Retinol and mandelic acid
Keep them apart
Use retinol and mandelic acid on alternate nights to prevent skin irritation. Both ingredients speed up skin cell renewal, so combining them can cause redness and peeling. The shopper can use a gentler product strength or leave more days between using each ingredient.
Photocarcinogenesis study of glycolic acid and salicylic acid (CAS Nos. 79-14-1 and 69-72-7) in SKH-1 mice (simulated solar light and topical application study)Novel retinoid ester in combination with salicylic acid for the treatment of acne
Retinol products
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CeraVe
Resurfacing Retinol Serum
拢15.64
-
RoC
Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream
拢19.34
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Paula's Choice
1% Retinol Treatment
拢39.97
-
RoC
Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream
拢17.99
-
Good Molecules
Gentle Retinol Cream
拢12.03
-
La Roche-Posay
Retinol B3 Serum
拢38.39
- DRMTLGY Retinol Body Lotion
-
RoC
Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum
拢18.49
-
CeraVe
Skin Renewing Retinol Serum
拢19.29
-
Olay
Regenerist Retinol 24 Night Moisturizer
拢19.73
- cocokind Retinol Body Cream
-
Neutrogena
Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream
拢36.99
Mandelic acid products
-
The Ordinary
Mandelic Acid 10% + HA
拢5.92
- Good Molecules Mandelic Acid Serum
-
Glamglow
Supermud Clearing Treatment
拢88.88
- Dermalogica PowerBright Dark Spot Peel
- Sofie Pavitt Face Mandelic Clearing Serum
-
Cetaphil
Gentle Exfoliating SA Lotion
拢13.99
- SkinCeuticals Cell Cycle Catalyst
- DIME TBT Serum
-
By Wishtrend
Mandelic Acid 5% Skin Prep Water
拢18.99
-
Haruharu Wonder
Black Rice Triple AHA Gentle Cleansing Gel
拢13.45
- Neutrogena Bright Boost Gel Cream
-
Glow Recipe
Strawberry Smooth BHA + AHA Salicylic Serum
拢38.00
Questions and answers
Can you use retinol and mandelic acid together?
Keep retinol and mandelic acid apart in your routine to help avoid over-exfoliation and irritation. Instead, try alternating them on different evenings or buffer them with a moisturizer.
Which goes first, retinol or mandelic acid?
Keep retinol and mandelic acid apart in your routine to avoid over-exfoliation and irritation. You can safely use them by alternating evenings or buffering with a moisturizer between uses.
Are retinol and mandelic acid good for sensitive skin?
Keep retinol and mandelic acid apart to avoid over-exfoliation and irritation on sensitive skin. Instead, alternate them on different evenings or buffer them with a moisturizer.
Research on retinol and mandelic acid
Behind this pairing advice
Lovi checks every pairing with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Dr. Sof铆a Perea P茅rez, MD, MSc
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Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
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