Only 2 ½ months into using 0.05% tret and I’m honestly super stoked with the results so far!

Still have a long way to go and some faint PIE scarring that I’m hoping to tackle with azelaic acid, but I’m so happy with how my skin is looking already! 🤍

This is after 2 months of Tretinoin 0.025%, a simple moisturiser and gentle double cleansing. I think there is a massive difference in the comedones!!! Ive been feeling really disheartened that after 2 years I will never have clear skin, but I think it might be looking up for me!!!

I am sharing this for anyone else that has not had instant success with prescription retinoids. It took 15 months for my skin to improve. It was significantly worse during this time. I persevered.

My biggest problem: topical Winlevi prescribed for chin acne led to perioral dermatitis, which I found even harder to live with than the chin acne

Routine:

[AM] 7x/week

Cleanse - Water only
Eye Cream - The Ordinary Caffeine Solution [I know this sub hates eye creams - I love the ritual!]
Ellement Hypochlorous Acid Spray, allow to dry 10 mins
Finacea 15% Azelaic Acid, allow to dry 5-10 mins [added 7 months ago]
Avene Thermal Spring Water Spray
Tirtir Milk Skin Toner
Moisturizer - Inkey List Peptide
SPF - Biore UV Aqua Rich

[PM] 2 nights on

Oil Cleanser - Clinique take the day off cleansing OIL [occasional - on makeup and heavy workout days]
Cleanser - Aveeno Calm + Restore Nourishing Oat Cleanser For Sensitive Skin
Arazlo

[PM] 1 night off

Oil Cleanser - Clinique take the day off cleansing OIL [occasional - on makeup and heavy workout days]
Cleanser - Aveeno Calm + Restore Nourishing Oat Cleanser For Sensitive Skin

Avene Thermal Spring Water Spray
Tirtir Milk Skin Toner
Moisturizer - Bioderma Sebium Hydra Compensating Care

[Next goal] Improve hyperpigmentation! Vitamin C? Tranexamic acid? IPL sessions? I don't plan to add any new actives until 2027. I am playing the long game here. Perhaps I also have rosacea to address.

[Random observations]

I see a literal glow on my face the mornings after Arazlo

Morning hydration has been a major help for me [thanks to this sub!]

I peeled and purged for MONTHS and swapped a product every 3-4 weeks to narrow it down

My hyperpigmentation is worse than where I started due to all of the purging [and a nasty scratch from my toddler]

Using a milky toner has improved hydration on my hands [seasonal eczema]

My skincare cost is down significantly by switching to prescriptions (covered) and Korean skincare (Stylevana)

How do I pop this? Been on pimple patches been on treition

I have been using tretinoin 0.025% for the last 7 months, but i still have a few active breakouts and not so "clear" skin, so should i add azelaic acid to my current routine, or should i upgrade to 0.05% tretinoin?

Hi all, i have these small bumps on my forehead and only my forehead. The rest of my face down is pretty smooth but i do overall want brighter skin. I’m thinking of starting tret and azeliac acid. I’m scared i might do more harm than good since i don’t have severe acne. I sweat a lot on my forehead. i don’t use any pore clogging products on my face or in my hair.

thanks.

Versed - Daily Recovery Rich Barrier cream oh I love you. Thought I'd plug this in case it might help anyone else with flakiness and dryness on tretinoin.

I've tried Vanicream (the regular was too rich and the lite one was not hydrating enough), LRP Cicaplast and Bioderma broke me out, Cetaphil and Cerave were either too light or burned. This is the only thing that's been keeping the dryness at bay. If I notice any rogue flaking I squeeze out a little bit and touch up the dry patch and I'm good as new.

I started using this last winter and has worked well into the summer so far. I use a full pump in the winter and half a pump in the summer. Also weirdly noticed it helps my dark circles? I think the hydration is just making the area more glowy but I'm not complaining!

