The INKEY List CA Retinol Serum
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Benefits
Promise: Anti-blemish
What does the product description say?
The slow-release formula minimises irritation while providing effective active delivery, working hard to minimise fine lines and wrinkles, even out skin tone tackle blemishes and improve skin clarity, leaving your complexion looking brighter, smoother and miles more youthful.
This product can help reduce breakouts and clogged pores because it contains the following ingredient: hydroxypinacolone retinoate, retinol. These ingredients is used for treating acne and can have a noticeable effect.
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Concentration | Irritancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| retinol | HIGH |  |  |
| hydroxypinacolone retinoate | HIGH | | |
Promise: Anti-aging
What does the product description say?
By stimulating renewal processes in the skin, newer skin cells reach the surface faster helping reverse and prevent the signs of ageing while brightening and smoothing skin.
This product can help reduce and prevent fine lines and wrinkles, improve skin elasticity and firmness because it contains hydroxypinacolone retinoate, retinol.
These ingredients in the product can also be helpful, even though there is less evidence for their effectiveness: palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7.
Keep in mind that it typically takes at least 6 weeks to notice any results because the changes that are needed to improve fine lines and elasticity happen in the deeper layers of the skin. No topical anti-aging product can “erase” wrinkles or fully reverse signs of aging.
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Concentration | Irritancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| retinol | HIGH | | |
| hydroxypinacolone retinoate | HIGH | | |
| palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 | MEDIUM | | |
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Promise: Evens skin tone
What does the product description say?
A must-have for healthy skin, it aids with a number of skin concerns such as minimising the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone and hyperpigmentation.
This product can help reduce hypepigmentation and even out the skin tone because it contains the following effective ingredients: hydroxypinacolone retinoate, retinol.
Keep in mind that you would need to apply any topical skincare targetted at hypigmentation consistently for a couple of months to get a result. No topical skincare product can help get rid of hyperpigmentation (including post-acne marks and age spots) instantly.
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Concentration | Irritancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| hydroxypinacolone retinoate | HIGH | | |
| retinol | HIGH | | |
Promise: Moisturizing
What does the product description say?
Hydrates and soothes.
This product can help improve hydration of the skin with the two types of ingredients.
The first type is called “humectants”:
these ingredients help attract water.
When humectants are on the surface of the skin, they “pull in” the moisture from the outside environment, or from
within deeper layers of the skin. The following ingredients in this product do the job:
glycerin, hyaluronic acid.
This product also contains ingredients called “occlusives”. They help reduce the speed with which our skin loses moisture to the outside environment. These ingredients also help soften the upper layer of the skin, so it feels less tight and nicer to the touch. The following ingredients in this product do the job: dimethicone, squalane.
The following ingredients in this product are especially good for supporting the skin barrier and helping with the hydration level: palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Concentration | Irritancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| hyaluronic acid | HIGH | | |
| dimethicone | HIGH | | |
| palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 | HIGH | | |
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Other benefit: Anti-oxidation
This product contains antioxidants (retinol) that can help neutralize free radicals in skin. By doing so, they can lessen the damage the skin gets from the UV light (sun).
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Concentration | Irritancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| retinol | HIGH | | |
| tocopherol | HIGH |  | |
| tocopheryl acetate | LOW | | |
Honesty check
How honest is this product?
| Promise | Can it deliver? |
|---|---|
| Anti-aging | |
| Moisturizing | |
| Evens skin tone | |
| Anti-blemish |
Total Promises Fulfilled score:
100/100.
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Potential irritants
IRRITANCY
MEDIUM
| Ingredient | Irritancy | Skin Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| hydroxypinacolone retinoate | | |
| retinol | | |
| hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer | | |
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User reviews (2)
Recommend
2 reviews
0%
|
100%
How well does it work against blemishes?
1 review
Poor
Excellent
How well does it work for evening out skin tone?
1 review
Poor
Excellent
How well does it work for moisturization?
1 review
Poor
Excellent
How would you describe the texture?
2 reviews
heavy
Light
How much does it pill under makeup?
1 review
A lot
Not at all
How much does this product clog
pores?
2 reviews
Definitely clogs pores
Doesn't clog pores
How would you describe the smell?
