A nightly serum built around encapsulated retinal, the form of vitamin A that sits one single conversion away from what your skin actually uses.

Why retinal and not retinol

Your skin can't use retinol as it comes. It has to convert it twice: retinol → retinal → retinoic acid. Potency is lost at every step, which is why retinol asks for months of patience before anything shows.

Retinal skips the first conversion. One step instead of two — the same destination, reached far sooner, without pushing a high percentage to get there.

What that means for your skin after using Kensington & Reed Retinal

Visible change in weeks rather than months, and no sandpaper phase. Encapsulation releases the retinal slowly across the night, so your barrier keeps pace instead of playing catch-up.

The Kensington Retinal Bottle

150 ml in an airless opaque pump. Retinal breaks down on contact with light and air — in a clear dropper bottle, half of what you paid for would be dead before you reached the bottom.

Lightweight and non-greasy. Layers under moisturiser without pilling. Fragrance-free. The pale gold colour is the retinal itself, not dye — a clear "retinal" serum should raise questions.

NOT FOR YOU if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, or already using prescription tretinoin.