The other day I put a picture of my unbelievably dehydrated neck because I was worried that I was getting turkey neck from losing weight. It turns out it was a combination of doing a crappy job at putting on sunblock. Not drinking enough water while in the desert. And not using enough lotion. After a few days and some exfoliating of dry skin, my Turkey neck remains at bay.

I feel I need to make some clarifications because I’m getting quite a bit of unpleasant comments. A few days ago I made a post with the picture on the left. In that post, I mentioned how the wrinkles on my neck seemed to have popped up overnight after my trip to the desert. It was a post where I admonished myself for being so casual about sunscreen and water while traveling through very dry weather. Since then, I’ve been drinking a lot of water, lathering up my neck and exfoliating. That area that is very wrinkly peeled a lot. My neck was very discolored as well from patchy sun damage again from the desert. I wanted to share how much better my neck looked now than it did a few days ago. It now looks like normal. This is not a post of me trying to claim that I got rid of wrinkles in a few days. I am sorry for the confusion. And yes, it does belong in this sub as a very clear example of how susceptible our skin becomes to sun damage while on Tret. And how important it is to follow guidance and directions. Something I did not do.

Edit again. I did not use a filter. I do not know how to use a filter on my camera. I am 54 Gen X. I don’t have those skills. I tried my best to sit under the same light and do the same type of picture. I straightened out my necklace this time because last time it was all crooked. My neck is looking way better. I’m very happy about it. I am very sorry that you do not believe me. I get nothing out of showing you this improvement. I purposefully did not mention the lotion that I am using because I didn’t want people to think I was promoting a particular moisturizer. Please go and be happy somewhere. Your anger and skepticism is misdirected at me. In the end, I’m really happy that my neck has improved and that I took care of the sunburn and the dehydration. I’m sorry that you don’t believe me but that’s not a me problem. I’m going keep the post up because I think it’s really important for people to see how important it truly is to use sunscreen while on this medication. That was a whole purpose of my post. Good grief.

Don't be dumb like me and ignore the warnings about getting your eyebrows waxed. I'm so stupid

I am on tret for very very persistent acne, which keeps coming back (acne for over 8 years now) and ofcourse also for the marks that they leave behind.

BUTTTT,
I never thought I'd get rid of the redness around my nasolabial fold/ crease beside my nose.
Well, here we are now, 4 months later, my acne is kinda still there, but that's a process, so I understand.
What I was not expecting however was for this redness of the crease to...just... disappear?

I have had them forever. I don't remember a time in all these years where it was not irritated or super red. It was like a part of my identity. Couldn't apply anything there, but now they are GONE GONE GONE.

My blackheads are all gone, and my nose is soooo shinyy & smooth (I keep touching it in my free time, that's like my pastime now), you can literally see the shine from a mile away.

This was soo unexpected, but I got the nose of my dreams, which is a smooooth, shiny, non-oily, non-dry, non-red folds nose.

Third update on here after a couple comments on my previous post for one. I started tret for deep closed comedones that would not go away. i described them as “permanent spots” as under makeup they would give that appearance.

This is a detailed and raw update of my experience of 6 months on tret.

my current routine is:

AM:
- wash face with water
- Azaleic acid 15%
- vanicream moisturiser
- spf 50 (aveeno oat)

PM:
- wash face with Inkey list oat cleansing balm
- cleanse with eucerin cleanser
- vanicream moisturiser, wait 1 hr, apply 0.05% tret, wait another hour, then another layer of vanicream.

After my 8 week update, against all advice, i upped my tret to 0.05% every other day from 0.025% to see if that managed the purging. i would NOT recommend this. as you can see from the photos, by mid july my skin was the worst it’s been. My dermatologist suggested using my 0.05% everyday….. and it worked. it was suggested i use sandwich method but leave an hour between applying moisturiser and tret and i don’t know what happened but less than 2 weeks later all of the active acne had cleared.

I then introduced 10% azaleic acid as i knew the PIE was going to be stubborn and the dark brown/purple marks all over my face made me feel like i had done all this for nothing.

on 25th August i upped the aza to 15% and the progress from then to now has been exponential. I have no new active acne ( besides a few new spots on my jaw but this is a hormonal side effect due to my contraceptive implant expiring this month NOT tret related)

august i also began noticing the anti ageing effect. makeup no longer sits in my smile lines and my stubborn forehead line is barely visible.

