Menarini A-Ret Gel for sensitive skin
Tretinoin
Propylene Glycol
Isopropanol
Carbomer
Butylated HydroxytolueneLow
- LowNormal Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- ConcerningSafety
A weak match for sensitive skin; the serums alongside fit it better.
- Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2020
- International Journal of Women's Dermatology, 2022
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with sensitive skin: redness, stinging, and reactions to new products. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate benefits for redness and irritation due to tretinoin, which can cause significant irritation and worsen sensitivity for your normal skin. Propylene glycol offers some humectant action, but the potential for dryness and irritation from tretinoin is a primary concern.
- The presence of tretinoin, while beneficial for fine lines, may lead to dryness and irritation for your normal skin type.
How to apply
- Use your serum in the PM routine, starting 3 times a week before building up to daily use if your skin is happy.
- Apply the serum after cleansing and toning, but before putting on your moisturizer for the best results.
- Gently press 2-3 drops of the serum into your skin and wait a minute ⏱ for it to soak in.
- Since your skin is sensitive and easily irritated, apply the serum on completely dry skin to help keep it calm.
- Always do a patch test before your first use and avoid getting the serum too close to your eyes .
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 11.0k+ reviewsBased on a very large amount of data, this product is highly effective for improving skin texture, clearing acne, and providing an anti-aging glow, especially for those with oily or acne-prone skin due to its lightweight, non-clogging formula. Users frequently mention its affordability. A significant number of reviews note a strong alcohol smell and potential for initial irritation or peeling, suggesting a need for a careful moisturizing routine.
Highlights
Highly effective results Mostly Mentioned
- “cleared up acne completely”
- “skin looks glass-like”
- “best anti-aging product”
Lightweight, non-clogging Often Mentioned
- “soaks in immediately”
- “doesn't clog pores”
- “much better than cream”
Very affordable Often Mentioned
- “unbeatable price”
- “saves me hundreds”
- “great value for money”
Alcohol smell and drying Often Mentioned
- “smells like vodka”
- “stings upon application”
- “very drying initially”
Noticeable skin radiance Sometimes Noted
- “gave me the tret glow”
- “faded dark spots”
- “skin looks radiant”
Availability and shipping Sometimes Noted
- “takes a month to arrive”
- “hard to find stock”
- “shipping delays”
Initial irritation and peeling Sometimes Noted
- “peeled like a snake”
- “burned my moisture barrier”
- “redness for weeks”
Texture inconsistency Rarely Noted
- “0.025% isn't a clear gel”
- “texture was runny”
- “thought it was expired”
Sources: lovi.care, reddit.com, reliablerxpharmacy.com, skinsort.com, incidecoder.com, wimj.com, and more
Questions and answers
Why is Menarini A-Ret Gel a weak match for sensitive skin?
Menarini A-Ret Gel is a weak match because its strong active ingredients can easily cause dryness and irritation on sensitive skin. A product of this type needs soothing antioxidants, gentle hydrating components, and skin-repairing ingredients like niacinamide or snail secretion filtrate to calm redness while being fully compatible with delicate skin.
Which ingredients make this gel a poor fit for sensitive skin?
Tretinoin and propylene glycol make this gel a poor fit because they may cause significant dryness, redness, and irritation on sensitive skin. A treatment of this type needs gentle hydrating ingredients, potent antioxidants, and skin-repairing components like niacinamide or snail secretion filtrate to calm redness without any risk of irritation.
What does Tretinoin do for sensitive skin?
Tretinoin can be used on sensitive skin when integrated into a comprehensive skincare routine with gentle cleansers and moisturizers, though it requires careful introduction to manage irritation. Lower retinoid concentrations and specific formulations are associated with improved facial tolerability in healthy volunteers.
International Journal of Dermatology, 2025Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2004
What does Propylene Glycol do for sensitive skin?
Propylene glycol is unlikely to cause irritation on normal skin, but it may occasionally lead to allergic reactions for sensitive skin types. This ingredient helps keep skin feeling soft and smooth by holding in moisture, though it is an uncommon cause of skin allergies.
Where does this gel go in a skincare routine for sensitive skin?
