Starting Retinol: What Age is Best, How to Protect Your Skin, and Why

I’ve always pushed back on using retinol.

Not because I didn’t know what it was – I inhaled studies, snorked the hype around it, and I knew it was one of the few ingredients with real data behind it.

But I told myself stuff like “I have time.” “My skin is genetically blessed.”

“I still look good. I must be aging slower than everyone else.”

In case you’re not following the slang young people use on social media nowadays – this is called MAJOR COPE.

On god, fam.

Retinol has always felt like the equivalent of what (most) Gen X parents thought of their kids taking creatine when going to the gym.

Proven. Widely studied. Dirt cheap for the results it delivers. But surrounded by so much stigma.

Some look at it like a cheat code. Others treat it like shooting gear in your veins (no mom, creatine is not the same taking steroids).

Growing up, before I developed an interest (or understanding) about skincare, retinol was always framed (more like villanized) in ways such as:

• “too strong”
• “too early”
• “only when your face starts sagging”
• “it’s a fix to a problem, not a prevention”

I probably don’t have to go into how wrong each of these are.

So, back then, I delayed.

Obviously I try not to regret it now, but if I could go back just 5 years, I’d feel a lot more at ease knowing I started “at the right age.”

Speaking of “the right age” – there’s no such thing. Let me explain.

5 years ago would have been the ideal age according to my subjective opinion.

Though that subjective opinion comes from close to 15 years of obsessing and experimenting, so I’m pretty comfortable putting the above statement out there.

So, if you’re past the age of 25, let me save you potential regrets or breaking your head with thoughts on whether you missed out on the “golden period” to build out resilience to this ingredient and reap the compounding benefits.

Because those do compound big time.

This post is here to clear out all of the misconceptions about Retinol; the “right” age, starting doses, protecting your skin, and why it’s one of the most studied ingredients with one of the best returns on your time (and money) invested.

Note: 25 is NOT – as I’ll soon get into – a magic number after which you should start using retinol. Sometimes even 40 might not be the right time. That’s why this post exists.

Also, I’m not here to suck off Google’s algorithm, so I won’t go into “what is retinol” and basic facts a 5-year old could dig up with a simple search.

Skinfluencers are already doing a bangin’ job at regurgitating information and pretending to be smart on shortform platforms.

(not all, but most)

I will, however, give you the stats that matter: when to start, how to protect your skin, and what kind of results to actually expect, without pretending retinol is magic.

Though, if chemistry were magic, retinol would pretty darn close to the ultimate magic trick.

The starting point for estimating the right age is this:

Stop caring how old you are. Rather, care how stable your skin is.

If your barrier is strong and you’re past the age where your cellular turnover is at its highest, you can start.

A “high” cellular turnover is subjective, but for the sake of providing a rough estimate, think anything below 28 days.

Here’s a rough numbers graph:

• Infants/Children: 14 days (sometimes even less)
• Teenagers: 21~28 days
• Young Adults (20s): ~28 days is an average an a healthy standard.
• Adults (30s-40s): slows to anywhere between 28-40 days.
• After 50: Can take anywhere between 45-90 days

By that standard, anyone under the age of 25~30 has ZERO BUSINESS (in 99.999% cases) to even think about retinol.

Conversely, if your skin is inflamed, peeling, or stinging – WAIT.

Your barrier is nuked and retinol is one of the last things you want touching your skin.

The whole “start at 25” or “start at 35” thing is a myth.

Dermatologists don’t (at least, for the most part, shouldn’t) prescribe by age alone. What they should do, is prescribe by (skin) condition.

For example:

A 19-year-old with cystic acne might get tretinoin before they’ve even graduated.
A 40-year-old with a fragile barrier might be told to hold off.

Here’s what works better than your age: prevention, correction, and recovery.

Prevention means you’ve got relatively healthy skin, maybe your first bouts of fine-line anxiety, and perhaps a history of tanning days without SPF when you were younger.

In this instance, start small:

Think twice a week, low strength, 0.1–0.3% retinol or a retinal if you want faster results with less irritation. The goal is to build tolerance before you need serious correction.

Think of it as training your skin to be able to handle the stronger stuff later.

(post on retinal vs. retinol coming soon, btw.)

Correction is when you already see the signs of age: uneven tone, texture, fine lines, pigmentation.

