I've used this product for 2 years and counting. Nothing has improved AT ALL and I'm sick of knowing I'm not pretty enough or good enough because acne just ruins everyone's lives. Don't use this, honestly I want to stop but somehow I still have hope that it will work

I've battled with non-inflammatory acne since I was about 21 (am now 25). I have always had oily skin and always get hormonal spots around my chin but various forms of hormone and non-hormone contraceptions disrupted my skin even further, giving me more and more blocked pores and some aggressive cystic acne. Clean and clear, clearasil, neutrogena - nothing was working so I decided to get retin a a try. I heard it was great for anti ageing purposes as well. I followed all of the instructions and waited at least fifteen minutes after washing my face before app,ting a pea sized amount gently to met face. I avoided any face washes containing salycilic acid or peroxide. I started off using it three nights a week and then started using it every other night and then to every night over a period of about two months. I didn't really notice any improvement to my acne at all. The skin by the sides of my mouth became immediately flaky and dry and always looked quite sore so I avoided this area and then I noticed the overal flaky stage. At no point did my spots disappear or even improve - certainly not any faster than they would have just if I had just left them. My skin was always slightly red looking and became so sensitive to pretty much everything: pillowcases, mild face creams, aqueous cream and even cetaphil. I lowered the dosage back down to three times a week but it still didn't do anything other than make my face sore. I stopped using the retin a about five months ago and now my face still reacts to EVERYTHING. The products that I used before trying retin a no longer work at all, most of them feel too harsh and abrasive. I have developed MORE blocked pores and MORE cystic acne, this time not just on my chin but also on my forehead. My acne is worse than it has ever been. Whilst retin a May not be the cause, it certainly did not help me at all. This is just my personal experience with retin a, I have heard that many people absolutely swear by it. I did some research before using it and there are hundreds of YouTube videos singing its praises so it seems that I a, unfortunately one of the few that it really just didn't agree with!!

I am going into my third week with using Retin-A and I am having the hardest time pushing through with this. I am 21 years old and have been battling acne since I was 15. I am reading all the reviews on how it needs to take roughly 6 months to be effective and to see results, but I am fearful that it will continue to make me break out in these purges which is resulting in these left over red spots. People that have cleared up.. is your complexion clear of the red left over spots that these purges create?

already been using tretinoin for 9 weeks and i get lesser pimples now and they go away much faster. nonetheless, i still get pimples and it sucks. my hyperpigmentation scars are lightening up so that's good. although i now have oily skin, i don't know if it's because of my puberty and my androgens acting up or because of the tretinoin. so if anyone could help me with the oily skin problem please do comment. thanks! will update after a month

At first i was using tretinoin 0.05 for about 3 weeks. Since then my acne was getting worse! So i went to the derm And she than prescribed me duac in the morning , doxycycline hyclate to use twice a day and tretinoin 0.05 (i have mild to moderate acne) using these my face ended up so bad and started to burn tremendously! I then made the decision to accept acne cause i knew god would heal me and send me a sign! I was watching youtube videos and out of nowhere pops acne.org regimen! I ordered the products but in the mean time i still had my duac and pills that i have taken . Watching dans regimen i realize i was washing my face wrong which was leading to irritation! I started using duac everymorning and night 15-30 min after washing my face with cerave gentle cleanser then wait 15-30 min again and put cerave mositerizeur. I also changed my diet stopped puttin make up on and started taking multivitamins. After a week if changing my regimen to dans acne.org regimen allong with doxy my acne has defnitley gotten alot better!! I was at the point where i just wanted to give up but i knew my god had a plan for me! This is workingg i suggest to watch dans regimen it helps!! Im seeing reaults everyday!

I've been on this treatment for exactly 5 weeks and I can't tell you if things are getting better or not. First off, I was prescribed to use Retin-A 0.025% cream for nights, clindamycin phosphate 1% gel for mornings, and Minocycline oral antibiotics twice a day. I'm a 15 year old male, and during the end of summer my acne erupted like a volcano. I broke out with insane amounts of pimples between my eyebrows I can't even tell you. I always had the occasional pimple here and there, but this was something different. The derm diagnosed me with mild inflamed acne, so he prescribed this treatment. The 1st week, my acne's appearance remained the same, with my cystic acne's swelling going away. The 2nd week, everything stayed the same. The 3rd week, I started to get large cysts and recognized some dormant pimples. By the end of the third week, the cysts went away with the dormant acne still there. By the 4th week, my acne and scars became lighter, with an occasional pimple coming up. Today is my 35th day on this treatment, or 5th week, and I feel alot more dormant pimples coming up, acne and scars still there, and more acne beginning to rise. By the end of the 4th week, I was using Sodium Sulfacetimide 10% cleanser instead of cetaphil. I've seen about three more pimples since using the cleanser, but I'm not positive if its helping this treatment or not. I'm not sure if this treatment will ever work, even after reading all of these reviews to stay patient and go through the process. My dermatologist said I'm almost like a month ahead of treatment, but I know he's probably bullsh*tting me.

