I bought retinol and I feel weird about it

I’m trying to do better about caring for my skin, so I went into the dermatologist for a full body skin check in January. (Apparently most insurance companies will cover this annually!) My grandparents developed fragile skin as they got older, and were constantly cutting themselves, so I asked the dermatologist if there was anything I could do to try to keep my skin pliant longer. She suggested* a couple retinol products — one for my hands, and one for my face. Apparently collagen makes your skin more elastic, but your skin naturally loses collagen as you get older; retinol encourages your skin to produce collagen. *(She also said I could put retinol on my tight gallbladder scar, though I’m not sure she got that I don’t care about its appearance, only how elastic it is. I seem to be in the minority, wanting only medical advice.) I’ve tried the hand cream a couple times (apparently doesn’t do much till you use it consistently for like 3 months), but not the face one**. At first I was…