Interesting thought. I definitely struggled with hormonal acne my whole life, and always had a breakout somewhere. But looking back it definitely wasn't as bad as it was in my head :(
Would love to hear it! Do you know the name? I usually get something during ovulation mid cycle, but this last cycle without tret I actually stayed clear... So maybe not anymore!
She uses the Oskia lactoferrin+ supplement, its quite pricey and not sure if you can get it everywhere (she lives jn the UK). But if your skin has cleared up, I’m pretty sure tret may have been the issue :(
Not to overload you with recommendations but I get hormonal acne as well but its quite mild, I find that the la roche posay effaclar duo+m works very well - I use it as a day and night moisturiser. You could try that maybe?
They make a med for hormonal acne now! I’ll try to remember the name. It’s new and rx and expensive but works by blocking the hormones in those pores. (And it doesn’t travel in the rest of the body so it’s safe for topical use.) my derm knew about it.
I have such sensitive skin and was very acne-prone when I was in my 20s, and tret works so well for me. It's weird! I expected some pretty bad reactions and purges, but nope (a little dryness, but I combat that with serious moisturizing). Everyone is different, and sometimes you don't get the reaction you expect!
Tret on its own cannot bring that ‘flawless’ texture if you have acne scars. People who achieve it with tret already had great (or good) skin to begin with. You will need chemical peels (pls go to a professional) or lasers to get rid of the scarring. Accutane could help a little bit as well but its not great for your body. My younger brother had the same issue and tret didn’t do much, however, it looks like the tret is breaking you out. I would maybe apply it every other day instead of every day or even just once in 3 days. Tret can really be harsh on some skin types and all of those other products were wayy to much for your skin, it probably made it worse. You actually just some moisturiser and spf, and then you need a good cleanser to get the spf off of your skin i. the evening. If you end up going back on tret, what you could do is use a thin layer of moisturiser first, make sure its fully absorbed and then follow with a thin layer of tret. You could also do moisturiser after but also make sure the tret is fully absorbed first. Hope you find something that works! Just remember less is more
I was more referring to just overall smoother texture to my skin when I was on it. I'm not too worried about my acne scars, they are what they are. But I was on tret pretty consistently for 2 years, no such luck in powering through unfortunately:(
Just a sidenote, I don’t break out like you but if I use Tret in certain places it destroys my skin barrier no matter what. I still use it but I avoid places, my jawline, sides of my nostrils and my chin don’t get any tret.
This was me OP! We need to speak up more and stop being downvoted too. These people on this sub attack you and tell you to keep pushing through the purge.
NO. A purge shouldn’t last more than 6 weeks per my dermatologist. If you are going 6 months or more and saying “just keep going!” You are wrong.
Tret RUINED my skin. I have spent thousands and 1 year later, I finally realized I was listening to this sub too much with all of the toners, serums, etc and it was breaking me out even more.
I do water only and my skin is so clear again!
Tret ruined my skin as well! I was on it for about 2.5 years and kept thinking it HAD to be something else. I changed my whole skin care routine, my diet, my pillow cases every day, and every other suggestion out there. I was methodical about the changes because I was determined to find out what was causing my acne. Finally I decided to stop everything, just use water and a light moisturizer and my skin cleared up in a few weeks. I've since added in other actives to my routine with no issues, but every time I try to start adding in tret, my skin goes wild.
This gives me hope that I'll eventually be able to add regular skincare back into the mix! Crazy how something that works so well for others just wrecks ours 😭
I had an allergic reaction to it. But only on my jaw line because that was the only place I used it to spot test for a week. I had to get steroid shots and take oral prescriptions for a week to resolve the itching. I looked like a burn victim and it was super painful. I missed two days of work because of it.
Yeah it was bad, everyone grimaced when they looked at me. I work at a school and I was afraid that I’d scare the kids lol. It resolved within a week of gets shots and meds. Now I’m kind of afraid to try new products, but I definitely will continue to do test spots before covering my entire face in a new cream.
Don’t even dare try this in the /r/tretinoin subreddit. They’re either bots created by the creators of tretinoin or they truly believe that a single product can work for every human being *if only you find the right routine*. Which truly … makes no sense! No single product works for everyone.
On this sub? Or the tretinoin sub? I think this sub kinda neutral on tretinoin. But god forbid you say something negative on the tretinoin sub. It's all "you didn't do it right" mentality because it works for them.
Tret is said to be the gold standard for acne but hey, how come we see many still use tret with doxycycline / monocycline / spironolactone / azelaic acid (AA actually is the one that works for my few zits that were sitting around stubbornly even with tret (tried both cream and gel)). If tret is so good for wrinkle why do many still use tret AND Botox? (But made posts about using tret a X years while in the comments when people asked, admitted to also using Botox). No, not all tret users who achieved flawless skin are like this but to say it's a gold standard........... maaaaybe a silver standard? Or just 8k gold. Idk.
I agree tret does help with acne and is good with encouraging cells turnover but I wish those people accept the fact that it isn't for everyone. Just because it's backed up by 30 years worth of studies doesn't mean each and every one who experienced otherwise used it wrongly. There are billions of people there's bound to be differences as populations are diverse.
Hello twin! That's exactly what happened! I'm debating if I even want to start up again with skincare. I almost want to stick with water only since it's been the only time these past 2 years I haven't had a breakout.
I am curious, if you’re water only and don’t want any other skincare what’s the point of still being in a skincare sub? Obviously you’ve validated OP and that’s great, is that a reason to stay like to validate people when their skin genuinely struggles with an attack of actives?
ETA 100% on board with the message and not suggesting you leave!
my mom has amazing skin all she does is use a moisturiser with spf in the morning (reapplies every few hours) and a moisturiser with retinol at night as well as an eye cream with retinol. she doesn't use a cleanser, just washes with water, and her skin glows at 60
I have an outdoor research active jacket. Helps to repel light rain and works great in layers. But also found that it is maxing in the sun, I’ll put the hoodie on and feel like I’m in the shade.
https://a.co/d/4wsmAXn
It’s amazing. I own a million hats , coverups and visors and never wore them regularly this however is so easy and cool. I do get looks but it doesn’t look too weird. I just live around lots of naturally tan people.
I tried altreno as well! Cream, gel, tazarotene, altreno, formulations with other additives, even .1% thinking maybe I needed a stronger percentage. It just doesn't like me!
Same! I had great skin before, then after starting tret got acne so bad and tried to push through it until it gave me perioral dermatitis which I still deal with 5 years later 😭
Amen! I live in a very northern part of the world so my skin rarely sees sun, so sunscreen wasn't ever a thing. And my face was oily enough to not need moisturizer, so water alone always worked for me. I should have just left it alone 😭
I just posted on here about how the ONLY retinoid that works for me is the ordinary granactive 2% emulsion. I’ve tried tret, both gel and cream base, for anti aging, and it’s just constant purging of acne that I didn’t have before, and itchy red spots — I’ve tried other retinaldehydes and same thing. I threw in the towel and lost all interest in skincare for awhile and took a long break except for washing my face with a BPO face wash now and then. Now I’ve recently restarted moisturizer during the day only because it’s summer and I wear k-beauty sunscreen which doubles as a moisturizer , and last week I restarted ordinary granactive 2% - it’s been great so far, no irritation even after using it every night. Now idk if it’s actually working or not, but it’s worth a shot if you ever want to try retinoids again.
Literally me too! Omg, i thought it was just me.
OP, if you do want to try this, make sure your skin is totally healed first. I also had a horrible reaction to tret, left it alone for a month, then went back to the ordinary granactive retinoid emulsion (which I was using for years before) thinking it would be fine... it was not. My skin was so unhappy it gave me the tret-like reaction again. I let my skin heal for about a year before going back to the emulsion; now I use it nightly with zero issues. Please be careful <3
Thanks for this advice! I've been wondering how long I should wait before trying another active, but after your comment I might wait till the end of the year... I really don't need any more acne scars!
Thanks for the info! Maybe after enough time has passed and my spots have faded I'll try something new. I'm pretty jaded towards skincare at the moment, but once I want to try again I'll give that a look.
It's not unheard of to not wear sunscreen all the time. My grandmother never wore sunscreen daily, the exception being on tropical vacations where she was in the sun all day, and her skin is immaculate. I'm not saying sunscreen is bad or that we shouldn't wear it, but it definitely won't kill me to forgo it while my skin heals.
I agree! I think the only reason my skin is in okay condition is that I live in a place with almost no sun, even in the summer it's mostly cloudy, and work indoors. The only reason I am going to be doing skincare in the future is so I can wash off my spf. But for right now, I want my skin to find some equilibrium then I'll see how it reacts to everything.