*Advice or comments are encouraged. I have had mild-moderate acne since I was 13 and I am now almost 21. I decided that I want to have completely clear skin. I was previously only using soap in the mornings and my face had maybe 3-5 pimples at a time. On tretinon, it took me back to my middle school acne where I have acne all over that I am trying to hide with hoodies, collars, etc. I saw the dermatologist and he put me on .025% tretinoin and told me to use a benzoyl peroxide wash in the mornings. I can't say I went through an initial purge. A constant purge is more appropriate. I went from have pimples to having zits and cysts, some of which had to be injected to remove and left scars. My skin would look like it was starting to clear and then it would erupt with acne-so depressing to be so close. I was boosted to .05 in month 2 and same thing. My skin broke out and cleared up super-fast, but it was a continuous thing. Today has been month 3 and I have been using .1% for a week with the same results. This stuff makes your skin look smooth, but it also makes you look like you have been out in the sun and your skin is dried out. It is frustrating to get new zits where you have dry skin. Anyway, this has been a last ditch effort before accutane. I will use for another month with my fingers crossed. I have followed the instructions completely and have maintained a healthy diet. Read the reviews here, but IGNORE the people that said they have used it for a week or two and their skin cleared. It does not work that fast and they have yet to go through the initial purge, which lasts much longer! Also, ignore the reviewers who were prescribed an antibiotic at the same time. It is more likely the antibiotic clearing the skin rather than the tretinoin.

I've had acne, pretty bad acne, for the last 4 years. It has destroyed my confidence, made me decide to take many "sick days" so that I didn't have to go to school, and took me away from living my life to the fullest. Life sucks when you can't look other people in the eye, or when you cry every time you look in the mirror. I've been on many many antibiotics and prescription topicals that haven't worked. I used a combination of acanya and epiduo along with antibiotics for over 5 months, only to see little to no improvement. I got frustrated and upset and decided to be a little selfish and use some of my sister's topical (tretinoin) that she was prescribed from a different dermatologist several months back (her skin has really cleared up). After a few days of use, my skin became the most red and itchy and dry and irritated that my skin has EVER been. My skin looked awful. I stopped using it and applied moisturizer on my skin as much as I could, but it burned a ton. I was also breaking out in a rash under chin and down my neck so I decided to use hydrocortisone cream on my neck and face. It burned, but after applying it a few times throughout a day and night, my skin was back to about normal and it was like my skin shedded a complete layer of skin, I had so much dry skin peeling off my face. After the dry skin peeled off, it left my face a LOT clearer. I have now used this product sparingly for over a week now and my skin has NEVER LOOKED BETTER IN FOUR YEARS. Use this product as instructed and ease into the treatment to know how it will treat you. This has been the best product for acne that I have ever used and although my blemishes are not all gone, this product also seems to do a good job of fading the red pigmentation that acne leaves behind. This product has been a miracle for me as there was a point that I decided to just almost give up. Stay faithful acne sufferers! You're not alone and there IS a product out there for you!!

After using many acne medications ( never used Dan's BP though), Retin-a (0.025%) stood out as the solution to clear my acne. Every night I put a lot of Retin-a (0.025%) on my skin for 3 months and my skin was almost clear. I knew in a few more weeks I would be completely clear and It turned out to be true. Retin-a is one of the few products that clear my acne. The Retin-a I got from the doctor was a very easy to spread cream, very creamy ( 0.025%). Definitely recommend it!! Pros: Clear acne completely New skin ( made my skin very white) Cons: Takes along time to work ( 3 months at least) Irritates skin at first ( redness, itchiness) Makes skin oily and shiny ( at least for me) ( its shiny because it makes your skin very thin) Dry flaky skin ( only at beginning)

I want to start by saying that this product apparently has worked for many people, but please be aware that it does NOT work for everyone. I have been struggling with moderate acne since my teens (I'm now 31). I went to the doctor and she prescribed Retin-A. She did not warn me that my acne might get a LOT worse before it got better, and for an extended period of time. I really wanted to give this a shot, but after 9 weeks on the product and my acne was significantly WORSE than before I started using Retin-A, I just couldn't take it anymore. It was difficult to cover all of the cysts that were popping up on a daily basis with makeup, I started avoiding leaving the house, and I didn't want my boyfriend to see me without makeup. It was terrible, and it was affecting my self-esteem as well (I am normally quite a confident individual). Who wants to suffer through weeks and even months of painful, cycstic acne in the hopes that your acne may or may not finally clear up?! I finally decided to explore a natural route, and about a week ago I went to see an acupuncturist who specializes in Chinese Medicine. I stopped using Retin-A the same day. I received an acupuncture treatment, started taking Neem herbal supplements daily, and have reduced my carbohydrate intake. To wash my face, I'm using a natural Syrian soap called Chami, that's it. No moisturizer needed. Almost ALL of my cysts from using Retin-A have already dried up, my skin is much less oily, and I'm feeling so much better about my skin! I'm also using a Fuller's Earth mud mask every other day (commonly used in India, called Multani Mitti). I can't believe I spent all this time on Retin-A when a natural approach would have worked much better in the long run. It's only been a week, but the results so far have been very promising. If you're going to use Retin-A, just make sure you understand the risks!