Last Updated on November 12, 2025 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
You finally committed to retinol because you were sick of your pores and texture, but now you’ve got dead skin cells just camping out on your face and your foundation looks like garbage. So obviously you’re wondering – can I exfoliate while using retinol or am I gonna wreck my face? Yeah you can, but mess it up and you’re gonna be red and angry for weeks. In this article I’m gonna tell you exactly how to combine chemical exfoliation (I don’t recommend scrubs ever) with retinol without destroying your skin barrier – when to do it, what kind of exfoliation won’t kill you, and how to know when you’ve gone too far.
Retinol Benefits For Skin
Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A and it speeds up skin cell turnover (your skin’s natural exfoliating process) like crazy. All those dead skin cells hanging around? Retinol’s like nope, out, we’re making new skin cells right now. This is why it works for everything. Fine lines, texture, dark spots, all of it. More collagen production, faster cellular turnover, the whole deal. It’s genuinely a powerhouse ingredient which is why every board-certified dermatologist won’t stop talking about it.
But here’s the annoying part. Retinol converts to retinoic acid (that’s the active form) and your skin can completely freak out. Flaky skin, redness, dryness, sometimes your face just feels tight and pissed off. There are different types of retinoids – drugstore stuff, prescription topical retinoids – and they all speed things up on the surface of the skin. Your skin’s basically doing a full renovation. Which sounds great until you realize renovations are messy as hell and you look like crap before you look better. Welcome to the retinoid journey, everyone acts like it’s no big deal but it kind of sucks at first.
Best retinol picks:
- The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion ($12.10): This simple formula contains both retinol and granactive retinoid, a new form of retinoid that’s great at treating acne. Available at Beauty Bay, Boots, Cult Beauty, The Ordinary, and Ulta
- Paula’s Choice Resist 1% Retinol Booster ($52.00): A high dose retinol serum infused with antioxidants to help you fight premature aging. You can use it on its own for maximum effect. If that’s too irritating for your skin, mix a couple of drops with your moisturiser. Available at Cult Beauty, Dermstore, and Paula’s Choice, and SpaceNK
- Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM ($65.00): This baby contains 1.5% retinol. It’s a very high concentration, but it’s encapsulated to be gentler on the skin. Still, build your way up to it. This should NOT be your first retinol serum. Available at Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty, Face The Future, Look Fantastic, Peter Thomas Roth, Sephora, and Ulta
Related: The Complete Guide To Retinol In Skincare
Struggling to put together a skincare routine that minimises wrinkles, prevents premature aging, and gives your complexion a youthful glow? Download your FREE “Best Anti-Aging Skincare Routine” to get started (it features product recommendations + right application order):
Retinol Side Effects
You start retinol and suddenly you’re shedding like a snake. What gives? When retinol cranks up that cellular turnover you’re making way more dead skin cells than normal. Your skin’s working overtime pushing out the old stuff but it’s producing it faster than it can shed naturally. So you get this buildup on the skin’s surface that makes you look dull and feel rough as hell.
Extra annoying if you have dry skin or sensitive skin already. The dead cells pile up, your retinol product can’t even get through all that mess properly, and you’re stuck looking crusty.
Everyone sees this happening and thinks time to scrub it off! Which is exactly how people destroy everything. Your healthy skin barrier is already dealing with a lot. It’s adjusting to this potent active, trying to maintain its pH, protecting you from UV rays and free radicals and all the environmental crap. If you go crazy with exfoliation on top of this you’re gonna remove too many dead cells and push it into full meltdown.
Related: How To Deal With Retinol Side Effects
Can You Exfoliate And Use Retinol At The Same Time?
Real talk – you can use both but not at the same time. Like never on the same night. Here’s the thing everyone gets wrong. Retinol is already exfoliating your skin from the inside, like it’s speeding up how fast your skin sheds cells so you’re technically already exfoliating. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use other exfoliants too.
