Combining Retinols and Acids

[wawa]

I thought about putting this in the AB thread, or in the ongoing retinol conversation - but it's kind of a combination of both and I'm hoping people have insight.

So...retinols and acids.  They don't actually go together, right?  Besides the whole not turning my face into a blasted peeling wasteland from overdoing it, chemically they don't play nice.  Correct?

Right now I use both AHA and BHA at night.  Almost every night - if the weather turns particularly dry I might go to every other for a bit, but generally my skin tolerates my relatively weak acids well.  It's made a noticeable difference in the smoothness of my skin and the appearance of the pores on and around my nose.   

But my primary goal is anti-aging - so I'm thinking I ought to give retinoil/oids/whatever a go.  I was using a Vit C in the AM, but the whole oxidation thing just pisses me off.  I'm not willing to pay money for a product I can't get through before it goes bad.  Do I have to give up my AHA/BHA routine?  What if I alternated days (as tolerated)?  Anybody have a suggestion there?  I could move the acids to the morning also I suppose - again, as tolerated, but then I have to figure out the wait period in the AM.  Not impossible - do half my routine, go deal with kid crap, then come back and do the rest of my face I suppose, but...not sure if that's ideal.

I'm assuming that if I dropped my AHA/BHA the slight roughness on the outer parts of my cheeks and the sebacious filaments/noticeable pores around my nose would come back.  Retinol won't fix those, right?

[cjeanette]

I am curious to hear what others do. I use a BHA in the morning. At night I alternate between an AHA and retinol. I like the results so far. The only thing is I have to keep it up. I lapsed a bit on a work trip a couple weeks ago and my skin was flaking like crazy for a solid week after I got back.

[bluestreet]

You can use both acids and retinoid. But you have to play with it to find the best routine. Paula's Choice has some good info on retinols and combining with other actives.

I've often read that you should do your acids in the morning and retinoid at night.

I haven't been able to use AHA with my retinoid without my skin peeling horribly, but I'm prone to ruddiness and sensitivity.

And retinoids definitely address pores, rough texture, and clogged pores. There's the whole anti-acne aspect to it.

If I were you, I'd start with a retinol. PC has three levels, so you can start weak and work your way up.

[OrangeBanana]

Right now I'm using BHA in the mornings and alternating nights between a retinol and AHA. I also make sure I use a good moisturizer to prevent dryness. It's been like magic for me. All clogged pores on my chin are finally gone! It took a few weeks for my skin to adjust to this routine and if for some reason it seems a bit irritated I will take a few days off both the AHA and the retinol and just use BHA. And as always be sure to always use sunscreen! My skin is very sensitive to the sun when I'm using retinols!