By Hannah Sivak, PhD
Biochemist
Skin Actives Scientific LLC

Chemical nomenclature and your health

There is nothing more boring (at least for a non-scientist) than a scientific paper. Words must be used precisely so that other scientists will know exactly what you are talking about.

It is understandable, though, that a non scientist will get confused with the nomenclature used for retinoids, a group of compounds with vitamin A activity.  Retinal, retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, retinol, retinoic acid? Do we really need so many names? YES!  Each name represents a different molecule with different biological activity. So very confusing!

Your doctor will not confuse them, though, and neither will your skin. Your MD may tell you that you have mild acne and why don't you go to the supermarket and get some vitamin A cream. You may go and buy a cream with retinyl acetate or retinyl palmitate or retinol. BUT, if you have serious acne, you will probably get a prescription for retinoic acid or for tretinoin.

What is the difference? They are different chemicals, and the subtle differences in chemical structure will be recognized by your skin.Retinyl acetate (the vitamin A we sell at Skin Actives) will be converted by your cells before they can attach themselves to the receptors on the surface of the cell nucleus and give instructions. You have the enzymes to do this job and the advantage is that retinyl acetate is much more stable than retinol.

There is no danger of you making a mistake either, because the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) protects you by not allowing the free sale of retinoic acid and other chemicals used in prescription medicines. Retinoic acid must be avoided by women that are pregnant or could become pregnant and your doctor will make sure you do not get the wrong medicine.

So when you see differences in spelling, don't assume that it is a typo. It may be chemists being precise.

Renew your skin with retinyl acetate in the SAS acne control cream or mix your own cream using retinyl acetate and Canvas base cream.