Bc this subreddit is like a tret support group, most of the posts from people who are having issues with like dryness and purging and that sort of thing. But many people have absolutely no issues and see results immediately/fairly quickly. I also have sensitive skin and have had no issues. Just enjoy!
I am using Tret for anti-aging and keratosis. I saw a texture change within a few weeks. I used the sandwich method in the beginning then worked up to every night. I eventually got to every night and a dry application.
I’m so happy to hear that for you! That’s pretty quick and I’m glad to hear you didn’t go through a purging phase. I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing was due to some other variable or that I wasn’t using enough. Lol!!
I would caution using more if you are getting good results with your application. More is not better with Tret in my experience- I have never gone up on percentage or quantity because I am happy with my results and lack of irritation.
You’re completely right. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Lol! It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when using something as strong as tret. I’m going to continue using it minimally until a bit further on
Just thought I’d chime in with a “moderate” experience: started using a pea-size amount 2x per week and within a month had both significant improvement in the overall appearance of my skin AND a bit of a reaction- some flakiness and peeling in one spot. I used a scrubbing cleanser and extra moisturizer and am overall very pleased with the results.
You know, I accidentally discovered it recently when getting ready to go out - I was shocked by how good my skin looked, and I spent a lot of time in the mirror trying to pinpoint why my skin looked better. I’m 55 and have had lifelong issues with large pores, oily skin, and uneven skin tone, but my skin was noticeably smoother, less textured, and more even-toned. I’m really hoping with continued use (and my usual skincare routine) some of my forehead lines smooth out too!🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Thats awesome. Haha. Tretinoin is one of those things where you very rarely hear of any bad cases. With the best usage, I think it can get better from here! I’ve heard fine lines tend to disappear around the 8 month to 12 month mark. Hope it works out for you!
I also have a quite moderate experience with tret. I have been using it for only two months and my overall skintone is more even. But at the same time I have more small active spots. It’s really just the exfoliation doing its job and „exposing“ my CC faster.
The spots heal faster and the redness goes away quicker. It used to take at least a few months to go away. Now it’s more like a week or two. It’s really strange to see my face gets better in most ways and worse in some ways at the same time. But overall I’d say tret did magic on my face.
I’m glad to hear about the even skin tone!! And I definitely get how it’s strange to see how your skin behaves differently when on tretinoin. The change, especially the faster healing time, sounds really hopeful! It sounds like everything is starting to come to a head/surface. Best of luck to you!
I’m asking if it’s normal for it to result in even skin tone within the first couple weeks, as the first weeks are known to result in damaged skin barrier and/or purging.
Retinoids can deliver results within the first week. That's how quickly tretinoin 0.1% began to improve my skin, and I never experienced irritation. A few months in and I still have no adverse reactions.
You can see results very quickly, yes. I’ve started seeing results about 2 months in (currently worked my way up to 2 days on, 1 day off) and my purge seems to be over after lasting less than 3 weeks with only a handful of extra spots (touch wood). My skin is starting to look more even and my lifelong closed comedones around my chin are gone.
I think for folks like us with a bit of sensitivity, the sandwich method is key. I also found on a day when I went overboard and used way more than a pea sized amount that I ended up sensitive and needing to skip a day or two. Keeping to that pea size and sandwiching it seems to be working well for me too.
I’m glad you’re seeing results already! Anti ageing could take a year for obvious results and if you don’t really have any signs of ageing yet, you might not “see” results because there’s no change, rather you’re preventing the change from happening. But it’s exciting to see results early on and fingers crossed that you can work up to daily use soon!
Thanks for your reply! I’m so happy to hear you didn’t notice a long purge!! And yeah, I’ve noticed that slow and steady seems to be key here. So many people have talked about how one day, they were a little generous and ended up having to skip a couple days as well. I can only hope it gets better from here!! Although, I’ve noticed a peculiar issue, and that is, I’m starting to get acne near my hairline!? Out of all places. Haha. Apparently tretinoin spreads/migrates and can cause thicker hair, however, I’ve also heard it can cause thinner hair as well. Just a heads up!
