What is Retinal? Explaining the recent ‘ban’

A few days ago, news came out that the Australian government was changing regulations around the use of Retinal in cosmetics. The comms around the entire thing have been confusing. The word ‘ban’ is being thrown around – I understand why, but it’s not inherently true. Essentially, skincare companies now need to obtain approval to use it. They also have to pay for the approval, so there’s growing concerns that some smaller, indie brands might not be able to afford it, wiping a bunch of Retinal products off the market.

Naturally I’m also alarmed, so I took some time to understand exactly what the new piece of regulation means, as well as how it fits into the broader Vitamin A category. The Retinal ban, and some information on Retinol/Tret/Retinal in general, below.

What is Retinal?

Retinal (also called Retinaldehyde) is a derivative of Vitamin A, the umbrella ingredient that also covers Retinol, Retinol Esters and pure Retinoic Acid. All of these derivatives can also be referred to collectively as Retinoids.

Vitamin A as an ingredient speeds up cellular turnover, improving skin health and associated concerns like wrinkles, uneven tone and acne. Essentially it brings younger, healthier cells to the skin’s surface. As a category, the ingredient is widely studied and clinically backed.

Retinal is one notch down from pure Retinoic Acid, meaning it’s the most potent form you can buy over the counter (ie, without a prescription). So while it’s less active than Retinoic Acid, it’s more active than Retinol (the most widely used form of Vitamin A within skincare).

The difference between Retinol and Retinal

To understand this, it’s important to understand the Vitamin A hierarchy:

At the top, we have Retinoic Acid. This is the ingredient in its purest form – it’s the form that interacts with our skin (as in, they speak the same language because our skin has receptors that recognise it). Any vitamin A product needs to get to Retinoic Acid stage in order to work. In Australia, Retinoic Acid is classified as a drug and is available via prescription only. A lot of people will recognise it by its brand name, Tretinoin or ‘Tret’.
Next comes Retinal. Retinal requires one conversion in order to become Retinoic Acid and thus take effect on our skin. During the conversion process, it looses a little bit of its potency.
After that we have Retinol, which is probably the most widely used form of Vitamin A in skincare because it’s effective but tolerable for most skin types. It requires two conversions in order to become Retinoic Acid, making it slightly less powerful again.
Beneath that comes Retinol Palmitate, Retinol Esters and the like – these forms require three or more conversions, meaning they’re pretty mild from a concentration standpoint.

So does this mean pure Retinoic Acid, i.e Tretinoin, is the best?

This is a highly nuanced, personalised question and should be discussed with your healthcare provider. It’s also skin type and condition dependent. For some, pure Retinoic Acid is gold standard while others will find it drying or harsh, whereby the side effects outweigh any benefit. When it comes to Vitamin A, stronger doesn’t always indicate better results. It can, but not always.

If you want to get into Vitamin A, it’s important to build up a tolerance as well. Going from zero to Tretinoin would be like hitting a black double diamond run on your first day of skiing. Baby steps are required or you’ll risk damaging your precious face.

What does the ban mean, exactly?

So the Retinal ban is not really a ban, but a new regulation that requires brands and manufacturers that utilise Retinal to apply for an assessment certificate. As per the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: “Retinal (retinaldehyde; CAS 116-31-4) importation and manufacture can no longer be authorised under the AICIS exempted or reported categories if it has any consumer end use, including as a cosmetic ingredient. This means introducers (importers and manufacturers) must apply for and receive an AICIS assessment certificate for retinal prior to introduction.”

The reason for this new rule is due to recent findings that Retinal has developmental toxicity, or in layman’s terms can potentially lead to birth defects. We’ve always known this – it’s why pregnant women are told to not use any Vitamin A product. Of course if there’s a health concern, it’s fair and we should all be aware of what we’re using, but as I mentioned, this could also potentially mean a lot of smaller brands and manufacturers will be bullied out of the arena because of financial barriers or be forced to pass the cost on to consumers (at this stage, I have no idea how much the application and certificates cost).

If you’re a devout Retinal user should you be worried? I mean, probably not… but I did just buy a backup of my favourite in case.