In this post we’ll review the Medik8 Crystal Retinal line for its efficacy of treating the appearance of fine lines, acne and skin texture.
Full disclosure – some of these links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small % should you choose to shop them.
Retinol serum vs. Medik8 Crystal Retinal
If you’re here reading this, I’m sure you might be wanting to understand the key differences between regular retinol and Medik8 Crystal Retinal. We can all agree, the Medik8 is quite pricey on first glance, so I can understand wanting to understand what you’re really buying. Let’s start by breaking down the different types of retinol products available.
The main difference between retinol and retinal are the number of conversion steps the formula needs to take on the skin to convert into retinoic acid. Retinol is much ‘weaker’ and takes many more steps to turn into retinoic acid within the skin. This makes it much less irritating than prescription retinoids like Tretinoin or Differin.
Retinal is somewhere in the middle – stronger than retinol, weaker than prescription retinoids. This means it’s an amazing choice for retinol users who’re a little worried to jump straight to prescription strength retinoids.
Within Medik8’s range there are five different available strengths: 1, 3, 6, 10 and 20.
Medik8 Crystal Retinal 1
This is the weakest strength and ‘1’ stands for 0.01%. To put things into perspective, I first began using a retinaldehyde by Avene that was 0.1%, a fair bit stronger. For now, let’s not get caught up on which strength is ‘best’.
Medik8 Crystal Retinal 3
Similarly, Crystal Retinal 3 is 0.03%. When I first bought this I made the mistake of thinking it was 0.3%, which would have been a nice step up from my 0.1%. Alas, I had to send it back! For anyone looking to move up to a stronger dose of retinaldehyde from 0.1%, the Medik8 Crystal 20 would have been the right choice for me.
Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6
Crystal Retinal 6 is still not quite as strong as the 0.1% that I started on. This stands for 0.06%. The progressive strengths are designed for two use cases, in my opinion:
- Users who want to gradually titrate up the strength (go from low to high very gradually). This isn’t necessarily always the right thing to do.
- Users who have been using a certain strength of retinoid for a few months or years, and want to select the next level for them that is a little to a lot higher than their previous strength.
Medik8 Crystal Retinal 10
This strength is equal to 0.1% retinaldehyde.
Medik8 Crystal Retinal 20
This is double the strength of Medik8 Crystal Retinal 10.
With all retinoid strengths there is a trade off: the stronger the retinoid, the higher the risk of irritation. This is why some people choose to gradually move up in strength, because they prefer not to deal with lots of irritation and purging.
However, it may take them longer to see the results they’re looking for. Additionally, it might mean you may have to stop and start your retinoid treatment to allow your irritated skin some time to recover, which will set back your progress.
What are the benefits of retinaldehyde vs retinol?
It’s all well and good knowing the technical differences between retinal and retinol, but sometimes you just want to know what common problems it can actually solve for your skin. Let’s talk through some of the visible results you might notice:
First application
Unless your skin barrier is already damaged, you shouldn’t feel any particular sensation. If there is any stinging or redness, I would advise you to wash it off! See my recommended skin barrier products to restore your barrier if it’s damaged.
Assuming you’re applying the product at night, you may wake up to skin that looks roughly the same but has a little bit of a glow. This is what I personally noticed. It might take a few days for this to become visible.
First couple of weeks
Within the first couple of weeks you might begin to have what’s known as a ‘purge‘. It’s the process of purging impurities and pimples within the skin, where the skin might get worse before it gets better. Since retinoids speed up cell turnover, everything kind of gets ‘pushed’ out of the skin – fun! This process can last up to roughly three skin cycles – around 2-3 months.
The purging process applies to all retinoids but is usually more severe the stronger the retinoid. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and not experience a purging period, this doesn’t mean it’s not working, it just means you’re lucky!
Months to years
Once you complete the purging period (or not if you’re lucky!) a few months to a year is where it starts to get good. You can get really great results with consistent retinoid use, it’s definitely not a quick fix. The results are why I’m so addicted!
