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:
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January 25, 2011
Cons:
Quite harsh on skin
Requires consistency
Quite expensive
I've been on Differin for about 2 months now and I have certainly noticed a change. My Differin journey has been a real rollercoaster. Some mornings I would wake up with clearer, renewed skin, while on others I would wake up with my face raw and bleeding. For the first month I was terrified of leaving my house, of coming in contact with the sun. But coming close to the end of my second month I do see a change, for the better. Pimples (whiteheads) are still popping up every day or two, but they are smaller now, and are gone just as quickly as they appear. Differin does work for acne, but I do caution anyone who is considering going on this to factor in the implications and side effects. You should probably re-think if you need to be constantly around people all the time and have little time alone for yourself. My advice would be to do it during the winter holiday period (as I am going through this during the summer period and let me tell you, it's really annoying!) and be prepared to be horrified at your appearance. Also, many reviews do not mention using any moisturiser with their Differin, but I assure you you will *need* to apply some moisturiser with your Differin at night, even if it's a light one. It is really strong on your skin and even oily skin types will not go wrong applying moisturiser before or after (I haven't noticed a real difference) their Differin at night.
November 7, 2010
Pros:
clears up some acne
eventually will lighten some scarring
dries up cysts in a week (where w/o it would take months)
no need of foundation
Cons:
very drying
constant moisturizing
cannot wear foundation (even though I don't really need it anymore)
I used to have numerous dots on my forehead and had acne all on my cheeks.
I still get a cyst occasionally and some pimples but its all from stress or hormones, but differin takes care of it within a week or 2. *always wear SPF and moisturize.
*clean your face thoroughly to wash off differin when its the daytime. I've been using it for 4 years and its been doing good.
September 20, 2010
Pros:
Hasn't worked
Might take patience
Cons:
Could make acne worse
Its alright, i have been using it for 3 weeks now, it hasnt done anything yet, but the first week and the second are, hell your face will become dry and your eyelids will be flaky and your whole face will sting... its sh*t but its worth a try..
September 8, 2010
Pros:
if you have oily skin it makes your skin dry
you start to see improvements over time
Cons:
makes your skin really flakey especially around your eyes and around your mouth
itchy skin
I've had acne since i was really young (end of primary school) and it got worse when i started high school. I started with all those over the counter/proactive type solutions, they did not help at all, then i saw my local GP and she prescribed me with antibiotics, that didn't work either. I went back to my GP and she sent me to a dermatologist and she prescribed me with roaccutane. Roaccutane helped when i was on it but after a few months i stopped the course my acne came back. I went back to my dermatologist and they put me on it again but the same thing happened and my acne came back. I went to my dermatologist and they wanted to give it a third go, but 2 months after my third course my acne came back. They then wanted to try differin, and i got prescribed a gel solution which is 0.1%. I've only been on it for about 2 weeks and i can already see an improvement to my skin. The first few days were the worst because of all the breakouts i had and the peeling of the skin. But now i can see improvements to previous scars and hopefully i'll be seeing more improvements over time. Even though im only 16, i've been through a lot of sh*t because of my acne and now hopefully this will solve the problem. My dermatologist recommended this plan
MORNING:
- wash face with Benzac AC wash (5%)
- moisturise with neutrogina or cetaphil cream NIGHT:
- wash face with neutogina or cetaphil cleansers
- apply a thin layer of differin over affected areas
June 1, 2010
Pros:
Brings all impurities out
Made scars lighten quicker
Cons:
Made skin oily
Made skin dry
Made my acne go from light, to moderate, then severe.
I used differin for 5 weeks.. I know a lot of you are thinking, "well that's not long enough to see results". Well it was the worst five weeks of my life. I was depressed everyday. My boyfriend commented on how bad my skin is and he would never say anything unless he had too. Before using this, I had about two pimples on each cheek and a lot of closed comedones. I prescribed doryx and differin.
First week: REDNESS!!!
Second week: Redness, a break out on my forehead(never get pimples on my forehead).
Third week: oily(my skin looked like a oil well), redness. A few new pimples.
Fourth week: Dryness on my chin, around my eyes, and upper lip, oily on my nose and cheeks. Crazy cyst pimples all over my chin and cheeks. I couldn't even lay my head on the pillow, my face hurt so much.
Fifth week: Pimples I had was causing indented scars. So i decided to stop using all this chemical crap on my skin.. it's been three day's since i last used differin and my skin is healing. I'm not saying don't use this but just be prepared for the worst few months of your life. I'm just not prepared to be confined to my house for that time.
June 1, 2010
Pros:
Decreases the pimples that occur in about 1-2 weeks. I mainly use it as a spot treatment when a pimple pops up. I use the 0.1% version, and it isn't harsh on my skin at all, even when I first used it. It actually is like a lotion for me.
Cons:
For me it didn't totally prevent new pimples from forming, I had to use it in combination with antibiotics (monocycline).
