Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum Review from Honest Beauty

I tried Honest Beauty’s Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum for 4 weeks and here’s how it went! While I was visiting my boyfriend in the states, I made multiple trips to Target and looked at the range Honest Beauty had to offer. It was harder to find in Canada and the only carriers I had near me were in-stores at Whole Foods or at a niche grocery store 15 miles away.

About a month ago, Honest Beauty’s Social team reached out to me after I posted a personal review about their 2-in-1 Crème Cheek + Lip Colour on my Instagram. Basically, they asked if I was interested in trying out their new Retinyl serum for honest feedback and being new to the brand the answer was YES! They also sent over their Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer which I’ll be reviewing shortly as I’m still playing around with it.

I haven’t used a retinol-based product in a while so it was the perfect timing to see how my skin would react to using just the Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum for 4 weeks. Taking a deep dive into their ingredient list, this serum is vegan, 100% cruelty-free and dermatologist tested. Filled with Retinyl Linoleate and Hyaluronic Acid, I needed to read a bit more about their Retinyl as I’m not familiar with the way it was derived.

Retinyl Linoleate is a Vitamin A derivative that helps the skin appear more even, bright, and radiant by exfoliation to encourage revitalized skin. It’s best known to help reduce the appearance of fine lines + wrinkles, the telltale signs of aging. Paired with Hyaluronic Acid, this serum leaves your skin feeling plump and rejuvenated, looking more glowy and youthful over time.

Supporting ingredients that aren’t focused on their website includes:

Niacinamide – My holy grail ingredient that reduces the appearance of pores, textured skin, and sebum overproduction. It can also help even out skin tone and prevent moisture loss. Also known as vitamin B3, the majority of the products I use in my routine have a small concentration of Niacinamide in them.

Squalane – Naturally occurring in your body but production slows down over time as you age. It has healing properties that support your skin barriers regeneration, promoting microbiome diversity for healthier-looking skin.

Jojoba Esters – A derivative from Jojoba oil that is rich in fatty acids, non-greasy, and absorbs easily into the skin to make your skin feel nice and smooth.

Pyrus Malus Fruit Extract – In short, this is an extract from apples! It’s made by drying out the flesh of the fruit and creating a powder out of it. A good source of fibre, vitamins A & C, apple extract is more commonly used in anti-acne formulas or hand & body lotions to condition the skin and stabilize emulsions.

I don’t have the clearest before image as I was travelling at the time, but even in a phone photo, you can see my skin had quite a lot of texture to it and looked relatively dull. After 4 weeks of using Honest Beauty’s Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum every night, my skin visibly looks smoother and radiant in my after image. My skin type is an oily combination and is sensitive – the biggest hurdle was whether this formula would break out my skin. I had no breakouts from the formula itself and it helped reduce my acne scarring when I broke out from my menstrual cycle.

The biggest improvement I saw in my skin was texture! I get congested often near my chin and cheekbone and after 4 weeks, it’s appearing more radiant and refined. My under-eye area is usually dry and fine lines tend to appear heavily in that region, while you can still see the fine lines, they don’t look as harsh or dehydrated, giving me a youthful appearance. I’m in my late 20s if you’re asking, but when I work long hours and forget to eat, sometimes I feel as though my skin is in its mid-30s.

It’s important to note, my daytime regime incorporates SPF religiously and SHOULD be used when you’re using a retinol product in the evening. I cut down the amount of product I used at night to test this serum out and stuck to a gel-based moisturizer and gentle cleanser. In the morning, the actives I used were vitamin C and Niacinamide. Post-review, I’ll be finishing this serum and adding new products to my routine.

@kwital my honest first impression of @honest new honestly pure retinyl serum 👀 #honestbeauty #honestreview #skintok #skincare #cleanbeauty ♬ TWINNEM – Coi Leray

In my first impression video on TikTok, I mention that the formula had a thick oat milk consistency and was unscented. On application, I didn’t have any irritation and it felt soothing. The formula went on smoothly in a thin even layer but dried down tacky and felt as if there was a film over my skin, almost giving you a tight mask sensation. Once I applied my moisturizer on top, the sticky residue dissipates, and my skin is left feeling hydrated and almost dewy looking.

The packaging was straightforward, clean, and simple – something I really appreciate from a product packaging standpoint from Honest Beauty how effective their packaging is while being either re-usable like their tins or are from upcycled materials. The carton is tree-free paper upcycled from sugarcane and the bottle itself is made from PCR plastics. Being eco-friendly, the packaging was straightforward, delivered their brand messaging clearly, and had innovative functions.

I can’t tell you how obsessed I am with the twist cap – you can lock and unlock the pump by twisting it. This is so important to me as I travel often and the last thing I want is a bag full of spilled serum because a) waste b) a mess c) I’ll need to replace it. The pump distributes a good amount of product each pump and is easy to control, the only downside to the pump is because of how thin the formula is, it can shoot out far. I’m not 100% sure what the inside of the packaging looks like but I’m assuming it’s an airless vacuum pump to prevent waste. I would LOVE to see more skincare products come out with a lockable pump

Overall I would rate this serum a 4/5 – while I wasn’t a huge fan of the tacky residue feeling on my skin during application, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed Honest Beauty’s Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum and will most likely be repurchasing when I can get my hands on it. The ingredients were simple, clean, and effective and it made my skin feel happy. I noticed a difference in my skin texture so it did what it said it would do and would recommend it to those who are looking to incorporate retinol into their skincare routine, minus the irritation and dryness that comes from pure retinol.

You can shop the Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum on honest.com, at Target or check their locator for more locations in-store! For $29.99 USD you get 30mL of product – from my use so far a bottle should last me approximately 6-8 weeks depending on how many pumps I use. I’ll be exploring some more products from Honest Beauty soon, let me know in the comments down below if you’ve tried Honest before what your favourites are that I should try next!

* This blog post contains gifted products, thank you Honest Beauty for gifting me with their Honestly Pure Retinyl Serum. However, all reviews and opinions are unbiased and remain my own. Please reach out to me on the contact page if you would like to use my images or collaborate on a post.