Retinol redness - worth pushing through?

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I started Medik8 crystal retinal 1 two weeks ago, only twice a week, planning to then move up to every other day. I can definitely see my skin improving but just yesterday I started getting quite a bit of redness. I last used the retinal on Tuesday, but I haven't changed anything else so I assume that's the cause. I've kept the rest of my routine quite soothing/moisturising and used spf50 in the day. The only thing is that I used Elemis papaya enzyme peel on Wednesday (I usually exfoliate once a week).

I do have very sensitive skin, hence starting with such a low percentage and planning to build it up slowly. But does this mean my skin is too sensitive for retinol? Or is this a phase that's worth pushing through until my skin gets used to it? I haven't had any breakouts/purging, just the redness which is pretty much all over my face.

I was planning to add vitamin c in the morning from next week, but I'm not sure now whether that's a good idea.

Well I wouldn't be doing an enzyme peel when I'm introducing retinol.

Remove all actives this week and just focus on calming and hydration. When your skin is settled again, you can reintroduce the retinol.

Don't fuck around with enzyme peels for the time being.

Yes don’t use the enzyme peel!! The retinals are encouraging new skin, you don’t need to exfoliate with something like that.

Just a warning, I have dry fairly sensitive skin and retinol ruined it, went so dry I couldn’t even wear foundation (I thought it was perimenopause so didn’t realise it was the retinol to begin with). Took a good couple of months of intense moisturising to get back to normal.
Would never use it again.

Ok thank you, it makes sense if it was the enzyme peel. I've been using it for years and it's so gentle I actually forgot it's an exfoliant rather than a face mask, as that's how it feels on the skin!

That has been my worry @user2848502016, I don't want to ruin my skin which is why I've been starting very gradually. I do want to try something though because my skin has really aged a lot recently.

What retinol did you try? I got a sample of some retinol in an advent calendar a few years ago, tried it (probably every day without thinking) and my skin really reacted. I thought that meant I couldn't use retinol, but now I understand that it was a high concentration and I shouldn't have just jumped straight in. I want to give it a try starting small and building up before I decide for sure I can't tolerate it

Rest your skin for a few days. You have to start slowly. If doing retinol , don’t do peels. If I am using retinol o wouldn’t exfoliate for example. Space it out. I use a retinol in squalene and that makes it easier for my skin to tolerate.
When I first used retinol my skin was fine for a few days then suddenly red and dry . This is why you need to go slow at first- Once or twice a week, then every other day and then if ok you can move to daily( at night) and high spf next morning. I use Vit c serum in the morning too.Cerave is good. Don’t use Vit c and retinol at same time.
You could also mix some moisturiser with your retinol as a buffer.