2 reviews
No smell
Light fragrance
Strong fragrance
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Ingredients & concentrations
KEY INGREDIENTS
- retinol
- hydroxypinacolone retinoate
- palmitoyl tripeptide-1
- palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7
- dimethicone
- Vitamin E
- glycerin
- hyaluronic acid
- squalane
- +5 more
| Ingredient | Estimated concentration |
|---|---|
| 40% - 60% | |
| Plain old water | |
| 3.9% - 5.9% | |
| One of the best moisturizing ingredients. Naturally present in skin. It attracts water to the upper layer of the skin working as a humectant | |
| 3.5% - 5.3% | |
| Used to create a nice product texture and help delivery of other ingredients. Might be somewhat helpful in attracting water to the upper layer of the skin | |
| 2.7% - 4% | |
| Acts as a solvent for other ingredients. Speeds up the absorption of other ingredients into the skin | |
| 2.1% - 3.1% | |
| Helps products spread more easily and works as an emollient to soften skin | |
| 1.8% - 2.6% | |
| A silicone that helps to reduce water loss from the surface of the skin. Can temporarily "fill in" lines and wrinkles, absorb oil, and create a nice product finish | |
| 1.4% - 2.1% | |
| A gelling agent that thickens the product consistency and leaves the skin with a velvety finish | |
| 1.3% - 1.9% | |
| Helps preserve products and creates a nice product texture | |
| 1% - 1.5% | |
| Emollients that are naturaly present in skin. In addition, they help water and oil mix together in the product | |
| 0.85% - 1.3% | |
| Help soften the upper layer of the skin | |
| 0.55% - 1.25% | |
| An oil naturally present in skin. Works as an emollient to soften the skin and form a protective layer on its surface without a greasy feeling. | |
| 0.4% - 1% | |
| Used to dissolve other ingredients in a product and can enhance their ability to penetrate the skin | |
| 0.35% - 0.85% | |
| 0.35% - 0.8% | |
| Helps create a thicker or gel-like product texture. It is not a surfactant but can be used in gentle cleansing formulations | |
| 0.3% - 0.75% | |
| 0.3% - 0.75% | |
| Pure form of vitamin E. Can help moisturise and protect the skin from free radicals. Often used to help stabilise other ingredients or the formula itself | |
| 0.3% - 0.75% | |
| Helps oil and water mix together | |
| 0.2% - 0.75% | |
| A more stable but less bio-available form of vitamin E compared to Tocopherol. Might help moisturize and protect the skin from free radicals, but mostly used in low concentrations to stabilize other ingredients. | |
| 0.15% - 0.7% | |
| 0.15% - 0.6% | |
| Used to adjust the product's pH | |
| 0.15% - 0.6% | |
| Stabilizes the product formulation | |
| 0.05% - 0.1% | |
| A derivative of the most potent form of vitamin A, retinoic acid. The ingredient can be sold under name Granactive Retinoid. Note that if a skincare brand discloses the concentration of Granactive Retinoid in a product, the concentration refers to a diluted form of Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate: 1% of Granactive Retinoid corresponds to 0.1% of Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate. Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate (HPR) is a unique derivative of retinoic acid because it can directly work in the skin and does not require additional conversion steps. According to studies done by the manufacturer on models of human skin (not real people), this derivative is more effective than other cosmetic versions of retinoids (such as retinol, retinaldehyde, and retinyl palmitate), and, at the same time, causes less irritation. It has been also demonstrated to be more stable than retinol which makes formulating with easier and increases the chances that a product with it will maintain its effectiveness after opening. The packaging should still ideally be air-tight. HPR is available over the counter in the EU, UK, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but is only with a prescription in Canada. | |
| 0.1% - 0.4% | |
| Two steps removed from the active form of vitamin A - retinoic acid. Once converted to the retinoic acid in the skin, retinol is proven to be effective against all signs of aging. It improves skin cell turnover, helps fight blemishes and clogged pores, can regulate excess oil production and even skin tone. It can, however, be quite irritating | |
| 0.1% - 0.5% | |
| TBC | |
| The ingredient is not recognized | |
| 0.1% - 0.45% | |
| A preservative that comes from radishes fermented by a bacteria. New research suggests that the preservation properties in the ingredient come from an ammonium salt that is not present naturally in radish root but used in its cultivation. Is problematic because the exact amount of the preservative agents is difficult to determine | |
| 0.1% - 0.45% | |
| Helps oil and water mix together | |
| 0.1% - 0.35% | |
| One of the best moisturizing ingredients. Attracts water into the upper layer of the skin. Naturally present in skin. Typically has large molecule size unless advertised otherwise on the product label. Helps support skin's barrier function and may help to reduce inflammation | |
| 0.1% - 0.35% | |
| Helps oil and water mix together | |
| 0.1% - 0.35% | |
| A type of peptide. Peptides are excellent moisturizers and might be able support collagen production reducing fine lines and wrinkles | |
| 0.05% - 0.3% | |
| A type of peptide. Peptides are excellent moisturizers and might be able support collagen production reducing fine lines and wrinkles | |
| 0.05% - 0.2% | |
| A preservative. It helps prevent bacterial growth in cosmetic products | |
Show more | |
Sources
- Glycerol and the skin: holistic approach to its origin and functions
- Dimethicone as a protective ingredient in topical medications
- Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Dimethicone Copolyol
- Activity enhancement of ferulic acid with dimethyl isosorbride in cosmetic compositions
- Vitamin E in dermatology
- Vitamin E and Skin Health
- Antiaging effects of retinoid hydroxypinacolone retinoate on skin models. (2018). Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 79(3), AB44. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2018.05.215
- Treatment of mild to moderate acne with a fixed combination of hydroxypinacolone retinoate, retinol glycospheres and papain glycospheres
- Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety
- Improvement of naturally aged skin with vitamin A (retinol)
- A comparative study of the effects of retinol and retinoic acid on histological, molecular, and clinical properties of human skin
- Amended Safety Assessment of PEGylated Oils as Used in Cosmetics
- Efficacy of a New Topical Nano-hyaluronic Acid in Humans