Topical Retinoid
Acne.org’s Real World Take
This topical retinoid medication provides partial relief at higher prescription dosages, but don’t look for complete clearing. Relatively affordable and comes with less side effects than tretinoin, the other affordable topical retinoid. As a bonus, it improves the look of skin and reduces fine lines and wrinkles a bit too.
Topical Retinoid
How to Get It
Adapalene is available in strengths up to 0.3% by prescription. Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one. Adapalene is also available over-the-counter in 0.1% strength. Here are some places you can find it online.
Used Adapalene? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
May 31, 2012
Cons:
- if you have dry skin, this just dries it out to a new level
- red, flaky skin - halfway through the day my skin starts to peel even under tonnes of moisturizer
- if Retinol/Retinol A was too strong for you and your dermatologist thinks this will be more gentle, it probably won't
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If you have dry and sensitive skin, this is probably not your best bet. I'm sorry! I really wanted this to work for me - I'll still give it a couple more weeks and - if any noticeable changes, improvement or absolute horror - I will do a second review. Applying it exactly as my derm suggested - once only at night, no other cosmetics (i.e. toner, cream...) - was not best for me. I ended up washing my face, applying toner, then cream, and then Differin. Slight improvement. The dots are less frequent - at least this week - but overall, my complexion is a mess. Not because I have more acne!! It's just you want clear, healthy, skin. Not less acne different skin disorder ... skin. Basically, without makeup my skin is dry and flaky and red because it's so dry - not because of the initial burning irritation. OH! Something I have read is that you should apply benzyl peroxide in the morning alongside this product - I don't have that, but I have been using Salicylic acid and that is also what has been helping with the very minor improvement. - NEITHER ON THEIR OWN WORKED, COMBO HAS BEEN OK.
May 29, 2012
Pros:
Easy to remember to apply once a night.
Cons:
* Caused extremely dry skin, my neck and earlobes are a total mess, and I didn't even apply it there!
* Made acne much, much worse.
I had such high hopes, but 7 weeks on my skin is worse than before I started. I am going to stop using it and see if there is an improvement. I regret using this cream as my face really is a mess now.
May 28, 2012
Pros:
Easy to apply
Soaks into skin fast
Great for pustular acne
Works fairly fast
Cons:
Intial breakout
Initial redness
Dries out skin
I was on Accutane for 6 months 40 mg/day. Accutane worked really well, but after 3 months my acne started to come back. Thankfully it only came back in a moderate form, because before I had severe acne. I've now been using Adapelene twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) because I didn't want to go back on Accutane. I've been using it now for 2 weeks and I've already noticed that I'm getting less and less breakouts and my initial acne/redness is starting to fade. Acne does suck, but I think this is my solution to control and hopefully get rid of it.
May 26, 2012
Pros:
- it helps the painful blind pimples go down a bit.
Cons:
- burning when i wash my face or put water on it. mainly under my eyes.
- dried side of my nose
- initiral break out
I've only been on Differin for 3 weeks now, the first few days were awesome. The first week i used it my skin felt so good. Then i broke out and have not stopped breaking out since. It's like everything just came to the surface. I have read there is an initial break out so id say its from that. i have used it after i wash my face at night/before bed. only use a pea size. but i really shouldnt have got straight into it. I should have only started off slow with it because my skin is going crazy. not sure if this could also be because of hormonal reasons as well. Ill write another review in about a month or two. i am giving differin a chance, so ignore my rating. its too soon to review its effectiveness.
May 23, 2012
Pros:
Gets rid of oil on face
Cons:
Creates flakes of skin all over your face, doesn't work.
I have used differin .3 for 3 years. It never did anything for me except dry my face out to the point where it was constantly red, itchy, and flaky. I was too afraid to stop using it because I thought I would break out more severely if I gave it up. Once I did my skin thankfully went back to a normal non-red shade and my acne stayed the same as it had been for the past 3 years. All in all, differin does NOTHING to help your skin except dry it out to the point where you have no moisture left on your face.
May 21, 2012
Cons:
Horrific initial breakout
Didn't clear skin in a total of 3 months
Skin appeared extremely shiny
Burning
Peeling
Flaking
Redness
Didn't work for me. But it might for you.
May 15, 2012
Pros:
It work!!
Cons:
Dry out your skin
Use as directed use moisterizer as need and important use sun screen which also help minimize scars
May 6, 2012
Pros:
See results instantly
Cons:
Face gets Hot, Red, and Itchy if you over use
This stuff works! Sure, I have good days and bad days I'm a 19 year old girl ! I break out during my cycle but not as bad now that I've started using Differin gel. I've been using the gel for 2 months and finally figured out how to not over use it. PUTTING ON A LOT DOESN'T CLEAR YOUR ACNE FASTER TRUST ME. I over used it and I felt like my insides were burning. Start off using it every other night and have your body get use to it. good-luck!
April 30, 2012
Pros:
Clears up acne like no other
Cons:
May dry skin
It works! I am African American so my acne scars were really dark and nothing worked, not proactive, clean & clear, soaps etc. I was really wasting money until i brought this, my entire face was covered in acne now you can barely notice any acne on my face and i've used it for less than a month.
April 27, 2012
Pros:
Clears skin
Gets rid of red scaring
Smooths skin
Cons:
Slight initial break out
My regime is
Oxytetracyclin 2 tablets twice daily
Primrose eve oil capsule 1 daily
Vitiman d capsule 1 daily
Differin 1% applied at nyt
Panoxyl 2.5% applied in morning
Simple clear skin face wash with zinc morning and night
No 7 mouse make up I have stuck to this for 5 weeks and I've gone from having small acne bumps all over face and forhead, along with red raised acne and white heads on my cheeks to now I have no white heads old scars have faded and the bumps are very slowly dissappearing. But I feel great I even went to town today with no make up n didn't feel hidious or try hiding my face I'm really pleased I've had acne since age 11 and I'm now 26 this is finally helping and I know there will be UPS n downs n I will prob get break outs here n there but I'm happy its helping so anyone out there considering differing and benoxyl go for it keep to the low strength tho as I have found I've had no side effects which makes it easier to stick to going to high strength doesn't always increase effectiveness but just increases irritation, good luck will repost in few weeks if any changes x
Pros:
- still waiting for pros, maybe spots are less frequent
- no initial breakout, although I was on Retinol A before this, so maybe that is why