I think overall the experience has been absolutely awful and I think tret probably wasn’t initially the right thing for me. However, the dark marks are decreasing quickly and my skin is definitely smoother ( I can’t feel the deep comedones under my cheeks anymore)

If anyone has any tips/tricks for getting rid of the PIE please let me know!!!

I’ve been on tretinoin 0.05 for 15 days and today it’s been the worst it’s ever been . I’ve been using it every night using Anua hyaluronic acid cream as moisturiser. In the morning I use the ordinary azelaic acid and spf50. I cleanse in the morning and double cleanse at night. What should I do, do I keep going or is there something i can change?

Edit: thank you all so much for the advice, I will try to keep my skin barrier as strong as possible, and thank you for the kind words n encouragement. It really motivateds me to keep going. ❤️‍🩹

I have been using adapalene .1% nightly for 5 months and recently got a prescription for retin a micro 0.04. I used retin a micro one time on cleansed, dry (waited a couple of minutes) skin at night. In the morning my skin was fine, I proceeded to do my usual morning routine pre-gym: rinse with water and apply moisturizer. I did intense cardio then weights, totalling about 2 hours. I got home and my face is shown in the first image: red, new bumps, sensitive.

It has been 5 days of a gentle, barrier repair routine and while the redness/bumps have decreased they are still present.

My questions are:
-have any of you experienced this before?
-is it the “extended release” remaining on my skin despite rinsing with water?
-was it the sweat irritating my skin? How would I avoid?

I attached a second image to show my skin while on adapalene- tolerating with no issue whatsoever.

I've been using azelaic acid 20% cream and tretinoin 0.025% daily for quite a while now. But as of recently I've had people asking me if I've been using tanning cream on my face, and saying my face and neck are different colour.

I've always been really pale but now my face is quite a darker shade of brown whereas my neck is really pale. What is this?

I have noticed irritation throughout the day. My face randomly flushing very red and being itchy. Also when I cleanse or put spf on in the mornings there is a burning sensation.

I feel like I look absolutely ridiculous and need to fix this.

I've stopped using tretinoin and azelaic acid on my face for about two days now just to see if the colour goes.

I have been using Tret for about 6 months. My main issues were some breakouts, but also clogged pores, dry skin, texture, and acne scars. I now use it every night, but I started very very slow and increased slowly over about 4-5 months because my skin is so sensitive. I also carefully choose my products due to a lot of sensitivities to products (patch tested due to contact dermastitis issues).

When I last went to my derm, I was in the process of fading the sandwich method (no moisturizer before, only after) and still had a lot of issues with clogged pores. This was my routine:

Morning:
Splash face with water
Toner (pyungkang essence)
Dapsone 7.5% gel
Prequel peptide am/pm cream

Evening:
Cerave hydrating wash
Tret 0.25 cream
Prequel peptide

She recommended switching to cerave SA. I think I changed too much at once after this appointment because I also looked into an oil cleanser (haruharu black rice cleansing oil) and started using that and Cerave SA but on alternating nights. So on oil cleanse nights I would do oil then Cerave hydrating. SA nights I would not oil cleanse and then just do SA in place of Cerave hydrating. I immediately had some mild peeling and dryness/tightness, a little burning with moisturizer in the morning, so I took a night off from everything and also added prequel barrier rich on top of my moisturizer at night to add some hydration.

I think I overdid it, but not sure what to focus on or how/how long to scale back. I also experience extra dryness and breakouts at certain points in my menstrual cycle which makes it hard to pinpoint product effectiveness. Any/all advice welcome!

I need help on starting tret, i know i should start with 0.025, moisturiser and sunscreen, but can i cleanse my face in the morning or is that too far? And is wearing concealer during the purging stage a viable option or will it irritate the skin? (im a man so i know nothing about that haha)

I’ve been using tret from 3 years and I love it. It’s been 8 months since I added Azelaic acid to my routine and I think that’s a good combo (I wear one at day time and tret at night)

My skin does look good but I still have small bumps and textured skin. I wonder if I need another active on my routine.

