Can retinal be layered with other ingredients?

Here’s a cheat sheet on how to layer (also known as sandwiching or cocktailing) your skincare products with retinal without triggering unwanted side effects:

Hyaluronic acid and retinal? YES
Hyaluronic acid binds water to skin and can be layered underneath retinal to offset potential dryness and boost line-plumping effects

Ceramides and retinal? YES
Ceramides prevent moisture loss. Layer with retinal to offset potential dryness and help keep your skin barrier strong

Vitamin C and retinal? NO
Guarantee the efficacy of vitamin c and retinal by using them separately: We recommend using vitamin C in the morning and retinal at night. And always follow with an SPF during the day

Benzoyl peroxide and retinal? NO
Benzoyl peroxide deactivates retinal’s efficacy. If you have acne-prone skin and want to keep using benzoyl peroxide while adding retinal to your regimen, use benzoyl in the morning and retinal at night

AHAs/BHAs and retinal? NO
Use them together and you may suffer extreme dryness, redness and burns. Don’t layer AHA and BHA, but rather stagger their application for maximum effectiveness while minimizing skin damage