If your fall in this category, you should still start low, but you actually can have expectations, unlike group 1 who is doing it for prevention purposes. Expect visible shifts after 12 weeks. Not two days. Studies back this. While retinoids do improve photoaging, it’s a slow curve, with bigger changes at the 6-month mark and beyond. Most people quit before then because they rush in too hot. Don’t. The secret is boring consistency.

Recovery is its own lane. If your skin is stinging today, or if you’ve over-exfoliated or coming off a bad breakout cycle, pause.

Rebuild your barrier first. Think ceramides, emollients, sunscreen. Once you can go two weeks without redness or burning, then you (re)-introduce retinol slowly.

A quick anecdote: a close friend of mine (that mind you works for one of the largest agencies that specialize in doing campaigns for beauty companies here in Seoul), started getting on retinol last year and jumped in at 1% because the marketing said stronger = better.

Within a week her face looked like it had been sandblasted. She quit, wrote the whole ingredient off for a year, and lost that time.

I got her to come back to it, and got her started at 0.2% 2x a week. Night and day difference. Her skin adjusted, with zero breakouts or purging (though the last freakout might have made her more “resilient”), and by month three she actually had that “retinol glow” that everyone hypes.

That’s what most people miss. It’s not how strong you start, it’s how you lean into it.

Heck, it’s not even how good a retinol product you can afford.

I know there’s plenty of you who are still deciding if you’re ready or not, so here’s how:

Quick disclaimer, for the second time, if the first one wasn’t clear: if your skin looks healthy and you’re under the age of 25, I implore you to not start. For the great majority of you, your skin is naturally doing its job and your cellular turnover is at its peak. There’s no need for a retinol product in your routine.
I’ve seen way too many teens on TikTok trying retinol products and I will (unless the delivery mechanism or scientific literature changes) never, ever stand behind that.

So, If you’re a teen or early tween: LET YOUR SKIN DO ITS JOB!

For everyone else:

• If your barrier is stable and healthy, with no burning or peeling = you can start.
• If you can commit to daily sunscreen = you can start.
• If you’re willing to go slow and not chase overnight miracles = you can start.

If you can’t check those three boxes, you’re wasting product and risking messing up your skin.

Fix the basics first.

Bottom line: retinol is about whether your skin is ready, not age. If you’ve got a stable barrier, stay consistent and patient, you win. If you’re chasing percentages and rushing timelines, you get screwed.

You won’t develop some superhuman tolerance to be able to go straight to a 1% or higher formula before your first 0.2% bottle runs out. So just keep it simple

Quick science lesson. If you hate these bits, feel free to skip to the next part.

Retinol “works” because your skin turns it into retinoic acid. That is the active form.

Retinoic acid binds to receptors in your skin cells and changes how they behave.

In the case of retinol: faster turnover, “more” collagen, and less clogged pores.

That’s why dermatologists recommend retinoids for acne, pigmentation, and photoaging.

Same mechanism with different outcomes depending on your skin’s needs.

Retinoids fix texture, tone, acne, and fine lines all at once. Because of that versatility, your skin gets peak performance without needing ten different products.

The first shift is cell turnover. Generally, your skin renews itself every 28-40 days depending on age. 

Retinol speeds up that cycle. Newer cells move up, dead cells shed faster, and the surface looks smoother after your skin has been through that sped up cycle just a few times.

This is also why “the purging stage” happens.

Blocked pores surface quicker, and breakouts show up earlier than they normally would have.

Many people assume this is a “detox”. 

It’s not. It’s simply a change in timing.

The second shift is collagen stimulation.

UV damage and time break collagen down.

Sounds like a simple premise, but if you want healthy skin, burn the above line into your brain and act accordingly for the rest of your life. Meaning: use sunscreen, and engage in a lifestyle that ages you faster.

Retinoids help rebuild some of that lost scaffolding.

Clinical studies show a measurable increase in collagen density and a reduction in fine lines after consistent use for months.

Not weeks. Months.

That’s where the real payoff happens.

The third shift is pigment regulation.

Retinoids reduce the transfer of melanin between skin cells.

That helps fade sunspots and post-acne marks. It’s slower than targeted treatments, but the gains are steady and last as long as you stay consistent.

