The Back Story…

To start I have normal-oily combination skin that is dehydrated. I am not acne-prone for the most part, but I’ve noticed in the past few years my skin tends to have a few months of breakouts. This tends to occur during the summer months. This makes sense as with more oil and sebum production, it’s usually followed by clogged pores and breakouts. My breakouts are usually whiteheads and underneath the skin blemishes, which take forever to go away and often lead to scarring. As we know, retinoids are great for increasing skin cell production, unclogging pores and can also reduce the appearance of fine lines. These are many of the reasons why Tretinoin has become a staple in my routine.

As we know Tretinoin is a pretty potent product that requires a prescription and visits with your dermatologist. Since I’ve been on it these past 2 years I’ve remained at the same strength of 0.05% and I see my dermatologist for a follow-up at least every 6 months. I never experienced a purging phase, which is said to often occur in the beginning. Perhaps, it’s because I started off only using it 2x-3x per week and my skin is not so reactive. The one problem that I did experience as with almost every single user is increased dryness and peeling. The areas of my face that I mostly experience these issues are around my nose and around my mouth areas. These are also the areas of my face that are already on the dry side, so the Tretinoin increases the dryness and makes these areas more prone to light peeling/flaking on and off.

The instructions that have been provided to me by my dermatologist is that I can use the Tretinoin cream every day. He knows that I don’t use it everyday and I do include other active ingredients into my routine, so I like to proceed with caution. I initially started using Tret 2-3x per week. But with some bouts of breakouts during the summer, I’ve been able to bump up my applications from 3-4x per week. If you’re interested in seeing my application process of how and why I only use a pea size that is then applied in small dots over my face, check out the following video. The video also provides helpful tips that are not often discussed- like using tretinoin and facial waxing!

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Tretinoin in my Routines

I typically like to space out the days I use Tretinoin with a schedule of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Sometimes I’ll squeeze in an additional day of application – like on a Friday and use the sandwich method. The sandwich method is a buffer method that incorporates more moisture into the application and is great for those with skin types that are on the drier and sensitive side. A moisturizer is applied first, then Tretinoin and then sealed with another layer of moisturizer. When applying in this matter I reach for moisturizers that do not include any actives like vitamin c, glycolic acid, salicylic acid and so on. Many of these ingredients do not pair well with Tretinoin can lead to your skin being irritated, sensitized and increased peeling. I would suggest using moisturizers that are formulated with ceramides that helped to repair and hydrate at the same time.

Here are a few of my favorites:

+ Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer

+ Stratia Liquid Gold Ceramide Moisturizer

+ Skinfix Restoring Gel Cream

+ Kiehls Ultra Facial Moisturizing Cream

+ First Aid Ultra Repair Cream

+ Peter Thomas Roth Vital-E™ Antioxidant Recovery Cream

On the days that I use Tretinoin I like to keep my routines simple and moisturizing. Being that Tretinoin should only be used in the night, I follow my regular night routine of the following:

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+ Double Cleansing

+ Hydrating Toner/HydratingMist

+ Eye Cream

+ Tretinoin

+/- Moisturizer

How my skin has responded to Tretinoin over the last 2 years

Over the past year I’ve noticed that my skin has not done the best when incorporating high percentages of Vitamin C. This equally applies when using Pure Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid) and even with some Vitamin C derivatives. I noticed with this combination my skin gets to get sensitized and peels more than usual. Instead of it peeling in just a few of my normal dry areas, it peels all over my entire face.

I look at it like Tretinoin works hard, so your other products don’t have to!

Keeping up with this motto, I now also use lighter active ingredients in my routine and when I do I opt for lower strengths. I used to love Glycolic Acid based products but these days I opt for Lactic and Mandelic Acids in lower strengths (generally around 5%). Both of these actives are known for known for being great for resurfacing the skin and evening out the skin tone. Lactic Acid in particular is naturally present in the skin and is known for having natural moisturizing properties. This is one of the reasons it’s great for drier skin types. As for Mandelic Acid, its specifically known to have a higher molecular weight and penetrates the skin slowly in comparison to other actives. Being that I use Tretinoin 3-4x per week, I tend to use these alternative actives only 1-2x per week. If I use Tret 4x a week then I may only use an alternative active 1x per week. Even though I’m sure my skin can tolerate more and possibly even high strengths, I try to stick to a more conservative routine with less being more.

Progression: Some of the things I’ve noticed in the past year…

When dealing with a breakout, especially those pesky underneath the skin ones, Tretinoin does so well to help with healing them and the dark spots that are always left behind. I can say I’ve noticed changes in my skin like not many fine line formations. But I can’t say it can reverse fine lines, but I do think it works well as a preventative to slow them down. As I’ve gotten older and using Tretinoin more regularly, I get more compliments on my overall skin. People often think I’m 10 years younger than my actual age. I feel like my forehead looks really smooth, I really don’t have many fine lines, my skin tends to have a nice healthy glow for the most part. So yeah, I love Tretinoin and I do not plan on going off it anytime soon! I’m going to try keep my usage to 3-4x per weeks as long as my skin can handle it.