At the beginning of the year 2020 Pixi gifted me their entire Retinol skin care line and I have been using these products for almost 8 months now.
With Retinol products I really need to take time to see how they work, because Retinol is not something I wanna rush with. I am going to explain why you should always take your time when using any form of Retinoids.
Before I start talking about all these Pixi Retinol products, I have been gifted, I want to say a few important things about Retinol in general as an anti-age ingredient, because I know how confusing skin care and active ingredients can be sometimes.
What exactly is Retinol
Well, a lot of people are confused about Retinol- some think Retinol is an acid, some think Retinol is a type of oil and some already know that Retinol is actually a synthetic vitamin A derivative.
Retinol is one of the many different types of Retinoids (the umbrella term for all vitamin A derivatives).
Usually a drugstore formula would have retinyl palmitate (the weakest form of retinoids ), retinol (the next strongest form of retinoids), retinaldehyde (stronger than retinol ) or adapalene ( the strongest over the counter option and used for acne formulations).
When Retinol is applied topically, it converts to retinoic acid by two specialized enzymes that can be found in our skin, and retinoic acid plays an important roll in cell growth, differentiation and organogenesis.
Only dermatologist can prescribe stronger forms of Retinoids like Tretinoin because usually they are extremely irritating.
It can be very confusing and difficult to decide what form of Retinoids is best for your skin type. Ideally it would be great if you can ask a dermatologist for advice or professional estethician.
I am going to suggest to start with the weakest form and most gentle of them all, if you want to introduce Retinol to your skin care regimen.
So, best to start with Retinyl palmitate, works really good for sensitive and dry skin. After you skin gets used to it you can probably switch to Retinol (you can already start with Retinol if your skin is not dry or sensitive -so any other type of skin). Only after a year of Retinol you can move to a higher strength formula of Retinoids, best is to take it slow.
Retinoids are for the long run and it takes time to see some benefits. Start slowly, apply just1 night a week for one week, 2 nights a week for 2 weeks and so on. After a month apply every other night (best for sensitive skin) or every night (other skin types) for a long term, so indefinitely.
Some important things you should never do while using Retinoids:
-Never use them together with acids, acne products and treatments (benzoyl peroxid or acid salicilic) or any kind of peels.
-Never apply strong Retinoids around your mouth, nostrils, neck as these are extremely sensitive skin areas where skin is usually more thin and prone to "retinol burns "/ severe irritation.
-Never apply strong Retinoids during day, always keep them for your pm skincare routine
-Never skip on sunscreen, as Retinoids can make skin extra sensitive to the sun causing irreversible sun damage and increasing chance of skin cancer
-Never load up on Retinol with the hope that you will see better and faster results- you will only create damage to your skin and end up burning off your face.
Retinoids can help with acne and post inflammatory acne (scarring), dark spots, fine lines, skin texture, dullness.
Retinoids work on cellular level and they are able to deeply resurface your skin and completely transform your complexion over time. These vitamin A derivatives will sink into your skin and start to speed up cell turnover pushing your body to create fresher, smoother younger looking skin over and over again. All Retinoids will stimulate the production of collagen, acid hyaluronic and elastin, and that's exactly what we all need after 30.
Retinol is a gold standard in anti age skin care products, it helps accelerate skin renewal, boost collagen production (I need that) and like I said above, it will reduce the appearance of wrinkles, dark spots acne scarring, regulate oily skin and minimize breakouts.
Because I am close to 40 I use Retinol every other night but if you are in your 50's or 60's you can use Retinol 5-7 times per week.
The Pixi Beauty Retinol Collection has the following products: cleanser, toner, eye cream, overnight Retinol oil, a lotion and the amazing Jasmine Oil Blend.
PIXI RETINOL JASMINE CLEANSER, a creamy moisturizing cleanser enriched with Retinol, antioxidants and ceramides. This cleanser can be used daily or as often as needed. Suitable for all skin types.
This is a really lovely and indeed creamy cleanser, so easy to use at the end of the day when you are super tired and all you want is a clean fresh face and to jump in bed. It removes all kind of makeup, including long wear and waterproof. You don't need to use a lot of product, a coin size amount is more than you need for your entire face and neck. Apply on damp skin and massage the cleansing cream for a few seconds into your skin. For best results remove the cleanser with a moist face cloth and be sure you rinsed and removed all product.
I expected this cleanser to smell more exotic and floral due to the Jasmine oil. Even if is not smelling the way I expected, I still enjoy using it and it is indeed a really good cleanser. It does an amazing job at removing makeup while keeping your skin soft, smooth and clean. I never really had a Retinol cleanser before, so I can't really compare it with other similar products. I do love using it and my skin feels really nice after, never dry or irritated.
The ceramides in this cleanser will lock-in moisture, Retinol will smooth your skin and Jasmin oil will provide anti-inflammatory properties.
PIXI RETINOL TONER is one of a kind, special face toner, with a unique formula of time release Retinol, to help rejuvenate skin and boost your natural glow.