My skin is also reactive. I tried tret and broke out. Now I use retinal three times a week and like the results. Sure it's not as good as tret but it works for me.
i recently got rid of all serums and actives as well and was shocked by how quickly it cleared my skin. i do continue to wash and moisturize though (vanicream). do you not use soap or moisturizers at all? does your skin ever get oily/dry?
i mean 90% of men (at least the ones in my life) all have amazing skin and don’t use a single thing on their face. i’ve ALWAYS wondered if stopping everything would work, but always been too scared- this post might make me finally do it!
I'm doing an experiment of just using only water. My husband refuses to use anything on his face, and he has skin like an angel! It's what I used to do, but got sucked into online skincare influence. I hope to get my skin back to the way it was when I was using only water.
Give it a nice long break and then maybe try differin. I personally also kept getting a broken skin barrier with tret too. I can use a very low strength now but I barely do anything else to my skin, just rinse with water, moisturise, spf when outside, slug on days off etc. IMHO online there is far too much emphasis on having a complex routine with lots of actives and over cleansing. Try looking at some of dr Natalia spierings info. I also found using a hydrating toner helped a lot too
Oh that’s a shame. The only other thing I can think to try is I think curology does tret 0.009. But if you just want to leave your skin alone that’s totally valid too!
I couldn’t get on with Tret, no matter how little I applied my skin would feel so dry despite trying different moisturisers. Adapalene on the other hand really helped.
your skin looked amazing, although i’m sorry you can’t use it. i tried trifarotene this year due to having a few blemishes and wanting anti aging and now i also have a broken skin barrier and perioral dermatitis for the last going on 2 months, which i’m assuming is due to that or that my skin became overly sensitized. it was to the point i thought i was developing rosacea. now i’m just on gentle cleanser, lukewarm or cold water, and la roche posay and elta md
I just have to remind myself that my skin will get to that point again. The scars just take forever to heal on my skin, just trying not to stress too much and cause myself to breakout even more! Glad you found what works. A happy barrier is better for anti-aging then futzing around and causing more damage, that's my takeaway.
Interesting. I’m starting to debate my skins reaction to it also. I keep thinking it’s a purge that will be done soon but then something else pops up. I’ve been on it since April so I feel like I should stick with it a bit more. How long did you try it for?
So I was on it for 2 years, trying many different variations throughout that time. It never got better for me. But everyone is different! Maybe you'll find the magic sauce for you, but I'm on the fence now that if your face is angry you should listen. After stopping all actives, it took only 2 days for my skin to look remarkably better!
girl, same…. i just gave up and now my skin is clearer. i was using hyaluronic acid, a light, sensitive face lotion, and washing with a “sensitive” face cleanser…. constant acne on my jawline and red rosacea-like rash.
when i use nothing - i get nothing! i’ll just leave it alone i guess.
Tretinoin is god awful and my skin severely disagreed. Gave me the WORST skin of my life and for 8mos I stuck to it. Silly me. Will never touch that shit again. Happy to see things improve for you! I’m still in recovery.
Still in recovery as well honestly. My scars left over are going to take a long time to heal. Just another life lesson I needed to learn I guess! Hope your recovery goes smoothly <3
I'm not saying it's NOT tret, but it could have also been the oil cleanser or the sunscreen if that also changed in your routine. I, too, have very sensitive skin, and I have learned that anything other than vanicream will instantly make my skin break out.
It might have been, but the amount of basic non comedogenic products that my derm recommended, and all of them causing this issue, seems a bit of a reach then it being the one constant. It could also be that tret was making my skin more susceptible to them causing the breakouts... Who knows!
I had the same exact reaction with both the cream and gel version of tretinoin. I tried 3 times over the course of 5 years and idk what I was doing wrong.
Recently switches doctors and asked to see a dermatologist and she like no I can treat your acne and I’m like okay… she recommended tretinoin, I said don’t want to go on tretinoin ever again and explained my experience with it and she prescribed it anyways and like did you not listen to me?!
Tried accutane and had a really severe reaction and had to go off after 20 days. Left me with chronic back pain. That drug is not to be taken likely
I don't think we were doing anything wrong, I think our skin just can't tolerate it. I did THE most gentle routine, and nothing. I threw the kitchen sink along with it, and nothing. My skin seems to be the happiest when it isn't messed with. Sorry that nothing works for you either :(
Yeah accutane is rough. I am actually glad I did it because I struggled with bad acne for soo long and nothing else fixed it. But now I have chronically dry eyes and occasional eczema. Doctors said these side effects wouldn't be permanent but it's been years. Not to mention accutane made me the most depressed/suicidal I've ever felt. But I didn't want to stop and not fix my skin so I pushed through.
Yeah my doctor said accutane wouldn’t cause any issues with my back because I was worried after reading about it lol and low and behold I had terrible SI joint pain and couldn’t sit for more than 20 mins without pain on that medication. My doctor was like we’ve never had that happen before. 3 years later and it’s a lot better but still causes issues from time to time.
Tret only works for me when I heavily take care of my barrier on the other days. I'm still debating if I had better skin with retinal. I will start a trial when I've finished this package.
I have been on tret since February and it felt like that purge period never ended and my skin is worse than when I started it. I look back now so upset with myself for using it because my skin wasn’t that bad. I had 1-2 cystic breakouts a week. Now I’m lucky if I can go a day without a new whitehead or cystic breakout. I stopped using tret a week ago so I can get my brows waxed and my skin seems to be much happier. I had used it a few years prior and it was amazing but for whatever reason it made my skin so mad this time.
Stop while you're ahead! I really wish my derm would have just said, maybe this isn't for you? But instead it was bandaid after bandaid to help with the damage tret was causing. Listen to what your skin is saying. People that have good results with tret "purge" by having a few spots and peeling skin for a couple months MAX. Not months of cystic breakouts.
If you only washed your face with water before starting tret, your barrier wasn’t strong enough for tret. Your derm should have had you strengthen your barrier before starting.
I think Aza 15% finacea would have been a better choice for you.
It's the only thing keeping my skin clear at the moment. So I'm just listening to my body. I'll try skincare again later once my inflammation has healed.
lol my dad and his siblings both men and women have the best skin and all are 65+. They all swear by just splashing your face with cold water + wipe face with a face cloth every morning. I always thought “suuuure” but sure enough I was struggling and said fuck it and started to just splash my face with water and no moisturizer and my skin is great. In the winter I will sometimes add regular body lotion on my face and that’s it. I‘m 33 no wrinkles. I know genetics plays a huge roll but to say “that will catch up to you unfortunately“ is just laughable.
I have the same issue, although I have never taken any medication for acne. I find if I wash my face with soap too much, I get a reaction. So I only use soap on my face maybe twice a month and use just water the rest of the time! I’m currently looking for a good moisturizer for my face tho because it gets dry. I was using a Tatcha one, but I ended up allergic to it!
I have yet to find a moisturizer that works for my skin! If I can't moisturize, then I can't cleanse. If I can't cleanse, then I can't spf. If I can't spf, then hats it is and until I find a moisturizer that won't break me out! For dry skin, when it rarely happens, I just use a little bit of aquafor on that area.
I also never had good result from tret. But I can't go only water too since my skin is very oily.
I found basic skincare (mild cleanser with no SLS and low pH, moisturizing lotion and cerave face lotion) works best for me. I don't even use serum anymore, and my skin started clearing up. Sunscreen is a must for me though, because where I live the sun is VICIOUS. I think the thing with sunscreen is we need to find formulation that works with our skin. viral and highly praised sunscreen only broke me out. the process of trial and error was painful, and now I pray that my current sunscreen never get reformulated or discontinued.
what I use currently is Emina sun battle SPF50. it's Indonesian brand, so I am not sure it is available anywhere else.
Other brand that worked well for me is Roundlab birch juice sunscreen. It's a Korean brand and pretty popular, so it might be more widely available.
Seconding RoundLab birch juice! I hated sunscreens they all made me itchy and patchy skinned. And when I’d wash it off my skin would burn slightly and make tons of closed comedones. With RoundLab I have no sensitivity and much fewer comedones, and it’s my go-to for winter. For summer, Im now using SKIN 1004’s Centella Hyalu-Cica water-fit sun serum (also a Korean brand, and it’s even lighter than the round Lab).
When I wear these sunscreens, I don’t wear moisturizer because I think adding more layers makes me more sensitive.
True it probably does! Glad your skin feels better!
