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Retinoids : What : Types                                                                                                                       Next » Gel vs. Cream

Types of Retinoids

There are different types of retinoids and different products with each type of retinoid. Retinol, retinaldehyde, adapalene, tretinoin, and tazarotene are all various forms of retinoids. It can get pretty confusing, but this chart will hopefully clarify some things for you:

	TYPE OF RETINOID	PRODUCT NAME
Weaker Stronger	Retinol	Green Cream Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Intensive Serum RoC Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream RoC Actif Pur Anti-Wrinkle Treatment Afirm 1x,2x, 3x Alpha Hydrox Retinol ResQ Philospophy Help Me Retinol Treatment Jan Marini Factor A Plus Lotion Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Super Antioxidant Concentrate Biomedic Retinol 15, 30, 60
	Retinaldehyde	Avene Eluage Avene Diacneal Avene Ystheal Crème, Emulsion (gel has been discontinued) Avene Eye Contour Care Gel-Crème Avene Retrinal Avene Diroseal
	Adapalene (synthetic retinoid)	Differin
	Tretinoin (or retinoic acid)	Retin-A Retin-A Micro Renova Ziana Avita TRETIN•X Stievamycin
	Tazarotene (synthetic retinoid)	Tazorac Avage Zorac

Retinol and retinaldehyde are available over-the-counter. The rest of the retinoids are only available through prescriptions, though some Canadian online pharmacies offer various generic versions without one.

Tazarotene is also the strongest retinoid, while retinol is the weakest. Your skin is only able to use a retinoid when it's in retinoic acid form. Therefore, all types of retinoids are converted to this state by your skin.

When you apply a retinoid product that is retinoic acid (ex. Retin A), your skin is able to use it immediately because it's already in the proper form. However, if you use a product with retinol, the retinol first has to be converted into retinaldehyde and then the retinaldehyde has to be converted to retinoic acid before your skin can use it. Therefore, retinol is weaker than retinaldehyde and retinaldehyde is weaker than retinoic acid. Retinol is the weakest because it takes your skin two extra steps for it to be converted to retinoic acid before it can be utilized.

However, each individual product also has its own individual retinoid strengths. For example, Retin-A comes in 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1% formulations. The 0.025% would be the weakest version of Retin-A, while the 0.1% would be the strongest.

Deciding on which type of retinoid and which percentage strength is best for you will depend on how your skin tolerates the retinoid. Most dermatologists initially prescribe Differin because it is the gentlest one out of all the prescription retinoids. However, if Differin isn't strong enough for you, you could try moving up to Retin-A and if you feel Retin-A isn't doing a good job, you could then give Tazorac a try. It takes trial-and-error to figure out which one is best for you.

It can get pretty confusing because there are so many different types of retinoids, different percentages, and different product formulations (gel or cream form). Fortunately, dermatologists always have lots of samples so make sure you try out some before purchasing the real thing!

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