Described as a very potent youth preserving toner, Pixi Retinol Toner has powerful antioxidants and botanical extracts to help skin look smoother, feel softer and protect it against irritations. The peptides in this face toner will to help boost collagen and make skin appear more firm.
Alcohol free, paraben free, suitable for all skin types and like all Pixi products also cruelty free. It can be used both AM and PM time.
Key ingredients are rosemary leaf water, glycerin, evening primrose flower extract, peptides, retinol, ceramide, jasmine flower/leaf extract, lavender flower/leaf/stem extract, clove flower extract, grape fruit extract.
I think botanical ingredients for this toner might vary at times, I do see on my bottle that chamomile flower extract and elderflower are also mentioned, except that these 2 ingredients are not mentioned on the Pixi site.
I noticed that my pores appear smaller whenever I am using this toner, and also my skin feels more balanced and smooth.
PIXI RETINOL EYE CREAM is now my favorite eye cream.Very nourishing and soothing.
I switched from my Estee Lauder and Clinique eye creams to this and I will not go back. This is really good guys, especially if you have very dry and sensitive eye area like me. My skin is prone to eczema, especially around my mouth and eyes, and is been really difficult to find an eye cream that won't irritate me and trigger my eczema.
Pixi Retinol Eye Cream can also be used around your mouth/lips to smooth, renew and minimize fine lines. Rich in avocado oil, shea butter, jojoba seed oil, squalane, panthenol, elderflower extract, caffeine, blueberry fruit extract,vitamin E, peptides and of course retinol and collagen.
With a super light and silky texture, non greasy, this cream improves skin elasticity and protects the delicate eye area from getting dry. No surprise this eye cream is out of stock most of the time.
I love the way they designed the tube for this eye cream, because you get the perfect amount of cream out.
PIXI OVERNIGHT RETINOL OIL, call it a night serum if you want. This is a really nice oil blend (sweet almond oil, borago seed oil, cranberry seed oil, jojoba and sunflower oil) with squalene, retinyl palmitate and retinol, ceramides, peptides and vit E.
I had this Pixi Overnight Retinol oil long before the brand gifted this Retinol collection to me. My boyfriend bought it for me as a Christmas gift last year, so this is actually my second bottle. I really liked it and is one of the few Retinol serum/oil my skin can tolerate as it doesn't have a very strong formula. I use it few nights a week only, every other night actually.
I use very little of it, like a big drop or 2 small drops. I apply it after Retinol toner and gently press it onto my skin, and I don't use it on my neck and around y mouth as it can give me a small irritation in those areas. In the beginning my skin felt a bit more dry than usual, but after a month it got used to this serum and it finally looked more smooth, plump and firI am actually using this oil serum for almost a year and I love how my skin looks, will definitely continue to use it. I have seen some really nice results while using this Retinol oil together with the other complementary products from this Retinol line. I think it helped me fade pigmentation spots and small post inflammatory acne scars. My skin looks more plump, more radiant and pores appear to look less congested. I have not experienced any kind of purging, redness, or massive irritation while using this overnight Retinol oil.
PIXI JASMINE RETINOL LOTION, a lightweight amazing moisturizer. Absolutely beautiful texture, so smooth and very silky. I am completely in love with this product, just like I am with the eye cream from this line. Rich in antioxidants, deeply hydrating without feeling heavy or greasy, but light and fresh. It has a delicate fresh botanical scent that I really love. It can be used during day time but I prefer to use it in my PM skin care routine, after the OverNight Retinol oil.
Antioxidant rich blackberry fruit extract, shea butter, ceramide 3 and nourishing biotin, jasmin oil, peptides to firm and revitalize, thyme extract, vitamin E. and of course Retinol are the most important key ingredients in this deeply moisturizing milky-lotion. Skin looks and feels really smooth, more elastic, more plump.
PIXI JASMINE OIL BLEND is a botanical exquisite oil blend, without Retinol.
This is my 3rd bottle of Jasmine Oil Blend, I absolutely love this oil not just for my face but for my hair also.This blend is a beautiful mix of almond oil, jojoba seed oil, sunflower seed oil, avocado oil, grape seed oil, rosemary leaf extract, rice bran extract, sunflower extract, coconut oil, vitamin E, rose flower oil, pomegranate seed oil, chamomile essential oil and flower extract, safflower seed oil, evening primrose root extract, cranberry seed oil, sage oil, jasmine oil and jasmine flower/ leaf extract, lavender extract, clove flower extract, grape fruit extract and omega 6 as triglyceride.
Very calming and healing, hydrating and nourishing, boosting collagen formation.
Suitable for all skin types, rich in vit. C, fatty acids like omega 6, antioxidants, skin loving botanical ingredients that fight inflammation.
Can be used AM/ PM, alone or mixed with a moisturizer for extra glow and a boost of hydration. During winter I mix a drop of Pixi Jasmine Oil Blend with my foundation and my dry skin really loves this. Great oil to use to nourish and calm your skin after use of Retinoids.
****** All Pixi Beauty products mentioned in this post were gifted to me by the brand.
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