Since diffiren is a form of retin A your quite lucky. There are a lot of over the counter retinol products. Some names is can think of off the top of my head are Roc, Olay. They are available at any drug store and much cheaper than the cost of diffiren. I would look for one that has 0.1% retin A or retinol in the ingredients. That would be most like your differin.

I really like Neutrogena's Anti-Wrinkle day cream. It's a retinol/multivitamin cream that is non-comedogenic (maybe not a "true" cream), but I ran into the same issue of paying for Differin and have since switched. I don't notice a difference, except that I use this both day and night. My face looks so smooth and glowy during the day! I have very oily skin but I feel like this cream is moisturizing enough that my skin is producing a little less oil; I now take about 6 hours post-application to get oily, rather than the previous 1-2 hours.

Also, even though it is advertised as "anti-wrinkle", this is mainly helping my acne. I am 22 and have no wrinkles to examine yet, but maybe it will help me in the long-term too.

My oiliness hour measurements may be exaggerated because I apply foundation and powder after the cream absorbs. Non-comedogenic products of course.

Thanks everyone. I posted two of the same topic because I didn't realize it has to be reviewed first... and I was looking all over for it haha (oops) idk how to delete it... oh well. I used 0.3% would they have that in over-the-counter formulas?

I'll go delete it for you

A lot of otc formulations won't give the percentage value, but it would be misleading if they did. Retinol has to be converted to retinoic acid (the skin does this) but the conversion is by no means perfect. So a 5% retinol topical is not comparable to a 5% differin cream (I know differin doesn't come this strong- just making the point). Green Cream is an otc retinol product that is supposedly the closest to prescription strength, but it's spendier than the stuff I recommended.

The active ingredient in Differin is adapalene--it's related to retinol, but retinol is definitely not as strong--mostly good for vague anti-aging. Lucky for you, they just released a generic version in late April. You should be able to get it for about $10 at most pharmacies, even without insurance. Good luck!

it's made by Sandoz

retinoids like differin take a long time to fully affect the skin, so i wouldn't mess around with drugstore products. if you switch and break out, you'll be breaking out for months.

I didn't find the retinol products in most drugstore brands to be anywhere near the potency of a prescription retinoid. The only one I would say really comes close is Green Cream Level 9.