Here’s what retinol doesn’t do:

• it doesn’t erase wrinkles overnight
• it doesn’t detox your skin
• it won’t repair an inflamed barrier.

If your skin is raw, retinol makes it worse. That’s why my “barrier rule” always comes first, especially with acids

(*retinol by itself is technically not an acid, but it is one once your skin converts it)

I love pulling parallels between the science of skincare and real world examples. It makes things so much easier to process for a lot of people.

Think of retinol as a construction crew.

What does a good construction crew do?

It builds from the foundation up.

You won’t see much in the first few weeks.

Sometimes that foundation looks worse before it looks better. But below the surface, it’s being made stronger every time the construction crew (retinol) pulls up to the site.

And as with all good things – this takes time.

That foundation gets stronger each day. But so often we don’t see these incremental, daily changes.

Only when you look back, do you see (usually, a huge) difference.

Timeline of what to expect:

• First ~2 weeks: dryness, sensitivity.
  
• Weeks 3-6: purge if you’re acne-prone, light peeling.
  
• Weeks 8–12: smoother texture, more even tone.
  
• Weeks 24+: noticeable reduction in lines and spots.

Side effects vary person by person. Most dryness, irritation, peeling happen in early weeks and improve as skin adapts. Not everyone purges or peels heavily.

My first retinol run left me dry, red, and ready to quit.

I thought it wasn’t working.

I stayed consistent and by cca. month 3 my skin looked clearer and healthier than…pretty much ever.

That’s how retinol delivers. Slow, sometimes painstakingly slow, and cumulative.

So when you use retinol, go in knowing what to expect.

Start small. Stay consistent. And have patience.

The results come because you gave the ingredient time to do the work. Not because you just use the ingredient.

The first six weeks decide whether you’ll stick with retinol or give up.

With the current times and an industry that convinces people they can have instant results overnight, probably most people give up way sooner than that.

But let’s be optimistic and give our instant gratification seeking modern brains the benefit of the douby and say most quitters quit around the 6 week mark.

Not because retinol doesn’t work, but because they don’t know what to expect.

I gave a quick run down of the first 6 months in 4 lines above. Here’s the first 6 weeks in a bit more detail, so you can know what to expect while you’re getting accustomed to retinol.

Weeks 1-2: your skin is adjusting. Expect dryness, a tight feeling, maybe some redness around the nose and mouth. Nothing dramatic if you start slow, but you’ll notice your skin feels different. Don’t layer a dozen products to fix it. Moisturizer, sunscreen is that’s enough.

Weeks 3-4: this is where the purge can kick in if you’re acne-prone. Pores that were already clogged rise to the surface faster. Breakouts show up earlier than they would have, so it feels like retinol “caused” them. It didn’t – it sped up the process. Some peeling and flaking can happen here too. Annoying, yes. Dangerous, no. Stick with it.

Weeks 5-6: your skin starts finding its rhythm. The redness and peeling calm down. Your skin texture begins to look a little smoother. Makeup sits better. If you’ve been consistent, you’ll notice small but real changes.

This is also the point where people get cocky. They see progress, so they double their dose or frequency. That’s the fast track to obliterating your skin barrier. I know most of you hate hearing it – but stay boring. For the sake of your skin. And for the sake of long-term gains. You will thank yourself if you do. I’ll say that if you’ve been at two nights a week, consistent, and see no issues or barrier damage, you can think about moving to three. No crazy jumps.

A side note: I mentioned it earlier, but not everyone goes through all these steps. Some people barely purge. Some don’t peel at all. Others feel like their face is falling off. How you react depends on skin type, barrier health, and how aggressive your start was.

Think of these first six weeks as training camp. You’re building tolerance. Your skin is learning how to use the ingredient. If you respect that process, you’ll set yourself up for months and years of benefit.

The biggest mistake is quitting before the payoff shows up.

This post is getting long. The little word counter at the bottom of my screen is showing 2459.

Retinol is an amazing ingredient, if you know how to incorporate it into your routine just right, and most shortform skinfluencers can’t cover all of the nuances that are needed to give you enough context and information in < 1 minute.

(and this shortform “skincare” content is another thing that is contributing to us chasing nonexistent ideals and impossible overnight results, but more on that in a different post)

But, to not lose you before I cover all of the important bits, I’ll gun this section on how to protect your skin while using retinol. I’ll try to keep it < 300 words.

