My Acne and Hyperpigmentation Were Out of Control, But *This* Product Turned Things Around in Less Than a Month

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market's most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors' honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we'll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors can't shut up about. This time around, I'm highlighting Medik8's Crystal Retinal ($107).

For the longest time, it was really hard for me to find a retinoid that worked well for my skin. To give you a bit more background, I used tretinoin for years, and it, quite frankly, destroyed my skin barrier. A lot of dehydration, redness, and breakouts later, I realized I was going to have to regroup and find something gentler for my skin before it decided it was completely done with me and full-on rebelled.

After the tretinoin drama, I took a nice long break from using any type of retinoid, but when I tried to reintroduce a gentler retinol, my skin became so irritated and broke out even more. I tried countless formulas from many a brand, until finally, I went with a recommendation from esteemed NYC aesthetician Sofie Pavitt. (They call her the acne whisperer for a reason.) She talked about her love for Medik8's Crystal Retinal, and I decided to give it a try. I can wholeheartedly say it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

This formula contains retinal, a next-generation form of vitamin A that can work a heck of a lot faster than traditional retinol. Before I started using this, I'd gotten a series of chemical peels to combat some persistent breakouts I was having. While they did work really well, they also caused a lot of skin purging for me, leaving my archnemesis—dark spots—behind. As you can see in the before photo, I had so many post-inflammatory marks on my cheeks. It definitely wasn't fun to deal with, but I found a routine that worked wonders on them, which included this retinal.

The above photos were taken less than a month apart (a little under four weeks). Pretty impressive, no? As Pavitt suggested on her Instagram, I decided to start a nightly routine of using Medik8's Crystal Retinal one night and then Pavitt's Mandelic Clearing Serum ($54) the next. I've continued with this routine, alternating nights between mandelic acid and retinal—never using them on the same night. My skin is super sensitive, and this routine works well for me. Mandelic acid is incredibly gentle, and Medik8's retinal formula is one of the best on the market (IMO) because it causes little to no irritation. Everyone's skin is different, so I can't tell you exactly how your skin will respond to this formula, but I can tell you that my incredibly sensitized, breakout-prone skin wasn't irritated at all by this, which shocked me to my core! It also didn't cause any dehydration, which is a huge bonus considering that was an issue I struggled with heavily.

I also love that this formula comes in a variety of customizable strengths. I started with level one to see how my skin would react and gradually increased to level 10. The above photos were taken after I'd been using the level-10 formula for a little under four weeks. Honestly, I continue to be wowed by how well this one works. Like I said, it took me ages to find the right retinoid for me, but this one is excellent for dehydrated, acne-prone skin because it doesn't cause additional irritation and dries down to such a nice matte finish.

I realize that it is pricey, coming in at $107, but I've used plenty of more-expensive formulas that were super irritating and worked at a much slower rate than this one. If you have a similar skin type, I think this is well worth the money. The photos above speak for themselves in terms of the results this product offers. I can't recommend it enough.

Now, let's get into what makes this formula so special. Like I mentioned above, this particular retinoid contains retinaldehyde, a newer retinoid to hit the market that can deliver faster results. Chief product officer and co-founder of the brand Daniel Isaacs explained a bit more about why this is. "Retinaldehyde is one step closer than retinol to the active form of vitamin A," he explains. "Retinaldehyde is proven to act 11 times faster than traditional retinol. … [It] rapidly resurfaces the skin while helping to rebuild collagen. It has effects similar to prescription-strength retinoic acid. Unlike the other forms of vitamin A, retinaldehyde boasts direct antibacterial action, making it the ideal anti-aging ingredient for [acne-prone skin]."

In addition to retinaldehyde, this formula also contains hydrating and soothing ingredients like hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, glycerin, and squalane. This helps keep the formula from being too drying on the skin. It also dries down to a matte finish. In my experience, you do have to work quickly after you pump it into your hands because it mattifies really fast. That's really my only con when it comes to this formula.

Isaacs already told us a bit more about why retinaldehyde is a great option to try for those who struggle with breakouts, but I asked him to break down exactly what the difference is between traditional retinol and retinaldehyde. "There are so many different types [of retinoids], and that has caused confusion for quite a bit of time. What is also a bit of a challenge is that some of these different forms are useless—they just don’t do anything at all. Others are really, really effective but can be very irritating, and some are prescription only. Therefore, that leaves you with a lot of products to choose from. At Medik8, we only use forms that are independently, robustly proven to work. We only use those that have been proven [effective] in independent clinical studies.

"Those three forms are retinol, which is probably the most prevalent form in skincare. There are loads and loads of studies to support retinol—that’s the alcohol version of vitamin A. Then you have retinaldehyde. This is much less common than retinol, and only a few brands have it, but it is really well-studied, and you get amazing results from this form in particular. Retinaldehyde is even more powerful than retinol—it’s close to prescription strength but without the irritation associated with it. Finally, there is retinyl retinoate. This is a unique and exclusive form of vitamin A, created by Medik8. It too has been proven in many independent studies. This form is truly special, as it is the only form of vitamin A that can be used during the day because it doesn’t break down in sunlight. You get the benefits of the vitamin A during the day, and it’s also completely nonirritating."

That's not all that makes this formula unique. Isaacs told me the product's delivery system really sets it apart too. Isaacs says, "Retinaldehyde is notoriously unstable when exposed to oxygen, light, and heat. If left to its own devices, it would lose its potency within a month. At Medik8, our retinaldehyde is encapsulated in a crystal shell, which protects the delicate active from oxidation. We took the stabilization of Crystal Retinal one step further with a patent-pending stabilization system developed in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire. The stability system is based on super-antioxidant carrot seed oil, which keeps retinaldehyde stabilized over a prolonged period of time, ensuring the best results for the end user."

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