Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream: a Guru Score of 84%

Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Approved takes Critical takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

✓Approved

"If you've already done the retinol and you're tolerating it well, consider a retinaldehyde. Some great picks I'd consider would be Avène's RetrinAL. They make a nice eye cream, and they make a nice retinol for the face."

All 4 takes from Dr. Daniel Sugai

The Best Retinoids for Beginners (Before You Try Tretinoin)

"If you've already done the retinol and you're tolerating it well, consider a retinaldehyde. Some great picks I'd consider would be Avène's RetrinAL. They make a nice eye cream, and they make a nice retinol for the face."

The Only 5 Skincare Ingredient Categories You Actually Need

"If you've done retinol and you want to upgrade, go for retinaldehyde and Avène RetrinAL products are great. Those are gentle retinaldehydes and that's only one conversion step away from becoming active retinoic acid versus retinol needs two conversion steps."

How to ACTUALLY Fix Dark Spots (Dermatologist No-BS Guide)

"If you want something stronger, you got Avène's RetrinAL line that's been great. Avène has really impressed me. Reliable in the sensitive skincare world just like Vanicream has been and La Roche Posay. So I say consider their retinol there if you want something stronger like a retinaldehyde which is one conversion step away from being retinoic acid and active and that beats retinol which needs two conversion steps."

The Best Retinoids of 2025

"Avène, their RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream. Very nice product. I've been using this quite a bit recently. They've come out with a gentle retinaldehyde compound, the RetrinAL. This is really great for anti-aging. It has a thermal spring water to help soothe and not irritate the skin barrier too much while you start off on it. Retinaldehyde is quite difficult to compound into a nice product and it's quite unstable. This product is good to see coming out with a stabilized formulation with retinaldehyde so we can use it that's more potent than retinol. It's good for my advanced users that have been following me and want to step up their skincare game. This is a nice go-to product to try out. Avène is a nice French brand."

The Budget Dermatologist

719k subs

✓Approved

"Avène is a longtime hero in my skincare routine. This is actually reformulated this year and I love the new formulation so much. This is one of my super favorite budget retinoids. A retinoid is going to be your best topical skincare product to fight, prevent, and reverse signs of aging."

Dr. Aleksandra Brown

131k subs

✓Approved

"If your skin is really sensitive and you prefer a gentle approach, the Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream uses retinaldehyde, which is a little bit more potent but gentler alternative to retinol. It will still boost collagen production while reducing signs of sun damage. It's less irritating than the prescription retinoids, making it really good option for sensitive skin. The active ingredients are the retinaldehyde and tocopheryl, which is vitamin E derivative, an antioxidant that protects the skin from free radical damage. It also contains a little bit of hyaluronic acid to help with that dryness."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Approved

"Next up is the Avène RetrinAL. I didn't realize this until today, but they have two different versions, a 0.1 and a 0.5 version. The one I have is the 0.1 version, that's what I'm talking about today. This one's got 0.1% retinaldehyde, and it also contains vitamin E as well as their highly regarded thermal spring water for soothing your skin."

Dr. Jenny Liu

318k subs

✓Approved

"If you're looking for something more pricey that's splurge worthy, the Avène retinal line contains ceramides in a balm like moisturizer, great if you have sensitive skin struggling with fine lines or wrinkles. That one is really worth checking out."

Dr Dray

2.67M subs

✓Approved

"Retinaldehyde has been shown to be effective for improving some of the visible signs of skin aging, like age spots, discoloration, and fine lines. It can improve collagen production, and it can just improve the overall appearance of rough texture that occurs with age. It's typically very well tolerated. The Avène RetrinAL is a really, really good formula, it's very moisturizing, which offers you an almost immediate wrinkle smoothing effect, but then with consistent use you can start to notice some improvement in the visible signs of skin aging."

Common questions

Frequently asked.

What is Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream?

A moisturizing cream featuring retinaldehyde, a retinoid compound designed to address signs of aging, sun damage, and skin texture while maintaining a gentle profile suitable for sensitive skin.

Is Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream worth it?

Yes. All 6 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 84%.

What is Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream's Guru Score?

Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream holds a Guru Score of 84%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 6 independent expert reviewers we have collected.