Day 68:
Haven't posted in a while because nothing has really changed over the past couple of weeks.
My chin is still doing well. It has remained clear apart from one small pimple on the corner of my mouth and the little bit of hyper pigmentation there is also nearly completely gone.
My forehead is still being difficult. I thought it had finally started to clear up as I hadn't had an active pimple there for a over a week and all the hyper-pigmentation was starting to fade nicely. Then a few days ago a broke out with 4 new spots around the center of my forehead which are very noticeable and have been constantly bleeding. I really though my forehead would have made a lot more progress by now considering how well my chin had been doing, however it's still better than when I started. I'm going upload more pics but will until I reach the 3 month point in a few weeks time.
I had completely forgotten I was writing this ( not that anyone but me reads it anyway 
) hence the massive gaps between posts.
So now I'm around 5 months into using Retin-a so I should probably sum up the main things I have found/experienced so far.......
1. My skin is now 95% clear. I still get one or two very small pimples every 2-3 weeks but they fade very very quickly and leave virtually no mark afterwards.
2. When I first started using Retin-A I was also put on a 3 month course of doxy to prevent any initial breakouts. This worked very well as I had no noticeable initial breakout what so ever and haven't in the 2 months I've been off doxy either.
3. It's well known that Retin-A can make your skin more prone to sunburn and possibly even dry/irritated. Personally I haven't noticed any increased sensitivity (even during the current hot summer weather) and I haven't been taking any extra precautions. Occasionally I may wake up with slightly flaky skin but that's the worst irritation I've experienced with Retin-A.
4. It's also well known that Retin-a (and other retinoids) take a long time to start working properly. In my case this has turned out to be very true. In the first 3 months my skin remained pretty much the same - no worse than it had been but not significantly better either. Once I hit month 4 and 5 I really began noticing a change. I was hardly breaking out, my skin tone was nice and even , and hyper-pigmentation was fading faster. I haven't had an active pimple for 3 weeks now and the last one was tiny and faded in 2 days. There were times when I wondered if it was going to work for me but I can honestly say it was worth the wait.
In a couple more weeks I will probably have flawless skin for the first time in 6 years or so. It's taking a bit of getting used to seeing my face with clear skin, but it's safe to say it's a good problem to have. The thing I don't yet know is how long I will have to use it for. Only time will tell but at the moment I'm planning to keep using it as long as possible to avoid going back to my old skin.
If anyone should stumble across this and have any specific questions about using Retin-a feel free to ask.
Awesome that this seems to have worked so well for you 
I have questions! When you used the regimen in the past, did you experience bad flaking with that? The flaking with retin a, is it the same / better / worse than the regimen flaking for you?
And here's a potentially tougher one - if you had to imagine wearing makeup while using retin-a, do you think it would be manageable or does the skin become too flaky or peel etc?
Not expecting an answer with the last question really but thought I'd ask Maybe someone who's used retin-a and makeup will stumble across the thread and let me know
Congrats on clear skin
Awesome that this seems to have worked so well for you
I have questions! When you used the regimen in the past, did you experience bad flaking with that? The flaking with retin a, is it the same / better / worse than the regimen flaking for you?
And here's a potentially tougher one - if you had to imagine wearing makeup while using retin-a, do you think it would be manageable or does the skin become too flaky or peel etc?
Not expecting an answer with the last question really but thought I'd ask
Maybe someone who's used retin-a and makeup will stumble across the thread and let me know
Congrats on clear skin
Thanks
Sorry about the late reply...I keep forgetting to check this thread
When I used the regimen (or any bp treatment for that matter) I always had really really bad flaking - especially when I first started. Sometimes I would leave home thinking I had the dry skin sorted and then I'd look into a mirror after eating lunch or something and my whole chin would just be a giant flaky mess. Not nice and quite embarrassing. Personally with Retin-a I had very little flaking and it seemed to stop fairly quickly. It was so minimal it didn't bother me at all really.
