about a month in to differin mine went incredibly shiny looking even after washing my face, it got better around week 6-7 but then came back worse week 9-10. i stopped differin then and a week later it sorted it self out.

I think it's from removing too many layers from your stratum corneum (outer layer of epidermis). With less frequent use it should be okay.

I think with retinoids there has to be a compromise between acne control and healthy skin. With my previous experience i made the mistake of not backing off when my skin was too flaky and red.

I'm trying differin again every other day, i'm only a week in so too early to say if it makes a difference.

I got this on Differin as well, honestly I'm not sure why because on other retinoids it doesn't happen. It helped me to lightly exfoliate with a gentle, moisturizing scrub with soft beads.

Yes, I have such experience...

A funny shine but easily mistaken as oil.....

I have it right now on retin a micro! It has smoothed my skin out a lot but my forehead looks like a mirror. Is there anyway to avoid this but still get good results with retin a micro/retin a. Im on week 3.

I'm still on Differin (.1 lotion), and it doesn't look like the shine is going anywhere. It seems like it diminished somewhat by using Differin every other day, but it's hard to tell.

As Noregrets said, it just seems to come up with the smooth skin resulting from the shedding/exfoliation of rough, dead skin. It's not a big deal in even light, but it looks like wax when shadows are present.

Oh well. I'm trying the diet thing now, so maybe I'll find some success there that will allow me to slow or stop the use of Differin.

hey everyone!

I know this is an old topic.. but I am currently experiencing the exact same with using Differin 0.1 cream.. it is so upsetting

Can you please tell me whether you have found a way to sort this shine out? Did it go away over time?

What did you do? Quit the retinoids all together?

I haven't used Differin for about 4 days but still it does not seem to get better.. also I use a mild cleanser and a this http://www.aveneusa.com/products/concern/acne-adjunctive-care/clean-ac-hydrating-cream moistruizer.

Also, my skin doesn't absorb the moistruizer at all .. and it seems like it's strangely dry underneath the shiny skin..

I don't know what to do - I thought Differin would dry out your skin?! I am so confused..

I have been using Epiduo (Differin + BPO) in the past and I only hat this dry skin problem but never that plastic shiny skin look..

Please help me!!

And let me know how everything went with you guys?

Thanks a lot!xox

ive suffered from this problem as well. it seems it is because your skin is dehydrated from the retinoid, and since the retinoid breaks down layers of skin, moisturizer doesnt seem to help. Ive experienced this while on accutane and Taz, but not on differin. The only way mine went away was being off accutane and quitting Taz.

ive suffered from this problem as well. it seems it is because your skin is dehydrated from the retinoid, and since the retinoid breaks down layers of skin, moisturizer doesnt seem to help. Ive experienced this while on accutane and Taz, but not on differin. The only way mine went away was being off accutane and quitting Taz.

Hi goodz19,

thank you for your reply!

Oh really, so you used Differin, but didn't have this effect there?

Because I am currently on Differin, the 0.1 cream.

Yes, exactly that's what I finde strange.. moistruizer isn't helping me either.. It doesn't even absorb properly, though my skin is probably dry underneath..

I have cut back on Differin and am currently a little bit flakey...

But what I don't get is, that I've used Epidou (Bpo + Differin) in the past, and I never had that shine problem.. But it has the exact same amount of adapalen in it.

And note: it is not oil.. I have looked at it more closely and it is definetly the skin cells that are on my skin and reflecting the light..

So it would have been the same with Epiduo.. I can't imagine that the BPO changes the effect of adapalen ?!

I really hope that it is just to me over using Differin in the beginning which was however at least over month ago.. so hopefully it will sort it's self out..

So do you still use Differin now?

If quitting is the only way, that'd be a shame, because Differin works against my acne well ..

ive suffered from this problem as well. it seems it is because your skin is dehydrated from the retinoid, and since the retinoid breaks down layers of skin, moisturizer doesnt seem to help. Ive experienced this while on accutane and Taz, but not on differin. The only way mine went away was being off accutane and quitting Taz.

Hi goodz19,

thank you for your reply!

Oh really, so you used Differin, but didn't have this effect there?

Because I am currently on Differin, the 0.1 cream.

Yes, exactly that's what I finde strange.. moistruizer isn't helping me either.. It doesn't even absorb properly, though my skin is probably dry underneath..

I have cut back on Differin and am currently a little bit flakey...

