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 only
Skip only
Mixed only
Hide sponsored
✓Approved
"The Medicaid Crystal Retinal is a formula so the main job of this is anti-aging, reversing fine lines and wrinkles, helping with pigmentation, helping with dullness. This is a topical retinoid, a form of topical vitamin A that helps with skin cell turnover, helps you make new collagen, and helps slow down the breakdown of the collagen you currently have. Number one, it's a retinaldehyde, so in your skin retinol gets converted to retinaldehyde which gets converted to retinoic acid, which is actually the active molecule that's exerting all those positive effects on your skin. When you start with something like retinaldehyde you're already one step closer to the active version when you're putting it on your skin. Secondly, they have a patented way that they introduce the retinaldehyde into this formula and thus determines how that retinaldehyde interacts with your skin. It's better absorbed, it's more stable. The huge issue with topical retinoids is that they're very unstable, so sometimes the formula that you get and what it says on the packaging is not really what's actually making it to your face because that product is breaking down or becoming destabilized while it's sitting on the shelf."
✓Approved
"My absolute favorite luxury retinal is the Medicaid Crystal Retinal range. This range costs a lot more than some of the other options but I think is totally worth it if your budget will stretch to it. The reason I say this is it's encapsulated, so very friendly to sensitive skin types, and the fact that you have different strengths I think is fairly unique to Medicaid. They have seven different strength options, and this will allow you to start with the lowest strength, use it up, then go to the next strength and so forth. It's really easy and makes it super simple to know exactly how to graduate up strength to incorporate retinal successfully into your skincare routine. It kind of takes the guesswork out of it, and for that I think it's definitely worth that slightly higher price point. It's got a beautiful blend of different hydrators to offset any dryness that you could see a lot of people do experience when they first use a retinoid. The fact that this is packed full of some of the best hydrating ingredients I've seen means it really offsets some of that. It's really conscientiously formulated to give the very best results."
Top Pick: luxury retinal
All 4 takes from Mad About Skin
"This is definitely a luxury feeling product. Really sets it apart amongst your competitors is the range of different strengths you have. I think there's now seven different strengths of this product ranging from the weakest through to the super high potency. With retinoids, you want to start gentle and work your way up, and Medicaid made that really easy because you start with the lowest one, use the tube up, then move to the next strength, use the tube up, then use the next strength. It makes gradually introducing this ingredient so simple. How it feels on the skin is like a luxury in a tube. It feels beautiful. It has a light fragrance to it which honestly is one of the nicest scents ever, very uplifting. Obviously not going to be for everyone if you want fragrance-free skincare, this probably won't be the option for you. I personally like the scent, I love the feel, and this is the most hydrating of all the retinals I think I've ever found. You are paying more, but I think you're getting more in terms of the luxury feel, the ease of use, and the range of different strengths. The retinal in here is encapsulated, so that's going to mean far less irritation than other."
"The ease of use and the range of different strengths, and also encapsulated is the retinal in here, so that's going to mean far less irritation than other versions of it. So if you're somebody that has very sensitive skin or sensitivity prone skin, this is a great option for you because that encapsulation is just going to make it delayed prolonged release, so you get less risk of those side effects and irritation all around. This has been in my routine on and off for the past six years. I think it stood the test of time for a reason. It's a great product. The price point is not the cheapest product, but with inflation over the past two years, a lot of skincare products have gone up in price. Medicaid haven't actually put the price of their products up, and so what used to be quite a high price brand actually seems a lot more reasonable when you look at the competitors that have put their prices up and compare. It's still not the cheapest, but I think for luxury, for the encapsulation, for that gentle application, Medicaid we're leading the way. The one drawback is the price. And of course, if you're looking for fragrance free, this isn't going to be it, but for me it's delicate, it's a light fragrance. I personally love that. It comes down to personal choice. I'm going to give this a solid 9 out of 10. If it was a little bit cheaper, it'd probably be 10 out of 10, but definitely stood the test of time for a reason."
"For luxury, for the encapsulation, for that gentle application, Medicaid Crystal retinal is leading the way. The price is the one drawback, the one con for this. And of course, if you're looking for fragrance free, this isn't going to be it, but for me it's delicate, it's light fragrance. I personally love that. It comes down to personal choice. I'm going to give this a solid 9 out of 10. If it was a little bit cheaper, it'd probably be 10 out of 10, but 9 out of 10. Yeah, definitely stood the test of time for a reason."
"My absolute favorite luxury retinal is the Medicaid Crystal Retinal range. This range costs a lot more than some of the other options but I think is totally worth it if your budget will stretch to it. The reason I say this is it's encapsulated, so very friendly to sensitive skin types, and the fact that you have different strengths I think is fairly unique to Medicaid. They have seven different strength options, and this will allow you to start with the lowest strength, use it up, then go to the next strength and so forth. It's really easy and makes it super simple to know exactly how to graduate up strength to incorporate retinal successfully into your skincare routine. It kind of takes the guesswork out of it, and for that I think it's definitely worth that slightly higher price point. It's got a beautiful blend of different hydrators to offset any dryness that you could see a lot of people do experience when they first use a retinoid. The fact that this is packed full of some of the best hydrating ingredients I've seen means it really offsets some of that. It's really conscientiously formulated to give the very best results."
