In today’s episode, I’m diving into one of my most requested topics: retinol, Retin-A, retinaldehyde, retinol esters, the whole retinoid family, and how these different forms of vitamin A actually work in the skin.

This episode is the first in a three-part Vitamin A series.

I’m breaking down:

The conventional view of retinoids

The difference between retinol, retinaldehyde, retinyl esters, retinoic acid & Accutane

What vitamin A actually does in the skin (differentiation, turnover, collagen)

Side effects, irritation, contraindications & when not to use retinoids

Why oxidized retinol can cause inflammation

How the formula around vitamin A matters just as much as the vitamin A itself

Why retinoids thin the barrier and disrupt the microbiome

The wild history: the dermatologist who helped bring Retin-A to dermatology is the same doctor who later coined the term corneotherapy

How the medical model shapes the way dermatology thinks about skin

Why the “skin as machine” paradigm creates a very narrow way of treating skin

And the corneotherapeutic + herbalist lens: what happens when we force cell turnover instead of supporting the skin’s natural intelligence

If you want the full picture of retinoids this episode will help you understand exactly what these ingredients do, who they’re right for, and how they affect the skin’s ecology.

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