Retinal vs retinol: which one works faster, and why

What is the difference between retinal and retinol?

Both are vitamin A, and neither does anything on its own. Skin responds to retinoic acid, and every over-the-counter retinoid has to be converted into it by enzymes in the skin. Retinol takes two steps: retinol becomes retinal, then retinal becomes retinoic acid. Retinal, also called retinaldehyde, starts one step later.

Each conversion loses material and depends on enzyme capacity your skin may or may not have to spare. Starting closer to the finish line is the whole argument for retinal: closer, rather than harsher, so a lower percentage does more of the work.

Is retinal stronger than retinol?

The better question is how close it gets to the prescription version. In 1998, Creidi and colleagues ran a randomized, vehicle-controlled trial in 125 patients with photodamaged facial skin, comparing 0.05% retinaldehyde with 0.05% retinoic acid, the prescription molecule, over 44 weeks. By week 18 both actives had significantly reduced wrinkle and roughness features measured by optical profilometry, and the vehicle group had not changed. Retinaldehyde was well tolerated throughout. Retinoic acid caused more irritation, enough to affect whether people kept using it.

That is the receipt behind the phrase you will see on our label: comparable results to prescription retinoic acid, with less irritation. It is a comparison to the drug, not to retinol.

There is no clean head-to-head of retinal against retinol at matched percentages in our ledger, so we do not quote a conversion multiple. Brands that say retinal is eleven times faster are quoting a number without a study attached to it. One conversion step instead of two is the claim we can stand behind.

Is 0.1% retinal too strong to start with?

Not according to the two studies that looked. In a 2026 split-face study in Skin Research and Technology, 56 women aged 30 to 58 used stabilized retinaldehyde at 0.1% on one side of the face and 0.05% on the other for 24 weeks. Both concentrations significantly increased dermal density on high-frequency ultrasound and improved elasticity on cutometry. Wrinkle reduction on 3D imaging was more pronounced at 0.1%, and adverse effects were minimal.

The tolerance work goes back further. A 1994 series in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, covering 229 patients, found that 0.1% and 0.05% retinaldehyde on facial skin were well tolerated and allowed prolonged use for up to three years, while the 1% preparation was tolerated by up to 70% of subjects.

So 0.1% is the higher of the two levels that were compared, with the better wrinkle result, and the level with a three-year tolerance record. Start at two or three nights a week anyway. Skin that has never met a retinoid will flake for a few weeks, and there is no prize for rushing that.

What does retinal actually do in the skin?

The 1994 work measured the biochemistry directly. Retinaldehyde produced dose-dependent increases in epidermal thickness, in keratin 14 and in Ki67-positive cells, which are the proliferation markers you would expect from a working retinoid. In human skin it also induces cellular retinoic acid binding protein type 2, the protein skin uses to handle retinoic acid. In plain terms: the epidermis thickens, turnover speeds up, and the skin behaves as though retinoic acid is present, because it is.

How do you use retinal?

At night, on clean dry skin, one pump for the whole face. Two or three nights a week for the first month, then more as your skin allows. Put your barrier cream over it, or under it on nights when your skin is adjusting. Wear sunscreen every morning: retinoids increase photosensitivity, and daylight is not the time for them anyway.

Keep strong exfoliating acids and benzoyl peroxide to the other nights. Compounding irritation has no evidence of compounding benefit. Skip retinal entirely during pregnancy and breastfeeding; that is a convention rather than a demonstrated harm at cosmetic levels, and it is your doctor's call.

• Night only. One pump. Two or three nights a week to start.
• Baby's Bottom over it, or under it as a buffer while your skin adjusts.
• Sunscreen every morning, without exception.
• Not during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

What we made with it

Coming of Age is 0.1% stabilized retinal in a light emulsion with squalane to keep the whole thing civilized. No vitamin C, no peptides, no fragrance. Retinal had enough going on. It is the night step in the routine, between Clean Slate and Baby's Bottom.

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