Your retinol doesn’t belong in the morning. Your vitamin C doesn’t really work at night. This Australian system forces you to admit your routine has been lazy.
The real kicker: using the wrong one at the wrong time doesn’t just waste product — it actively makes your skin look duller by lunch. I found out the hard way.
It’s two separate tubes — $98 for the pair. The claim that got me: “Retinaldehyde is 11x faster than retinol, but only works if you sequence it correctly.” Sold.
AM formula is a stabilised retinal + ferulic
Thicker than you’d expect for daytime — sinks in about 45 seconds, then you wait.
PM formula is retinal + bakuchiol
No pilling. Zero. Even under slugging amounts of moisturiser.
The ‘order matters’ lock
The AM tube has a tiny ridge on the cap. The PM one doesn’t. You can’t mix them up even half asleep.
Photo: Mariia Shalabaieva / Unsplash
Retinaldehyde (not retinol) in both — it’s one conversion step closer to retinoic acid, so it hits harder but irritates less. The AM tube has ferulic acid to keep the retinal stable in daylight, which is rare and smart.
- Retinaldehyde (0.1% AM / 0.15% PM): Actually works on fine lines in 3 weeks, not 3 months
- Ferulic acid: Stops the AM retinal from oxidising before noon
- Bakuchiol: Takes the edge off the PM retinal so you don’t peel like a snake
- Squalane: Makes it spreadable without feeling greasy
Photo: Rosa Rafael / Unsplash
AM feels like a lightweight lotion — almost watery at first, then dries to a soft matte. PM is richer, like a thin night cream. Both absorb in under a minute, which shocked me for retinal.
Week 2: I got a tiny flake patch near my nose. Not angry, just dry. Week 3: that patch disappeared and my forehead texture just… stopped existing. The surprise was that using the AM version actually prepped my skin better for makeup — less settling into lines.
Photo: Fleur Kaan / Unsplash
My nasolabial folds look less like folds and more like gentle creases. The weird bumpy texture on my chin is gone. My dark spots? Still there, but lighter — think faded denim, not bleach. Pores didn’t change, which is fine because no topical actually shrinks them.
Photo: Vedansh Agrawal / Unsplash
This is the first retinal system that actually respects the clock. Use it wrong and it’s fine. Use it right and your skin looks like you slept 9 hours on a silk pillow.