42 replies to this topic

[ADreamer]

Hi,

 

I started using Retin-A about 10 days ago. I won't bore you with my "acne history", one thing I will tell you is i used Roaccutane but acne came back in a very much milder form a year after I stopped.

 

I will try to make this diary as informative and as simple as possible.

But if you wish to ask me anything about Roaccutane or Retin-A, go ahead; helping others is partially why i am doing this. I mostly want to keep a diary of my progress, i like to have some kind of record of my journey.

 

 

So this will be WEEK ONE

 

For the first two days I did a typical beginner mistake-I applied retin-a as if it was a moisturizer. I put around a dime size amount all over my face. My skin was red, irritated, it was peeling and burning so after two nights i decided to have a break for one night. Which helped a lot. After that i figured i really need to only apply a pea size amount! Which is so little and it is really difficult to apply it evenly.. But I managed to learn how to apply it and since then, I have absolutely no burning, no tingling, nothing. Also, after week one redness went away. I learnt that after you wash your face at night, you are supposed to wait for 20 minutes before you apply retin-a. Well, I've been waiting for an hour every night and it greatly reduced my peeling and all that jazz.

 

In week one I already had breakouts as you will see in my pictures. Breakouts for me aren't as awful because retin-a also dries pimples very fast. I noticed my skin isn't as sensitive so I usually use retin-a as a spot treatment during days as well. Which really helps.

I don't use any moisturizer at night on top of retin-a, because moisturizer combined with retin-a irritated my skin and made it peel a lot more.

 

I just use 3 products now.

As a makeup remover and cleanser: Bioderma Sensibio H20 Cleansing Water(very good product)

As a moisturizer: Avene Hydrance Optimale Rich(also very very good, very moisturizing, diminishes flaking completely)

Retin-A

 

My pictures are bad quality because I took them with my phone, but there is no need for better quality.

Also, all the red marks; those aren't pimples but retin-a really emphasizes the redness so it makes your skin looks worse than it actually is. I have scarring(indents) in my skin but in reality it's not visible, the lighting makes it look pretty bad.

 

 

Have a nice day and will update soon

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by ADreamer, 16 April 2013 - 01:43 PM.

[grn93]

We will follow with interest! I also start soon with Retin-A 0.025% gel for my oily skin with acne. I'm 5 months after accutane, acne, oily skin and I come back to you Good luck and keep us informed with pictures

Edited by grn93, 30 January 2013 - 02:27 PM.

[ADreamer]

We will follow with interest! I also start soon with Retin-A 0.025% gel for my oily skin with acne. I'm 5 months after accutane, acne, oily skin and I come back to you Good luck and keep us informed with pictures

 

I am glad to hear it. I never had oily skin but I read that gel formula penetrates deeper into the skin and is more efficient.

Thank you

[ADreamer]

WEEK 2

 

(i started writing this diary while i was already in the second week, that's why there are only 3 days between week one and two)

 

So this week was much more pleasant than the first one. Redness is literally non existent. Peeling stopped for good I think. My skin only gets a little dry.. I get patches of dry skin where my pimples are healing, but that's not retin-a.

I did had breakouts on my chin and neck. But all my pimples are already in the process of healing. Is that it? I mean, the breakouts weren't that bad, i am wondering if this was it or the worst is yet to come?

Before I started using retin-a i only had one or two mild cysts and blackheads always present on my face, and since the day one I have been getting more and more so none of my pictures show my before skin. This made my skin worse immidiately, and also made it look worse because it really emphasizes the red marks and scars.

I feel like things are getting better and better though. My texture is getting better, i have very smooth skin on my forehead, my cheeks, my red marks are slowly fading. All what's left are pimples on my chin, neck.. I hope when this goes away, things will continue to get better.

There are still unpurities in my skin, little spots under my skin(blackheads?). I hope with the exfoliation of retin-a, it all goes away after some time.

 

So here are my pictures; decide for yourself if my skin looks worse or better, but i can defenitely say my skin looks and feels better!

 

Have a nice day(night if you live anywhere near me)

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[ADreamer]

Oh I have to add something; in week two I took one day off because of the mask I used... I used turmeric mask and it burned my face. So DO NOT use anything else while on retin-a, because the skin is so sensitive. Turmeric on its own is very agressive..

[ADreamer]

Hey guys!

 

This isn't week 3 yet...But I have a question and i really need someone to reply please please

 

I got this patch of skin on my neck where i apply retin-a (a apply all over neck not just there) that skin color just turned from normal to pink. and it doesn't burn or anything but two day ago this wasn't there yet!!! What is this, will it go away?? ://

 

 

PLEASE SOMEONE?