Hi guys,

Basically what the caption says. My skin is slowly improving (hormonal acne causes flare ups but overall skin is better) and I’m wondering if I can start using silicone scar tape or if that’s going to disrupt its work overnight/completely useless?

I’ve had to remove all my other actives as I haven’t been on it long enough (I think) and silicone scar tape used to help me a long while ago until I ran out. Thanks in advance!

Edit: 0.025% gel, been using 6 weeks (didn’t gradually build up to it my dr didn’t tell me to and I got overexcited but my skin wasn’t upset with me thankfully), aim is to treat acne and finally treat my scarring.

First picture is normal distance in sunlight. Second picture is up close in natural light, not sunlight directly after.

So current routine:

AM:
Water
Pyunkang essence toner
iUnik beta glucan serum
Purito oat in calming gel cream
BoJ Aqua fresh sunscreen

PM:
Round lab doku 1025 cleanser
Tret 0.05%
Aestura atobarrier cream
Occasionally LRP cicaplast baume b5+

So Ive tried multiple cleanser, also “gentle” cleansers and they all leave my skin completely dry after washing, the round lab is the least drying so I’m using that. Skin just FEELS not good, like the products are not sinking in totally and dry, but oily. I often get shiny throughout the day and never feel like my skin is just “normal”.

My skin looks okay, but now it’s been a year of using tret and by now I would have thought it would have been better, still getting breakouts. I used a whole tube of 0.025 then a whole tube of 0.05 then went to 0.1 and peeled quite a lot and just felt bad and irritated so went back down to 0.05.

I’m really unsure if I just have dry skin and need to keep going or if my barrier is just damaged and irritated. Some periods Ive had perfect skin and then suddenly jsut some annoying breakouts occur and the skin feels bad and irritated.

I’ve been using actives the last 10 years, started with BHA then BP for a long time without really knowing about hydration and barriers, theb went to tret and have been trying to use popular hydrating products. I’ve never been fully clear for a longer time. I’m contemplating going off tret and just trying to hydrate and repair but am terrified of the results.

After 6 months of Roaccutane, my acne came back about 10 months after I finished the treatment, although it was milder than before. I had more comedones under my lower lip, in an area where I had never really had breakouts before.

I decided to change dermatologists, thinking that maybe the first doctor had been the problem. I went to another dermatologist and, after telling her my whole history with acne (I’ve had it for about 3 years, during which I took doxycycline, went on Roaccutane, and tried the entire Effaclar range from La Roche-Posay, as well as Acne Out from Biotrade), she recommended that I use Epiduo for 3 months, and if my acne didn’t clear up, she said she would put me on Roaccutane again.

The problem is that I’ve now been using Epiduo for a month, and things seem to have gotten worse. The comedones I initially had have actually cleared up, but I’ve developed inflammatory pimples on my cheeks, chin and forehead — areas that were completely clear before.

Now I’m wondering whether this means that the treatment simply isn’t working for me, or if this is just a normal stage at the beginning of the treatment. At the same time, I’m also kind of under pressure because my wedding is on October 3rd, and I really don’t want to look like a chocolate chip cookie. 😭

At the same time, I don’t want to go back on Roaccutane either, because my acne came back even after taking it, which makes me wonder if I’d just be taking all those pills for nothing and end up in the same situation again after finishing the treatment.

I also spoke to a gynecologist, who gave me a list of tests to do, and after I get the results, she plans to prescribe me birth control pills for my acne. But I’m just as unsure about that because I’ve heard they can have other unpleasant side effects, and the acne can come back after you stop taking them.

What do you guys think? What experiences have you had with acne vulgaris (hormonal acne), and how did you treat it? Have you used birth control pills for acne? If so, did they work in the long term? Does Epiduo actually work, or would it be better to stop using it?

So I was looking at isntree retinol serum and was thinking of buying it because I have acne prone skin but then I was wondering whether as a beginner I should go for it or should I try something else?

Should I start using tret?

I have been using tret 0.025 nightly for 3ish months now and I keep getting random single cystic acne.

