Have been using tretinoin 0.025% for 2 weeks now. Dried my skin but no adverse reaction, no peeling, redness or stinging, no breakouts nothing!!!!!! I think it works well for acne, my skin is smoother and I do think it looks clearer. Since it also has reduces fine line I shall be using this regularly. I am keeping my fingers crossed when it come to blackheads!!! I am hoping like mad that it works. Will increase to 0.05% after a few months of use.

I started with .025% for one tube then 3 months later went to .05% (good to do!) BUT the flakey, scaley skin would not go away until I used both these OTC NeoStrada products. Now my skin is glowing and I am proud of it. Note: I did have a huge set-back when I touched my chin for long period of time while doing a project and broke out, then stupidly put oxy10 on it, then it flaked so I (very stupidly) put moisturizer so broke out more!!! this makes your skin so thin that any upset like this really has to be handled carefully! LOVE LOVE LOVE this though - It literally has changed my life!!!

I was about to list dryness & peeling in the cons, but it's not a con IMO. It means it's working & stimulating growth of new cells. The IB is a bit frustrating & mine was a few big ones, but A LOT of little bumps under the surface that took a while to eventually come out as whiteheads. You need to use this appropriately & routinely to see results -- meaning, you can't just use it here & there to see a substantial difference. Suggestion to limit flakes: After you cleanse @ night, let face dry & apply moisturizer. (I use Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer w/ SPF 15). Let it dry a few minutes, then apply a very small amount of Retin-A to the affected areas. A little goes a long way, trust me! In the morning, you will be dry & flaky. In order to reduce this, you need to gently exfoliate w/ a gentle cleanser (Cetaphil) on a Buff Puff or similar sponge. Afterwards, let your face dry completely & apply the moisturizer. Having one with SPF is very important bc of the 'new' skin & sensitivity.

This is the best thing that has ever happened to my skin. To avoid the purging stage, you really have to be patient and start slow along with following the instructions that come with the product. I started with 0.5% and I applied it three times a week, and then every other night until I could apply it every night. Just see how your skin reacts the day after you used retin-a. If it's red, itchy, and aggravated then wait until it's back to it's normal state. Once your skin is free from any kind of discomfort, then apply it again. This is what I did and my skin got accustomed to it without being irritated anymore and I am on my fifth month. Some extra tips: Use a very gentle cleanser that doesn't really dry out your skin. I use spectro cleanser as it doesn't have any sulfates or fragrances. Wait 20 minutes then apply retin-a, let it dry, and wait 20 minutes again before putting on moisturizer. Again, use something that's really gentle and extremly hydrating like the first aid beauty ultra repair cream or the cerave moisturizing cream. Hope this helps!