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[ADreamer]

No one really reads this?

[heyybrighteyes]

maybe try using honey to soothe it

[ADreamer]

heyybrighteyes: thanks for your suggestion but i figured that this is probably a real burn so i decided to leave it alone and not use retin a(or any other stuff-honey is a natural lightener- for a few days (until it's all healed). I just use a moisturizer or i put on some of my healing cream(Avene Cicalfate).

 

This morning when I woke up I thought to myself: oh it's slowly healing. This was the only area that peeled so that's most certainly a surface damage not a change of pigmentation underneath. I am convincing myself it's not a big deal but i really freaked out yesterday. The color is still very visible but i think it's not as bright anymore.

 

WEEK 3

 

Ok, it's the 9th so i guess i should write about this week, but there will be no pictures... I am sorry(am extremely busy and irritated), will post those next week. You can see in my previous picture i am breaking  A LOT. If you can't tell, i can tell you i am. I was wrong, this is just the beginning. This whole week i have been breaking out so much, i got around 20 pimples(!) and they all are on my jawline, and my neck. my neck was pretty much flawless before i started retin-a, so this is the price i have to pay.

My skin got more senstive and i assume it will get even more sensitive as the days go by. Which you can't do much about it, this is what retin-a does.

Dryness: i only get dry (a little bit flaky) in the corners of my mouth, on my chin. But there is a tight feeling present all the time.

I have to admit this week has been the worst so far and it's mostly my fault. I am not talking about breaking out, that i can handle. I really am angry at myself for once again doing the mistake of applying to much. My skin got used to retin-a last week and i thought i should apply a little more on my breakouts (which also included my neck where i got my red patch), one day i even applied retin- a in the morning. WHY? I am asking myself the same question!!

Last night i didn't apply retin-a at all, and tonight i am starting from scratch. Applying as little as possible but only on face, i will leave my neck out(until the red patch is gone). This time i am doing it right!

I am assuming i didn't "ruin" my routine with not applying it now and then..some people only apply it 3times a week?

 

Anyway: this article cheered me up a bit.

http://www.nytimes.c...anted=all&_r=1

[Sasch83]

Keep your head up hun.  As a past user of retin a i can tell you starting slow is best.  try using it every 2-3 days and then every 2 days then every day.  You will more than likely get a breakout that can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.  If after 3-4 months you are not seeing consistent progress, it may be time to consider other options.

 

Good Luck

[ADreamer]

Keep your head up hun.  As a past user of retin a i can tell you starting slow is best.  try using it every 2-3 days and then every 2 days then every day.  You will more than likely get a breakout that can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.  If after 3-4 months you are not seeing consistent progress, it may be time to consider other options.

 

Good Luck

 

Thank you for encouragment. I really appreciate it.

i will be using it only every other day and apply really really small amount.

yes i already had breakouts and i know i will have a lot more...but i went through a lot worse period during accutane which at the end didn't seem so bad at all.. i think it will be the same here.

i hope i get results! I got great results just by using azelaic acid so i think this should work too.

[ADreamer]

WEEK 4

 

So week four is already over, i am very happy it is! This week my breakouts have been the worst so far and this time i am sure it will remain like that. (i can't believe i was cocky enough to think the breaking out was over in my second week haha)

My breakouts have been awful. Right now things are getting much better. All the breakouts are healing, i just get two or three new pimples. Which is nothing compared to before. My blackheads have started to "fall out". Which is similar to how it goes with Accutane. (same time)

 

The red patch is gone. I've been just putting on some Avene Cicalfate repair cream, not putting any retin-a on for i'd say three days. When it was gone i started to put retin-a on again, but seriously almost nothing. I just glided over that area with my hand after i already applied all of the retin-a over my face.

 

As for my routine. This week i have been very good, the first four days i applied retin-a every other day and then every day. My skin gets used to it soooo quickly.

I rarely get dry patches, i rarely get red. My skin is just as dry as before i started. My skin has never been oily, but rather normal-dry. Maybe combination-dry.

 

I think that's it for this week. Retin-a isn't a big deal compared to accutane. For me it's just like applying a moisturizer now.

I have to admit, i have so much experience that no doctor could convince me i would be better off with their supervising. I bought this online, no prescription. I get as much advice with no doctor "around" as i would get otherwise. I did get a prescription for my second tube now because I thought buying a well known brand of retin-a would be more high quality that this generic stuff. So i went to my GP and she prescribed me two tubes of it, and i have to go any buy it in my neighbor country(we don't have it here)! It's a shame since i usually get everything for free(my insurance). But it's not that expensive, 10€ for a tube(a couple of more dollars).