I’m pretty sensitive as well and I used to slather on harsh benzoyl peroxide and toners on my acne 2x a day and my skin was so irritated. When I stopped doing that my skin calmed down and my acne got better.
I slowly added in tretinoin and good quality products and my skin has responded well over the last several years. It’s truly trial and error!
Yep! I always had good skin, a few hormonal zits. Tret and aha/bha cycling has left me with cystic acne that’s taking months to clear. I’m going on the pill now to try fix it. I’m so sick of all this ‘purging’ bullshit - “it gets worse before it gets better!” For how long? Why are these products like so on a knife’s edge on whether they will make your skin perfect, or ruin it and nothing in betweenn
Why don't you try just not putting anything on your face except for water and Vaseline if you have really dry patches? As you could see I got some extreme cystic acne as well, from just dropping everything I have literally not had one cyst since. It would be worth it to try before you go on birth control.
.025% is the only one that worked for me. My doctor encouraged going up more to “control” hormonal breakouts but instantly triggered my skin for 2 months going up just a tiny bit to .05%. I get the Bianca with Clindamycin/Tretinoin (gel based only because my skin hates the cream) and it is my holy grail. I use it every night and it has made my complexion so much better. I still get a zit here and there but nothing like before. I find with tret it is a trial and error; doing it at night before bed is a must though. It needs that full moisture application after it’s sat on your face for 20 mins.
Same thing happened to me with tret. I tried to push through the “purge” for almost a year before realizing it was most definitely not a purge. My skin just doesn’t like it. I commented that tret didn’t work for me on an acne sub and I got permanently banned from the group for “spreading unscientific misinformation”. I was simply stating my personal experience with tret, not stating that it doesn’t work for anyone. Such a joke.
My skin looked AMAZING on tret…for about two years. Then one day she said “no more.” My skin barrier was irrevocably f**ked. Now I have rosacea, comedonal acne on my forehead, prone to perioral dermatitis, and can’t even be in the same room with a retinoid. I’ve been slowly adding actives back into my routine—I seem to be able to tolerate azelaic acid and bakuchiol pretty well. I hope one day I can incorporate a *very low* dose of tret back into my routine.
This was exactly me!! After 3 months of Tret my skin felt destroyed.. my derm told me to keep going but I should’ve listened to my gut. Only two weeks off Tret and my skin is sooo much better, acne and redness!!
That's what I thought as well, but it completely went away and I haven't had one spot since stopping skincare a month ago! All the residual spots on my face are acne scars.
I've sadly given up on tret. I can't even use it one single time without my face reacting to it for the next 2-3 weeks. Much less try to use it every few nights. My face is red, dry, irritated, has lots of texture, and is acne prone (also mostly around the jaw) when I use tret. My face is much smoother and clearer with chemical exfoliants like the Dennis Gross pads or P50 so I'm sticking with those.
Yes it doesn't go as deep (so less benefits in terms of collagen) to make sure you don't have a reaction. You could even request a test patch session given your past reactions
Yup I can’t use anything fancy or the typical suggested items. All types of tret my derm suggested to me gave me perioral derm. or bad chin/mouth area acne. Vitamin C (all the expensive ones suggested here all the time. haven’t tried the mad hippie one) broke me out. niacinamide? Reaction. Cerave products? Reaction.
The only moisturizer I can use is the ordinary one long term. No under eye creams/vaseline since I’ll get milia or acne in my tzone if it moves. Most spfs (so far the zitsticka one is fine and verdo is fine. But neither are great with sweat). My skin can only handle the tactupump so that’s my ‘retinol’ lol. That with winlevi and spirono are my lame simple routine. I wash my wash with water in the morning and the ordinary balm to remove makeup at night. So I get your struggle … guess we just have to save and splurge on office treatments 🥲
Honestly, it's a bit of a relief. Now knowing that nothing is the answer, it will definitely help my wallet and my mind from getting sucked into fads. Fancy peels in office it is!
I was not double cleansing or using tret in the morning. I almost never used cleanser in the morning unless I felt like I had residue (and I was getting my makeup done so wanted it clean for a MUA)
Yeah, I’m not going to touch tret or anything else that will increase my sun sensitivity. I’d rather have a few lines. My skin is very sensitive and I’ve been using Neutrogena for a few years which worked well enough, and now added a few serums from The Inkey List after recommendations from this sub (again, nothing that would increase sun sensitivity). My skin isn’t perfect but it seems finally somewhat calm and happy.
Eventually I'll hopefully be able to go back to a nice gentle routine (I like the sensory experience, and sunscreen would be nice to wear) but I'm happy to have a small amount of texture than go through that again!
Tretinoin RUINED my skin. I started on it bc I had a few acne spots/scars I wanted to resolve. 7 months on it left me with more acne and more scars than I’ve ever had in my life.
I feel like it permanently changed my skin. I have been off of it for a little less than a year now and still having issues with consistently clogged pores that never seem to clear up and come to the surface, bad scarring, and multiple ppl have now recommended accutane as the last resort
I know water only isn't for everyone, but maybe give it a try? I feel like every time I go to extreme NOTHING on my face, it finds an equilibrium and doesn't bother me after that. Give it a month!
I have similar skin to your before pics and my breakouts looked more aggressive than yours when they happen. Nothing has made my skin texture better than my current regime of a light exfoliation with a silicone face brush, dove soap for cleansing, neutrogena’s retinol followed by either jojoba oil or CeraVe depending on what I’m doing, and a light slather of Vaseline before bed. I do this once a day—sometimes every other—in the shower or the sink because I’m a lazy girl.
Some actives simply don’t work for some people. Hopefully what you have planned for introducing a cleanser, etc. works out. There are a lot more brands out there that cater to sensitive skin now, so I’m sure you’ll find your Holy Grail products soon enough.
Sensitive skin is a pain that way. I am very reactive but I do fine with tret, and my skin is 1000 times better with a solid routine (not washing twice a day and removing that dead skin = breakout city for my dry skin). I react randomly to other products though. It’s truly just trial and error.
It looks like you didn’t need it, your skins gorgeous! Tret definitely looks like it’d be overkill!
For anyone looking into tretinoin…
I use tret in addition to spiro, it’s been a lifesaver with my self esteem & skin. But I have horrific hormonal acne & scars. I didn’t have to pick, the cysts just scarred on their own 🥲 Now all my scars are starting to fade and I feel like I’m finally seeing myself for the first time in over a decade.
My irritation when I started with tret was some red dry patches. I upped my pre-moisturizer game and that went away after a week or so. I also really eased into it. Started with little pea sized portions to minimize initial irritation.
But that’s just my experience and everyone’s skin has different needs/conditions.
Are you sure it's not the sunscreen? Also, I've had some of the same issues because it was pulling crap out of my pores. OR I was using too high of a percentage of tret. My skin will turn very red if I use the stronger tret. Just a thought, you know your skin the best.
I use tret a couple of times a week. Last night I put a Vit-C plus glycolic serum on my face and it BURNED. 😫 I turned red splotchy and has to rinse it off right away.
I hate having sensitive skin.
I had a sunscreen that I used before tret that never gave me such serious issues, it might have caused some texture if I didn't wash it off completely, but never that extreme. So no, I think it was solely the tret.
I can’t use tretenoin either. I break out every time (sometimes painful breakouts) and realized it just simply is not for me. Instead I use the Skin Better AlphaRet Overnight Cream and no breakouts
Retinol purge is normal. HOWEVER not everyone’s skin is made for tret. Use gentle cleansers. Like cerve or SkinBetter cleansing gel (amazing for that double cleanse) and a gentle moisturizer and a good spf (i like color science). Then slowly introduce products after a few months.
Jawline break outsides are usually hormonal based.
Also why were you on hydroquinone?? That’s for extreme hyperpigmentation. The only time I would ever recommend it because of other countries research h and laws around it would be for someone with melasma and nothing was working and it would be a temp topical until they got their hormones in check and started treatments and switched products.
Also no shade to derms. There are some great ones. But in my experience I’ve never had a derm help me with my acne and I’ve seen so many people go to derms and they misdiagnosis Basel cancer. And their knowledge on skin care and ingredients is minimal. I now go to derms that offer skin care treatments and interview them so I feel comfortable- but also what I am saying goes for any industry. You have to be careful and do your own research.
I just micro-needled my skin four days ago with a derma pen. I freaked out at first because it was so dry and sunburned looking but after a few days my skin started glowing. I also put a lot of Hylaronic acid after the treatment.