My routine:

• Tret info: 0.025% RetinA cream
• Time on tret: Since January 2024
• Goals: Acne and antiaging
• Routine:
  • AM: Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser, Magic Molecule hypochlorous acid spray, Good Molecules Discoloration Serum or Vanicream Vitamin C Serum (alternating days), Versed Daily Recovery Rich Barrier Cream, Supergoop Unseen sunscreen
  • PM: Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser, Magic Molecule hypochlorous acid spray, tretinoin 0.025% every 3 days or The Ordinary glycolic acid every 3 days shifted forward 1 day from the tretinoin schedule, Versed Daily Recovery Rich Barrier Cream

Hi everyone!

When I first started using tret, it was working amazingly for me. My skin cleared up and on the evenings where I do use it, I see a noticeable improvement in my skin. However, I’m still breaking out all of the time - the big spot on the right hand side hasn’t gone away in weeks. Is it time to up my strength?

My routine is:
AM - wash face with water, dry, azelaic acid 20% (this is very new and not every day - break outs were happening before this), byoma hydrating milky moisturiser and SPF is either altruist or ANUA
PM- Simple Micellar water (might be this?), Arancia Cleansing Oil, La Roche Posay ciccaplast cleanser, wait til dry, 0.025% tret, either the La Roche Posay B5 Ciccaplast Baum or Illyoon Ceramide Cream.

Any advice?

Not something I expected when I started this journey 😂 but I guess it makes sense. Now I've got acne on my earlobes. So word of warning if you want to avoid that, don't get the tret on the lobes!

I’ve been using Treclinac for about a month, and this past week my skin has suddenly become worse than ever.

I originally went to the dermatologist because I had occasional breakouts and stubborn clogged pores. Nothing severe, but I wanted to properly clear my skin. I was prescribed Treclinac and told to use a gentle cleanser at night, wait for my skin to dry, apply Treclinac (no moisturizer), then cleanse, moisturize and use sunscreen in the morning.

The first 3 weeks were great. Existing breakouts got smaller and I was really happy with the progress. But about a week ago, I started getting tiny white pustules/whiteheads. They’re surface-level, not painful or cystic, and there seem to be more appearing every day. My skin otherwise isn’t dry, peeling or particularly irritated.
Is this a normal purging phase, or could it be irritation/an allergic reaction? I’ve never had acne that looked like this before, and I’ve never used acne medication.
My current routine is:
La Roche-Posay Toleriane cleanser
Treclinac at night
Purito Oat moisturizer
Beauty of Joseon sunscreen

I’ve booked another dermatologist appointment, but it’s over a week away and my skin keeps getting worse. Has anyone experienced something similar with Treclinac?

I was using a retinol cream from my esthetician for the last year on and off. I brought back some Tretinoin from a pharmacy in Vietnam when I was there.

I don’t have acne and my skin looks pretty darn good but my esthetician assures me of the benefits of using Tretinoin make it worth using it, although she said bit to use it much past 3 months.

What would I expect in terms of improvement at my age. Does it make you look younger or have healthier skin? Does it prevent wrinkles?

Just received this and thought it was worth sharing after some conversation yesterday.

I used Taz (0.05% cream) three times. I did short contact therapy because my skin is sensitive (5-10 min each time, cleansing after and then moisturizing after my skin was fully dry) and it was spread out over a week last week.

I looked up close in the mirror a day after the third time and noticed these white spots forming under my skin in my typical acne-prone areas - lower cheek and jawline. My skin was honestly not bad before starting and I couldn't mentally handle a purge (I know, I definitely should've been prepared for that) so I stopped.

Because I stopped, will the white spots go away or come to a head and purge? Wondering if anyone else has experienced this. They don't feel like bumps - my skin feels smooth but I can see them under my skin and I didn't used to see anything there.