 

I still use only two products, Bioderma and Avene. Will have to buy Avene's UV moisturizer soon, since the weather is getting better now, we get a little bit of sunshine here and there,the winter is getting less depressing.

 

My first two pictures and from three days ago, so you will see how bad the breakouts were, in three days time my skin has healed alot. (other pictures).

Oh, and a lot of what you see are really red marks not acne. The red marks are highly emphasized because of retin-a!!!

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 
• 

[ADreamer]

WEEK 5(almost)

 

I won't be able to post on Sunday so I though i would do an update today.

 

My skin has been breaking out much less than before, on my right side there are only 2 active pimples, left side about 5(seems more because of red marks).

 

The thing that stand out now is redness. Redness redness. All my acne marks are so red and are extremely visible i can't cover them with my usual mineral loose powder. I don't try to either, I just don't care. I am not that sensitive about red marks because i know people don't notice those at all. And I feel good enough in my own skin to feel ok with red marks on my face. It's not the same about pimples(more like cystic acne!) because those are related to discomfort, itchiness, pain ...

Also having smooth and not bumpy skin is more important to me than having even tone.

But Retin-a does even out skin tone as well! Which makes me even more indifferent to my soon-to-be-gone red marks.

These pictures might not seem THAT bad, but redness is EXTREMELY visible. In real life the color of red marks is bright red.

 

This isn't even week 5 yet, so i am still in the purging phase... The breakouts are much much milder. But I know for a fact skin starts to really get better around week 10. So I have a lot more to go through.

Blackheads are really getting dry and are still sticking out and if you do a scrub you will get smooth skin.

Every impurity gets out so much easier. I admit i sometimes pick at my skin...But only sometimes. Have to work on that!

I am still on my first tube of retin-a(20g)!!!

 

Until next week goodbye:)

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[ADreamer]

WEEK 6

 

Hello!

This week I think my breakouts lessened so much, i can honestly say my IB is coming to end end slowly but surely.

I got around 4 pimples in 10 days which is not a lot(considering i am also on my period).

My skin is very used to Retin-A. I am still using the 20g tube of Retin-A, my first one!

Oh,on a side note: Retin-A is TRETIONOIN. The two tubes i have bought in a pharmacy aren't exactly the same. I bought ISOTREX which is ISOTRETINOIN- which is also what Accutane is. I read that tretinoin and isotretinoin are basically the same since isotretinoin converts to tretinoin in our skin? Does anyone know anything worthy of this subject?

 

I noticed my red marks, and all the inflammation isn't as red as it was before. Not a lot less, but just a tiny bit.

My overall face looks better, but still it doen't even looks as good as it did before i started Retin-A! Funny. I hope it pays off!!!

 

My skin looked perfectly fine, even good before Retin-A, except i had a couple of cysts on my jawline,...There were more and more but the rest of my face was really good! So this was a minor shock to go through... I hope it is worth it, i hope.

 

The red patch of skin on my neck came back a couple days ago and i stopped using retin-a again and now i think it's gone but i guess that area is sensitive so i have to careful. I recommend using even less retin-a and less frequently on that area(the neck).

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[ADreamer]

WEEK 7

 

Already week 7! I am happy i've come so far!

 

This week had its ups and downs. My period breakout due to hormonal changes came a little late, so in the beginning of this week I got around 6 pimples, but none of them was extremely bad.

After that, less and less breakouts... I the last like 2 days I didn't get any pimples at all, all the pimples are from before.

I also noticed my skin is getting less red. Red marks are slightly lighter. Do you notice?

 

Yesterday-Saturday night- i applied a different brand of topical tretionoin for the first time. I haven't used up my first 20g tube of generic Retin-A but I went to pick up my ISOTREX gel yesterday so of course i had to try it out.

I'll post a picture below. The pharmacy lady told me they only have Isotrex gel 0.5%, but i needed 0.025% gel. So she diluted it. She put the final product in their pharmacy packaging and when i opened it at home i noticed it looked so runny and it smelled like pure alcohol. I went mad. Why did she dilute it with alcohol? Is this ok? I hope they know what they are doing. My tube of Retin-A smells like flowers, not like alcohol.

But i applied the Isotrex yesterday and funny, it seemed like i applied nothing. No redness, no peeling, no dryness. Nothing. I hope they didn't dilute it to 0.0001%?

 

For all the girls out there; i'll be telling a little bit about what else do i apply to my skin.

So, i already wrote that i use Bioderma Sensibio Cleansing Water as my makeup remover as well as my cleasing "lotion".

