What is CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum?

A lightweight retinol serum combining encapsulated retinol with niacinamide, ceramides, licorice root extract, and hyaluronic acid to address uneven skin tone, dark spots, and fine lines.

Is CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum worth it?

Yes. All 10 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 83%.

What is CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum's Guru Score?

CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum holds a Guru Score of 83%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 10 expert reviewers we have collected.

Who is CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum best for?

CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum is generally suited to mature skin.

CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum: a Guru Score of 83%

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.

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Dr. Daniel Sugai

721k subs

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"CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum is a nice over-the-counter option combining retinol and retinaldehyde, which is much more unstable and can be hard to formulate, but CeraVe has done a good job with it."

All 15 takes from Dr. Daniel Sugai

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"I had steered patients towards this direction if you have dark spots, melasma, and you want to gently work on those dark spots with a retinol. [...] This one actually is targeting dark spots more effectively with niacinamide, but also licorice root extract. I like the texture of it. I've done a Dr. Sugai Compares video between the blue and the purple retinol serums, and I have to go with this one. This blue one is still one of my favorites."

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"You can get CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum. This has licorice root extract, so if you have hyperpigmentation on your neck, that's something you can consider."

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"Retinol is great, it's a vitamin A derivative. It helps with fine lines and wrinkles and there's evidence backing this up. Do not use if you're pregnant, but if you're not, use this long term. I've been using retinol for over 10 years and it's the best decision I've made for my skin, in addition to sunscreen and vitamin C in the daytime. This would be for nighttime. [...] I like the Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum more than the Skin Renewing Retinol."

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"I also like CeraVe's Resurfacing Retinol Serum. I like that more than the renewal, the skin renewing purple one. The blue resurfacing retinol has licorice root extract which is nice in helping with hyperpigmentation and that one's quite affordable. You can find it at Target, your local drugstore, online."

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"You can do CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum if you have hyperpigmentation cuz it has licorice root extract and niacinamide."

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"I like this more than their skin renewing purple serum. I like the texture more in this and if you have hyperpigmentation go for this because it has licorice root extract and niacinamide, both of those ingredients are great at brightening your skin reducing dark spots. So I feel like this is a great start to the world of retinol. I like this one over the purple. I made a YouTube video on the comparison between the two and I still stand by that even a few years later."

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"If you're a beginner, if you have sensitive skin, if you have rosacea, you might want to stick with an over-the-counter retinol that you can find over the counter at your store, whether it's CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum or Olay."

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"CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum - I like it. It's a really nice over-the-counter option that you can get at your local drugstore."

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"I like the resurfacing Retinol Serum a lot. It has licorice root extract as well as niacinamide, and niacinamide is a jack of all trades that works on sebum but also helps brighten the skin. The licorice root extract in this is good if you have hyperpigmentation because that also works on decreasing melanin production and helps with brightening your skin. This is a nice lightweight serum you can put a little bit of pea-size amounts, all you need."

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"I like it mixed in with my retinol, say the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum, that retinol serum is great and it has licorice root extract as well as niacinamide to help brighten the skin."

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"You can do CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum. That one is a good one that's very affordable."

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"I also like CeraVe resurfacing retinol in the blue uh pump that one's a nice one but they don't disclose how much retinol is in that one"

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"CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum has licorice root extract that's soothing but also works on dark spots as well as niacinamide too. So those are great brightening retinoids to consider."

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

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"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum is $17. The star of the show is the encapsulated retinol they use. It also contains niacinamide, licorice root, and ceramides, which are in everything CeraVe does. It reduces the appearance of post-acne marks and pores, and three essential ceramides help the skin barrier and improve skin smoothness. It's really affordable, and this is one of the good ones, especially if you have acne-prone skin."

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"It's good for dark spots and hyperpigmentation issues as well because it contains licorice root, as well as niacinamide, as well as several ceramides, which is kind of their hook line. This stuff is really wonderful and really affordable. If you're an experienced retinol user, I would probably recommend something stronger, but if you're just looking for help with dark spots and things like that, or if you're newer to retinoids, this is a great two-in-one type serum."

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"The CeraVe Retinol Resurfacing Serum is 22 bucks. This one uses encapsulated retinol, ceramides, and sodium hyaluronic acid, and it's really nice. There's a lot of great retinoids out there. You don't need to break your bank to have a good retinol in your routine."

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"The ones from CeraVe are really good. The Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum is good and very affordable."

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"This one's really nice. [...] They have a couple different retinol products, this one is my favorite, especially if you suffer from hyperpigmentation issues. It can help with brightening skin up, and the retinoids in here are great for anti-aging as well. They have two different retinoid products and this is my favorite of the two."

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Dr. Aleksandra Brown

146k subs

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"The encapsulated retinol works to gradually fade pigmentation and refine texture, and there's also licorice root extract that adds that extra brightening support on top of that. Ceramides and niacinamide in here keep the skin barrier strong throughout, which matters a lot when you're actively treating pigmentation because compromised barrier can actually make your discoloration worse. For everyday use and an unbeatable price point, this is a really smart pick."

