The quicker your skin cells turn over, the longer your skin stays vibrant

It’s simple math lol. The concept of cellular turnover and how it correlates to our skin’s vibrancy.

Once you understand this part of your skin’s job (cellular turnover) it can takeout guess work in your skin-health routine and perhaps even lead you to exactly what you might want via products or therapies.

Quick/quicker cellular turnover is what many people seek out when trying to achieve or preserve vivacious, healthy skin.

CELLULAR TURNOVER, put simply, is the process of shedding dead skin cells to make way for new skin cells.

Now the star ingredient (in my opinion after years of experience and research and asking experts their stances) has always, and I mean ALWAYS, been Tretinoin. I’ve used Tretinoin since my early 20s and it was the best decision I have ever made when it comes to my skin. It will not be for everyone, it will be for a lot!

For the last 3 years, I’ve been using Dear Brightly's service for tailored Tretinoin serum. I say TAILORED because everyone might need a different strength/formulation. I find their product/service to be a premium, Tretinoin serum and it’s also vegan for those care about that.

(Real quick Thank you Dear Brightly for sponsoring this research post BTW. These specific articles take me a LOT of time and it’s good to see brands paying writers whilst also giving them creative freedom.)

While of COURSE I want to shed light ON Dear Brightly, the big focus here is on CELLULAR TURNOVER in general. Tretinoin in general. THAT is what you really want to retain! Do I think Dear Brightly is one of the best trets out there? Definitely. But I care more about you educating yourself first before you even consider buying.

To make this an easy and fun read, I’m simply going to give you 10 facts to know about cellular turnover and why it’s a good concept to understand. By the end, you'll have a better idea if Dear Brightly's service for Tretinoin (also known as medical-grade retinoids) is right for you:

1. The skin naturally sheds dead skin cells through a process called desquamation. This typically takes 28-40 days, but it’s definitely a bonus if your skin is turning over at a faster rate. Why? Because cellular turnover slows down as we age. It’s no big, but it does. This leads to a steady deterioration (slow!) of skin structure and function.

2. To increase turnover of dead skin cells, you need stimulation. So think like a potent, medical-grade active. A chemical peel. Etc. That’s stimulation. Increasing the rate of cellular turnover is one of the biggest reasons why people use Tretinoin- it’s great stimulation for the skin. Tretinoin is an extremely effective cell-communicating ingredient and "tells" skin cell receptor sites to behave like a more healthy skin cell.

3. Factors other than age can decrease cellular turnover. Factors like environmental toxins, hormones, diet, stress, and overdoing it with sun exposure.

4. SLOWED cellular turnover can happen when we see a decrease in collagen and elastin synthesis. Tretinoin increases collagen growth! (That link is a scientific study by the way- do check it out.)

5. The biggest myth is that Tretinoin can thin the skin over time-- studies have been VERY clear. Tretinoin actually THICKENS the skin aka stimulates collagen production, which is what we want.

6. You can slough off dead skin cells through manual exfoliation, but this will not trigger cellular turnover in and of itself. You need something that works on a cellular level.

7. A chemical exfoliator like Tretinoin not only exfoliates the skin but also stimulates collagen. A two for one…which we love. Exfoliates AND stimulates.

8. If you had to majorly cut back on ONE food in order to preserve collagen, it should be added sugar. I know, it sucks. But all derms agree. And if minimizing cellular turnover slowdown is your goal- you can do it!

9. Cellular turnover doesn’t just mean increased collagen. This means a more even skin tone. This means repair on scarring. This means help with acne. This means help with melasma. You get so many benefits from targeting one thing: cellular turnover.

10. I would argue that the number one thing we should be doing for our skin is targeting cellular turnover. (Or don’t care at all! Eff it all right? Hahaa. I get that stance too!)

BUT YES- If we want healthy vibrant skin for longer, if we want strong skin throughout life to protect us from skin disease and to increase protection from the outside… Cellular turnover is something to care about. And look, it’s nice to have great skin in general but keeping our skin’s integrity strong should be more of a health goal and less of a vanity goal. That part you shouldn’t ignore.

I so highly recommend looking into Dear Brightly’s website and seeing if you think it is for you. This product is NO JOKE. It works but you need to be educated on it. Spend some time on their site. And let me know if you have any additional questions!

Want to help me out? If you purchase, please put your nerdy internet friend in the referral section. :) Would be so great to keep working with an A++ brand like Dear Brightly. Thank you.