My skin and I have been through a lot together. After a grueling battle with cystic acne through my early twenties, I finally cleared things up after two rounds of Accutane. It changed my life, but it was a lot for my skin, so I try to be gentler on her now. I tend to keep actives to a minimum (aside from my Sofie Pavitt Face Mandelic Clearing Serum) and treat my skin to gentle, ultra-hydrating products.
However, as I get closer and closer to 30—T-minus six months to go—I’ve been getting the itch to do a little something more. I’m hearing the siren’s call of retinol, both for fading some of my leftover scarring and for the anti-aging benefits, and I wouldn’t mind the glow that I’ve seen the ingredient impart on friends and colleagues. Still, it scares me a little bit, considering that glow often comes with a phase of flaking skin, redness, and pimple purging.
Enter Personal Day’s freshly-launched Just Like New Adaptanoid Serum. The serum uses a retinol alternative but promises retinol-level results, a claim that was too good to resist, so I put it to the test. Ahead, everything you need to know about the serum, plus my honest review.
Personal Day
The Formula
Retinol, whether in prescription form or over-the-counter, is famously tough on skin. It’s also famously tough on acne, which is why it’s a perfect fit for Lili Reinhart’s brand, which is tailored to breakout-prone skin. But while the brand goes hard on pimples, there’s also an emphasis on calming the skin and the mind, which is where this gentler take on traditional retinol comes in.
Personal Day
So what exactly is adaptanoid, the serum’s hero ingredient? It’s a third-generation retinoid—AKA vitamin A derivative—that’s gentler than other retinols on the market. Per the brand, the ingredient “transforms on contact to a skin-optimized level of complexion-refining adapalene to smooth and improve without overwhelming the barrier.” Like traditional retinol, adaptanoid can help increase collagen production, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, clear acne-prone skin, reduce the look of pores, and even skin tone.
In addition to the namesake ingredient, Just Like New also uses TXVector, a targeted delivery method of tranexamic acid to fade the look of bright spots. Rounding out the formula is squalane, to lock in hydration and strengthen the skin barrier. The brand recommends using one drop on clean, dry skin nightly, and eventually working up to two drops as your skin acclimates.
My Review
Let’s start with what this product doesn’t do. It doesn’t cause irritation, redness, flakes, or a scary purge. I used the serum for just over a week, and I did notice my skin felt a touch drier the first few days, but nothing some extra moisturizer couldn’t fix.
Bella Cacciatore
Just Like New feels super lightweight on the skin, and has a slightly hydrating feel upon application. I followed the brand’s directions and eased in with one drop for the first week, before bumping it up to two drops moving forward. I didn’t experience any tingling or burning right after applying, and it layered nicely with my other creams and serums.
While I didn’t use the serum long enough to see a significant difference in things like wrinkles and pore size, it gave me a lovely glow that I noticed within the first few days of use. My skin felt smooth, and after the initial dryness subsided, my makeup applied so evenly. I didn’t notice a huge dent in the clogged pores on my chin, but it also didn’t make them worse—every other time I’ve tried to start retinol I’ve purged, gotten scared, and given up, so that was super reassuring.
As far as retinoids go, Just Enough has definitely eased my fears, and I can’t wait to see what it does long term.
