be microencapsulated or have another special delivery system in order to get deep within the skin to work.
My Conclusion: Retinyl retinoate is even more potent, gentle, and stabilized than retinol. Because no companies that I know of are yet listing the concentration of retinyl retinoate on the label, I recommend using it in products where it is fairly high on the ingredient list, such as in [easyazon_link identifier=”B00S8Q2O2A” locale=”US” tag=”cosmeticswiki-20″]Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum[/easyazon_link] or [easyazon_link identifier=”B00XN1RFW4″ locale=”US” tag=”cosmeticswiki-20″]Sunday Riley Nighttime Sleeping Oil[/easyazon_link].