Smooth Operator

Can retinol pack the wrinkle-reducing power without the irritation? Chloe Malle test-drives a new generation of kinder formulas rebooting the superstar skin care ingredient.

- Chloe Malle

Soon after I had my second child and the tight, brioche bun sheen of pregnancy skin had faded to a postpartum gefilte-fish gray, I saw a meme on the Instagram Stories of a younger friend’s younger sister: “If The O.C. was your favorite show in 2004, it’s time to add retinol to your skincare routine,” it read in sans serif letters over a cast photo of the beloved early-aughts high school dramedy. Already in college when it aired, I was a little too old to be gripped by Mischa Barton’s teenage shenanigans, but the reference immediately aged me. A month later, a male friend caught me similarly off guard. “Do you use retinol? Should I use retinol?” he asked earnestly. There is apparently a special French formula that isn’t even allowed in the United States, he relayed, wide-eyed. Retinol had become that person you meet at a party, and then run into repeatedly thereafter.

That’s likely due to the fact that at 37, I am starting to seriously think about wrinkles—and how to get rid of them. But there also seems to be a retinol renaissance afoot thanks to new technology, green and clean formulas, and, of course, the medical school of TikTok, where interest in the multitasking molecule that promises to ward off the earliest signs of aging has generated over 3.2 billion views.