I was not yet 40 and was going through a difficult phase both professionally and personally. It was obvious - or at least I was - in my skin. It had lost its radiance, the pores on my cheeks were too big, I thought. None of the common cosmetic lines - whether the well-known 3-phase care or a series developed by a Hungarian doctor with an elaborate washing ritual - helped me. The advertising promised a lot, but the ingredients didn't deliver much. When I asked for studies that could prove the effectiveness of the substances used, I got all sorts of excuses - the manufacturer's secret recipe, only the raw material supplier has conducted studies, etc.

BOOSTER FOR CELLS / DISCOVERY OF THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT

In a story I was researching about acne, I came across the active ingredient retinol. Besides hormones, it is the only substance whose positive effect on the skin has been proven and scientifically proven. Retinol is nothing other than vitamin A, i.e. a derivative of the fat-soluble vitamin. Years of research have shown that vitamin A can have different effects on all layers of the skin, such as accelerating cell renewal. It helps against unevenness and skin impurities and stimulates collagen production, thus smoothing out wrinkles and lines. The result: the skin looks fresher and more radiant.

Retinol is not a newcomer to skin care, but has already had a long scientific career behind it. The American biochemist Elmer McCollum discovered the active ingredient retinol as early as 1913. The Swiss chemist Paul Karrer conducted further, broad-based research, and was ultimately awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.

THREE TYPES OF RETINOL

However, not all retinol is the same. There are three types. The precursors are called retinol esters. In the skin, retinol esters are then converted into retinol through chemical reactions. The ester is the less potent form of retinol and is therefore gentler on the skin. Pure retinol oxidizes in the skin to retinal (retinaldehyde) and is finally converted to retinoic acid (tretinoin). Tretinoin is the active retinoic acid, also called vitamin A acid, which is also produced naturally in the body in small amounts. When applied to the skin, tretinoin is prescription-only and is used very successfully by dermatologists to treat acne in the form of ointments, creams, lotions or orally.

Anyway, I decided to boost my skin with retinol. At the time, however, there was no commercially available product on the market that met my expectations. A doctor friend of mine wrote me a prescription for a retinol cream and also recommended a pharmacy that still mixes recipes. A rarity these days. My skin was grateful for the effort and repaid me with more radiance, smaller pores and fewer wrinkles. Especially around the eyes, friends often asked me how I had managed to make the skin so smooth and whether an injection might have been involved.

WITH "LIP" MY NEW CARE ERA BEGAN

When I got to know Doctor Mi! through a PR agency, my skincare routine took on a new concept. My first Mi! product was the lip balm LIP . Before that, I often had chapped lips. From then on, that was a thing of the past. The contours of my lips also became more defined. That convinced me. Since then, I always have the small, dark red jar in my handbag.

Through LIP I also got to know TECMi! Retinol , which is a common thread throughout the medical skincare range - something that my pharmacy cream couldn't offer me. This is a special form of molecular processing, namely double encapsulation, which Doctor Mi! also uses for other active ingredients and complexes. This innovative technology has several advantages: Firstly, the encapsulated substances can penetrate deeper into the skin, exactly where they are needed. In addition, TECMi! protects the active ingredients against the destructive influence of light, for example, and there is no "scattering loss" on the way to the dermis, as is the case with normal, unencapsulated ingredients. And with retinol in particular, this also prevents unwanted irritation of the skin's surface. I now use not only the lip care with retinol, but the entire " BEST AGER SET ".

MARGIT RÜDIGER

Margit Rüdiger is internationally known as “The Voice of Beauty”. She is one of the most renowned journalists in the field of beauty, anti-aging and aesthetics. Her career has taken her through the editorial departments of Germany’s most important fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Madame, Bunte, Freundin, Brigitte, Marie Claire and Esquire.

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