NEW Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol for Face & Body

We need to talk because Gold Bond is shaking it up for drugstore retinols! They have launched a new product: Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Lotion for Face & Body. We are going to do a deep dive into the ingredients in this new retinol. If you have any interest in retinol for anti-aging skincare, then you're going to want to hear about this product.

I have been trying it out for you all the results are in! First of all, why on Earth would you want to use retinol to your body? If you're not familiar with retinol it's a form of vitamin A that, when applied to the skin, your skin converts it to retinoic acid. This is beneficial for improving the visible signs of skin aging. With long-term consistent use, retinol can help to improve collagen production, smoothing out wrinkles. Retinol is also beneficial for improving hyperpigmentation. There is even some limited research suggesting retinol can improve the appearance of stretch marks. While there are many reasons to consider retinol in your body care routine, remember that retinol is a cosmetic ingredient and it's an ingredient where formulation does matter. Because it's a cosmetic ingredient, there are never going to be head-to-head studies comparing one brand's retinol to another brand's retinol. So you're never going to know if the retinol in this performs as well as retinol in another product. It really boils down to the formulation overall.

Let's talk about some of the other ingredients in this because it's not just the retinol in this product that's worth paying attention to. It also has hydroxyethyl urea a form of urea. Urea is one of my absolute favorite moisturizing ingredients. Urea is wonderful for softening skin texture and improving skin hydration. Urea is part of your skin's natural moisturizing factors. It is hygroscopic, so it helps improve the moisture content of the top layers of the skin. As we get into our wiser years our skin is a little bit slower to turn over which can lead to rough skin texture. Urea applied topically can really help that get back on track because it basically improves the water content of the stratum corneum. Because of this, it smooths out the skin surface, allowing for better penetration of other ingredients such as retinol.

The consistency of this product is of a nice, rich hydrating cream & it has some wonderful moisturizing ingredients that are often found in other competitive moisturizers on the market. Shea butter is a great ingredient for reducing water loss from the skin. Dimethicone gives this a nice lightweight feeling but also is helpful for softening the skin's surface and reducing water loss. The Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight lotion also has glycerin, which can really pack a punch of hydration.

Did I mention that this has niacinamide too? Niacinamide is so underrated in my opinion, it is great for the skin barrier, is anti-inflammatory, can help combat oxidative stress upon exposure to environmental stressors, it helps cut down on hyperpigmentation, & helps calm down redness.

Let's discuss the peptide in this product: Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12. Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 is a peptide that looks like part of the protein elastin. Elastin gives the skin recoil and snap. The manufacturer of this peptide did a double-blinded study of one-month duration on 10 women. They showed at the end of the study that applying this peptide to the skin twice a day resulted in an improvement in skin firmness, as well as overall skin tone. Now you have to take these industry studies with a grain of salt. As I've said in other videos & posts, peptides do help with improving the moisture content of the skin, which certainly can improve skin firmness and can help in improving skin tone. Whether or not this is stimulating your body to make more elastin... seems like a reach, but it's there and it appears to be beneficial for skin firmness.

I like that this product is free of fragrance. Fragrance is a common allergen in skin care products and for people who have eczema or who are in the throes of any sort of skin issue the default recommendation is to choose products that are free of fragrance. This also has ceramide, a lipid that's beneficial for the health of the moisture barrier. With age, levels of ceramide in the skin decline, making us more prone to dryness.

That about wraps up the ingredients, but how does it actually perform as a body moisturizer? Immediately you notice the skin feels and very soft & very smooth, likely because of the emollients in the moisturizer. I've been consistently using this product and I use it at night time. The following morning my skin does feel soft and hydrated. However, I don't find it to feel any different than when I use any other moisturizer. I think if you're someone who's coming from a place of very dry skin and you're you haven't been consistently moisturizing you're going to note more of an immediate difference. If you moisturize regularly, then you're probably not going to see much of a difference using this versus any other moisturizer. You also have to take into account that the ingredients in this have something to offer specifically for hyperpigmentation, wrinkles & fine lines, & for improving sun damage. With retinol, it is going to take time for you to appreciate any change related to the retinol whether it be hyperpigmentation, smoothing out wrinkles, or improving other signs of sun damage.

Overall, I highly recommend considering this product if you are in the market for a budget-friendly retinol for the body. If you try it out, let me know what you think.