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
April 8, 2008
Cons:
takes a while to start showing results but just be patient and it will start to show a difference in 12 weeks. makes your ski a little dry...
my dermatologist prescribed this for me about 3 months ago and i'm actually starting to see results now... the dryness is gone and i still have a little bit of redness but i'm still gonna use it to see what else it can do. i use a night cream at night over it to make sure it my skin doesn't cry out and i use a lighter moisturizer with spf in the day. it took a while but with anything you have to be patient... it is working and i do see a difference in my skin it may be expensive if your insurance doesn't cover it but it is worth trying if you can afford it
April 3, 2008
Pros:
Starting to clear skin in only 3 days!
Cons:
makes face really dry. wicked expensive without insurance...cost me $120!!
I have had moderate acne since I was a teen and it was under control with proactive until last year when I starting getting cysts and red spots everywhere (now 26). Tried Rentin-A for 8 weeks and it made my skin soooo bad I wanted to die. Then my doc put me on antibiotics which kinda helped. I tried baking soda which helped a little too. Just went to the derm last week and he increased the antibiotics and gave me differen. I was really worried about an initial breakout but so far so good. The skin that is clear already looks more radiant and the spots I do have are drying out. Like it so far but time will tell.
March 25, 2008
Pros:
doesn't smell
Cons:
dryed out skin
didn't work
It didn't work for me and I have mild acne with normal skin. I still get the same pimples in the same places and i've been using it for 3 months every night before i go to bed.
February 5, 2008
Pros:
better skin tone
Cons:
initial breakout, consistantly dry/flaky skin no matter what, inconsistant results
I've been on tretinoin .05 for a little over 14 weeks now. I'm using it for mild/moderate whiteheads and blackheads, a little inflammed acne. So far I have seen little to no results. My skin texture does feel smoother, but none of my acne has cleared. The first 4-6 weeks were constant breakouts. In the second week there was about 10 days where my skin was completely clear of any inflammed acne or red spots, but that was short lived. 3.5 months into retin-a my skin looks the same (a lot of days even worse) than when I began. I'll stick with it for another month max., but if I don't see results then I'll give up. I'm so disapointed and frustrating after hoping for results for so long.
January 29, 2008
Pros:
Clears up skin, reduces redness
Cons:
Expensive, broke out before skin got better, skin a little more sensitive
I had tried this product 6 or 7 years ago, and stopped after the first week because my skin was getting really dry and breaking out really bad. I was skeptical when my dermatologist put me on it again, but told me to start out applying it every other night instead of every night. This gave my skin a chance to get used to the medication. The first week my skin got dry and broke out pretty bad, but since that first week, it's been getting consistently better. After reading other reviews on here, I didn't think it would start working for at least a month or two, but I'm about a month in and am having better results than anything else I've been on in the past 7 years. I have (or had) mild/moderate acne, and now my acne is pretty minimal...my skin isn't totally clear yet, but it's definitely on that path. Even though this is pretty expensive, it's worth every penny.
January 29, 2008
Pros:
Differin gel works! I use it in combination with Duac at night, along with prednisone and septra D in the morning. When used with cetaphil wash and mosturizer, I have no new acne and my face is actually healing FAST!
Cons:
There was some dryness and a few flakes in the first 3 days. Skin tighness and itchyness, the Prednisone took care of that though.
I have tried everything! Proactiv, which made my skin worse. Laser acne treatments, which cost $1500, made my skin the worse i have ever seen it. Nothing the dermatologist did seemed to help. I switched to a new doctor and she put me on everything listed before and it has been 2 weeks and my skin is what i consider "clear" i have some old scars and some old acne that is healing, but my skin is smooth. I can't even remember ever looking this great. Differin has really helped my skin! I can't believe I went this long without it. If you are struggling with acne, don't give up. I thought I would grow out of it and luckily i wont have to find out.
January 20, 2008
Pros:
It really reduces inflammation. When new spots come out (which is rare) they calm down three times as quickly as they used to and do not swell up, or develop big heads. Very comfortable and easy to apply. No burning sensation.
Cons:
Slight dryness during first week. A bit of burning around eyelids. Cream takes 30 mins to dry properly.
Great product. My acne has improved dramatically since I began using it. I am also using antibiotics, though. I find that when I apply it, my acne improved dramatically by the next morning. My skin did not become very dry or red and the little dryness that came about during the first week settled down fast.
January 13, 2008
Pros:
Nothing
Cons:
It dont even know why my dermatologist told me to use this product with BP .. This is the worst thing ever, it doesn't even work and i spent more than 100 dollars in all the products i needed..
Doesn't work for me.
December 25, 2007
Pros:
Cleared up over 95% of my acne (whiteheads and cysts).
Cons:
Still have blackheads and occasional pimples. Redness and uneven skintone. During the wintertime, dryness and a little flakiness.
I have used over-the-counter products, prescription oral and topical antibiotics as well as Retin-A. This was much more gentle than Retin-A (which left bleach marks on my medium/darker skin tone), and was way more effective than topical antibiotics. It probably took about a month and a half to two months to really work, but now my skin looks so much better! Not entirely flawless, but close enough.
December 24, 2007
Pros:
My face is clear old cysts disappeared.
Cons:
none for me
I have struggled with moderate acne for years and now for the first time in my life I can put my best face foreward. I use this product with doxycycline.
Pros:
makes skin clearer-easy to take-smells like nothing