COSRX The Retinol 0.5 Oil with Super Vitamin E + Squalane

Most Helpful Positive Review

Doable for beginners, too! Just be mindful...

I received this product for free from Cosrx and Influenster in exchange for my honest review. I was very excited to try The Retinol 0.5 Oil because I'd recently started using the Cosrx All About Snail kit and was really enjoying their products so far. This product is labeled as being for skin that's... already used to retinol. Retinol was not a part of my current skincare routine when I began using this product, but I knew how irritating that this ingredient could potentially be due to past experiences, so I wanted to make sure that I started slowly and focused on nurturing my skin throughout this process. I began using the oil once a week for a few weeks and have since moved to a 4 day skin cycle that begins with 2 days focusing on moisture and hydration (with a salicylic acid acne treatment oil during my daytime routine as needed). On day 3 I exfoliate at night with a gentle powder exfoliant as my second cleanse and on the 4th night I use The Retinol 0.5 Oil. My night routine on retinol days is a double cleanse, a hydrating toner, snail essence, eye cream, moisturizer, The Retinol 0.5 oil and then a barrier cream if I feel like I really need it. Sometimes I'll do a couple of layers of the toner and essence, but that might be overkill. I'm only using 1 drop of the retinol oil at the moment, but will increase the amount of drops and the frequency of use as my skin adjusts. The oil spreads and absorbs very well, it doesn't burn my skin and I don't notice a lasting or bothersome scent. The morning after using The Retinol 0.5 Oil, my skin is usually very soft, smooth and sometimes a little glowy. As long as I don't slack on nurturing my skin in the following days, I don't have any major flaking or irritation but in the beginning I did feel a little drier and tighter than usual. I'm experiencing some purging now that I'm using the product more frequently but it's pretty minimal compared to what I've had from other products and it feels like it clears quickly. These symptoms are all indicators of the product working properly to increase cell turnover, so I can't be too mad about it. I think that really pampering my skin on non retinol days has helped a lot. I like to use hydrocolloid patches on the purge-induced acne spots when I'm at home to speed up the process, to keep myself from touching the area and to help my skin heal in the event that it happens to burst. If you're new to retinol and want to try this product, my tips are to pace yourself, baby your skin on non retinol days, use sunscreen every day and store your retinol oil in the refrigerator. If you experience some purging, stay the course and know that it will pass. Also, check out the videos on the Cosrx website for application tips. I'm avoiding applying the product to the areas around my eyes/mouth/nose and haven't applied it to my neck because I've heard that it's best for beginners to skip these thinner, more sensitive areas at first. I didn't have enough time to really see what this product could do long-term in the time that I had to review it, but I feel confident continuing my usage and I'm optimistic about the effect that this product will have on my skin's hyperpigmentation and uneven texture. I'm already seeing some improvement. For the price, I can definitely see myself getting another bottle after this one is empty.