But what I don't get is, that I've used Epidou (Bpo + Differin) in the past, and I never had that shine problem.. But it has the exact same amount of adapalen in it.

And note: it is not oil.. I have looked at it more closely and it is definetly the skin cells that are on my skin and reflecting the light..

So it would have been the same with Epiduo.. I can't imagine that the BPO changes the effect of adapalen ?!

I really hope that it is just to me over using Differin in the beginning which was however at least over month ago.. so hopefully it will sort it's self out..

So do you still use Differin now?

If quitting is the only way, that'd be a shame, because Differin works against my acne well ..

I use differin with no issues, but when I started Taz for a short while, I notice this. I did some research on line and came up w/ the reasoning that your skin is dehydrated and is lacking moisture. The result is this waxy plastic look, kinda of like fake waxed fruit. I couldnt get a moisturizer to even absorb into my skin, ironically. This onky happened to me while on accutane and Taz; ive being using differin for 3 years and it never gave me that problem, just made me extermely oily. So pick your poison I guess.

Alright, thank you.

Yes that's what I found online as well, that it is some kind of really strange dehydration where moistruizers don't work, because you have damaged your skin so much already by taking of too many layers...

Since, I have cut back in Differin a lot, I really hope it will balance itself.. I doesn't look nice, acne and a shiny face.

I usually do not have oily skin at all, that's why I always get problems with harsh acne medications.. such as with Bpo in Epiduo etc.. they made my skin so dry and sensitive.. also I believe my skin is rather thin and dry, that's why I probably didn't even notice how quickly my skin was "gone".. now my face isn't red any more.. but I guess it will still take some time to get the skin barrier back.

So, since you been using Differin for 3 years, it at least seems to be a long term solution for fighting acne?

Because I really do not want to damage my skin even more than already thanks to Bpo.. it feels like my acne won't be gone before I get wrinkles..

Has the oil not balanced itself after 3 years?

Oh, acne sucks so, so much!!!!!

Alright, thank you.

Yes that's what I found online as well, that it is some kind of really strange dehydration where moistruizers don't work, because you have damaged your skin so much already by taking of too many layers...

Since, I have cut back in Differin a lot, I really hope it will balance itself.. I doesn't look nice, acne and a shiny face.

I usually do not have oily skin at all, that's why I always get problems with harsh acne medications.. such as with Bpo in Epiduo etc.. they made my skin so dry and sensitive.. also I believe my skin is rather thin and dry, that's why I probably didn't even notice how quickly my skin was "gone".. now my face isn't red any more.. but I guess it will still take some time to get the skin barrier back.

So, since you been using Differin for 3 years, it at least seems to be a long term solution for fighting acne?

Because I really do not want to damage my skin even more than already thanks to Bpo.. it feels like my acne won't be gone before I get wrinkles..

Has the oil not balanced itself after 3 years?

Oh, acne sucks so, so much!!!!!

Ive been on differin ever since coming off accutane 3 years ago. I tried Taz for a brief period 8 months ago because i wasnt totally pleased w/ the results from differin. I felt the Taz ruined my skin, and my old routine of differin and acanya (BP and Clindamyacin) is just now, finally, straightening out the problems, including the waxy plastic skin, that Taz caused.

I remember getting it back when I was on accutane as well. From what I read is that your skin becomes thinner, and drier, and easily dehydrated. But it was weird, as my skin never absorbed a moisturizer; just kinda sat on top of my skin. So i was never really able to fix the waxy skin thing until I quit whatever it was that was causing it.

I never really experienced it while on differin. Im just a puddle of oil when i wake up in the morning after using it at night.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean.. I am so confused right now...

I am only using Differin and it is the same way as you described my skin does not absorb any moistruizer as it did in the past.. however if I use it every day, like I did in the beginning my skin would just get peeled right down to the bare flesh and still it wouldn't absorb any moistruizer.. it would just sit on my skin..but I can not use it everyday as I had that extremly waxy and red faced look..

I do usually have DRY skin and always need a moistruizer... that's why Epiduo (Differin + BPO) was always to harsh for my skin..

Using a moistruizer with Differin makes me look even shiner.. and like you said it doesn't even get into the skin..

Should I stop using a moistruizer alltogether as my skin as not dry? That can't be right..

I read online that people get dry and flakey skin from Differin also.. I don't get it why is my skin reacting this way?!

I can surely not use Differin everyday as there would be no skin left..

Also the shiny look really annoys me ..