You can expect:
- A more even and brighter skin tone
- Smoother-looking skin and reduced closed comedones (skin texture)
- Reduced or totally removed dark spots, when used with sunscreen
- Reduced visible signs of aging, including less fine lines
- Much less acne
- Acne that, when it does appear, resolves much faster and is less inflamed
- Faded hyperpigmentation
- Beautiful skin!
- Younger looking skin due to the enhanced collagen production effects of the retinoid
Adverse effects of retinaldehyde
Starting the use of retinoids like Medik8 for the first time can be a journey, so let’s quickly run through some of the less desirable side effects you might see in the first couple of months:
- Redness due to irritation
- Purging of acne, skin gets worse before it gets better
- Flaking and peeling of the skin
- Stinging and skin barrier damage – this one is preventable but it is a fine line. You can prevent it by not applying too much too soon.
Are the Medik8 Crystal Retinal claims realistic?
Looking at the Medik8 website, there are quite a lot of bold claims on the efficacy of the product. These days its easy to be skeptical about claims, because there are so many wild ones and a lot of fake reviews! I totally get it. Let’s break down some of the crystal retinal features:
‘Retinal is 11x faster than retinol’
I’m no scientist, but common sense says this is more or less correct. On the website, they have attached a study to back up this claim, but realistically you can be sure that retinaldehyde will act faster than retinol.
As I mention above, years of research have shown that stronger retinoids work faster, with the drawback of more irritation, generally speaking.
‘Clinically proven to reduce fine lines by up to 20%’
Again, retinoids are proven to reverse visible signs of ageing, it’s just fact! Retinaldehyde is closer to retinoic acid, and therefore going to be more powerful than retinol when fighting signs of ageing. Something that isn’t mentioned and that should be, is that it won’t be as effective unless you’re using sunscreen consistently.
‘100% agree Crystal Retinal is gentle on the skin’
The Medik8 study that revealed this result was only on 33 people, which in my opinion is quite a small sample group. Speaking from personal experience and having tried 3x retinaldehydes, many retinols, Tretinoin and Differin, retinaledehyde is most certainly quite gentle on the skin. I think the only time this wouldn’t be true is if you start using it every single night from day one. Anything used that aggressively is likely to cause irritation. I think Medik8 is a great option for most sensitive skins.
Is Medik8 Crystal Retinal worth it?
This product has been amongst the top hyped products by beauty editors, and I can definitely understand why. To put things into perspective, there are not that many retinal products on the market, though it feels beauty brands are slowly catching on and there are more and more being released (Naturium, Geek & Gorgeous). Because there aren’t many, it makes sense that people have been wowed by it – it’s a great step up from retinol, which is a much slower burn.
The product does have some downsides, it is not perfect in my eyes – I wish it didn’t have fragrance in it, for example. Because there is a shortage of retinal products, I make an allowance for this one because it is so effective.
Overall I think Medik8 Crystal Retinal is an excellent form of retinoid and a great product for nearly anyone to add into their skincare routine. Retinaldehyde is clinically proven to produce results, unlike so many other skincare actives available. Not only this, but retinoids are the gold standard for treating acne in clinics.
If you are looking to achieve more youthful skin, see a reduction of fine lines and greatly reduced acne, I think this is a great option for you. I regularly recommend it on my TikTok and I have promoted it for >1 year before having any affiliation with Medik8.
The key to seeing success with it, and any retinoid, is to stay consistent and trust the process.
My personal experience with retinaldehyde
I thought I’d share a little on my personal experience before we finish up.
I first began my retinoid journey (and my whole TikTok ‘career’) because I decided to use retinaldehyde to clear up my moderate yet persistent acne, as well improve the texture of my skin. As you can see, it did a great job! I used a (now discontinued) product by Avene that contained 0.1% retinaldehyde.
I began using the product roughly in May 2020 and things started off well. Then I made the unfortunate decision to also start using a new moisturiser that clogged up basically all of the pores on my cheeks. It took me months to get rid of these and I felt like I was starting from scratch!
The lesson here is to only change one product at a time, and also be suspicious of your current routine products if retinoids aren’t working for you. You might be using a retinoid but keep using a problematic moisturiser, for example, that are keeping the clogs around.