Like maybe you want glycolic acid because you’ve got dark spots and the retinol alone isn’t cutting it. Or you need salicylic acid because your pores are clogged and you’re breaking out. Or you just really like what lactic acid does for your texture. All good reasons to use chemical exfoliants – it’s not just about dealing with flaky skin from the retinol.
You just gotta figure out what your skin actually needs instead of doing whatever TikTok told you. If you just started retinol and your face is already freaking out? Don’t add exfoliation on top of that, are you crazy? But if you’ve been using retinol for months and your skin’s fine with it and you want to add an exfoliant for a specific thing like acne or pigmentation? Yeah go for it but use them on different nights. Your skin needs time to chill out between using these strong actives and if you don’t give it that time you’re gonna wreck your skin barrier and end up with a red irritated mess.
What’s The Best Exfoliation Method To Use With Retinol?
Chemical exfoliants are usually your best bet with retinol. Alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid and lactic acid, or beta hydroxy acids like salicylic acid. These chemical exfoliators dissolve the glue holding dead skin cells together so they can leave naturally. Way gentler than scrubbing your face like you’re trying to remove paint from a wall. A lactic acid serum is pretty solid because it’s gentler than other AHAs and doesn’t completely dry you out. Glycolic acid hits harder – might be too much if you’re already irritated. If you’re acne-prone or have oily skin, a salicylic acid cleanser works because BHAs get into your pores and actually clean them out.
Physical exfoliants – scrubs, brushes, anything where you’re manually scrubbing stuff off – are way riskier. Using physical exfoliation with retinol can create tiny tears in your already angry skin, especially if you’re going hard with those circular motions everyone demonstrates in videos. If you absolutely must do physical exfoliation, go super gentle and don’t do it often. Chemical peels while on retinol? Hell no unless a dermatologist is supervising and knows exactly what’s happening. The combination of retinol and strong peels is how you completely destroy your skin barrier and hate your life for weeks.
Best picks:
- Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum ($90.00): Don’t let the name fool you. This exfoliant has both salicylic acid to unclog pores and glycolic acid to fade away the dark spots pimples sometimes leave behind. Available at Cult Beauty, Sephora and SpaceNK.
- Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid ($29.00): The cult exfoliant from the brand, it unlclogs pores and treats blackheads and acne. The texture’s a little sticky, but if you can take that, this is one of the best salicylic acid exfoliants out there. Available at Cult Beauty, Paula’s Choice, Sephora, and SpaceNK.
- The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution: A simple, no-frills Glycolic Acid exfoliant that brightens the complexion and fades away dark spots. Available at Beauty Bay, Boots, Cult Beauty, Sephora, SpaceNK, The Ordinary, and Ulta.
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% ($8.90): A simple Lactic Acid exfoliant enriched with Hyaluronic Acid to exfoliate and hydrate skin at the same time. Available at Beauty Bay, Boots, Cult Beauty, Sephora, SpaceNK, The Ordinary, and Ulta.
When To Exfoliate If You’re Using Retinol?
Timing matters way more than people think. This is where skin cycling becomes actually useful instead of just being a trend. Use your retinol and exfoliant on different days. Not different times of the same day – different days completely. Your skin needs recovery time between these potent actives or it’s gonna lose its mind.
Here’s what actually works. Retinol at night because UV rays destroy retinol anyway plus you need sun protection during daytime use. On retinol nights, zero chemical exfoliants. On your nights off from retinol, maybe use a gentle chemical exfoliant if your skin can handle it. Some people can exfoliate once or twice a week on non-retinol nights. Others need to do it once every two weeks maximum. You might start with once every two weeks and see what happens to your face.
Never – and I really mean never – use strong acids the same night as retinol. That combination is how you end up with irritated skin, redness everywhere, and a barrier so messed up it takes weeks to fix. Just don’t do it. If you’re new to retinol, forget about exfoliation for at least a month or two. Let your skin adjust to the retinol first. After that initial adjustment period which usually takes like 8-12 weeks, then you can think about adding gentle exfoliation if you actually need it.