Retinol works only if your barrier holds. That’s the main requirement.

Moreso than “tolerance” – because in this case of retinol, tolerance = strong, healthy barrier.

If your skin breaks down, you’ll quit before results show. Because of that caution and protection isn’t optional – it’s the other half of this equation.

One: sunscreen every morning. No exceptions. Retinoids make skin more sensitive to UV, and UV cancels out their benefits. Daily SPF is non-negotiable.

Two: pair with moisturizer. Use it before and after your retinol, or even mix the two together (“buffering”) if you’re new. A bland, fragrance-free formula works best. No need for actives here.

Three: strip your routine. Forget ten steps. With retinol in play, keep it simple: gentle cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen. If you want extras, add them one by one after your skin becomes friends with retinol.

Four: know the no-mix list. Don’t stack strong acids, benzoyl peroxide, or scrubs on the same nights. They overlap in irritation and push your skin past tolerance. Save them for alternate days if you need them at all.

Lastly: have a rescue protocol at hand. If you overdo it and your skin feels raw, stop retinol for a week. Load up on stuff like ceramides, petrolatum if you don’t get super oily and can handle it just overnight, and obviously SPF. Once your skin feels normal, start again at a lower frequency.

Protect your barrier like it’s your job. Because with retinol, it quite literally is.

304 words – not bad.

Retinol is slow.

And that’s the hardest part about using an ingredient that comes with so many precautions.

• You have to make sure to never leave the house without sunscreen
• You have to make sure to not overdo it with weekly usage, and likely track how many times a week you’re putting it on
• And of course you have to be okay with dealing with whatever flushing, redness, and peeling for the first few weeks of starting it if you’ve never used it before

After after all of that, it still won’t give you that glow overnight. Or after a week. And likely not even in a month.

You’ll likely barely notice shifts at first.

But, under the hood, you can bet on the fact that changes are stacking, and that they will keep stacking as long as you stay consistent.

Here’s how these changes are going to look like on your face:

Short-term: texture smooths, pores look smaller, breakouts are less chaotic.

Medium-term: tone evens, sun spots fade, fine lines soften.

Long-term: collagen support builds, skin holds firmness longer, damage accumulates slower.

Just to put it in perspective, when I say long term – we’re talking 3-4 months.

That is if you’re consistent, not greedy or rushing, and don’t encounter any, retinol-related or not, barrier issues.

A more realistic figure would be 6 months.

Most people fail because they chase quick fixes. They see dryness or a purge in month one, panic, and quit. Or they double their dose too early and crash their barrier.

Consistency beats intensity every single time when it comes to skincare.

Think of retinol in seasons, not weeks.

It bears repeating, but give it six months before you judge it.

A year before you call it routine.

If you’re steady, retinol can will keep your skin healthier, clearer, and stronger – year after year.

I keep my posts regularly updated – either when new scientific literature rises up, or just to keep my thoughts aligned as the seasons change. Because the time of year (on top of where you live) – and contextual understanding what this means for your skin is, in my opinion, more important than how fancy of a routine you can afford.

And you can be sure that just like the weather shifts, your skin’s needs shift too. Ignoring that is how most people set themselves up for freakouts.

When it comes to starting retinol, Fall is a great time to start using it.

(as long as you don’t get greedy or stop wearing sunscreen and burn your face off)

If you apply what’s been said in this post, you have nothing to worry about.

Speaking of seasons and burning faces – I just went through the worst breakout of my life because of said weather changes.

I wish I’d have been a little more proactive – especially because I saw it coming before my skin blew up.

This experience made me tear down my original freebie (The Skin Reset) on the homepage, and I instead replaced it with Fall Skin: The First 14 Days – which outlines said breakout, and gives you a step by step blueprint to not have the same happen to you.

If you haven’t subscribed either via the landing page I scrapped up, or the big signup form on my homepage, you can get it below.

It will be sent out on November 24, 2025.

Because of my complacency (and, honestly, a whole lot of laziness) I’m paying the price now.

As for what price I’m paying – let’s just say that any retinol (or acid) usage is on hold for the foreseeable future.

Anywho, if you want to know what happened and how to prevent the same from happening to your skin as it settles into fall weather, get the free guide above.

That’s it for this post.

K. Hoe