Do you currently only use Differin or together with the ancaya?

Because when I used Epiduo, I never had any problems with shin or not absorbing moistruizer well.. my skin would go crazy without a prober moistruizer..

I am really thinking about returing to Epiduo which I would regret though as I can use it only 2-4 days and my skin ways really dried out and flakey all the time..

But with Differin it currently seems worse..

However one last question:

Do you think Differin somehow moistruizes your skin? And that's why I don't seem to need any? But it seems I do though but it just sits on my skin.. still my skin seems tight at times... I don't know

Should I try it without a moistruizer? Or a very light one?

I am really upset ... my skin seems well f* up at the moment...

Yes, I know exactly what you mean.. I am so confused right now...

I am only using Differin and it is the same way as you described my skin does not absorb any moistruizer as it did in the past.. however if I use it every day, like I did in the beginning my skin would just get peeled right down to the bare flesh and still it wouldn't absorb any moistruizer.. it would just sit on my skin..but I can not use it everyday as I had that extremly waxy and red faced look..

I do usually have DRY skin and always need a moistruizer... that's why Epiduo (Differin + BPO) was always to harsh for my skin..

Using a moistruizer with Differin makes me look even shiner.. and like you said it doesn't even get into the skin..

Should I stop using a moistruizer alltogether as my skin as not dry? That can't be right..

I read online that people get dry and flakey skin from Differin also.. I don't get it why is my skin reacting this way?!

I can surely not use Differin everyday as there would be no skin left..

Also the shiny look really annoys me ..

Do you currently only use Differin or together with the ancaya?

Because when I used Epiduo, I never had any problems with shin or not absorbing moistruizer well.. my skin would go crazy without a prober moistruizer..

I am really thinking about returing to Epiduo which I would regret though as I can use it only 2-4 days and my skin ways really dried out and flakey all the time..

But with Differin it currently seems worse..

However one last question:

Do you think Differin somehow moistruizes your skin? And that's why I don't seem to need any? But it seems I do though but it just sits on my skin.. still my skin seems tight at times... I don't know

Should I try it without a moistruizer? Or a very light one?

I am really upset ... my skin seems well f* up at the moment...

Ive been using differin so long that it has no ill effects on me. I dont get dry red or flaky. I only experienced the dryness and the plastic waxy skin when I switched to Taz for a few weeks. I am super oily all the time so I forgo a moisturizer. Maybe it would be worth it to find something lighter w/ SPF for the daytime and something richer for the night.

And to answer your question I currently am using acanya in the am and differin in the pm. Differin made me too shiny all day when i used it in the morning and the acanya bleached too many pillowcases becauses of the BP so I switched it. Seems to work better for me that way. Im still an oily mess for most of the day but ill trade that to be acne free.

Yes I don't get it at all.. I thought Differin was supposed to make you all dry and flaky.. for me it just peeled my skin but I didn't notice it with flakes it was just red and raw basically when I started of in the beginning.. no moisturizer would sink in, but like I said I have dry and sensitive skin.. so something went horribly wrong..

Since its summer time now and a lot hotter, I hope my skin has recovered enough as well, I went back to Epiduo to hopefully sort it out somehow and then maybe give Differin or something similar without BPO a try after I have my next derm's appointment...

Very upsetting .. It's like my acne isn't that bad, so I don't need all these BPO things etc.. but my problem is I have red marks on my super pale skin FOREVER, so my skin still looks horrible and whenever I get a tiny spot it leaves a mark that's why I cannot risk any spots really...

I am sorry and confused for you as well that you are still oily with all those drying (?!) products... that can't be!

I can recommend you to try Epiduo!! Really, my sister has really oily skin, unlike me, and she has tried it out and balanced the oil very well. so give it a try, if you like!

I think, from what I have read online it can only be the Differin that's causing this condition as I have read also that it somehow stores moisture in you skin.

So, even though Epiduo has the same ingredients it seems to work differently somehow, because it dried my out A LOT in the past and made me actually flake etc as I thought Differin was supposed to also.

Anyways, I hope Epiduo will get my skin back to normal, I prefer dry skin that I moisturize to super shiny strange looking skin were every moisturizer sits on top..

Hopefully I will then finally find a long term, not so harmful solution for my skin... mhhh

So, in case you dare to try Epiduo, please let me know how it went, I have the feeling it may be the right think for you oily skin, as it is drying a lot!!

Good Luck xoxo