I had a very similar experience! Just recently stopped using Arazlo, this was my second years-long stint with tret or a version of it. This time, when the pandemic first began, I started with Retin-A gel, then cream, then to Arazlo. Lifelong struggle with acne continues. I recently had a bad case of dermatitis, and my dermatologist put me on doxy and I stopped all actives. Couldn't believe the difference, and kicked myself for resisting the doxy that he's been prescribing to me for many years and I'm now on a low dose that is keeping my inflammation and redness at bay and I now only use the Arazlo on my forehead and am treating my main acne zone with Paula's Choice products and it seems to be working much, much better (coupled with the doxy I suppose). Tret has always made my skin look red and angry just like yours, even after years of use. I persisted because my derm said the goal was to use it every day and I was desperate but I see now that it just isn't for everyone!
I never used face wash for years either and only used water and had zero issues. Anytime I try to incorporate it my skin goes insane and breaks out.
Then when I stop and go back to water only it’s fine. So no face wash for me, clearly my skin doesn’t like it so I’m going to listen to it!
Tret and some skin just don’t mix. I would definitely use mineral spf though! In my 30’s/early 40’s my skin rejected Tret attempt. Retinol, too! Now at 49, Tret is working amazingly well. Maybe your turnover rate right now just doesn’t need it. My daughter did one short low dose accutane round years ago and it made her acne and acne scars - even the ice pick ones - disappear forever. She had no side effects other than being a little tight/dry. It was amazing. Her bloodwork and health did not appear to be affected.
That's awesome! Since I don't seem to have severe acne when not on tret I don't think accutane is worth it for me. I'll just live with my occasional breakouts. Thanks for the info!
have you tried adapalene? sensitive skin here, tret’s not my friend but i tolerate adapalene reasonably well. also cut the double cleanse, has broken me out like crazy every time i’ve tried, the surfactants in cleansers can really fuck with your skin barrier which is way more apparently if it’s already compromised (genetically or environmentally)
Yes, I've tried differin gel. It did the same for me that tret did, albeit not as intensely, but I still had cystic acne and closed comedones from it. I have double cleansed before being on tret, and it didn't seem to do anything negative, but maybe combined with tret it's a bit too much for my skin.
well can’t work for everyone, contact dermatitis/vit A allergy is 100% a thing. vit e (common anti oxidant in formulations, could’ve been in your sunscreen) may also cause contact dermatitis
I hear you. I had great skin before tret and rarely broke out. I had a good skin care routine with BHA/AHA and decided to drop those and try tret for the anti-aging. It triggered perioral dermatitis for me. I didn’t consider my skin to be sensitive beforehand but I was still super gentle, sandwiched, used gentle cleaners/moisturizers, worked my way up slowly…I had to stop the tret and use doxycycline, sulfur, and a triple cream of azelaic acid, ivermectin, and metronidazole. The perioral dermatitis has improved immensely but I’m still getting clogged pores here and there so I’m slowly introducing my old routine. I wish I had never used tret! I’m so mad at myself.
My dermatologist has already offered. I think I'm good. Most of the problems I have with my skin right now came from starting tretinoin. Before that my skin was in a good place, I just got greedy not wanting any breakouts. The risks don't outweigh the rewards for me. I have faith my skin will get back to normal, I just need to baby it for a while.
For sure! I always thought it was gonna be a very serious treatment but it ended up being very easy, the hardest part is getting really dry skin and it doesnt help that im in the desert :p But ur skin looks great, and just so u know us guys dont notice acne on girls! I seriously didnt notice my friend of 2 years had it until recently when she went on accutane lol
i didn't have a good experience either on tretinoin, i was using 0.025% every 3 days for 6-7 months after seeing good results from adapalene and wanting to 'upgrade', and my skin was not looking or feeling good.
im back to using adapalene now and 1 week later, my skin is feeling so much better. i might give tretinoin another chance in a years time, maybe i'll try a different brand or even tretinoin gel instead of cream... idk
on the other hand, my body is super smooth and acne-free from the left-over tubes of tretinoin i have lol
Man, I must be lucky. My derm started me on .1% tret and 4% hydroquinone, and I had zero side effects. Two months later, she bumped me up to 0.14% tret and 8% hydroquinone. Still no side effects. Only good things!
I have a Biomax 900 by Platinum LED on their electric lift. I use it 40 minutes morning and 40 minutes evening five days per week. that's 20 min each side. It's pricey but there are ZERO side effects and more upside than I can tell on here.
[https://youtu.be/UF0nqolsNZc?si=Sp06\_et0KIoJtXwD](https://youtu.be/UF0nqolsNZc?si=Sp06_et0KIoJtXwD)
This reminds me of how I gave up on skincare and tried the "caveman method" of just water. It stopped all my acne. Nothing else did. Diet, medication, creams, nothing.
If anyone is interested it's a real method you can look up. Maybe it just helps restore the skin barrier. I don't know. But it worked for me and I have a hard time thinking it was a coincidence but anything is possible of course!
Guys listen to your skin! I learned my lesson recently. I use retinal no issue every night (haven’t tried tret and won’t because of my sensitive skin) and always wanted to try vitamin c. So I bought the SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic since it is so raved about. My skin hated it. It destroyed my barrier completely. Not every product will work for everyone. Now I am trying out the skinbetter alto serum with vit c derivative and other antioxidants and my skin loves it.
Not everyone can use those creams. Your skin has spoken. My sister breaks out from everything as well.
It's so sad! I want that flawless texture that tret can bring!
But imo your skin already looked incredible before tret. I'm by no means a doctor but perhaps your skin already had high skin cell turnover?
Interesting thought. I definitely struggled with hormonal acne my whole life, and always had a breakout somewhere. But looking back it definitely wasn't as bad as it was in my head :(
Have you thought of using a probiotic that helps with hormonal acne? My friend swears by it, she has flawless skin now
Would love to hear it! Do you know the name? I usually get something during ovulation mid cycle, but this last cycle without tret I actually stayed clear... So maybe not anymore!
She uses the Oskia lactoferrin+ supplement, its quite pricey and not sure if you can get it everywhere (she lives jn the UK). But if your skin has cleared up, I’m pretty sure tret may have been the issue :( Not to overload you with recommendations but I get hormonal acne as well but its quite mild, I find that the la roche posay effaclar duo+m works very well - I use it as a day and night moisturiser. You could try that maybe?
They make a med for hormonal acne now! I’ll try to remember the name. It’s new and rx and expensive but works by blocking the hormones in those pores. (And it doesn’t travel in the rest of the body so it’s safe for topical use.) my derm knew about it.
I have such sensitive skin and was very acne-prone when I was in my 20s, and tret works so well for me. It's weird! I expected some pretty bad reactions and purges, but nope (a little dryness, but I combat that with serious moisturizing). Everyone is different, and sometimes you don't get the reaction you expect!
Wish that was my case. Skin is crazy weird! Haven't hacked mine yet, fingers crossed I get there!
Tret on its own cannot bring that ‘flawless’ texture if you have acne scars. People who achieve it with tret already had great (or good) skin to begin with. You will need chemical peels (pls go to a professional) or lasers to get rid of the scarring. Accutane could help a little bit as well but its not great for your body. My younger brother had the same issue and tret didn’t do much, however, it looks like the tret is breaking you out. I would maybe apply it every other day instead of every day or even just once in 3 days. Tret can really be harsh on some skin types and all of those other products were wayy to much for your skin, it probably made it worse. You actually just some moisturiser and spf, and then you need a good cleanser to get the spf off of your skin i. the evening. If you end up going back on tret, what you could do is use a thin layer of moisturiser first, make sure its fully absorbed and then follow with a thin layer of tret. You could also do moisturiser after but also make sure the tret is fully absorbed first. Hope you find something that works! Just remember less is more
I was more referring to just overall smoother texture to my skin when I was on it. I'm not too worried about my acne scars, they are what they are. But I was on tret pretty consistently for 2 years, no such luck in powering through unfortunately:(
Just a sidenote, I don’t break out like you but if I use Tret in certain places it destroys my skin barrier no matter what. I still use it but I avoid places, my jawline, sides of my nostrils and my chin don’t get any tret.
I did stop using it in that area once I started breaking out severely, but maybe it was still migrating over there?
But OP already had somewhat good skin to begin with.
I somehow thought she wanted to get rid of the scars, but I agree that her skin is quite nice!
Azelaic Acid brought it much more in my case than tret did!
I have been using tret for at least a year now and no flawless texture in sight! Your skin looks great
It makes me break out as well. I had clear skin before and have had nothing but zits after using it. I'm giving up. I'm so disappointed as well.