With me, personally, it works best in combination with another form of treatment, like an antibiotic. It also helps decrease pimples that pop up, so that scars won't form later. It was the most helpful in treating pimples that popped up.
May 30, 2010
Pros:
- Quite gentle on my skin which can be quite sensitive.
- Cleared up some red marks faster than usual
- Smoother skin
Cons:
- Inital breakout was pretty bad
- Didn't control my hormonal acne within 3 months of constant use
- Didn't do anything for blackheads
- My skin seemed to get super oily
I used a pea-sized amount every night for 3 months. It was gentle and I experienced very little dryness or irritation. I had periodic breakouts throughout using this which is probably because I have hormonal acne - mostly on neck and jawline, but during the times when it was clear my skin looked much better than usual! Red marks were reduced quickly and breakouts cleared up faster than usual but at the end of the day I wasn't clear and it just wasn't strong enough for my persistent acne so my derm advised me to try something else. I also experienced really oily skin which after a week of being off this medication seems to have reduced dramatically already. My blackheads did not clear up on my cheeks either. I think some types of acne could really benefit from this product, so i'd recommend people to give it a go for a good 3 months...I'm just sorry it didn't work for my kind of acne.
May 29, 2010
Pros:
- cleared pimples on my chin the fastest
- made skin soft on cheeks and areas without pimples
- turns pimples into light scabs after a while which you can just peel off and the pimples are gone
- didn't really create any new pimples, just brought all the pus out of my existing pimples and brought hidden pimples to the surface
- enouraged fast exfoliation of the skin, especially on my chin at first, i could peel off small patches of skin to reveal new skin underneath
Cons:
- made all pimples dark red
- encourged pus in pimples to come to the surface
- made pimples worse in first few weeks
- price
- takes a while to work
- did get dry skin especially around the chin area in the first few weeks, but used a 'non comegenic' moisturiser, i either put heaps of moisturiser and mineral foundation or go without
i go without makeup just moisturiser because u just have to deal with it
I have only been on Differin for 5 weeks now. The package says to be patient and expect to notice improvement in 4 to 8 weeks. I'd say this is definately true, I didn't have any existing pimples disappear for good until about the 5th week. I read all the reviews and am encouraged to be patient and stick it out. I am 26 years old with my first bout of acne, pustular acne and Differin was described by my doctor along with Diane (contraceptive pill) which is meant to regulate hormone issues in women, and antibiotics to kill bacteria. My sensitive skin didn't respond well to Proactiv, made it excessively dry. And i spent lots of money on Dermalogica but that did nothing to prevent a massive new batch of pimples from starting. I will give another review when it has been longer in use.
March 2, 2010
Pros:
.1% cream:
Reduced existing acne
- Helps prevent flare-ups
- Helps papules & scars disappear quicker
- Fragrance free
- Best Differin option for sensitive skin
- One tube goes a long way
Cons:
- Causes irritation if I use it more than 1x/2days
- Acne has not gone away completely
- Skin is very sensitive to sunlight
- Expensive if you don't have insurance
--> $220-$250 for a 45g tube, that should last 6 months if you apply 1x/2days
After nearly a year of treatment (5 months with Differin), my acne is light and tolerable. At age 21 my my light/moderate face acne worsened and I developed moderate and embarrassing (large papules) back and chest acne. After a year of benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid OTC treatments, I went to a dermatologist who put me on Minocycline (and Differin, but it took me 5months to finally purchase Differin bc its extremely expensive and I don't have insurance-- bad move though bc it could have helped speed up the process from the beginning). I began noticing results from Minocycline after 2 months, and by month 5 my back acne reduced to maybe 5 zits a week and face acne was back to light/moderate. Then (at 5 months) I began taking Differin too. Now, at 10 months (5 months of Differin) my face has light acne (no big papules any more; still have small bumps a few times a week and blackheads on nose and forehead) and maybe only one or two zits a month on my back. The scarring is starting to clear up a bit too from the Differin. I'm happy with my results and may actually be able to wear tank tops this summer, but my acne has not entirely disappeared. One 45g tube of Differin .1% cream without insurance cost me $250, but lasts about 6 months. (( If I use Acnomel as a spot treatment after applying Differin, the two combined helps dry up the bigger zits quicker, usually gone or minimal in 1-2 days )).
February 20, 2010
Pros:
Does help some, especially with white heads and black heads
Cons:
Didn't clear my skin
After reading reviews I was afraid that it would completely dry out my skin. It caused a little irritation for the first few weeks, but not when I use it it doesn't dry out my skin at all. I felt like it was working on and off, but after months I went to a dermatologist for something new. She told me that this is better for white heads and black heads, but doesn't work as well for the big red ones. Something that I noticed but didn't think much about. If you just have black heads and white heads I would recommend it, but I you have anything more than that it isn't worth it.
Pros:
Strips down old skin, reveals new skin
You only need a small bit for application
Removes acne for the long term