Glycolic acid and retinol are two of the most popular anti-aging ingredients featured in skincare, but how do you decide which one is right for you? More to the point, is it ok to use both at the same time? Can you use glycolic acid and retinol together? Or would it just be one giant skin disaster waiting to happen?
The short answer is that it really depends on your skin type and what you are trying to achieve! Let’s look at why this is…
Effectively combining skincare ingredients can be a tricky task. Do their pH levels affect each other? Are you going to end up with angry irritated skin? Is there a risk that they are going to interact and cause your eyebrows to fall off?
Sometimes you feel like you need a chemistry degree just to figure out the answers to these questions!
We previously covered 12 skincare ingredients that work better together, but one pairing really stands out from the crowd – niacinamide and retinol, together, can really make an awesome pairing!
We figured that this skincare power couple deserved their own dedicated article.
So, what makes niacinamide and retinol such a perfect skincare pairing?
Layering and mixing skincare ingredients can be overwhelming at the best of times. With thousands of different skincare products available, we’re often spoilt for choice. We read a news article that suggests that ingredient X is the next best skincare saviour. But we’re already using the last skincare ingredient that they recommended and it has become our new holy grail product. So will ingredient X counteract our ingredient Y? Will they interact and leave us with irritated and painful skin? Or maybe, just maybe, will they enhance each other and let us experience the glowing skin that we have only ever dreamed of?
While some skincare ingredients work against each other or irritate skin when combined, others can enhance each others effects. That’s right, there truly are some skincare ingredient power couples! Sometimes, more is better!
But how do we know which skincare ingredients work well together?
Scientific research studies are here to help us out!