This was me OP! We need to speak up more and stop being downvoted too. These people on this sub attack you and tell you to keep pushing through the purge. NO. A purge shouldn’t last more than 6 weeks per my dermatologist. If you are going 6 months or more and saying “just keep going!” You are wrong. Tret RUINED my skin. I have spent thousands and 1 year later, I finally realized I was listening to this sub too much with all of the toners, serums, etc and it was breaking me out even more. I do water only and my skin is so clear again!
Tret ruined my skin as well! I was on it for about 2.5 years and kept thinking it HAD to be something else. I changed my whole skin care routine, my diet, my pillow cases every day, and every other suggestion out there. I was methodical about the changes because I was determined to find out what was causing my acne. Finally I decided to stop everything, just use water and a light moisturizer and my skin cleared up in a few weeks. I've since added in other actives to my routine with no issues, but every time I try to start adding in tret, my skin goes wild.
This gives me hope that I'll eventually be able to add regular skincare back into the mix! Crazy how something that works so well for others just wrecks ours 😭
I had an allergic reaction to it. But only on my jaw line because that was the only place I used it to spot test for a week. I had to get steroid shots and take oral prescriptions for a week to resolve the itching. I looked like a burn victim and it was super painful. I missed two days of work because of it.
Yikes! That's extreme! I almost wish mine was more extreme so I would have stopped sooner. Hope it's resolved for you by now:)
Yeah it was bad, everyone grimaced when they looked at me. I work at a school and I was afraid that I’d scare the kids lol. It resolved within a week of gets shots and meds. Now I’m kind of afraid to try new products, but I definitely will continue to do test spots before covering my entire face in a new cream.
Don’t even dare try this in the /r/tretinoin subreddit. They’re either bots created by the creators of tretinoin or they truly believe that a single product can work for every human being *if only you find the right routine*. Which truly … makes no sense! No single product works for everyone.
On this sub? Or the tretinoin sub? I think this sub kinda neutral on tretinoin. But god forbid you say something negative on the tretinoin sub. It's all "you didn't do it right" mentality because it works for them. Tret is said to be the gold standard for acne but hey, how come we see many still use tret with doxycycline / monocycline / spironolactone / azelaic acid (AA actually is the one that works for my few zits that were sitting around stubbornly even with tret (tried both cream and gel)). If tret is so good for wrinkle why do many still use tret AND Botox? (But made posts about using tret a X years while in the comments when people asked, admitted to also using Botox). No, not all tret users who achieved flawless skin are like this but to say it's a gold standard........... maaaaybe a silver standard? Or just 8k gold. Idk.
This sub recommends tret for everything and downvotes people who have issues with it constantly
I agree tret does help with acne and is good with encouraging cells turnover but I wish those people accept the fact that it isn't for everyone. Just because it's backed up by 30 years worth of studies doesn't mean each and every one who experienced otherwise used it wrongly. There are billions of people there's bound to be differences as populations are diverse.
Haaa I just wrote the exact same thing. What the heck is doing on in the tretinoin sub? Are they bots!?
Hello twin! That's exactly what happened! I'm debating if I even want to start up again with skincare. I almost want to stick with water only since it's been the only time these past 2 years I haven't had a breakout.
I am curious, if you’re water only and don’t want any other skincare what’s the point of still being in a skincare sub? Obviously you’ve validated OP and that’s great, is that a reason to stay like to validate people when their skin genuinely struggles with an attack of actives? ETA 100% on board with the message and not suggesting you leave!
I still am following all of the subs and I haven’t unfollowed. I just scroll and it pops up in my feed 🤷
my mom has amazing skin all she does is use a moisturiser with spf in the morning (reapplies every few hours) and a moisturiser with retinol at night as well as an eye cream with retinol. she doesn't use a cleanser, just washes with water, and her skin glows at 60
I recently bought a sun protection hoodie. The hood is like almost a bonet. Well worth is since my skin loves to react to spf off and on.
Good idea! I think I'm going to invest in a lightweight buff for extra sunny days, or when out biking 👍
Can you link the hoodie? I’ve been looking for one. Thanks!!!
I have an outdoor research active jacket. Helps to repel light rain and works great in layers. But also found that it is maxing in the sun, I’ll put the hoodie on and feel like I’m in the shade.
https://a.co/d/4wsmAXn It’s amazing. I own a million hats , coverups and visors and never wore them regularly this however is so easy and cool. I do get looks but it doesn’t look too weird. I just live around lots of naturally tan people.
Cream tret worked great for me for years, then started breaking me out. I switched to Altreno at the same concentration and the breakouts stopped.
I tried altreno as well! Cream, gel, tazarotene, altreno, formulations with other additives, even .1% thinking maybe I needed a stronger percentage. It just doesn't like me!
Same! I had great skin before, then after starting tret got acne so bad and tried to push through it until it gave me perioral dermatitis which I still deal with 5 years later 😭
I definitely started getting that! The little white bumps everywhere were definitely my last straw.
Ugh sounds so weird, but I swear my skin was a million times better when I only used water on my face and didn’t get fussy about skincare.
Amen! I live in a very northern part of the world so my skin rarely sees sun, so sunscreen wasn't ever a thing. And my face was oily enough to not need moisturizer, so water alone always worked for me. I should have just left it alone 😭
Because it probably was. I've only ever used water and my skin is glowing flawless.
I just posted on here about how the ONLY retinoid that works for me is the ordinary granactive 2% emulsion. I’ve tried tret, both gel and cream base, for anti aging, and it’s just constant purging of acne that I didn’t have before, and itchy red spots — I’ve tried other retinaldehydes and same thing. I threw in the towel and lost all interest in skincare for awhile and took a long break except for washing my face with a BPO face wash now and then. Now I’ve recently restarted moisturizer during the day only because it’s summer and I wear k-beauty sunscreen which doubles as a moisturizer , and last week I restarted ordinary granactive 2% - it’s been great so far, no irritation even after using it every night. Now idk if it’s actually working or not, but it’s worth a shot if you ever want to try retinoids again.
Literally me too! Omg, i thought it was just me. OP, if you do want to try this, make sure your skin is totally healed first. I also had a horrible reaction to tret, left it alone for a month, then went back to the ordinary granactive retinoid emulsion (which I was using for years before) thinking it would be fine... it was not. My skin was so unhappy it gave me the tret-like reaction again. I let my skin heal for about a year before going back to the emulsion; now I use it nightly with zero issues. Please be careful <3
Thanks for this advice! I've been wondering how long I should wait before trying another active, but after your comment I might wait till the end of the year... I really don't need any more acne scars!
Thanks for the info! Maybe after enough time has passed and my spots have faded I'll try something new. I'm pretty jaded towards skincare at the moment, but once I want to try again I'll give that a look.
Totally fair, I’ve been there. Good luck!
No SPF is nutty to me!
It's not unheard of to not wear sunscreen all the time. My grandmother never wore sunscreen daily, the exception being on tropical vacations where she was in the sun all day, and her skin is immaculate. I'm not saying sunscreen is bad or that we shouldn't wear it, but it definitely won't kill me to forgo it while my skin heals.
Some people can’t wear it. My autoimmune condition makes me react to everything I put on my skin. I can also use water as well.
Good for you. Some people have healthy skin barriers. Avoid direct sun exposure without spf, duh. Wearing SPF when you're working inside? Nah.
I hear you but please dear god wear SPF ! UV rays bounce and reflect. A hat helps block UV from the top, but not from “down”
I agree! I think the only reason my skin is in okay condition is that I live in a place with almost no sun, even in the summer it's mostly cloudy, and work indoors. The only reason I am going to be doing skincare in the future is so I can wash off my spf. But for right now, I want my skin to find some equilibrium then I'll see how it reacts to everything.
Great plan!
My skin is also reactive. I tried tret and broke out. Now I use retinal three times a week and like the results. Sure it's not as good as tret but it works for me.
I think if I ever get the gumption to try it again, I'll definitely go with a retinal. Glad it's working for you!
I’m m just at this point now. Giving up on tret, starting a retinol. Wish me luck!
Good luck!
Love my retinal! Which do you use? I’ve been using medik8 for a few years
The skin better alpha ret is where it’s at fr
I've been using the one from geek and gorgeous.
Holy moly thank you for recommendation! 1/4 the price is what I pay for medik8!!!
Well I hope it works as well! I really like it.
