I am a male and I have oily skin. My derm prescribed me Tretinoin 0.05 cream along side Clindamycin phosphate gel for my acne. Its my first week and I only applied it three times so far so that my skin can build tolerance before I use it everyday. I read the advice on here and I apply moisturizer and let it dry before I apply any of the cream/gel.
However, after only applying it three times, my skin became very dry, it is peeling on the left side of my cheek and the worst part is that both my cheeks are shiny. Weird thing is that it is also shiny under my right eye, but I never applied it there? Maybe it accidentally got applied under my eyes but I noticed it being unnaturally shiny on one half under my eyes. I put less than the recommended pea size amount as well.
Is this normal for the first week?
Also, there isn't much advice about Clindamycin phosphate. What advices can you guys give for Clindamycin phosphate gel? Does Clindamycin phosphate also cause the peeling as well?
Tretinoin can cause irritation and particuarly the peeling you're talking about in literally half of people, so very expected.
Clindamycin less so, only about 10% of people.
So my bet is it's the tretinoin.
The shininess I'm not so sure about. Is it really bugging you?
And most importantly, how's your acne? Cleared up?
And also...remember that antibiotics should only be used for max 3 months, so stay your own advocate and ask your doc what's up with the topical antibiotic and how long to use it.