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Hi everyone,
I've been using tretioin cream 0.025% for a little over 12 weeks (for some of the time, I switched to 0.05% but my face was constantly red and irritated, so I went back to 0.025 to let it adjust more). I also use clindamycin gel in the mornings and 100 mg/day of spiro (started that about 4 weeks ago, first week at 50 mg/day).
Anyway, I'm worried that the cream is clogging my pores on my chin. I never really noticed the clogged pores before (I was mainly just worried about the inflamed stuff) but now I'm wondering if I should ask to switch to the gel? I'm just concerned that I won't be able to handle the gel, because my face still gets red on 0.025 cream if I use it too many days in a row without moisturizing first (which buffers it a lot, I hear).
I've attached a pic to show you the state of my pores. Do they look super clogged and if so, should I be seeing better results after 12 weeks? I wish I had a before pic but like I said, I never worried about them so I never took a pic!
(Also, excuse the gross zit on the side covered with a Nexcare patch. The only thing I can do to stop myself from destroying it.)
Your skin looks perfect omg I wish I had it! No your pores look great!
I've used retinoids before and I would highly recommend stepping up to the 0.05% but always buffer during application
Thank you! That's really a nice thing to hear.
About the tretinoin, have you used the cream?
This site is so helpful but so much information also makes me question everything I'm doing sometimes (e.g., the cream has isopropyl myristate, which is bad, which led me to this post). Also, I'm trying to get up to the 0.05... right now, I switch back and forth between 0.025 and 0.05 every other night or so, and usually put moisturizer on an hour before the 0.05. My face still gets red though, even after 3+ months of using very consistently! It also gets very sensitive sometimes (e.g., it sort of stings when I first put moisturizer on, especially after I work out). I have such a love/hate relationship with this stuff.
Your clogged pores are not really clear in the picture. Your skin looks good. The misconception of retinoids is that it takes away your acne. It doesn't. It'll make it manageable but for many people, it will not create the perfect skin they hope for unfortunately.
Also, constantly irritated skin is not a good thing. If .05 is irritating you past the adjustment period, it means your skin does not like it. It may be best to cycle between .25 and.5. I heard the cream can clog pores but in reality, almost any product, even those with a rating of 0 can be bad for YOUR skin. If you feel it's doing more harm than good, go for the gel. Keep in mind though that the gel is more drying.
Your clogged pores are not really clear in the picture. Your skin looks good. The misconception of retinoids is that it takes away your acne. It doesn't. It'll make it manageable but for many people, it will not create the perfect skin they hope for unfortunately.
Also, constantly irritated skin is not a good thing. If .05 is irritating you past the adjustment period, it means your skin does not like it. It may be best to cycle between .25 and.5. I heard the cream can clog pores but in reality, almost any product, even those with a rating of 0 can be bad for YOUR skin. If you feel it's doing more harm than good, go for the gel. Keep in mind though that the gel is more drying.
Thanks, although I think my iPhone camera might be blurring things in my favor. That's too bad about the retinoids though. It seems like all I hear is raving reviews about how people have gone from severe acne to perfect skin after a few months on this stuff. I always thought that sounded too good to be true, and I think you might be right... it is.
I agree that constantly irritated isn't good; when my skin is irritated, it actually breaks out more. I have a follow up appointment with my derm this week, and I think I'll bring up the gel. I will be really irritated if my skin just never adjusts though... I really wanted this product to work for me! 
Hey I am not an expert but you have beautiful skin. I just posted a thread saying I need help with clogged pores too because I pick the crap out of my skin. Has the tretinoin helped you at all. I am just like you and I keep reading into things too much and am afraid to try it. My doctor gave me differin but I have not even used it because I am too afraid.
Hey I am not an expert but you have beautiful skin. I just posted a thread saying I need help with clogged pores too because I pick the crap out of my skin. Has the tretinoin helped you at all. I am just like you and I keep reading into things too much and am afraid to try it. My doctor gave me differin but I have not even used it because I am too afraid.
Hi! And thank you, that's very nice of you to say. I used to pick my skin too... I stopped when I started the tretinoin though just because it seemed to leave red marks that would never go away.
About the cream though, I think that it did help. I used to get pimples with white heads pretty frequently (at least a few a week) and after using the cream for about 3 months, they were essentially gone. I get one or two around that time of the month, and that's it. (However, I did start getting a lot more of those deep, red, inflamed headless monsters... don't think that was relted to the tretinoin though.) I also didn't have a huge initial breakout like a lot of people say; weeks 2-3 I had maybe a few more pimples than usual but I think that if I wasn't expecting at IB, I wouldn't have thought anything of it.
I've stopped using tretnioin for the time being though because it makes me skin incredibly sensitive to the sun and getting hot. I run all the time and I pretty much had to stop because just being outside for 30 min. would leave my skin burning and red, even with sunscreen. Sometimes it'd get red and stingy if I just exercised too hard inside! I stopped a week ago because I went to the beach but I think I might see how it goes with just the topical clindamycin and spiro that I'm using... I ran for the first time in a few months last week and I don't want to stop! 
I think that if you generally have pimples that come to a white head and clogged pores, I'd give this a shot. I would have liked the gel but my face could hardly handle the cream, and since the gel is supposed to be a lot harsher, I don't think I could have used it long enough to see any benefits.