Translucent Skin and Retinol
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Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:22 pm

Hello I'm aware that this question has been asked before, however, I have read conflicting answers on the subject and thought that I'd ask this myself.

I have thin translucent skin and want to know if retinol is out of the question for me.
Does retinol thin the skin in a way that would make veins or capillaries more visible?

People say that it thins the outer layers of skin yet thickens the inner layers of skin... well unless those inner layers of skin are in front of the veins/blood/capillaries whatever unsightly networks that exist behind skin, then that hardly dissipates the problem does it?

My reason of interest is that I want to rebuild some collagen and help fade marks left from a microfiber cloth incident.

Your answers or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

free skin care · Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:33 pm

My doctor told me initially retin a would make capillaries look worse but eventually as the skin thickens they would be less obvious please someone correct me if i'm wrong.

free skin care · Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:39 am

I'm curious about the same thing...

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:27 pm

Hi
I'm just finishing 23 weeks on Obagi Nu Derm and using Retin A 0.05 as part of that system although I had been using Retin A every other night for a year or so before the Nu Derm.

Using Retin A with the Nu Derm, I definitely found that the red capillaries showed up a lot for the first 14-15 weeks but since then they have not been so prominent - although my skin still looks red quite often. That may also be due to the Exfoderm Forte I'm using every day.

Overall, Retin A has defintely helped to thicken up my skin in the longer term. It looks a lot plumper and lines have disappeared or softened considerably.

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:49 pm

flick24 wrote:

My doctor told me initially retin a would make capillaries look worse but eventually as the skin thickens they would be less obvious please someone correct me if i'm wrong.

I agree with your doctor. True for anything stimulating matrix synthesis AND neovascularity.

Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:50 pm

So the general consensus is that with prolonged use retinol does indeed thicken skin... however for piece of mind will some one please tell me if this thickened skin will be in front of veins and visible blood or whatever.

I'm not articulating my thoughts very well so I think it will be easier if I use this analogy.
lets say I have a sheet of red paper which represents capillaries/ veins/ redness. Will retinol thicken skin in a way that would be like layering pieces of tissue paper over that red paper thus masking it?

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:48 pm

Alcoholicartist, I think you will get some differing opinions on that question, as I think that is a very individual thing. Retin A can definitely make the broken caps worse according to some derms, and according to others it will improve their appearance in the long run.

free skin care · Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:15 am

It did cause my caps to be worse and my derm took me back off and put me on the Finacea gel for rosacea.
This has been a pattern thru the years, put me on, take me off and then I am left to deal with them by IPL's, Yag, etc. and now they are an ongoing battle. So for me personally, thinned skin and increased caps has been the side effect of using Retin-A or Renova.

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