Teenage daughter wants a retina prescription to prevent Future aging?

[Patentrain]

My Daughter who is 16 wants a subscription to one of these retin a services from Christmas. She has lovely skin and only gets the odd spot but she wants to keep her skin as good as possible for as long as possible. I think she is being influenced by youtubers Who are probably in their late 20s but most of their content is pitched at teens.

Also her Aunt, my older sister has used prescription strength retin a since her teens (initially for mild acne) and in her mid 40s has absolutely no lines, pigmentation or sag. She is 2 years older than me and looks about 2 decades younger!

I don’t know what to do. On one Hand it seems harmless enough but It seems very young for such high grade stuff and also she’d have to be very diligent about sunscreen. I just don’t know if she’d wear sunscreen everyday without me nagging!

Would it be unreasonable to refuse her request?

I would say no...
But fine for in the future. How about getting her a really good cleanser/moisturiser/SPF, a skincare book like Caroline Hirons
My mum would have said "fine, prove you can and do use SPF every single day for a year then you can have it"

If she's bothered enough/knowledgeable enough about skincare and protecting her skin to want retinol, I imagine she also knows she needs to wear SPF - if she wants to protect her skin she's also presumably aware about the need to protect from sun damage, so I think I'd let her!

18 maybe but 16 is young for this kind of thing .
Bloody youtubers ..

At 16? Absolutely no way. I started at 38

She can wait until her 30s.

Would need to research long term effects when there's no clinical benefit (acne mitigation) to offset risks to understand whether there's a hard no but would say SPF and moisturise for a year to kick the can down the road. Would also try and understand her thinking in a non-confrontational way to kick the tyres and to ensure not unduly influenced by commercial social media interests.

Good luck.

If it was a miracle drug as she believes it is, it would be advertised much widely and every women would have heard of it.

It's not what it claims to be.

Lots of water, no junk food, exercise, factor 50 sun cream, no alcohol or smoking and zero sunbathing would be more beneficial than retin A. Would a GP even prescribe it? where else would you get it from....
If she uses it and then sunbathes, she will look very wrinkly in years to come!

once yopu start, she's going to want to continue indefinitely. so this is not really "A" christmas presnt from you to her, it's an ongoing financial commitment she'll be asking you to pay. For something entirely unnecessary at her age. There are far more relevant things for a 16 yr old to save up for (university, training, deposit for a flat; driving lessons and car)

I would say to her "No. That's a long term investment, and you can make it yourself once you start earning and can afford it."

If it was a miracle drug as she believes it is, it would be advertised much widely and every women would have heard of it.

It's not what it claims to be.

Actually, tretinoin is one of the only topical creams that is proven to work for anti-ageing.

But no 16 year old needs it. Sixteen! It’s insane to even think about it at her age.

Also, it’s not harmless as you said @Patentrain. If she’s not fanatical about SPF/staying out of the sun, she could develop skin cancer. Which is another reason to steer clear until she’s considerably older.

@dontdisturbmenow I’m inclined to think it is very good at maintaining your skin as my sister looks amazing and very young and we actually have very similar skin and colouring. She doesn’t look any older than about 25 ish and I look, my age possibly more. I don’t know why it’s not more known about, but then I knew about it and still didn’t bother.

I wish I had started retinoids earlier so I thinks she should use it but not for another few years. The spf everyday for a year seems a good idea.

@Haworthia I think my sister used it from about 14 for acne initially then she used it to keep her face clear. In her late 20s she noticed her skin wasn’t aging the same as her peers and so she kept using it for anti-aging. It’s certainly working for her.

Dermatologists and the beauty industry are beginning to shift away from retinol as a standard treatment, partly because it's so harsh and partly because more recent science is bringing preferable treatments to the foreground. There is also an argument against using such active ingredients on skin which is still so young.

I would do some research, check out the beauty articles in national newspapers for a start, and consider other approaches that will be just as beneficial but much gentler.

Facial massage/ yoga for one. Also, an accessible alternative to standard retinol is bakuchiol serum- available from low cost brands, it achieves the same results and is much gentler in the skin.

Reputable dermatologists and beauty experts don't recommend strong ingredients before they're needed so I'd arm yourself with their advice!

At 16, she'll be so conscious of the changes in her skin due to puberty and I'm sure she's worried about losing her complexion while still young so I'd look at tackling this fear as well. Her skin might suffer from hormonal changes for a while but it's still primed to heal beautifully and any severe symptoms can be tackled promptly without resorting to an expensive daily routine.

Absolutely not

@TaraR2020 can you link to some info re treatments dermatologists are recommending instead of tretinoin? Thanks

I wish my kids were like your DD. I keep telling them to start on tret. I wish I had done so as a teenager.

@Patentrain - which cream does your sister use?

I would personally be really concerned that a teen is so intensely worried about ageing already.

[quote Elfieishere]@Patentrain - which cream does your sister use? [/quote]
Yes what cream

It’s expensive to get retin-a over here. My friend pays £120 per tube and that doesn’t include dermatologist costs for the prescription.

I get mine whenever i go to Spain, Italy or Greece - you can get it over the counter there for 3-5€.

Your daughter is too young though and while retin-A achieves wonders for many people who use it, it can cause long lasting damage to others. I think she’s too young to use something she doesn’t need at this point when she’s not ageing in the slightest, and where there’s a risk her skin could get worse from it. Mid 20s is the absolute earliest I would start with it.

at 16 she is already worries about aging skin jeez..
How about educating her on using sunscreen eating healthy drink water etc.

It sounds like youve got plenty more coming your way op. Better start teaching your dd about real life vs influencer nonsense.

@Elfieishere I imagine OP’s sister uses tretinoin 0.05 or 0.1 strength.

It sounds like she’s being influenced by the aunt rather than YouTube.

I can’t think of any YouTuber that specifically pushes retinol highly. I sometimes watch James Welsh and his content changes frequently, he uses different things every video.

Tell her that sunscreen is great for preventative ageing, so if she can’t be bothered to use that then there’s no point experimenting with other skincare

It’s incredibly important to stay out of the sun and use sun screen when using retinoids as they make your skin really sensitive.

It’s quite scary how much skin scare stuff is being pushed at young girls on YouTube and Instagram.

Buy her a hat with a brim which she can wear all year round, like a fedora, if she wants to protect her skin from aging! And a water bottle.

I agree with the "wear SPF for a year and then you can" plan too.

No!!

Your DD is not wrong about retina being good for anti aging but:

1. there are gentler forms which over the long term keep your skin in better less dry condition and offer the same benefits

2. I can't remember the scientific word, but research and scientific theory demonstrates that there is only a finite amount of cell turnover the body can produce. The anti aging benefits of vitamin A are caused because it is a cell communicating ingredient that speeds up cell turnover and makes fresh new healthy better looking skin cells. But over use and starting to young will eventually reduce your skin's ability to do this.

She is much better at this age focusing on diligent SPF and hydrating ingredients. Ingredients like vitamin c and niacinamide as well as mild acid exfoliants are also god ingredients for both good skin and anti aging.

But yes, using retinol products too young will not do her any favours. She is best off starting using these in her mid twenties when her cell tunorver starts happening at a rate lower than her cells are depleting.