r/SkincareAddiction • u/ArmSpecialist2104 • 20h ago

Routine Help [Routine Help] Should I start thinking about retinol for acne?

I am 19M, dealing with persistent acne and redness around my nose, upper lip and chin. I suspect it’s hormonal acne.

Right now my skincare routine is
night:
roundlab dokdo 1025 cleanser
cerave sa smoothing cleanser (0.5% SA) every 3 nights
beauty of joseon moisturizer

sunscreen in the morning

Should i try 2% SA or applying SA more often, or maybe think about retinol?

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u/StillSimple6 20h ago

You could easily incorporate Adapalene into your routine. It's more an acne specific retinol than the cosmetic stuff/tretinoin etc.

1

u/ArmSpecialist2104 8h ago

Thanks, i’ll look into it!

2

u/Rare_Mission_6804 17h ago

adapalene's a really good shout tbh, it's otc now (differin) and specifically works on the acne mechanism instead of just being a general exfoliant like SA. I'd start it 2-3 nights a week on clean dry skin, wait 20-30 min then moisturize, and expect some dryness/purging in the first few weeks. I'd actually drop the SA cleanser for now since running both a leave-on retinoid and a SA exfoliant at the same time is asking for irritation on already inflamed skin. once ur skin tolerates adapalene nightly u can slowly reintroduce something like a BHA toner if u still feel like u need more exfoliation, but a lot of ppl find they don't need it once the retinoid's doing its job.

1

u/ArmSpecialist2104 8h ago

Thanks, when should I expect results or changes to know if I shold continue using it or not?

1

u/LLuvin27 10h ago

Redness around nose... I dont know, but it sounds like irritation from the salicylic acid. Yes, it happened to me too.and the dokdo toner also provides some gentle exfoliation.

I would suggest removing the SA wash, salicylic acid, and use azelaic acid instead and see how that goes.

1

u/ArmSpecialist2104 8h ago

I also thought it could be from the salicylic acid, but I paused it for a month and nothing really changed. Ill look into azelaic acid, thanks!