This essay first appeared on Wednesday, February 7, in The Strategist Beauty Brief, a weekly newsletter in which our beauty writers share their must-tries, can-skips, and can’t-live-withouts. But we liked it so much we wanted to share it with all of our readers. If you want more first impressions of buzzy launches, quick takes on what’s trending on TikTok and Instagram, and deep dives into the week’s best beauty launches, sign up here. The Strategist Beauty Brief is delivered every Wednesday.
I’ve been doubling up on retinoids for over four months, and though conventional wisdom dictates that this would lead my skin down a path of ruin — redness, scaling, flakiness, and peeling — it has never looked better. It’s glowier than usual, and I’ve had fewer breakouts. The compliments from strangers have been flowing in quite regularly too.
For what it’s worth, I never planned to double-dip on retinoids. I’ve been using prescription tretinoin off and on since my teens and have been more committed for the past decade. I usually apply a hydrating, antioxidant serum first. I find this helps keep my skin moisturized, especially during the winter months. So in mid-September, I grabbed Muri Lelu Grass Nuit Retinoid treatment, one of the many serums in a (literal) queue in my medicine cabinet, as the first step in this routine. Yes, it has retinoid in the name; no, I didn’t notice or take that into consideration. Muri Lelu is known as an excellent, luxurious, gentle, full-flower cannabis line. (I’ve used its other serum and an oil for years.) So for me, that was the headline: “Cannabis. An antioxidant. This serum’s next up to test. Let’s go.” And if I’m being honest, I’ve developed a cavalier attitude after testing hundreds (thousands?) of products-of-the-year as an editor. If something works, then I start paying attention.
And in mid-December, I noticed my skin looked good. I have acne-prone skin, so for me, “good” means a smoother texture, a glow without oiliness, less irritation, and, most important, fewer breakouts. Every few weeks, I usually get some sort of bad pimple, typically a deep nodule — but examining my face in the mirror that night, I realized I hadn’t had to triage and treat a pimple in a long while. I couldn’t remember the last time, actually. Then I remembered Muri Lelu. It’s the only thing I changed in my routine.
When I realized the serum was working, I went into investigation mode. I checked the ingredient list on Grass Nuit: hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, niacinamide, and full-flower sativa. That’s hydration, anti-inflammatories, and antioxidants. All that helped explain why my skin wasn’t getting irritated or dry. And then there was the retinoid: granactive retinoid one percent. Aha, I’d heard of this one before. It was popularized as the main active in the Ordinary’s retinoid serum, which folks swear by. When you apply an OTC retinol, enzymes in your skin convert it over time to a bioactive chemical your skin can use. (Prescription tretinoin starts working immediately.) This slowdown is what makes retinols gentler than prescription versions — but also less effective. Granactive retinoid, though, is touted as occupying a sweet spot: It’s immediately available to your skin, so it’s more effective than your average retinol (still not as much as a prescription) but also gentle. My experience seemed to bear all that out.
But because, in theory at least, doubling up is so off the rails, I needed to get a professional’s opinion about what was going on. I called up my friend and dermatologist Dr. Michelle Henry. She said a few things were likely happening with me. First, I’m a long-longtime retinoid user, so my skin is truly “retinized,” or game for retinoids with no irritation. Second, my tretinoin strength at .05 percent is midrange (prescriptions come in six strengths, from 0.01 percent to 0.1 percent). After all these years, I could probably go up a notch or even max out at 0.1 percent, but that’s where Grass Nuit comes in. Henry described the formula’s retinoid as a potential “booster.” I had effectively taken my retinoid treatment up a teeny bit in strength by layering in Grass Nuit.
For the right person — someone who has oily skin like mine and is used to retinoids — an OTC retinol layer could step up their treatment to an intermediate level between available prescription strengths. This was all theoretical; we were just chatting. But I think the interesting takeaway here is, if you’ve been on a retinoid for a while and are thinking about going to the next level, you could try a serum that has a teeny bit of retinol as a transition. Talk to your doctor about it first. And I’m sure I’ll hear complaints from plenty of them about this post (y’all know where to find me). But there’s no denying that my skin not only looks good but isn’t winter dry and chafed as it usually is in February. Plus, after rolling with Grass Nuit training wheels for the past four months, I am now ready for a big-girl transition: the next tretinoin strength. Out of fear of irritation, that’s a step I had, for many years, been too scared to take.
This article originally appeared in The Strategist Beauty Brief, a weekly newsletter from our beauty writers on their must-tries, can-skips, and can’t-live-withouts. Sign up here.
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