Your right that is a harder one to answer Well first off you only apply Retin-A at night so your not going to have to apply make up over the top of it unless you went out late at night for some reason. As for the flaking I guess it depends on the person as some might experience more flaking than others but for me personally I had so little flaking I don't think make up would have been a problem at all - especially compared to the flaking from the regimen
This logs filled me with hope. I'm just been prescripted the same combo as you (except thanks to being female the docs also swapped my birth control to dianette, between my sexual health clinic and the dermatologist they've decided to blame my acne on the implants I've been using for 7 years)
I've only been at it a week but my skin is pretty flaky from the retin-a, only on my nose, chin and around my mouth though. Little frustrating as I'd prefer the flaking to be happening on my cheeks to get rid of the closed comedones.
To the lady who asked about makeup with retin-a, I've used a clarisonic, set on gentle with the delicate brush head every couple of days to cope with the flakes. I find makeup is a pain right now, going without as much as I can. I find bobbi brown bb cream pretty ok for it though. I know the skin is suppose to adjust to the cream after a while. I did find using BP in the past far more sore and flaky, even though it did eventually help me. So retin-a is a better experience so far.
This logs filled me with hope. I'm just been prescripted the same combo as you (except thanks to being female the docs also swapped my birth control to dianette, between my sexual health clinic and the dermatologist they've decided to blame my acne on the implants I've been using for 7 years)
I've only been at it a week but my skin is pretty flaky from the retin-a, only on my nose, chin and around my mouth though. Little frustrating as I'd prefer the flaking to be happening on my cheeks to get rid of the closed comedones.
To the lady who asked about makeup with retin-a, I've used a clarisonic, set on gentle with the delicate brush head every couple of days to cope with the flakes. I find makeup is a pain right now, going without as much as I can. I find bobbi brown bb cream pretty ok for it though. I know the skin is suppose to adjust to the cream after a while. I did find using BP in the past far more sore and flaky, even though it did eventually help me. So retin-a is a better experience so far.
Glad your feeling more hopeful with your new treatment 
If your like me the flaking won't last much longer than a few weeks but even if it lasts for longer the end results are completely worth it!
All I can say is stick with it...There were times when I wondered if Retin-A was really doing anything to my skin at all but once I was 4 - 5 months in I noticed a MASSIVE improvement with my skin. There are some people on here who say retinoids never did anything but make their skin worse, but IMO everyone (myself included) is so eager/impatient to see improvements in their skin they don't give retinoids enough time to start working properly. If you take anti-biotics to avoid initial breakouts and stick with retin-a, chances are you'll see improvements so good luck
I definitely see a difference in my skin on my chin already! My mother saw me last night and is convinced the bumps on my cheeks have somehow slightly flattened already but that might just be wishful thinking!
I've told myself that I won't have clear skin for six months and I think I'm gonna stick to that way of thinking. From everything I've seen on this site that's realistically how long each of these treatments take to have an effect.
Did you find a slight increase in black pores at first? I've seen online people saying the cream form of retin-a can clog pore. Even though my skins the way it is, I rarely have blackheads but I've noticed them last night in places I would never usually get them. I had seen on others reviews that there's also a phase on retin-a where the old closed pores become blackheads and that terrified me to hear. Did you go through a blackhead phase before things got better?
Well I had a lot of blackheads on my forehead to start off with but they certainly didn't get any worse. Right now I probably only have a few that are barely noticeable even when staring very closely at my face. Everyone's different though so it maybe that you get more blackheads but personally I wouldn't worry about them.
Well I had a lot of blackheads on my forehead to start off with but they certainly didn't get any worse. Right now I probably only have a few that are barely noticeable even when staring very closely at my face. Everyone's different though so it maybe that you get more blackheads but personally I wouldn't worry about them.
Any update? Have you remained clear?
Yep i'm still clear. No side effects or anything. Can't understand why more people don't give retin-a a proper try. It does take a long time to work but give it 6 months or more and the results are amazing.
Yep i'm still clear. No side effects or anything. Can't understand why more people don't give retin-a a proper try. It does take a long time to work but give it 6 months or more and the results are amazing.
Glad to hear it