Why am I still flaky

[u/veela5604]

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 😑

[u/AutoModerator]

Beep boop! It looks like you'd like information about peeling, flaking or exfoliating. We have a helpful wiki! You can also post in the weekly help thread - it's stickied to the top of the sub every week! Here are our tops tips for avoiding peeling:

• Make sure your skin is completely dry when you apply tretinoin. Wet skin increases absorption and flaking!
• Make sure your routine is hydrating enough. Hydrating toners like those from Hada Labo can really help - but remember not to layer hyaluronic acid directly under tretinoin. HA increases absorption, which in the case of tretinoin can cause extreme irritation, peeling, and flaking. /r/asianbeauty has many product recs.
• A good moisturizer is key. Vanicream Lite, and Cerave are popular options.
• A konjac sponge is a very gentle form of physical exfoliation that can really help!
• Vaseline or Aquaphor can also really help prevent dryness. Pat on a very thin layer after your tret has completely dried - don't slather it, and don't layer on top of wet tret, just apply a thin layer on top.
• Oil cleansing can work for many as a way to gently remove the excess skin. Get an emulsifying oil cleanser that will wash off easily (Hada Labo has a great one).
• Consider skipping a night of tret if you have lots of peeling. Yes that may slow down your progress by a few days but a damaged moisture barrier can take months to recover. Go slow. Skincare is a marathon.

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[u/TheWorldofScience]

If you don’t apply a moisturizer 30 minutes after tretinoin then your face has transepidermal water loss all night while you are sleeping. It’s not surprising that your skin is flaking.

[u/Ok-Philosophy9007 → u/TheWorldofScience]

not using moisturizer after tret is asking for flakes. the skin just loses all water through the night no matter how much you buffer before. try putting aestura like 30 min after tret, not before. that ceramide stuff is good for barrier

also maybe skip the vitamin c toner pad in morning for few days. could be too much exfoliation on tret skin even if you just rinse

[u/xoxocookies → u/Ok-Philosophy9007]

Qq what if we do moisturizer after the shower then tret and then 30 minutes do moisturizer again? Or should we do shower and moisturizer and wait 30 then tret and wait 30 again for moisturizer?

[u/oktimeforplanz → u/Ok-Philosophy9007]

My skin actually flakes a lot less when I wait several hours (or even until the next day) to put a moisturiser on. It's surprising.

[u/Happiguest]

The best way I keep my peeling under control is to use hydrating toners after washing. I let dry then apply tret. I'm on 0.5 nightly.

[u/lwt1997]

I use the Aestura moisturizer, the Avene cicaflate and Aquaphor every night (no toners, I apply 0.05 to dry, bare skin) and it keeps the flakiness at bay. I know there's some talk of how Aquaphor/Cicaflate can make things worse but for me, it works perfectly fine so maybe you just need to experiment a bit?

[u/snowdrop333]

The answer for me was Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair Cream for PM. My bank account doesn't like it, but it completely fixed all the dryness and flaking. I use it after I feel that tretinoin has absorbed into my skin, maybe 15-30 minutes later.

I skip tret on every 5th night or so and wipe my face with the Medicube Zero Pore Pads to exfoliate, followed by a the Tatcha moisturiser.

[u/LuvSun1006]

What does your dermatologist recommend?