

Everything You Wanted To Know About Retinol, Explained.
The art of building a skincare routine has become very complicated because there are so many options these days. However, even with companies beating down your door or, in this case, email and social media feeds working overtime to sell you a new must-have product, there is one tried-and-true addition everyone should be using—retinol. As someone who has used retinol, also known as vitamin A, for at least ten years, I can vouch for its benefits (think: smoother skin, less hyperpigmentation, and fewer hormonal breakouts). But, if you're new to building a routine, you should know a few things before you add this to your cart.
First, let's discuss the difference between retinol vs. retinoid.
For expert info, I tapped Dr. Erum Ilyas, a board-certified dermatologist with Schweiger Dermatology Group, for guidance on all things vitamin A. The difference between the two boils down to science. "Retinoids work by targeting specific cell receptors regulating gene expression," Ilyas shares. "They increase the rate of cell turnover and collagen production and decrease the rate at which collagen is broken down."
So if you're looking to address fine lines and wrinkles, retinoids can help. In addition to those benefits, retinoids help the skin retain water. Alternatively, retinol, Ilyas says, is inactive when applied to the skin but is converted by the skin into retinoic acid, which is considered an active retinoid. "It is the active retinoid that can actually benefit the skin, not the retinol directly."
So what does all this mean for hyperpigmentation and dark spots?
As someone who struggles with hyperpigmentation, adding vitamin A to my skin routine has been a game changer. I can wear less makeup, and my skin looks healthier. And there's a reason for this, Ilyas tells xoNecole. "Retinol is proven to inhibit the tyrosinase enzyme, an enzyme responsible for producing pigment in the skin and promote cell turnover to help reduce excess pigment in the skin." But sometimes cell turnover means the retinol uglies, aka flaky, dry skin. So it's essential to start slowly.
Ilyas recommends chatting with your dermatologist to get advice on your skin needs if you experience irritation. "In general, it helps to reduce use to every other night instead of every night," she explains. "Work your way up to every night as tolerated. Some retinoids can be used by applying a moisturizer first with the retinoid on top, [but] check with your dermatologist as for some retinoids, this will not affect the potency of the product while for others it may."
What should newbies start with to ease skin into using a vitamin A product or retinol?
"If you have sensitive skin or eczema-prone skin, be cautious with the use of retinol," Ilyas advises. "It may just aggravate your dryness and make it hard for you to appreciate its benefits." Alternatively, if you don't have skin sensitivities and your skin can tolerate it, she suggests nightly use or every other night application until your skin gets adjusted. "All too often, people will use retinol daily, experience irritation, stop using it for a week or so, and then forget to use it again. It is far more beneficial to develop a routine with your retinol and balance the benefits with the potential for dryness."
If I find my skin is flaky, with the application of my vitamin A, I layer a hyaluronic acid serum. That helps a lot. I also cleanse my skin in the mornings with an oil cleanser and muslin cloth to gently slough away any flakes. If you can't deal with the dryness, there is an alternative—bakuchiol. The plant-based ingredient is clinically proven to have similar positive effects on the skin sans the irritation.
Additionally, a critical skincare do to remember if adding vitamin A to your routine is that SPF is a must because the ingredient can make skin more sensitive to UV exposure. Also, sunlight can undo all the work you're putting in with a disciplined routine and great products.
Now here are a few of my favorite vitamin A-rich products:
ROSE Ingleton MD Retexturizing Retinol Booster Serum
Dr. Loretta Concentrated Firming Serum
Shani Darden Skin Care Retinol Reform
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Bianca Lambert is a proud Atlanta native soaking up the Los Angeles sun. She is the founder of Mae B: a stationery company for women of color and a digital content creator on a mission to elevate the voices of women of color everywhere.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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