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Combining the two may make you excessively dry. I would suggest a good ceramide moisturizer alongside the retin A. In our office, we suggest Elevase Moisture Booster. Best, Dr. KaramanoukianLos Angeles
Dear d_el_h:You are right to look for good quality products in these categories. You are asking about the most effective medicated products to prevent and reverse sunu damage and aging. I recommend a vitamin C cream of 10% or higher concentration of L-ascorbic acid in a pH of 3.2 or lower, Vitamin C Cream 10%, and that you apply it to clean skin, allowing it to absorb for at least one hour with nothing else on top of it. (Vitamin C is a highly unstable compound. If you expose it to oxygen, it will degrade quickly, and you change the pH it will not be effective.) The best form of Retin A (all-trans retinoic acid) is its parent compound Retinol, which is quickly converted to all-trans retinoic acid by your skin's keratinocytes. Compounding it with green tea polyphenols and resveratrol (Skin Revision 2x, 5x and 10x) increases its ability to promote collagen production as well as other connective tissue proteins, and also prevents your skin from being harmed by ultraviolet radiation while still allowing the production of vitamin D.You can check out some choices that meet these criteria below if you would like, or you can buy SkinCeutical's vitamin C serum and Vichy's retinol cream (which does not have green tea or resveratrol). Do not waste your money on the thousands of other poorly-formulated OTC products.All the best, Dr. Clark
