Hi and welcome!

This is completely normal with retinoids. It has to draw all unsurfaced acne out before it can heal your skin.

Yes, very normal.

Retinol is chemically exfoliating and bringing up all the junk in your pores. It does cause itching/flaking/dryness, and (for me at least) extreme oiliness.

I combat this with a very, very light application of coconut oil in the shower after washing, and it has made a world of difference in not only preventing the flakey nasties, itching, and reducing the oil drastically, but also has helped my retinol work better!

Good luck!

^^^it will turn u red and flaky and make acne worse for the first few weeks. U should put a moisturizer over the retin a at night to reduce redness and flakes. Retin a will probably make u more oily and shiny. To combat this use oil blotting tissues during the day.