Celimax Retinol Shot or Retinal Shot: What's the Difference and Which One to Choose

The Retinol Shot serum and the Retinal Shot booster are a pair from Celimax's Vita-A line, and choosing between them is easier than it looks. If you've never used retinol, our answer is the serum — why, in a moment. If you're already used to retinoids and want to target specific areas — the booster. Want both? Not straight away and, if you ask us, not on the same evening — the brand's calendar is below. What follows is how the two differ and, more importantly, how to get through the first month without "burning" anything.

How they differ

They have a lot in common. Both are 0.1% strength — retinol in one, retinal in the other — with 1% panthenol. Both are yellow with no added colourant: that's the natural colour of retinol and retinal, and the brand warns they can stain light clothing and bedding. Both are fragrance-free, though the ingredient itself may have a faint smell. And both contain Celimax's A-Shot: tiny needle-like particles from a natural sponge (listed as Hydrolyzed Sponge in the ingredients). In Celimax's description, they help the vitamin A absorb, and they themselves wash away when you cleanse; they're also what causes the slight tingle as you apply it.

Retinol Shot is a serum in a 30 ml pump bottle — a light, runny texture that isn't sticky. Inside is pure retinol, not a derivative, plus a nine-peptide complex. It goes on the whole face (for the first month, specific areas only — more on that below), after toner and before any other serums: the particles, as the brand explains, open the way for whatever follows. Finish with your moisturiser. Celimax recommends it for skin that has lost some firmness overall, with enlarged pores and fine lines.

Retinal Shot is a booster — Celimax's name for a rich, concentrated cream for specific areas: a 15 ml tube with a fine nozzle. Inside is retinal in nano-liposomes (microscopic capsules) and 3% Matrixyl 3000 (the trade name of a peptide complex). It goes on at the end of your evening routine, in a thin layer on the areas where wrinkles are deepening — around the eyes, the smile lines from nose to mouth, the forehead. Moisturiser goes before or after, and if yours is thinner than the booster, the brand suggests putting the moisturiser on first. That said, both products carry the warning "avoid the area around the eyes". Our reading: crow's feet out towards the temples and the top of the cheekbone are fine; the eyelid and anything near the lash line are not.

The main difference is speed, and this is the brand's own explanation. Before it can do anything, vitamin A has to be converted into its active form in the skin. Retinol needs two steps to get there, so it acts more slowly and gives the skin time to adjust; retinal needs one, so it's faster and stronger. Which is why our answer for beginners is the serum — and in its own plan for the pair, the brand puts the serum first too.

The first month with the serum, evening by evening

Celimax gives two ways to start: its quick guide says "every other evening for the first two weeks", while its detailed table for first-time retinol users says "once or twice a week for the first month". We go with the table: with retinoids, it's better to do too little than too much.

Evening one. If your skin is sensitive, the brand asks you to patch-test first on a small area — the inside of your arm, say — and wait until the next day (where and how long are our suggestion; the brand doesn't say). Then: cleanse, apply toner, press the pump once and take just a little from your palm — about the size of a grain of rice; you won't need the rest (the rice grain is the brand's measure; the single pump and the palm are our way of getting there). Spread it only over the areas that bother you — the forehead, for instance, or the smile lines; the brand's quick guide says the same — then your usual moisturiser on top. A light tingle is just the A-Shot particles doing their job. In the morning, sunscreen as the last step — and every morning for as long as you use retinoids, even on the days you skip them (that last part is our advice).

Weeks one to four. Repeat that same evening once or twice a week — no more, even if nothing stings or goes red. The brand makes a point of this: a reaction to retinoids can show up late. If your skin is dry or sensitive, Celimax advises staying at one or two evenings a week, always with moisturiser on top. For combination and oily skin, its guideline is three to four evenings a week with a light, non-greasy moisturiser — but that's a level to work up to, and, if you ask us, only once the first month is behind you.

What's normal and what isn't. Brief redness, flaking, itching, a feeling of heat or stinging is a normal part of adjusting. If it gets uncomfortable, skip the next evening and, when you go back to it, put a soothing moisturiser straight over the serum; if you're already at one evening a week, pause until your skin settles. If redness and heat last several days in a row despite the moisturiser, the brand advises stopping: vitamin A and the particles may not suit your skin right now.

Month two. Skin calm? Move up to three or four evenings a week and on to the whole face, increasing the amount little by little (the brand gives no exact measure for this step). A reminder for dry and sensitive skin: the brand's advice is to stay at one or two evenings.

If you've chosen the booster — or retinol isn't new to you

The booster follows the same schedule, and for a first-timer even the same amount — a grain of rice — on your chosen areas, one or two evenings a week, for the whole first month. The brand's table does have a beginner row for the booster, but we'd still start with the serum. If you've used retinol or retinal before, Celimax's starting point is different: one or two pumps of the serum, or a pea-sized amount of the booster, every other evening for the first month, then up to five or six evenings a week. Regular users: two or three pumps of the serum, or the booster in a thin layer on your problem areas or the whole face — every evening is fine. The rules on redness, pausing and morning sunscreen are the same for everyone.

When to add the other one: Celimax's calendar

Celimax designed them as a pair: the serum on the whole face, the booster on specific areas. According to the brand, you add the booster once your skin has had two weeks to adjust to the serum on its own; we'd wait a month — until you've moved up to three or four evenings a week with no reaction. In its Q&A, the brand also describes how to layer them on the same evening (serum first, then booster), but in its own calendar the two always fall on different days — we stick with the calendar.

• Beginner (on our schedule, that's already your second month): Mon serum · Wed booster · Fri serum · Sun booster. The serum drops back to two evenings here — the other two go to the booster.
• Intermediate: Mon, Fri and Sun serum · Wed and Sat booster.
• Experienced: Mon to Wed and Fri serum · Thu and Sat booster.

If you're one of those the brand keeps at one or two evenings a week (dry or sensitive skin), shrink the calendar to match — one evening for each product (our advice).

Acids, vitamin C and scrubs: keep them for other days

On the same day as retinol or retinal, Celimax advises against AHAs, BHAs and PHAs (double exfoliation), scrubs with granules (friction) and high-strength vitamin C (a different pH — redness, stinging); if you need them, keep them to different days. What does sit happily alongside them, according to the brand's table: panthenol, allantoin, madecassoside, hyaluronic acid, beta-glucan and ceramides; niacinamide and peptides also get the brand's approval.

Who should wait. If your skin is currently quick to redden, you've got inflamed breakouts, or it's very dry and flaky, the brand asks you to let it calm down first and then start with the tiniest amount. After a laser treatment, wait at least three to four days and start with a small amount; the same goes for a peel — not straight away. LED or heat-based devices on the same evening as retinoids can add to the redness. Celimax doesn't recommend either product during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Store them, the brand advises, at 3–10 °C (that's the fridge — our note), away from direct sunlight, and use within six months of opening.

You'll find both products in the Celimax Vita-A collection; the rest of the brand's range is on the Celimax page, and if you'd like to understand the ingredients themselves, we have separate guides to retinol and retinal.