As with anything that promises to reduce wrinkles I approached this with caution, but figured it was worth a try!
Firstly there are clear instructions about starting off with lower doses, just in case your skin reacts - I like this point! Because I knew to be careful, luckily my skin seemed ok with it.
A little bit goes a long way, I decided to just try it on my forehead to start so I had something to compare the rest of my face to. It went on really smoothly and it didn't feel like there was any sticky residue, but I started out with much more than I needed!
It does have a very strong fragrance, so if you at all sensitive to that it could create issues. I generally have no issue with fragrance, but this was strong even for me and a little overwhelming.
After using it for a few weeks and building up to the higher doses suggested on the box, I can say that my forehead is looking noticably smoother and fewer wrinkles... YAY! I didn't change anything else in my routine so it definitely did something. I'll be starting to try it out on other areas of my face moving forward, but I'll start slow again just to allow my skin to adjust.
A colleague asked me last week what I've been doing to my skin as I was 'looking younger'. I thought she was joking but she was very serious. Most teachers look like walking zombies in the last week of term, especially an 11 week term, but she commented that I obviously don't need a holiday as I'm looking really good. I have the sort of face that shows when I'm tired, even if it's just a bad nights sleep, so I was extremely chuffed to have someone say this to me. I also haven't received a compliment about my skin for quite a while ;-).
Now, the reason why I received this lovely compliment is all thanks to the awesome L'Oreal Revitalift Laser Pure Retinol. Due to its high potency there are warnings that it may cause initial redness, tingling or dryness so I used it quite sparingly to start with. You also need to start with 2 nights for the first week, every other night for the second week and then nightly as tolerated. I had to make sure I remembered to use sunblock on the days after I had used it, so I put a reminder in my phone.
After I had used it a few times (and possibly after my compliment) I thought I'd use a little bit extra to speed up the process, but it did cause a bit of tingling, so I went back to using it sparingly until my skin was used to it.
I think this is an amazing product and one that I will definitely be using from now on. I have also recommended it to my friends, family and work colleagues. My skin feels softer and I'm hoping that my wrinkles will reduce as I continue to use it. Farmers have a deal on at the moment so I've bought another couple of bottles to see if the continued use will keep those comments coming ;-).
Tips: Definitely use sparingly at the beginning until your skin becomes used to the retinol. Also remember to use sun block the following day.