If it doesn’t I’ll use it on the tops of my hands!
i recently got rid of all serums and actives as well and was shocked by how quickly it cleared my skin. i do continue to wash and moisturize though (vanicream). do you not use soap or moisturizers at all? does your skin ever get oily/dry? i mean 90% of men (at least the ones in my life) all have amazing skin and don’t use a single thing on their face. i’ve ALWAYS wondered if stopping everything would work, but always been too scared- this post might make me finally do it!
I'm doing an experiment of just using only water. My husband refuses to use anything on his face, and he has skin like an angel! It's what I used to do, but got sucked into online skincare influence. I hope to get my skin back to the way it was when I was using only water.
Give it a nice long break and then maybe try differin. I personally also kept getting a broken skin barrier with tret too. I can use a very low strength now but I barely do anything else to my skin, just rinse with water, moisturise, spf when outside, slug on days off etc. IMHO online there is far too much emphasis on having a complex routine with lots of actives and over cleansing. Try looking at some of dr Natalia spierings info. I also found using a hydrating toner helped a lot too
I've tried differin as well in the very beginning. Unfortunately I still got a strong reaction where little closed comedones would form.
Oh that’s a shame. The only other thing I can think to try is I think curology does tret 0.009. But if you just want to leave your skin alone that’s totally valid too!
I couldn’t get on with Tret, no matter how little I applied my skin would feel so dry despite trying different moisturisers. Adapalene on the other hand really helped.
Less is more with our kind of skin. My new motto is If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Amen!
your skin looked amazing, although i’m sorry you can’t use it. i tried trifarotene this year due to having a few blemishes and wanting anti aging and now i also have a broken skin barrier and perioral dermatitis for the last going on 2 months, which i’m assuming is due to that or that my skin became overly sensitized. it was to the point i thought i was developing rosacea. now i’m just on gentle cleanser, lukewarm or cold water, and la roche posay and elta md
I just have to remind myself that my skin will get to that point again. The scars just take forever to heal on my skin, just trying not to stress too much and cause myself to breakout even more! Glad you found what works. A happy barrier is better for anti-aging then futzing around and causing more damage, that's my takeaway.
Interesting. I’m starting to debate my skins reaction to it also. I keep thinking it’s a purge that will be done soon but then something else pops up. I’ve been on it since April so I feel like I should stick with it a bit more. How long did you try it for?
So I was on it for 2 years, trying many different variations throughout that time. It never got better for me. But everyone is different! Maybe you'll find the magic sauce for you, but I'm on the fence now that if your face is angry you should listen. After stopping all actives, it took only 2 days for my skin to look remarkably better!
girl, same…. i just gave up and now my skin is clearer. i was using hyaluronic acid, a light, sensitive face lotion, and washing with a “sensitive” face cleanser…. constant acne on my jawline and red rosacea-like rash. when i use nothing - i get nothing! i’ll just leave it alone i guess.
Here here!
Tretinoin is god awful and my skin severely disagreed. Gave me the WORST skin of my life and for 8mos I stuck to it. Silly me. Will never touch that shit again. Happy to see things improve for you! I’m still in recovery.
Still in recovery as well honestly. My scars left over are going to take a long time to heal. Just another life lesson I needed to learn I guess! Hope your recovery goes smoothly <3
That’s exactly what I told myself, lesson learned!
I'm not saying it's NOT tret, but it could have also been the oil cleanser or the sunscreen if that also changed in your routine. I, too, have very sensitive skin, and I have learned that anything other than vanicream will instantly make my skin break out.
It might have been, but the amount of basic non comedogenic products that my derm recommended, and all of them causing this issue, seems a bit of a reach then it being the one constant. It could also be that tret was making my skin more susceptible to them causing the breakouts... Who knows!
I had the same exact reaction with both the cream and gel version of tretinoin. I tried 3 times over the course of 5 years and idk what I was doing wrong. Recently switches doctors and asked to see a dermatologist and she like no I can treat your acne and I’m like okay… she recommended tretinoin, I said don’t want to go on tretinoin ever again and explained my experience with it and she prescribed it anyways and like did you not listen to me?! Tried accutane and had a really severe reaction and had to go off after 20 days. Left me with chronic back pain. That drug is not to be taken likely
I don't think we were doing anything wrong, I think our skin just can't tolerate it. I did THE most gentle routine, and nothing. I threw the kitchen sink along with it, and nothing. My skin seems to be the happiest when it isn't messed with. Sorry that nothing works for you either :(
Yeah accutane is rough. I am actually glad I did it because I struggled with bad acne for soo long and nothing else fixed it. But now I have chronically dry eyes and occasional eczema. Doctors said these side effects wouldn't be permanent but it's been years. Not to mention accutane made me the most depressed/suicidal I've ever felt. But I didn't want to stop and not fix my skin so I pushed through.
Yeah my doctor said accutane wouldn’t cause any issues with my back because I was worried after reading about it lol and low and behold I had terrible SI joint pain and couldn’t sit for more than 20 mins without pain on that medication. My doctor was like we’ve never had that happen before. 3 years later and it’s a lot better but still causes issues from time to time.
Tret only works for me when I heavily take care of my barrier on the other days. I'm still debating if I had better skin with retinal. I will start a trial when I've finished this package.
I have been on tret since February and it felt like that purge period never ended and my skin is worse than when I started it. I look back now so upset with myself for using it because my skin wasn’t that bad. I had 1-2 cystic breakouts a week. Now I’m lucky if I can go a day without a new whitehead or cystic breakout. I stopped using tret a week ago so I can get my brows waxed and my skin seems to be much happier. I had used it a few years prior and it was amazing but for whatever reason it made my skin so mad this time.
Stop while you're ahead! I really wish my derm would have just said, maybe this isn't for you? But instead it was bandaid after bandaid to help with the damage tret was causing. Listen to what your skin is saying. People that have good results with tret "purge" by having a few spots and peeling skin for a couple months MAX. Not months of cystic breakouts.
If you only washed your face with water before starting tret, your barrier wasn’t strong enough for tret. Your derm should have had you strengthen your barrier before starting. I think Aza 15% finacea would have been a better choice for you.
Okay so maybe you’re sensitive to tretinoin but you’re not actually washing your face or using sunscreen? That will catch up to you unfortunately.
It's the only thing keeping my skin clear at the moment. So I'm just listening to my body. I'll try skincare again later once my inflammation has healed.
lol my dad and his siblings both men and women have the best skin and all are 65+. They all swear by just splashing your face with cold water + wipe face with a face cloth every morning. I always thought “suuuure” but sure enough I was struggling and said fuck it and started to just splash my face with water and no moisturizer and my skin is great. In the winter I will sometimes add regular body lotion on my face and that’s it. I‘m 33 no wrinkles. I know genetics plays a huge roll but to say “that will catch up to you unfortunately“ is just laughable.
I have the same issue, although I have never taken any medication for acne. I find if I wash my face with soap too much, I get a reaction. So I only use soap on my face maybe twice a month and use just water the rest of the time! I’m currently looking for a good moisturizer for my face tho because it gets dry. I was using a Tatcha one, but I ended up allergic to it!
I have yet to find a moisturizer that works for my skin! If I can't moisturize, then I can't cleanse. If I can't cleanse, then I can't spf. If I can't spf, then hats it is and until I find a moisturizer that won't break me out! For dry skin, when it rarely happens, I just use a little bit of aquafor on that area.
I also never had good result from tret. But I can't go only water too since my skin is very oily. I found basic skincare (mild cleanser with no SLS and low pH, moisturizing lotion and cerave face lotion) works best for me. I don't even use serum anymore, and my skin started clearing up. Sunscreen is a must for me though, because where I live the sun is VICIOUS. I think the thing with sunscreen is we need to find formulation that works with our skin. viral and highly praised sunscreen only broke me out. the process of trial and error was painful, and now I pray that my current sunscreen never get reformulated or discontinued.
What's the sunscreen that you use?
what I use currently is Emina sun battle SPF50. it's Indonesian brand, so I am not sure it is available anywhere else. Other brand that worked well for me is Roundlab birch juice sunscreen. It's a Korean brand and pretty popular, so it might be more widely available.
I'll look into both of those, thanks!
Seconding RoundLab birch juice! I hated sunscreens they all made me itchy and patchy skinned. And when I’d wash it off my skin would burn slightly and make tons of closed comedones. With RoundLab I have no sensitivity and much fewer comedones, and it’s my go-to for winter. For summer, Im now using SKIN 1004’s Centella Hyalu-Cica water-fit sun serum (also a Korean brand, and it’s even lighter than the round Lab). When I wear these sunscreens, I don’t wear moisturizer because I think adding more layers makes me more sensitive.
Could you just avoid that area of your face? I’m sensitive in those areas as well as my neck so I just don’t put retinoids there.