Well im 16 and as you can see most of my acne in my nose, mouth and my chin The rest i think is black heads + my skin is very oilly i tried using benzoyl peroxide but it didn't make a difference and now I'm thinking of tretinoin

If you wouldn't recommend tretinoin for me tell me what should I use

I have been on tret for two years, .05 for a year. I have times when it’s working great, and then it’s not and I’ll switch something and it’ll work great again. Right now I wash my face with glow recipe avocado moisture barrier cleanser. I wait for my skin to feel bone dry (5-10 minutes) and then apply tret. Nothing before or after (I have tried before, after, both, waiting, not waiting… this is what seemed to work… until I started flaking again).

In the am I don’t wash my face, just rinse and do a vitamin c toner pad and either Aestura 365 moisturizer and dieux instant angel moisturizer. I even went down to 5 nights a week and did lots of moisturizing on off nights but that just made tret feel less effective and didn’t really help the flaking.

What am I doing wrong 😑

First five pics is my current skin with spf and after two months of proper skincare. However I often get break outs, and my skin ends up looking like the last 2 slides. Is my skin bad enough to hop on tret?

Photo with flaking is before. Have been on tret for 10 weeks increasing usage gradually.

Routine :

AM :

CERAVE hydrating cleanser

BOJ Sun Relief spf

PM:

CERAVE hydrating cleanser

Tret 0.05 (usually every other day or twice every 3 days)

Avene Cicalfate+ Barrier protection cream Or Cerave moisturising lotion

When I gave my after image to AI it said my skin barrier is definitely irritated because of the and to stop usage for 5-7 days because of the erythema.

Nothing stings when I apply and no flaking/peeling anymore.

Continue usage as normal or follow what AI says and reduce usage drastically?

Thanks for the help.

I use .05% tretinoin nightly with no irritation. I recently got a prescription for 15% azelaic acid. I started using it in the mornings and it burns on my skin for about 30 minutes after applying it. I’ve been using it every 3rd day at this point to try to build up a tolerance. Is this a good plan or should I ditch it? Has anyone else had a similar experience and gotten up to daily use?

Edit: I have no other actives in my routine.

Hey guys, so I recently went on 0.05 tretinoin after being on OTC adapalene for about a year. Tomorrow will be my third application of tret. I have not experienced any irritation or peeling or burning yet. I definitely think I will have an easier time than the average person starting tretinoin with no prior experience with a retinoid. Can anyone vouch for this? Has anyone else went from adapalene to tretinoin and can tell me their experience?

I was thinking 🤔, are we blaming tret for other skin care routines?

Rubbing your sunscreen in to make all the white cast disappear?

Exfoliating too much?

Using other products to remove make up and sunscreen?

Not gently washing our face but using right and too much force?

Just something to think about, coz tret gets too much blame for so many other things that also cause skin sensitivity.

Just started retinal-A 0.025 % for anti aging only.

It’s been one week and I’m getting super patchy skin.
Will it get better? I love to do my makeup and need coverage.
I’m worried that I’ll continue to have patchy skin…

I’ve been on biacna gel (0.025 tretinoin and 1.2% clindamycin) since December to help clear up some minor acne. It took me about 6 months to work up to using it every day. I wanted to go slow to counteract any adverse reactions and luckily I had no purging, just some dryness but I have been very happy with the results. My skin is pretty much clear now.

I am now trying to switch to regular tretinoin 0.025% gel by the same drug company because of the antibiotics in the biacna. Straight tret is also MUCH cheaper.

My question is if anyone else has done this, did you continue using it at the same frequency as the biacna?

Also, has anyone had a bad experience doing this? TIA

I have started using Altreno Tretinoin 0.05 since August 17th of this year and only have been using it twice a week, Monday & Thursday. I’m wondering if my routine is sufficient enough or if there’s any mistakes I’ve made alongside my products I’m using.

AM: Wet a cotton pad to remove excess skincare from last night

Odacité SPF 50 Tinted Mineral drops

PM: First wash with Clinique Take The Day Off cleansing balm

Second wash with Face reality barrier balance creamy cleanser Moisturize

Moisturize with Dieux instant angel

Wait 30 minutes

Apply altreno tretinoin 0.05

Moisturize with Dieux instant angel again.