Hi everyone, does anyone know where I can get retinol/tretinoin face cream in Taipei? I can see there is some on Shopee but I’d rather get it from a chain store or something, it’s quite expensive and I’d like to know I’m not buying something fake.
TIA
In the last five years or so, retinol and its several “sisters” (retinol palmitate, etc.) seem to have become a lot more popular in Taiwan. You can find products with Vitamin A-ish (i.e. the retinol family) ingredients in Watsons, CosMed, etc.
For tretinoin, you’ll have to hit up a dermatologist, though. (I think it’s that way in the West, too).
Products/brands I know of in Taiwan that contain retinol family ingredients:
L’Oreal Revitalift line
Olay
Neutrogrena (TW is more obsessed with the “Bright Boost” line than the Anti-Wrinkle stuff, but I just saw a Bright Boost serum with retinol in Watson’s the other day!)
Tunemakers (I’ve only seen this Japanese line in CosMed)
BioEssence (at last came out with a retinol line! I love their Vitamin C serum)
There are others, but I don’t have them on the top of head. For instance, Matsumoto Kiyoshi on ZXDL stocks a retinol-based line of products from a brand whose name escapes me. However, I noticed that line puts alcohol (not the good kinds, cetyl, cetereal, etc.) in their products.
Edit: I will say, though, that I like a fairly high concentration of retinol and I like it in serum form, so I order the Yeouth retinol serum from iHerb. 2.5%, I think.
Anyway, it’s out there! Happy hunting!