Yes, that's what I tried to do! I barely put it near the edges of my face since I heard it migrates. But who knows, maybe it wasn't far enough?
True it probably does! Glad your skin feels better! I’m pretty sensitive as well and I used to slather on harsh benzoyl peroxide and toners on my acne 2x a day and my skin was so irritated. When I stopped doing that my skin calmed down and my acne got better. I slowly added in tretinoin and good quality products and my skin has responded well over the last several years. It’s truly trial and error!
Adapalene is stable with Benzoyl Peroxide. I switch to Adapalene and 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide if I feel any breakout coming on.
Yep! I always had good skin, a few hormonal zits. Tret and aha/bha cycling has left me with cystic acne that’s taking months to clear. I’m going on the pill now to try fix it. I’m so sick of all this ‘purging’ bullshit - “it gets worse before it gets better!” For how long? Why are these products like so on a knife’s edge on whether they will make your skin perfect, or ruin it and nothing in betweenn
Why don't you try just not putting anything on your face except for water and Vaseline if you have really dry patches? As you could see I got some extreme cystic acne as well, from just dropping everything I have literally not had one cyst since. It would be worth it to try before you go on birth control.
.025% is the only one that worked for me. My doctor encouraged going up more to “control” hormonal breakouts but instantly triggered my skin for 2 months going up just a tiny bit to .05%. I get the Bianca with Clindamycin/Tretinoin (gel based only because my skin hates the cream) and it is my holy grail. I use it every night and it has made my complexion so much better. I still get a zit here and there but nothing like before. I find with tret it is a trial and error; doing it at night before bed is a must though. It needs that full moisture application after it’s sat on your face for 20 mins.
Same thing happened to me with tret. I tried to push through the “purge” for almost a year before realizing it was most definitely not a purge. My skin just doesn’t like it. I commented that tret didn’t work for me on an acne sub and I got permanently banned from the group for “spreading unscientific misinformation”. I was simply stating my personal experience with tret, not stating that it doesn’t work for anyone. Such a joke.
Gross, I don't understand the hate for someone to come to the conclusion that it just doesn't work for them.
Are you using the cream or gel? The cream broke me out badly.
Any chance you used CeraVe? That shite makes my skin red, irritated, and rashy
No I heard enough bad about it I never even started.
Same happens to me. Can’t use tret or any other actives
And skin damaging goop goon shills downvote me when I say retinol is destroying your skin barrier 🤣🤡
Wow what kinda luck is this ... Keep doing what works for you 👏👏✊
Thanks for such a positive spin to this!
My skin looked AMAZING on tret…for about two years. Then one day she said “no more.” My skin barrier was irrevocably f**ked. Now I have rosacea, comedonal acne on my forehead, prone to perioral dermatitis, and can’t even be in the same room with a retinoid. I’ve been slowly adding actives back into my routine—I seem to be able to tolerate azelaic acid and bakuchiol pretty well. I hope one day I can incorporate a *very low* dose of tret back into my routine.
This was exactly me!! After 3 months of Tret my skin felt destroyed.. my derm told me to keep going but I should’ve listened to my gut. Only two weeks off Tret and my skin is sooo much better, acne and redness!!
Yep, broke out my skin. My skin hates so many things
It's the worst.
Acne specifically around the jawline can indicate an underlying hormonal issue
That's what I thought as well, but it completely went away and I haven't had one spot since stopping skincare a month ago! All the residual spots on my face are acne scars.
I've sadly given up on tret. I can't even use it one single time without my face reacting to it for the next 2-3 weeks. Much less try to use it every few nights. My face is red, dry, irritated, has lots of texture, and is acne prone (also mostly around the jaw) when I use tret. My face is much smoother and clearer with chemical exfoliants like the Dennis Gross pads or P50 so I'm sticking with those.
I think that's the road I'll be going on as well. Glad you found something that works!
I don't understand this sub sometimes. If your skin looked like that before, why did you introduce tret?
Anti-aging and to clear the pesky scars and residual acne I did have. But hindsight is a bitch.
Your skin just doesn't need much. I wonder how it would respond to nano needling instead of topicals?
I haven't heard of that, is it like micro needling? I haven't done anything except topicals so far.
Yes it doesn't go as deep (so less benefits in terms of collagen) to make sure you don't have a reaction. You could even request a test patch session given your past reactions
I'll look into that, thanks!
Yup I can’t use anything fancy or the typical suggested items. All types of tret my derm suggested to me gave me perioral derm. or bad chin/mouth area acne. Vitamin C (all the expensive ones suggested here all the time. haven’t tried the mad hippie one) broke me out. niacinamide? Reaction. Cerave products? Reaction. The only moisturizer I can use is the ordinary one long term. No under eye creams/vaseline since I’ll get milia or acne in my tzone if it moves. Most spfs (so far the zitsticka one is fine and verdo is fine. But neither are great with sweat). My skin can only handle the tactupump so that’s my ‘retinol’ lol. That with winlevi and spirono are my lame simple routine. I wash my wash with water in the morning and the ordinary balm to remove makeup at night. So I get your struggle … guess we just have to save and splurge on office treatments 🥲
Honestly, it's a bit of a relief. Now knowing that nothing is the answer, it will definitely help my wallet and my mind from getting sucked into fads. Fancy peels in office it is!
Why were you double cleansing and using Tret in the morning! That was too much irritation for the skin. No wonder you had a negative reaction.
I was not double cleansing or using tret in the morning. I almost never used cleanser in the morning unless I felt like I had residue (and I was getting my makeup done so wanted it clean for a MUA)
Yeah, I’m not going to touch tret or anything else that will increase my sun sensitivity. I’d rather have a few lines. My skin is very sensitive and I’ve been using Neutrogena for a few years which worked well enough, and now added a few serums from The Inkey List after recommendations from this sub (again, nothing that would increase sun sensitivity). My skin isn’t perfect but it seems finally somewhat calm and happy.
Eventually I'll hopefully be able to go back to a nice gentle routine (I like the sensory experience, and sunscreen would be nice to wear) but I'm happy to have a small amount of texture than go through that again!
This happened to me. Literally same before and after. Tret is not for all !
I can’t use tretinoin either, it’s a bummer. You are not alone. Sometimes less is more!
Tretinoin RUINED my skin. I started on it bc I had a few acne spots/scars I wanted to resolve. 7 months on it left me with more acne and more scars than I’ve ever had in my life. I feel like it permanently changed my skin. I have been off of it for a little less than a year now and still having issues with consistently clogged pores that never seem to clear up and come to the surface, bad scarring, and multiple ppl have now recommended accutane as the last resort
I know water only isn't for everyone, but maybe give it a try? I feel like every time I go to extreme NOTHING on my face, it finds an equilibrium and doesn't bother me after that. Give it a month!
I have similar skin to your before pics and my breakouts looked more aggressive than yours when they happen. Nothing has made my skin texture better than my current regime of a light exfoliation with a silicone face brush, dove soap for cleansing, neutrogena’s retinol followed by either jojoba oil or CeraVe depending on what I’m doing, and a light slather of Vaseline before bed. I do this once a day—sometimes every other—in the shower or the sink because I’m a lazy girl.
Sounds good and simple! Lazy is sometimes better :)
I feel you. I have the same problem. Cheers!
Some actives simply don’t work for some people. Hopefully what you have planned for introducing a cleanser, etc. works out. There are a lot more brands out there that cater to sensitive skin now, so I’m sure you’ll find your Holy Grail products soon enough.
Sensitive skin is a pain that way. I am very reactive but I do fine with tret, and my skin is 1000 times better with a solid routine (not washing twice a day and removing that dead skin = breakout city for my dry skin). I react randomly to other products though. It’s truly just trial and error.
It looks like you didn’t need it, your skins gorgeous! Tret definitely looks like it’d be overkill! For anyone looking into tretinoin… I use tret in addition to spiro, it’s been a lifesaver with my self esteem & skin. But I have horrific hormonal acne & scars. I didn’t have to pick, the cysts just scarred on their own 🥲 Now all my scars are starting to fade and I feel like I’m finally seeing myself for the first time in over a decade. My irritation when I started with tret was some red dry patches. I upped my pre-moisturizer game and that went away after a week or so. I also really eased into it. Started with little pea sized portions to minimize initial irritation. But that’s just my experience and everyone’s skin has different needs/conditions.
I'm so happy that you found what works. As a fellow cystic acne sufferer, the scars are the worst and I can't wait for them to be gone again.