This is honestly the best thing I have ever used to remove my makeup AND to clean my face. I just pour some of it on my cotton pad and just wipe away all the makeup(also eye makeup). Then I repeat to properly clean my face. I don't wash my face with water after that, i just leave it on. It's gentle, it's moisturizing, easy to use... I have nothing bad to say about this thing. It is expensive though... And I use it up quite quickly!

 

Then, I would apply moisturizing cream in the morning(at night i would apply Retin-A- or from now on, Isotrex- and go to sleep) which is Eau Thermale Avene Hydrance Optimale Rich moisturizing cream. Looks like this:

This is an extremely good moisturizer. I am a loyal costumer of this brand because it's really high quality. This feels like nothing on, very moisturizing and silky. At least this is how it feels for me. It's only available in pharmacies(like most of the stuff I use). This brand is made especially for those with sensitive skin. This moisturizer worked even when i was on Accutane.

 

Then, for my makeup, I like to wait half an hour after i apply my moisturizer because i use powder foundations and i feel like it tends to absorb the moisture... I either use Bourjois Healthy Balance powder foundation(shade 51) or Alima Pure Satin Matte foundation (shade Golden 2). Both of these I love because they look silky, but i have yet to find a powder foundation that looks great.

Oh I forgot; after moisturizer I apply sunscreen(sometimes ). It's Eucerin Sun Lotion 50+spf. It's meant for body but I use it for my face. And it's really nice and somewhat light.

 

 

I'll be posting my face pictures and also pictures of what my Isotrex looks like.

Good night! Have to go study for my driver's license.

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 
• 

[Sasch83]

So much improvement!!!!!

[mirili]

I think she dilluted it in alcohol, because the isotrex gel itself is alcohol based and also alcohol is penetration enhancer. I think you should not worry about that. I wish you luck and am looking forward to reading about your progress. And I also use Bioderma, but the sebium kind to wash my face and am very very very satisfied with it.

Edited by mirili, 11 March 2013 - 12:02 AM.

[ADreamer]

Sacsh83: I think so too Week 8 will be even better I can already see it! I guess the Isotrex is way better!

mirili: Thanks for wishing me good luck and also for explaining the alcohol smell. I just have a bit of trouble applying it since it evaporates so quickly. It's a matter of seconds! Yes, Bioderma is just awesome.

 

Anyway, my update is only 3 days away I can't wait to update you all!

[ADreamer]

WEEK 8

 

I think i jinxed myself! I have been breaking out this week. I got like 5 deep pimples that really hurt! Also, I think my skin got worse overall..

I think it's because i started to use a different product(Isotrex). I hope i won't need to go through IB again!!!

 

I mean, it's not horrible but still. I feel like this is going no where. Which is funny because a week ago it felt like my skin is getting better and better so fast!

But now, i am confused. We'll see how it goes. I don't know whether to use Isotrex or just use my Retin-A again...:/

I think I'll use Retin-A again tonight. I don't know, i just think now my pimples take FOREVER to go away. I guess efficiency decreases with the same amount of product, should i apply more? Or what? Well, most certainly my progress has stopped because of the change of products. I don't recommend it(the changing).

 

I'll see how it goes.... Right now I'll just try to use all of my leftover Retin-A. And most importantly, stop thinking about my skin.

 

Pictures:

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by ADreamer, 18 March 2013 - 01:02 PM.

[ADreamer]

WEEK 9

 

Week 9 already! Time just flies by! Today is Palm Sunday And I celebrate my birthday today so I haven't got a lot of time to write this, i have so much more work to do

 

This week I got one new pimple(yesterday). The pimples from the last week are still healing, i don't know why they are going away so slowly...:/

I don't know why but i feel like my progress has just stopped. Like this is going no where? Or maybe this is the best as it can get? I hope not! I'll finish what i started most definitely and i'll use retin a for a year if i have to!

I am sure that pictures from last week are better than this week! Which is strange.

The redness is still there(or better yet: here again since i had a breakout last week). It's definitely better than let's say week 6 but still, at some point the marks go down remarkably and i hope either week 10 or 11 will be that point!

My period is getting closer(1st or 2nd week of April) so I am expecting breakouts then.

 

Oh, yes, this week as I already said in my last post-i was using Retin-A again just in the last two days i used Isotrex. So from now own no matter what, i'll be using Istorex. As you can tell, I'm often switching and stuff, but this is just how it goes in reality.

 

If anyone is especially interested in blackheads, i have them and this won't make them go away. They go out easily though. But i am assuming that with a higher concentration (like o.o5 or o.1%) there would be less because the cells would turn over more quickly.

 

Have a nice day!

 

Oh and i apologize if my skin scares you... I hope some day it'll scare me too!

 

 

 

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
•