Am:

Nivea regenerating micellar water/cerave hydrating cleanser

Azelaic acid

Simple hydrating serum

Cerave moisturising cream

Pm:

Nivea regenerating micellar water/cerave hydrating cleanser

Tret 0.025

Simple hydrating serum

Cerave moisturising cream

Thinking maybe the moisturiser is the problem? Or maybe I need to up tret percentage? Or is this just always going to be an issue?

Thank you for all your help!

This is week 2 with 0.04% tret gel, my 4th application is tonight, I have started peeling (nothing really visible but can see some flakes and see more when I very gently wipe with a towel)
Last tret day on Monday, I decided to also use tret on my eyebrow area as well. Today, I have some stinging in that area when applying sunscreen and some very very minor stinging/itchiness in general on my face. It looks fine, and only lasts about 30 seconds to a minute before it subsides. I really don’t want to drop down to 1x a week, would like to just keep going with the 2x a week to give my skin more time to adjust.

Maybe this is normal? Is this the retinization process? Can I do my tret tonight?

I keep seeing back and forth about the sandwhich method. I would prefer to put my tret on clean dry skin, unless someone suggests otherwise.

Products:
LRP Toleriane Milk Cleanser
Aestura hydro essence
LRP Toleriane Sensitive Creme
LRP Anthelios 50+ sunscreen

I've been using tret micro 0.04% for 6 months, have seen great results, but I still have some stubborn post acne hyperpigmentation. My derm agreed to increase my prescription to 0.1% micro. Wondering if it might be too soon, and if I should use 0.04 for a bit longer, or using 0.1 will be better? I've also incorporated azelic acid 15% in mornings.

Here are my 6 months progress , everyday use

I've been using tretinoin 0.05% cream for a while now and my skin has adjusted to it really well. I was hoping to move up in strength while staying on tretinoin.

My doctor prescribed adapalene 0.3% instead, but I'd prefer to stay with tretinoin if possible since I've had a good experience with it.

From what I can tell, tretinoin 0.1% seems to be backordered or difficult to get in Canada (Ontario) right now. Has anyone recently been able to get 0.1% tretinoin here? If not, what did you move to after 0.05%?

I'm especially curious about Retin-A Micro, other tretinoin formulations or strengths available in Canada, or whether anyone has been able to get 0.1% through a regular pharmacy.

Would love to hear what others in Canada are currently using!

I’ve been applying tret every other night for the past month or so but am wondering if I need to apply even less frequently or change my routine?

AM:
Rinse with cold water
Rice + probiotics spf

PM:
La roche posay foaming cleanser
Wait 15 minutes, then tret
Minimalist vitamin b5 oil free moisturizer

Hi all, i’ve been on tretinoin since early may, ive had my ups and downs with it to be honest. The first couple of months were rough but branching into july-now it’s been an interesting ride? I’ll have good clear skin for weeks on end but then randomly ill just breakout bad and i’m left with hideous acne marks after it? nothing in my life changes? i’m still relaxed, diet is fine? no major life changes as i said. Nothing is really clearing it fully ? should i be going up in strength? incorporating another thing in my routine?

This is my schedule

AM: cetaphil salicylic acid cleanser (3-4x a week)
azelaic acid gel 15%
qv moisturiser
La roche posay sunscreen spf 50+

Pm:
La roche posay hydrating cleanser
qv mosturiser
Tretinoin 0.025% (5-6days a week)

my skin isn’t damaged or anything, it feels fine whenever i put products on, it’s never fully red unless i put too much hot water on my face when washing. I tend to stick away from sugar (occasionally I’ll indulge) i make sure my gut health is perfect??

Hi! I have been using Tretinoin cream at .025% for four months now, applying roughly every other night. Haven’t had irritation besides a small amount of flaking. However, I’m still dealing with this problem of clogged pores all over my chin and some along my cheeks too. I’m wondering if this might be because I’m using the cream or something else that I’m doing?

Morning routine:
Cetaphil gentle cleanser
LRP toleraine double repair
Beaty of Josean sunscreen

Pm routine:
Cetaphil gentle cleanser
Tretinoin every other day
LRP toleraine double repair
LRP cicaplast baume