What About Mixing In Other Active Ingredients?
Since we’re talking about combining skincare ingredients, let’s talk about the other stuff people try to pile on their face.
- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and retinol can both be in your routine, just not at the same time. Vitamin C is better for morning anyway since it helps protect against free radicals and environmental damage. Use your vitamin C serum in the morning, retinol at night. Pretty straightforward.
- Benzoyl peroxide with retinol is tricky if you have acne-prone skin. Benzoyl peroxide can actually deactivate retinol if you use them together, so you gotta separate them. Benzoyl peroxide in the morning, retinol at night, or alternate nights completely.
- Hyaluronic acid is totally fine with retinol. Actually it’s a good idea because retinol dries you out and hyaluronic acid helps with hydration without messing with how the retinol works.
- Same with vitamin E – these are supportive ingredients, not competing ones that fight each other.
The real problem is combining the main types of exfoliation with retinol. Throwing too many active ingredients at your face at once is how you end up with angry compromised skin that can’t handle any of the good stuff you’re trying to use.
Related: Mix And Match: The Skincare Ingredients You Should Never Use Together
How To Tell You’ve Completely Overdone It
Your skin will absolutely tell you when you’ve screwed up. You just gotta pay attention. Signs you’re gone too far:
- If your face is constantly red, burning, or feels raw, you’ve overdone it. Some mild flaking or temporary redness right after applying retinol is normal, but constant irritation means you need to back off right now.
- Everything stings now even your gentle cleanser.
- Breakouts that aren’t normal purging.
- Dry patches that won’t go away no matter how much moisturizer you slap on.
- That tight uncomfortable feeling that lasts all day long.
- If you have a darker skin tone, over-exfoliation can cause dark spots or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation which is probably the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve here.
- If your skin texture is getting worse instead of better or you’re getting new dark spots, stop exfoliating immediately.
Your healthy skin barrier should feel comfortable. Not tight, not burning, not constantly angry at you. If it doesn’t feel comfortable anymore, you’ve crossed the line and need to pull back.
Best Practices For A Skincare Routine With Exfoliation And Retinol
Let me give you a routine that won’t destroy everything you’re working towards.
- Start slow. New to retinol? Use it like two or three times a week with a lower concentration around 0.25% or 0.5%. No exfoliation yet at all. Give yourself at least six to eight weeks minimum to adjust.
- Use a gentle cleanser. Not a salicylic acid cleanser, not a scrub, just basic cleansing that cleans your face without stripping everything off. Your face doesn’t need to be under constant attack from every single product.
- When you finally add exfoliation, start with once every one to two weeks on a non-retinol night. See what happens to your skin. If your skin’s totally fine, maybe increase to once a week, but never ever on retinol nights.
- Wear broad-spectrum sunscreen every single day. This isn’t optional or negotiable. Retinol makes you way more sensitive to sun damage and you’re trying to improve your skin, not completely fry it with UV damage. SPF 30 minimum, every day, no excuses or exceptions.
- Add extra hydration. After your retinol, use a good moisturizer. Maybe add a hyaluronic acid serum before your moisturizer to boost hydration even more. Your skin needs support while it’s doing all this cellular turnover work.
- Know your skin type and respect it. Got sensitive skin? You might never be able to handle frequent exfoliation while on retinol and that’s completely fine. Have oily skin? You might tolerate more but don’t get cocky about it. Everyone’s skin is different and responds differently.
The Bottom Line
Can you exfoliate while using retinol? Yeah you can, but you can’t just go wild with it and expect everything to be fine. Retinol’s already doing serious heavy lifting on your cellular turnover, so you need to be really strategic about adding any other type of exfoliation into the mix. Chemical exfoliants used on completely separate nights from retinol usually work best, but only after your skin’s fully adjusted to retinol first. The best results come from being patient and actually listening to what your skin’s telling you, not throwing every powerful ingredient at your face and hoping it all works out somehow.
