Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retinoid Serum Review

Welcome, Skintellecuals!

If there is one product, I love more than anything; it has to be retinol because you can achieve so much with this. If you’re looking for actual results, then retinol is for you.
I know a lot of people can be somewhat wary of using retinol, but there is honestly nothing to worry about so long as you approach it correctly instead of just blitzing your skin.

The first retinol I ever used was Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil, which is a trans-retinoic ester (Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate), and I loved it was what got me obsessed with retinol. (If you are interested in starting using retinol check out my So you want to start using retinol?” post)

Sunday Riley recently launched an all-new retinoid serum called A+ High Dose Retinoid Serum (£70), while I think the product is alright the name is a bit misleading as someone who doesn’t use retinol might believe this is a potent retinol, but it isn’t.
Sunday Riley claims this is a 6.5% serum but its more like 0.05% as it is a trans-retinoic ester, it would be comparable with The Ordinary 5% Granactive Retinoid.

As you can see from the ingredients it is said to contain 5% trans-retinoic ester, retinoid-like botanical extracts, stabilised retinol blend (1 %), and blue-green algae with retinoid-like activity (0.5%)

To me personally, this is bullshit I would never consider “retinoid-like botanicals” as effective as retinol. You will notice that they don’t even describe what botanicals are retinoid-like and since I can’t see Bakuchiol in the INCI list which is the only botanical that’s shown to have retinol potential you can count this out of the formula.

Ingredients:

Water/Eau/Aqua solv, Propanediol solv|h, Dimethyl Isosorbide solv, Triheptanoin emo, Dimethicone emo 0 1, Glycerin

sii|h 0 0, Pentylene Glycol solv|h, Hexyldecanol emo, Disiloxane, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone emu|surf, Diheptyl Succinate emo, Propylene Carbonate solv|vc, Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate

cci, PPG-24-Glycereth-24 emu|solv|surf, Phenyl Trimethicone emo, Retinol

cci, Ubiquinone (Coq10)

aox, Honey Extract

h, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer

sii|aox|h, Algae Extract

emo|h, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Extract, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Fruit Extract

so|h, Bisabolol

so, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter

emo, Phospholipids

sii|emo, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract

h, Lecithin

emo|emu, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer vc, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene emo 2 1, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, 4-T- Butylcyclohexanol

so|cci, Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate emu, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil

emo 0 0, Sorbitol h 0 0, Cetylhydroxyproline Palmitamide

emo, Polysilicone-11, Benzoic Acid pres, Dehydroacetic Acid pres, Sodium Phytate chel, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Polysorbate, Hydroxyphenyl Propamidobenzoic Acid

so, Stearic Acid emo|vc 0 2–3, Brassica Campestris Sterols emo, PVP vc 0 0, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Sodium Benzoate pres, Alcohol

amic|solv|vc, Potassium Phosphate buff, Decyl Glucoside surf, Phenoxyethanol pres, Hexylene Glycol emu|solv|surf 0–1 0–2, Potassium Sorbate pres, Tocopherol

aox 0–3 0–3

Hover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.

While the formula itself is fine it’s going to work, I do like that they have included ingredients like CoQ10, Honey, Sodium Hyaluronate (water-soluble salt form of hyaluronic acid) and 4-T-Butylcyclohexanol which is also known as SymSitive, a soothing molecule whose unique feature is to decrease stinging and burning sensations instantly, as well as the formula is packed full of antioxidants. I honestly don’t have a problem with the formula. I have been using this every night for the past few months and while I think its an alright retinol I wouldn’t say you have to go out and get it now as there are others similar on the market with the same technology but more affordable.

I can’t honestly tell you to go out and buy this when I wouldn’t buy it for myself. I did expect more from this, but the more I researched it, the more disappointed I got. While this retinol might tick boxes in terms of anti-ageing and antioxidants, it certainly isn’t as potent as it’s claimed to be.