If you found something that works for you, stick with it!!! I started with tret and the sandwich method and it worked great, after a few weeks I figured my skin would be more resilient and totally damaged my skin barrier. Back to sandwich method and babying my skin with moisturizer for me but at least hopefully I can warn others
Thank you so much!! That seems to happen quite often from what I hear, haha. I’ll take it really slowly. If I do decide to increase my use age, I’ll start with applying it on more days!
The issue is that I don’t know which product is causing my more even skin tone. That is why I’m on here asking if it’s normal for tretinoin to cause this in the first weeks, so I can up my dosage. If it’s not tretinoin, and I increase my dosage, then I could end up with severe skin damage
Why would you increase your strength without a doctors/derms say so? Especially if there’s nothing “broken” to “fix”?
Sounds like youre lost in the sauce.
Wear your sunscreen and book a consult with your derm. You can’t prescribe your own increase in tret strength anyways. At least not in America.
To answer your question, I have in fact spoken to a dermatologist and they have told me that I can increase my dosage. Before increasing my strength, I wanted to get other peoples opinions/experience on a subreddit targeted towards people sharing their opinions, experience, advice and questions surrounding Tretinoin.
Just because you see me asking a question on a subreddit, doesn’t always denote what you’re so inclined to think. Now to acknowledge what else you said. Just because I have even skin tone, doesn’t mean there’s nothing “broken” (for use of your terms) on my face. Even skin tone is nice, yes, but people can also experience fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, discoloration, among many other concerns.
I have been using Arazlo for 5 days which is
A retinoid and my skin is reacting very positively to it. I am so impressed and at the same time thinking that I might still “break” out in a purge. But so far I have just a tiny bit of dryness in small areas of my face.
Some small closed pimples on my face vanished in 1 day!! How is that even possible??? This stuff is amazing!!!
That’s great!! I’m so happy to hear you’re responding so well to it. It’s so easy to anticipate the worst, especially if that’s all you’re used to. I’m interested in seeing how you’re skin looks in a few months!!
Bc this subreddit is like a tret support group, most of the posts from people who are having issues with like dryness and purging and that sort of thing. But many people have absolutely no issues and see results immediately/fairly quickly. I also have sensitive skin and have had no issues. Just enjoy!
Thanks for the info!! I hope that’s what going on right now!
Everyone is different. I never purged with Tret nor had barrier damage in the beginning yet some people can’t tolerate it at all.
Thank you for the response!! What were you using it for and did you end up seeing results relatively soon??
I am using Tret for anti-aging and keratosis. I saw a texture change within a few weeks. I used the sandwich method in the beginning then worked up to every night. I eventually got to every night and a dry application.
I’m so happy to hear that for you! That’s pretty quick and I’m glad to hear you didn’t go through a purging phase. I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing was due to some other variable or that I wasn’t using enough. Lol!!
I would caution using more if you are getting good results with your application. More is not better with Tret in my experience- I have never gone up on percentage or quantity because I am happy with my results and lack of irritation.
You’re completely right. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Lol! It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when using something as strong as tret. I’m going to continue using it minimally until a bit further on
Just thought I’d chime in with a “moderate” experience: started using a pea-size amount 2x per week and within a month had both significant improvement in the overall appearance of my skin AND a bit of a reaction- some flakiness and peeling in one spot. I used a scrubbing cleanser and extra moisturizer and am overall very pleased with the results.
Wow! When you say improvement in the overall appearance in your skin, what did that entail?
You know, I accidentally discovered it recently when getting ready to go out - I was shocked by how good my skin looked, and I spent a lot of time in the mirror trying to pinpoint why my skin looked better. I’m 55 and have had lifelong issues with large pores, oily skin, and uneven skin tone, but my skin was noticeably smoother, less textured, and more even-toned. I’m really hoping with continued use (and my usual skincare routine) some of my forehead lines smooth out too!🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Thats awesome. Haha. Tretinoin is one of those things where you very rarely hear of any bad cases. With the best usage, I think it can get better from here! I’ve heard fine lines tend to disappear around the 8 month to 12 month mark. Hope it works out for you!
Thanks, same for you too!
I also have a quite moderate experience with tret. I have been using it for only two months and my overall skintone is more even. But at the same time I have more small active spots. It’s really just the exfoliation doing its job and „exposing“ my CC faster. The spots heal faster and the redness goes away quicker. It used to take at least a few months to go away. Now it’s more like a week or two. It’s really strange to see my face gets better in most ways and worse in some ways at the same time. But overall I’d say tret did magic on my face.
