Introducing the First Truly Clean, Microbiome-Friendly Alternative for Prescription Retinoids

After years of research and development, Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique are thrilled to unveil a true innovation in skin health: Multi-Retinol Night Emulsion. Created to address the need we saw in our ongoing work with clients for a highly effective, microbiome-friendly alternative to prescription retinoids, this product is designed to provide a smart, strategic way to address and heal the declining function that is characteristic of aging skin. 

Why this product is different from the thousands of other retinols on the market lands squarely on its formulation. Number one, it includes an encapsulated retinol that is formulated without the microbiome-damaging preservatives found in prescription and over-the-counter retinoids currently on the market. That alone makes it unique. But more importantly, it incorporates everything the brand has learned about how various retinoids work to improve skin function. 

When people consider new products, they often look for the benefits of single ingredients, but it’s the strategic combination of ingredients that makes a product truly innovative. This sophisticated formulation leverages the unique benefits of three different retinoid actives to deliver comprehensive age delay benefits gradually and effectively, without causing redness, discomfort, or irritation — and is also fragrance and E.O. free. 

Here’s an explanation of the key ingredients and how they work.

1. Encapsulated retinol — A highly stabilized form that works at the dermis level of the skin to improve the cell messaging system, signaling the fibroblasts to replace old, unhealthy cells with new, properly functioning ones. Inhibits the inflammation that causes skin to show signs of aging.

1. Bakuchiol — Performs many tasks at the dermis level, including maintenance and repair of the extracellular matrix and the dermal-epidermal junction, which helps support the integrity and the structure of the skin. Also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Because it performs a lot of the same age delay functions as retinol, bakuchiol is often considered a replacement for retinol. (It’s not!) However, it performs these age delay tasks in different ways, and actually helps to stabilize and augment retinol function. So rather than regarding bakuchiol as the alternative retinol, we think of it as the retinol optimizer. 

1. Retinyl sunflowerseedate — Works at the epidermis level to hydrate and maintain moisture balance, which helps keep the skin looking and feeling good. Reduces the irritation often associated with retinoid use.

This load-sharing, synergistic approach makes Multi-Retinol Night Emulsion a much stronger all-round age delayer than you’d get if you opted for a higher percentage of retinol. 

Marie Veronique felt this product was necessary because prescription retinoids can be hard on the skin, disruptive to the microbiome, and contain ingredients that are on many organizations’ unsafe ingredients lists. And plant-based retinoids, while helpful in their own right, simply cannot deliver the age delay effects offered by traditional retinoids on their own.

Another reason we felt compelled to bring this product to market is that there is a common misconception that the stronger the percentage of retinol in a product, the better. The reality is that your body can only absorb and metabolize so much at once. Giving your body more retinol than it needs carries a higher risk of unwanted side effects like redness, irritation, and more.  

Founder Marie Veronique Nadeau says: 

“Our goal was to capture that audience that would most benefit from retinol usage but had been scared away, either by ridiculous rumor mongering or a bad experience with retinization. Education has allayed fears among the first group, and for the second group we devised a solution. We rounded out the encapsulated retinol with one other in the Vitamin A family — retinyl sunflowerseedate (a retinoid), and a plant extract that has many of the same effects as retinol — bakuchiol. All three work together to restore integrity in the dermis, normalize the epidermis, and improve water barrier function in the stratum corneum. Sodium Palmitoyl Proline and Nymphaea Alba Flower Extract were added to reduce surface redness and increase availability of proline, a critical amino acid in protein. Finally, we were able to create the breakthrough product we had been working towards, one that supports skin that is both aging and sensitive. Our synergistic solution delivers across-the-board anti-aging effects without the concomitant irritation. Génial, as the French would say.” 

Multi-Retinol Night Emulsion provides the corrective action we’ve come to expect from retinol — smoothing fine lines and wrinkles, evening out skin tone, etc. — but goes beyond by giving the skin what it needs to restore healthy skin function at the cellular level. 

If you want to arm yourself with a product that leverages everything Marie Veronique has learned about the science of age delay — and we’ve learned quite a lot over the last 20 years! — this is it. 

Click here to read answers to our most frequently asked questions about Multi-Retinol Night Emulsion.