This treatment goes in the evening routine after your toner and before your moisturizer. Because this product can cause dryness and irritation for sensitive skin, a product of this type needs soothing and hydrating ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid to keep the skin calm and comfortable.
Can I use it with benzoyl peroxide, and in what order?
It is generally best to avoid using tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide at the same time, as combining them may cause significant dryness and irritation for sensitive skin. If you do use both, apply them on alternate nights or separate them into different parts of the day while keeping your routine gentle and deeply moisturizing.
How often should I use this gel?
This gel is a weak fit for your sensitive skin because it can cause significant dryness, redness, and irritation. To prevent this, a product of this type needs soothing and hydrating ingredients that protect the skin barrier while delivering its benefits. When used on sensitive skin, treatments like this should be started very slowly and only in the evening.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2023Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2020
Can it clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for sensitive skin?
This product is unlikely to clog pores, but the strong ingredients like tretinoin and propylene glycol frequently cause dryness, peeling, and initial irritation on sensitive skin. To safely manage breakouts on sensitive skin, this type of product needs gentle soothing ingredients, mild hydrators, and a gradual introduction schedule to protect the skin barrier.
Is it fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.
What the research says
A galenic compound containing essential oils and tretinoin demonstrated anti-acne efficacy and anti-inflammatory activity, significantly reducing papular erythema and retinoid-induced rashes compared to clindamycin-tretinoin gel in sixty volunteers over 30 days.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2020Topical tretinoin improves clinical appearance of photoaging in terms of wrinkling, mottled hyperpigmentation, sallowness, and lentigines and is safe and well tolerated.
International Journal of Women's Dermatology, 2022Topical tretinoin daily application for 10 to 12 months produced an 80 percent increase in collagen I formation in photodamaged human skin compared with a 14 percent decrease with vehicle alone.
The New England Journal of Medicine, 1993Topical tretinoin precursors and tretinoin showed no significant difference in efficacy for moderate to severe facial photodamage in 20 patients, while tretinoin precursors caused erythema six times less frequently.
JAMA Dermatology, 2022Treatment with a combination of propylene glycol, ethanol, water, and shampoo was found effective, easy to use, and cosmetically attractive with no observed side effects in patients with dandruff.
Cutis, 1988A moisturizer containing glycerol and propylene glycol reduced transepidermal water loss, decreased epidermal thickness, increased stratum corneum thickness, and reduced dermal inflammatory infiltrate compared to untreated disrupted skin in six healthy beagle dogs.
Veterinary Dermatology, 2020The use of 70% isopropyl alcohol in conjunction with scrubbing with a bristled brush significantly reduced positive bacterial cultures at the nail fold compared to povidone-iodine with soft sponges in volunteers.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume, 2005Friction with 70% ethyl or isopropyl alcohol immediately eliminates the heart-shaped pigmented lesion characteristic of terra firma-forme dermatosis in a 14-year-old boy.
Cureus, 2024Rubbing 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes cleared persistent reticulated brown patches in five patients with terra firma-forme dermatosis.
Skinmed, 2016Topical chloramphenicol-betamethasone combined with sodium hyaluronate/trehalose/carbomer gel compared to chloramphenicol-betamethasone alone reduced most subjective symptoms at 1 week but increased blurred vision at 4 weeks following strabismus surgery in 31 patients, with no significant differences in conjunctival inflammation between treatments.
Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2019Incorporating nanoemulsions into hydrogels with increasing Carbopol 934 proportions from 1% to 3% progressively decreased the percutaneous flux rates of terbinafine and citral, increased drug accumulation in the stratum corneum while decreasing it in the epidermis/dermis compared to nanoemulsions alone, and shifted delivery routes from skin appendages to intercellular paths.
International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2016Topical liquiritin carbomer gel treatment restored skin barrier function, increased barrier proteins and antioxidant enzymes, and decreased inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in a mouse model of glucocorticoid-induced skin inflammation.
Pharmaceutics, 2024
Ingredients
Tretinoin, Propylene Glycol, Isopropanol, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Methyl Hydroxybenzoate, Propyl Hydroxybenzoate
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list 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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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
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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Medical Board
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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