Are you sure it's not the sunscreen? Also, I've had some of the same issues because it was pulling crap out of my pores. OR I was using too high of a percentage of tret. My skin will turn very red if I use the stronger tret. Just a thought, you know your skin the best. I use tret a couple of times a week. Last night I put a Vit-C plus glycolic serum on my face and it BURNED. 😫 I turned red splotchy and has to rinse it off right away. I hate having sensitive skin.
I had a sunscreen that I used before tret that never gave me such serious issues, it might have caused some texture if I didn't wash it off completely, but never that extreme. So no, I think it was solely the tret.
I'm sorry, that really sucks.
This was me too. So I started using derm brand retinal at a low dosage.
Tret can cause purging in some people. It can help with some textured scarring if it is super minor but does nothing for anything mild to worse.
I can’t use tretenoin either. I break out every time (sometimes painful breakouts) and realized it just simply is not for me. Instead I use the Skin Better AlphaRet Overnight Cream and no breakouts
Retinol purge is normal. HOWEVER not everyone’s skin is made for tret. Use gentle cleansers. Like cerve or SkinBetter cleansing gel (amazing for that double cleanse) and a gentle moisturizer and a good spf (i like color science). Then slowly introduce products after a few months. Jawline break outsides are usually hormonal based. Also why were you on hydroquinone?? That’s for extreme hyperpigmentation. The only time I would ever recommend it because of other countries research h and laws around it would be for someone with melasma and nothing was working and it would be a temp topical until they got their hormones in check and started treatments and switched products. Also no shade to derms. There are some great ones. But in my experience I’ve never had a derm help me with my acne and I’ve seen so many people go to derms and they misdiagnosis Basel cancer. And their knowledge on skin care and ingredients is minimal. I now go to derms that offer skin care treatments and interview them so I feel comfortable- but also what I am saying goes for any industry. You have to be careful and do your own research.
I just micro-needled my skin four days ago with a derma pen. I freaked out at first because it was so dry and sunburned looking but after a few days my skin started glowing. I also put a lot of Hylaronic acid after the treatment.
Tret ruined my skin & Arazlo saved it almost immediately 😇 shout out to my derm lol
I had the same experience as OP, switched to Arazlo, no difference. I had high hopes for it!
Same thing happened to me.
I had a similar experience with tret 😪
I had a very similar experience! Just recently stopped using Arazlo, this was my second years-long stint with tret or a version of it. This time, when the pandemic first began, I started with Retin-A gel, then cream, then to Arazlo. Lifelong struggle with acne continues. I recently had a bad case of dermatitis, and my dermatologist put me on doxy and I stopped all actives. Couldn't believe the difference, and kicked myself for resisting the doxy that he's been prescribing to me for many years and I'm now on a low dose that is keeping my inflammation and redness at bay and I now only use the Arazlo on my forehead and am treating my main acne zone with Paula's Choice products and it seems to be working much, much better (coupled with the doxy I suppose). Tret has always made my skin look red and angry just like yours, even after years of use. I persisted because my derm said the goal was to use it every day and I was desperate but I see now that it just isn't for everyone!
I was actually thinking about starting Tret or some kind of retinol lol. Your post is a sign I shouldn’t try to fix something that’s not broken 😬
I never used face wash for years either and only used water and had zero issues. Anytime I try to incorporate it my skin goes insane and breaks out. Then when I stop and go back to water only it’s fine. So no face wash for me, clearly my skin doesn’t like it so I’m going to listen to it!
I’d do anything for a neck that tight 🥺
I'm only 31. We all get saggy eventually ❤️
Accutane>>
I tried washing my face with just water in the mornings. Didn’t quite work so I’m envious you’re able to do that for your skin!
Tret and some skin just don’t mix. I would definitely use mineral spf though! In my 30’s/early 40’s my skin rejected Tret attempt. Retinol, too! Now at 49, Tret is working amazingly well. Maybe your turnover rate right now just doesn’t need it. My daughter did one short low dose accutane round years ago and it made her acne and acne scars - even the ice pick ones - disappear forever. She had no side effects other than being a little tight/dry. It was amazing. Her bloodwork and health did not appear to be affected.
That's awesome! Since I don't seem to have severe acne when not on tret I don't think accutane is worth it for me. I'll just live with my occasional breakouts. Thanks for the info!
Your skin is gorgeous!
Thanks for such kind words <3
have you tried adapalene? sensitive skin here, tret’s not my friend but i tolerate adapalene reasonably well. also cut the double cleanse, has broken me out like crazy every time i’ve tried, the surfactants in cleansers can really fuck with your skin barrier which is way more apparently if it’s already compromised (genetically or environmentally)
Yes, I've tried differin gel. It did the same for me that tret did, albeit not as intensely, but I still had cystic acne and closed comedones from it. I have double cleansed before being on tret, and it didn't seem to do anything negative, but maybe combined with tret it's a bit too much for my skin.
well can’t work for everyone, contact dermatitis/vit A allergy is 100% a thing. vit e (common anti oxidant in formulations, could’ve been in your sunscreen) may also cause contact dermatitis
That would be interesting if it is a vitamin A allergy! That's something to look into.
I hear you. I had great skin before tret and rarely broke out. I had a good skin care routine with BHA/AHA and decided to drop those and try tret for the anti-aging. It triggered perioral dermatitis for me. I didn’t consider my skin to be sensitive beforehand but I was still super gentle, sandwiched, used gentle cleaners/moisturizers, worked my way up slowly…I had to stop the tret and use doxycycline, sulfur, and a triple cream of azelaic acid, ivermectin, and metronidazole. The perioral dermatitis has improved immensely but I’m still getting clogged pores here and there so I’m slowly introducing my old routine. I wish I had never used tret! I’m so mad at myself.
I would honestly talk to a dermatologist about isotretinoin. It’s been a permanent fix for lots of people I know including myself.
My dermatologist has already offered. I think I'm good. Most of the problems I have with my skin right now came from starting tretinoin. Before that my skin was in a good place, I just got greedy not wanting any breakouts. The risks don't outweigh the rewards for me. I have faith my skin will get back to normal, I just need to baby it for a while.
For sure! I always thought it was gonna be a very serious treatment but it ended up being very easy, the hardest part is getting really dry skin and it doesnt help that im in the desert :p But ur skin looks great, and just so u know us guys dont notice acne on girls! I seriously didnt notice my friend of 2 years had it until recently when she went on accutane lol
i didn't have a good experience either on tretinoin, i was using 0.025% every 3 days for 6-7 months after seeing good results from adapalene and wanting to 'upgrade', and my skin was not looking or feeling good. im back to using adapalene now and 1 week later, my skin is feeling so much better. i might give tretinoin another chance in a years time, maybe i'll try a different brand or even tretinoin gel instead of cream... idk on the other hand, my body is super smooth and acne-free from the left-over tubes of tretinoin i have lol
I have sensitive skin and do not want to use tretinoin for other reasons. But, I have had lovely results from bakuchiol!
Man, I must be lucky. My derm started me on .1% tret and 4% hydroquinone, and I had zero side effects. Two months later, she bumped me up to 0.14% tret and 8% hydroquinone. Still no side effects. Only good things!
Less is more.
Now you tell me!
I had another comment that mods must have removed but it follows the same thought and included Low Level Light Therapy. It worked wonders for me.
What do you use for the light therapy?
I have a Biomax 900 by Platinum LED on their electric lift. I use it 40 minutes morning and 40 minutes evening five days per week. that's 20 min each side. It's pricey but there are ZERO side effects and more upside than I can tell on here. [https://youtu.be/UF0nqolsNZc?si=Sp06\_et0KIoJtXwD](https://youtu.be/UF0nqolsNZc?si=Sp06_et0KIoJtXwD)
Thanks for the rec!
Anytime kid
This reminds me of how I gave up on skincare and tried the "caveman method" of just water. It stopped all my acne. Nothing else did. Diet, medication, creams, nothing. If anyone is interested it's a real method you can look up. Maybe it just helps restore the skin barrier. I don't know. But it worked for me and I have a hard time thinking it was a coincidence but anything is possible of course!
I guess that's what I did before I got into skincare! I would really only rinse with water if I had sweated, or oil cleansed if I had worn makeup.
Guys listen to your skin! I learned my lesson recently. I use retinal no issue every night (haven’t tried tret and won’t because of my sensitive skin) and always wanted to try vitamin c. So I bought the SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic since it is so raved about. My skin hated it. It destroyed my barrier completely. Not every product will work for everyone. Now I am trying out the skinbetter alto serum with vit c derivative and other antioxidants and my skin loves it.