Acne.org Products
Topical Retinoid
Efficacy
54%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Prescription and over-the-counter adapalene share the same efficacy percentage due to non-specific research, but prescription strength likely performs better.
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, especially at over-the-counter strength. 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
This is an over-the-counter treatment. Here are some places you can find it online.
Used Adapalene (Non-prescription)? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
November 23, 2008
Cons:
It is week 8 now and my skin has never been worse. The dryness is back, and I would say I have around 20-30 cysts and inflamed whiteheads all over my cheeks (where I have NEVER broken out before.)
This has not worked for me. My skin is fair, sensitive, and I try to take good care of it (daily sunscreen, mineral makeup, etc), and the small issue with acne that I attempted to fix with Differin only turned the problem into a catastrophe. I've tried to give this medicine the benefit of the doubt, but unfortunately there has been no improvement at all.
November 8, 2008
Pros:
Worked very well for about a year..... Then stopped working all together.
Cons:
stopped working after a year
Very good but stops working after about a year. Which is very disappointing.
November 7, 2008
Pros:
None
Cons:
DIdn't work at all for me. I used it for 4 months and it was working decently with the Minocycline i was prescribed alongside it until i stopped taking that because it was making me dizzy.
Do not buy it. It worsened my acne a lot it may work for you but one thing I know is that it sure as hell did not work for me.
October 31, 2008
Pros:
no smell
Cons:
made my very mild acne horrible. used this product so far for about 3 months and no improvement whatsoever. it just keeps getting worse and worse.
im going to give it another few weeks, but im tired of looking disgusting and having the worst skin i've had in my entire life
October 24, 2008
Pros:
It helped clear away smaller breakout
Cons:
Caused large breakouts, more redness and didnt clear my skin
Differin didn't really help anything, and it made my breakouts worse and more severe
October 16, 2008
Pros:
None for me
Cons:
Made acne terribly worse, I wish I hadn't gone to the doctor in the first place. Also burned my skin several times no matter how little cream I put on.
I used to have some painful large spots all over my face, and when my doctor reccomended this, I thought it might improve. My acne is mainly on my forhead, but I used to apply differin all over my face as prescribed. First two weeks went okay, I saw a slight improvement, but after two months I have started breaking out heavily on my cheeks, even though I never used to have acne on my cheeks at all before! Very bad scarring. Also never cleared my forhead, it has exaccerbated the problem there too. I am gutted, I wish I were happy with my skin before because it's even worse now. Not sure what I should do. (Literally exact same problem as person below I know) Don't use if you only have mild acne!
October 15, 2008
Pros:
Has made some improvement
Cons:
Progress is slow, some initial irritation
I started using it about 6 weeks ago and it resulted in an almost immediate reduction in severity of the acne. But then the progress slowed and I have seen no real improvement for the last 4 weeks.
I also had quite a bad skin irritation in the first week of using it to the point that I had to come off conventional moisturisers and could only use plant based ones. It has normalised now, but my skin is still a bit sensitive.
Well, at least the acne is not getting worse, so I will keep on using it.
October 7, 2008
Pros:
No serious flaking or dryness. This works well for people with oily skin. No need for moisturizer after application. It doesn't bleach my sheets either!
Cons:
Dried out the creases of my nose and chin, but after I stopped applying there, it stopped drying it out. No big deal. Acne is surfacing... but it's not that bad.
There is no overnight cure for acne. Give this product a try. It's only going to pull out the acne that you'll experience at some point or another. You might as well get it over with now. I know it's embarrassing-- I KNOW! But you owe it to yourself to invest your time into a treatment that will provide a lasting effect, and not something that will clear surface stuff. I can't wait for the coming weeks and months, even if I continue to have breakouts. I'm ready to have clear skin, ya'll..
September 29, 2008
Pros:
I am post acutane patient of one year and my acne and oily skin began to come back so I tried diffiren. Its clearing my skin back up very quickly. TRY BEFORE TRYING ACCUTANE!!!!!
Cons:
NONE so FAR. TRY BEFORE USING ACCUTANE!!!!!! THIS IS THE TOPICAL FORM OF ACCUTANE and you can avoid the side effects.
I completed a 6 month acutane treatment witch has been the most effective treatment I have used for acne. My acne is and has always been more of a pussy clogged poor that white greasy stuff comes out of when I pick at my face; I rarely have inflamed acne, unless I picked at it, than it looks inflamed. Acutane was successful and I was placed on tazorac after my treatment for maintenance. Tazorac made my skin ichy and oily but did keep pores somewhat clear. Acne began to come back and I gave up on tazorac. Did not use anything for a while, and skin got pretty bad. My dermatologist recommended that I try differin before I try accutane again because of the side affects (which are true, I lost weight, energy, and mood changed significantly and joints ached not to mention horrible dry lips). DIFFERIN WORKED FOR ME!!!! Its quickly clearing out my pores and my clear skin is coming back!!!! Give it a TRY BEFORE ACCUTANE!!!!
September 26, 2008
Pros:
Differin is the best! It totally cleared up my skin, and I've tried many other products, (Pro activ, murad, oral medicine, etc) i love it.
Cons:
Made my skin a bit flaky and dry in the beginning but after about 3 months, my skin got better and now it looks great!
Everyone's skin is different, so it may or may not work for you, luckily though, for me it has worked. If you are having difficulty treating your acne and can't find a solution, you should definitely try Differin, it is my life saver.
Pros:
I was having issues with simultaneous dryness and cystic acne in 4 or 5 places at a time, so my derm prescribed this in conjunction with an oral and topical antibiotic. During about week 2, the dryness was gone, but the cysts still remained.