Doctorly

3.59M subs

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"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol is a very good starter retinol."

All 8 takes from Doctorly

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"Here's why I like it: we're talking about mostly maintaining and preventing photoaging, and this is very budget friendly. It also has multiple ingredients so it has your retinol, your jack of all trades niacinamide, and then licorice for the third component. And then like all CeraVe products, it has ceramides in it as well. I think it delivers as a very comprehensive retinol product. It's a great product, even good as a starter retinol for people that are first getting into retinol."

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"Something like the CeraVe Resurfacing [...] Retinol, they pioneered retinol so they are the OGs in that category, but using a retinol is going to do a lot of the work that we described, so I do think it's foundational to your nighttime skincare routine if you're trying to minimize the appearance of the pores."

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"The CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum is one of my favorites. It's budget friendly, it uses encapsulated slow release retinol, it's not expensive, and it keeps it very simple because it's like one product you just use this at night Monday through Saturday."

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"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol is a very good starter retinol."

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"A good starter for people is the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol. It's a good combination of retinol and licorice root. It's going to help with brightening, and it's also going to help with texture. It's just a good product for your skin to get acclimated, and then once you start there you can expand your horizons to maybe something that's a bit more efficacious."

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"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol is a great product because it uses an encapsulated form of retinol which slowly releases itself throughout the day and that makes it much more tolerable, and then it's supported by other ingredients which help to calm the skin. [...] It has licorice and niacinamide, both great complementing actives that help with hyperpigmentation and acne, and the niacinamide pretty much does a little bit of everything including collagen growth."

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"You can follow the cleanser with a gentle retinol like CeraVe resurfacing retinol or prescription tretinoin, and it's going to get that job done."

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"A good option here is the CeraVe resurfacing retinol. You're not going to get the same efficacy that you would get from a tretinoin for example."

208SkinDoc

2.10M subs

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"You can also try the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum, which is available at a much lower price than the luxury retinol creams. When it comes to retinol, you do not need to pay luxury prices."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

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"The resurfacing retinol serum is a great retinol that has licorice root and niacinamide. Both of those are going to be good for dark spots and redness. And then the retinol is also going to be helpful for post acne marks like dark marks and red marks. And then it's got ceramides in there which are good for the moisture barrier."

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"This one from CeraVe, the resurfacing retinol serum, is wonderful because it's really formulated to address the needs of skin types that tend to lean to development of uneven skin tone, discoloration, persistent redness, but are also seeking that smoothing effect from a topical retinol and are also seeking the anti-aging benefits of improved collagen production. One of the reasons I always recommend this is that L'Oreal, they are doing so much R&D behind the scenes."

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"Their Skin Resurfacing Retinol Serum which has retinol and Cy is an L'Oreal company they have a lot of R&D behind their retinols and I've always recommended this product. Retinol for someone who has breakout prone skin can help in improving skin complexion. It also can help with post acne redness and post acne hyperpigmentation."

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"It's not an FDA approved treatment for anything, it's a cosmetic ingredient, but with long-term consistent use may also improve collagen production. This particular product [...] has licorice root and niacinamide. Licorice root is helpful for redness, and the niacinamide is also helpful for both redness and hyperpigmentation, so this can be really helpful for overlying surface changes and possibly subtly soften the appearance of depressed scars."

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"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum is one of my favorites because it's got not only a good retinol in it, but it also has licorice root compounds and niacinamide, both of which are going to be helpful for post acne redness and post acne hyperpigmentation."

Dr. Jenny Liu

322k subs

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"I really like CeraVe Skin [...] Resurfacing Retinol Serum that also contains licorice root. This one is great if you don't struggle with acne anymore and it's mostly concerned with pore congestion and post-acne marks. This can be very helpful."

Sincerely Miss Ash

195k subs

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"I like this formulation because it's great for beginners. It has that encapsulated retinol. Now, even though it has that encapsulated retinol, it doesn't mean that it's not going to be as effective as another type of retinol that you might find at the drugstore. This is a great intro retinol to start off with to see how your skin does before you move to something stronger. But the more consistent you are with it, honestly, you will see results. You will. I used to use this serum back in the day."

All 2 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash

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"The CeraVe resurfacing Retinol Serum has to be one of my favorite retinols from the drugstore. This formula is quite gentle in my opinion and it's also very moisturizing. [...] This product [...] has an encapsulated retinol so it's going to be even more gentle. It has hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, ceramides, and licorice root extract. This product will help to improve uneven skin tone, so if you have post-acne marks or dark spots this can be lovely."

Dr. Mamina

281k subs

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"If you have more sensitive skin you may want to consider a more gentle option with a retinol like CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum."

HotandFlashy

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"Another company I really love is CeraVe, their Resurfacing Retinol Serum. This is a really good one and contains encapsulated retinol. If you're really concerned about irritation, I would go with this one because it's encapsulated, so it's going to do more of a timed release and release the retinol slower so you would have less of a reaction to it."