Ingredients: What is Vitamin A?

Use Vitamin A to fight off fine lines and wrinkles.

There's no getting around it. Our bodies and skin are always aging. Some of us age faster than others depending on the type of environment we live in. Smokers and sun worshipers typically age a whole lot faster than someone who is religious about wearing sunscreen, maintains a healthy diet, exercises regularly, doesn't smoke and gets at least eight hours of sleep a night.

Putting obvious lifestyle factors aside, nobody really wants to develop those dreaded fine line and wrinkles. Luckily, there are a few key ingredients out there on the market that are effective in helping to keep these pesky aging reminders at bay, even if you haven't been taking very good care of your skin all of your life.

Vitamin A is an amazing and effective anti-aging ingredient. It's an antioxidant that is used to neutralize and fight off the damage caused by free radicals. Vitamin A can do a lot of great things for the skin, including:

resurfacing the skin by stimulating cellular turnover
creating softer, smoother, clean and vibrant complexion
aiding in the repair of skin cells and encouraging cellular renewal
smoothing out fine lines and wrinkles
increasing elasticity and collagen production
helping to fade discoloration and reduces acne scarring
visibly decrease pore size
treating acne by loosening clogged pores
helping to treat keratosis pilaris

Sound good to be true? Vitamin A can be extremely effective as long as you use the right variation for your skin and use it correctly. With skin care, there are two major types of Vitamin A available on the market: over-the-counter (OTC) and by prescription. Common OTC forms of Vitamin A are retinol, retinyl palmitate and retinoid. Tretinoin, Retin-A, Renova and Acutane are common variations of Vitamin A that are available in a prescription-only form.

The big difference between OTC and prescription-only Vitamin A is the ingredient's potency. OTC variations generally take about 12 weeks before users will start to see visible results. Prescription-only formulas are typically 10-15 times more potent than their OTC counterparts. Therefore, users can expect to see visible results within four to eight weeks.

Using the right form of Vitamin A for your skin is just as important as using the ingredient correctly. Here are a couple of key factors to keep in mind when using any variation of Vitamin A, either OTC or prescription-only:

1. Avoid using other products at the same time that might be irritating. This includes exfoliants, scrubs, alcohol-based toners and astringents and medicated cleansers.

2. If you must wax, wax BEFORE you start using Vitamin A. This ingredient tends to leave the skin dry and sensitized by causing redness or flaking. Waxing while using a form of Vitamin A will only aggravate the skin more.

3. If you can, try to use Vitamin A during the summer months when there is more humidity in the air. This ingredient can be very drying on the skin. The humidity will help to combat the dryness.

4. Use at night. Products are more effective at night because they get to sit on top of clean, naked skin. They are also more likely to get absorbed into the epidermis because they don't have to compete with other skin care and makeup products or the environmental elements.

5. Only use a pea-size amount and be sure to apply all over the face. Don't just use as a spot treatment. You'll have better results with an all-over face application.

6.  Cleanse your skin 20 minutes before you apply the Vitamin A product. Apply Vitamin A to clean, dry skin. Then wait another 20 minutes before applying a moisturizer. If you apply moisturizer too soon, you can lock in the Vitamin A on the skin and exponentially increase it's intensity.

7. Slow and easy wins the race, especially if this is your first time using a Vitamin A product on your skin. When first using the product, start off with applying it once every three days for the first two weeks. Then apply every other day for the next two weeks. Once your skin has built up a tolerance to the product, you can start to apply it once a day. If you want to continue to see results, you'll have to continue to use the product. Results are not permanent for topical applications.

8. Wear sunscreen. Vitamin A is an aggressive form of exfoliant that removes the top layer of your skin. Protect the new layer of skin from new sun damage and irritation by covering it with sunscreen during the day. Don't forget to reapply every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you want to help reduce inflammation, add a serum with green tea for calming effects.