Let's Clear This Up — Does Retinol Thin Your Skin Or Not?

There are a whole lot of skin care myths out there—and new ones pop up every day (thank you, TikTok). We could spend days separating fact from fiction, but today, we're here to myth bust one of the most popular suspicions: Does retinol thin your skin?

Let's be honest: What thin skin looks like to you will probably be different from somebody else. But in this context, "thin" generally means a loss of density. This can also lead to crepey skin, as some call it.

Now, if your skin appears thick and supple when you're young but slowly thins as you age, what's causing that shift? Well, it's all about collagen production—which begins to slow down when you reach your mid-20s, by about 1% each year1.

So, if you're looking to support collagen production as you age, then you'll need to target that mechanism at the source—essentially, balancing what is lost by stimulating new collagen to support fuller, tighter skin.

One way of doing so is actually by using retinol, contrary to the popular misconception that retinol thins your skin. Here's why it works: "Retinol binds to retinoid receptors within skin cells," board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., previously explains to mbg. This "activates genes that upregulate collagen production."

This effect has been observed in clinical studies, too, where retinol treatment stimulated collagen production2 in mature skin, helping decrease the appearance of wrinkling. So, alas, retinol does not thin the skin; it actually helps you maintain skin density and elasticity.