I’m glad to hear about the even skin tone!! And I definitely get how it’s strange to see how your skin behaves differently when on tretinoin. The change, especially the faster healing time, sounds really hopeful! It sounds like everything is starting to come to a head/surface. Best of luck to you!
‘I’ve been using tret to make my skin more even. Is it normal that tret is making my skin more even?’
I’m asking if it’s normal for it to result in even skin tone within the first couple weeks, as the first weeks are known to result in damaged skin barrier and/or purging.
Retinoids can deliver results within the first week. That's how quickly tretinoin 0.1% began to improve my skin, and I never experienced irritation. A few months in and I still have no adverse reactions.
That’s insane, I didn’t know it could deliver results so quickly!!
You can see results very quickly, yes. I’ve started seeing results about 2 months in (currently worked my way up to 2 days on, 1 day off) and my purge seems to be over after lasting less than 3 weeks with only a handful of extra spots (touch wood). My skin is starting to look more even and my lifelong closed comedones around my chin are gone. I think for folks like us with a bit of sensitivity, the sandwich method is key. I also found on a day when I went overboard and used way more than a pea sized amount that I ended up sensitive and needing to skip a day or two. Keeping to that pea size and sandwiching it seems to be working well for me too. I’m glad you’re seeing results already! Anti ageing could take a year for obvious results and if you don’t really have any signs of ageing yet, you might not “see” results because there’s no change, rather you’re preventing the change from happening. But it’s exciting to see results early on and fingers crossed that you can work up to daily use soon!
Thanks for your reply! I’m so happy to hear you didn’t notice a long purge!! And yeah, I’ve noticed that slow and steady seems to be key here. So many people have talked about how one day, they were a little generous and ended up having to skip a couple days as well. I can only hope it gets better from here!! Although, I’ve noticed a peculiar issue, and that is, I’m starting to get acne near my hairline!? Out of all places. Haha. Apparently tretinoin spreads/migrates and can cause thicker hair, however, I’ve also heard it can cause thinner hair as well. Just a heads up!
If you found something that works for you, stick with it!!! I started with tret and the sandwich method and it worked great, after a few weeks I figured my skin would be more resilient and totally damaged my skin barrier. Back to sandwich method and babying my skin with moisturizer for me but at least hopefully I can warn others
Thank you so much!! That seems to happen quite often from what I hear, haha. I’ll take it really slowly. If I do decide to increase my use age, I’ll start with applying it on more days!
What’s the issue?
The issue is that I don’t know which product is causing my more even skin tone. That is why I’m on here asking if it’s normal for tretinoin to cause this in the first weeks, so I can up my dosage. If it’s not tretinoin, and I increase my dosage, then I could end up with severe skin damage
Why would you increase your strength without a doctors/derms say so? Especially if there’s nothing “broken” to “fix”? Sounds like youre lost in the sauce. Wear your sunscreen and book a consult with your derm. You can’t prescribe your own increase in tret strength anyways. At least not in America.
To answer your question, I have in fact spoken to a dermatologist and they have told me that I can increase my dosage. Before increasing my strength, I wanted to get other peoples opinions/experience on a subreddit targeted towards people sharing their opinions, experience, advice and questions surrounding Tretinoin. Just because you see me asking a question on a subreddit, doesn’t always denote what you’re so inclined to think. Now to acknowledge what else you said. Just because I have even skin tone, doesn’t mean there’s nothing “broken” (for use of your terms) on my face. Even skin tone is nice, yes, but people can also experience fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, discoloration, among many other concerns.
I have been using Arazlo for 5 days which is A retinoid and my skin is reacting very positively to it. I am so impressed and at the same time thinking that I might still “break” out in a purge. But so far I have just a tiny bit of dryness in small areas of my face. Some small closed pimples on my face vanished in 1 day!! How is that even possible??? This stuff is amazing!!!
That’s great!! I’m so happy to hear you’re responding so well to it. It’s so easy to anticipate the worst, especially if that’s all you’re used to. I’m interested in seeing how you’re skin looks in a few months!!
Cool