The term “retinol” or “retinoids” originate from the fact that vitamin A helps produce the colour in your eyes - the retina. Vitamin A also gives you ‘night vision’! However, this coenzyme, like all other vitamins, performs many functions in the body, and in many organs. The skin is one of those organs where vitamin A is important, and that’s our focus in this article. When it comes to skin care, the most basic takeaway to keep in mind is that vitamin A and its derivatives help with skin cell turnover. Your body needs to get rid of its old skin cells in order to make room for new skin cells. Let’s back up a bit... Skin cells are a combination of many types of cells that make your three main layers of skin (the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis). These three main layers are further divided into sub layers, and layers that hold them together. But, we won’t get into all of that here. We’ll stick to the concept that there are three main layers. In the epidermis (the top layer of skin), you have cells in the form of keratinocytes, melanocytes, Langerhans cells and Merkel cells. This is where skin colour and texture is formed. In the dermis (the middle layer of skin), skin cells are formed of proteins called collagen and elastin, among others. These are called “connective tissues.” They give your skin ‘bounce’ and flexibility. In the hypodermis (the bottom layer of skin), you have mainly fat cells. This is mainly for insulation. Overall, epidermal skin cells can live for about two or three weeks. As the cells age, they move upwards through your skin’s sub layers until they are disposed of by your body through shedding (mostly). In the dermis, dead skin cells can be removed through your bloodstream, internally. Then, new cells replace them, and the cycle continues. When you are young, this process happens more rapidly than when you are older. Since the process of skin renewal slows as you age, your skin becomes thinner (fewer cells are produced). Eventually, your epidermis becomes so dysfunctional that it affects your dermis, too. To make matters worse, UV exposure from the sun causes much of the external damage to your skin (it’s not all ‘natural’!). This further speeds up skin degradation. As a result, you get wrinkles, sagging skin, brown spots (freckles), yellowing, redness, and other visible signs of aging. To offset the speed at which your skin starts to degrade (especially from the sun), vitamin A derivatives are used topically and orally (remember, they ‘turn on’ your skin cell factories). Among other things, this vitamin helps to regulate hyperpigmentation in the epidermis, and can even kick-start collagen production in the dermis. For some patients, vitamin A is prescribed by doctors in potent solutions for various conditions. These can include melasma, psoriasis or other skin diseases. Another common benefit of vitamin A derivatives (specifically retinoids) is that they help with acne. Many acne patients are advised to use this vitamin in drug form, either orally or topically. This is because it helps to regulate oil (sebum) production, and reduces inflammation. You can learn more about acne, with its causes and treatments, here. Please see more on our website.