Ok, I've been a follower of Acne.org since my acne got really bad, and I decided to make an account just to review Retin A, which has been devastating to me face. First, a little background. I'm a 27 year old Mexican male. When I started college I broke out really bad with cystic acne but got it quickly under control with minocycline and occasional facials from my dermatologist. Once the acne was under control, I washed with Cetaphyl, applied clindamycin foam (I got free little samples from my derm), and moisturized with Eucerin's SPF moisturizer. I got a facial from my derm about once a semester. My skin was perfect and after a little while, my complexion was even. This lasted for about three years. At some point I stopped using the clindamycin foam and solely did the Cetaphyl/Eucerin moisturizer combo, along with a facial twice a year, and my face was fine. I was also partying a lot, staying up late, and eating more or less unhealthily, but not acne! Eventually I moved abroad, was faced with very little money, and decided to try honey as a face wash. Same thing: clear face, in fact, it felt even better. It was bright. I was still getting facials twice a year and this seemed most crucial. This lasted two years (and between two countries) and then I got my last facial and moved abroad, to another country, again. I was using honey as a face wash still. At some point at the 9 month mark I started to break out around my mouth. Summer was coming and I hadn't gotten my typical facial in march because I hadn't returned to my derm in the states. I moved countries again and started taking Minocycline, since I remembered how it worked. It cleared me up fairly quickly and I stayed on it for a whole 9 months in fear of breaking out. Once those same summer months came around again, I started breaking out in the same areas. I also let go of the Mino because I felt that it wasn't working, maybe I had developed a resistance, and I had started to read horrible stories about liver damage, etc... I started trying treatments like the Oil Cleansing Method, homemade zinc-mint facemasks, etc, but maybe it was to hot where I was living (no AC) and I kept breaking out around my mouth. Since I'm brown, I had pretty noticeable PIH. For the summer, I moved countries again (where the derms were cheap) and decided to see someone about my face. She prescribed a really rough soap that I immediately abandoned, Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner, which I also abandoned pretty quickly, a Clindamycin/Benzoyl Peroxide cream (like Duac) and Retin A. She claimed that my face was producing too much oil'"and I wonder if it had to do with the oil cleansing? I was to use the Clindamycin/BP one day and Retin A the other. I was pretty excited to use Retin A. I had only heard good things and hadn't read the reviews here. I thought, "Acne free and younger looking? Great!" I was prescribed .25% in gel and I started using it at night. My face immediately reacted and I started to feel red, tight, and irritated. My pimples would pop in disgusting ways and I noticed that I was starting to develop more on my face. I read about purging and thought I would keep with the procedure but I wish I would have abandoned the product instantly. Around month 2 my face started to develop cysts. I also got a bad sunburn because I was at the beach (even though I slathered on sunblock continuously) and at around month 4, while I was still breaking out, I had the stupid idea to switch to a .1% Retin A cream. I was living in another country again, this time where medicine was cheap and available without prescription. I had read somewhere on this forum that the 1% works faster, and that any purging would happen more quickly. I was also reading that it would take even up to 6 months for all purging to subside. Well, I went through months 5 and 6 with the worst acne of my life. I have never had some many cysts and pus filled pimples ever. I was using honey as a wash and doing everything to calm my face down. It was horrible and many of my friends, upon looking at me return from the summer, would do double takes. Some of the closer ones asked me what was wrong, what I was doing different, and my self-confidence drastically diminished. In fact, it vanished. I stopped going out. I stayed in all the time and made excuses. Once the 6th month came around, I finally let go of using Retin A but this was too late. My cheeks have PIH almost everywhere. Once I stopped using Retin A, I kept up with the BP, and while my face drastically calmed down, I was still irritated and breaking out, though they weren't heavy cysts. I continued researching and began a very healthy diet. I had actually been eating healthy and exercising for quite a while, 3 years or so, ever since I finished college. I was practicing yoga 3 times a week, running, eating mainly salads, quinoa, fish, and slowly trying to get my life back. I took a probiotic supplement, milk thistle, dandelion root, and tried to get my liver back in order from a whole year of Minocycline. I was thinking that that was the culprit. I started taking 15000 grams of Vitamin A a day too. While I was traveling, I found some argan oil and introduced it to my regimen. At this point I was washing my face with Sebamed Antibacterial Cleansing Foam and applying a few drops of argan oil and then a squirt or two of Cetaphyl Dermacontrol SPF 30 moisturizer during the day and washing with Sebamed and applying the Clindamycin/BP cream at night. I was still breaking out but not as much, and it looked like their were still residual clogged pores from the Retin A that were surfacing. This December I moved countries again and decided to let go of the Clindamycin/BP cream because I decided it was irritating me. Well, I bought a glycolic acid 30% peel, as well as Tepezcohuite serum, and for the past three weeks I've given myself a peel weekly, which is drastically helping with my PIH. I was washing with Cetaphyl cleanser again, applying the Tepezcohuite serum, and finishing off with some argan oil drops. During the day, I'd add the same Cetaphyl sunblock I've been using the the past 6 months so I can avoid darkening my spots. I just moved countries again and I found a really good natural product for washing my face that's called Aloevida facial champú. It's made of 70% aloe vera, and I've now switched out my Cetaphyl cleanser for this. This same brand also has an SPF cream that's 60& aloe vera and I've switched out the Cetaphyl moisturizer for this too. Currently, I apply an organic honey mask to my face in the mornings for 30 minutes, then shower and apply the Tepezcohuite serum and argan oil, following up with the aloe spf. In the evenings I wash with the aloe facial champú and apply the Tepez serum and a little more argan oil than the mornings, since I don't apply the aloe spf. My face is starting to clear up and while the glyoclic acid peels have brought some white heads to surface, I'm only breaking out maybe once a week in comparison to the horror of Retin A. I really recommend that only people who are very desperate and who have sever acne, try it. Before I started Retin A, I was breaking out as often as I do now. But because of my idiocy and misplaced desperation (once on Retin A I finally KNEW what desperation is), my face is completely changed. I have a few scars but thankfully I mostly have PIH, some of which is is close to purple/black. Now I'm just waiting things out. I'm going to finish 6 treatments and then break for a month. My goal is to hopefully let go of the Tepezcohuite serum. While it's nice, it has a lot of ingredients (good ones nonetheless), and I'm trying to have as minimal a regimen as possible.

I'm 19 years old and never had bad skin in high school. When I went to college I suffered from hormonal acne on my chin. I went to a doctor last summer (July 2011) and he put me on tetracycline (pills) for 4 months, and tretinoin 0.025%. My skin broke out the second week and continued to break out for four months! It was so disgusting at one point I didn't leave my house for a whole week! My acne was no longer just on my chin but ALL over my checks. After about 4 months my doctor then put me on clindamycin phosphate tropical gel 1% during the day and continued me on tetracycline 0.1% in the evenings. By christmas I had noticed a change in my skin and so did my friends and family. My scars were still healing but no huge zits were on my face. My scars remanded pretty red till recently. I haven't broke out for the first time in over a week now! My skin is finally starting to look healthy again and I'm talking about WITHOUT makeup! I would definitely recommend staying with tretinoin. Its been 7 months so far and I've been told it will take a full year for your scars to go away. STICK WITH IT, the results are definitely worth the wait!

Okay so I been dealing with acne for about 2 years now and ever since football season from last year i've gotten it acne. First my acne was just bumps and stuff nothing really huge winter got worst then got better in the summer because i started to use proactive........little did i know this fall got horribly bad bad cysts and my both my checks are now to date red but there no more bumps on it. Its just like a flat red mark idk whats happening but i only been on retin-a 0.5% for about 3 weeks but my skin on the red marks are really smooth now idk if that a good sign just hoping for the best if any have any advice for me i would highly appreciate it ANYTHING!! All people with acne out there i know how you feel i'm always depress and dont even want to go in school looking like this :( so im hoping this will help if not then im on acctuane

This product has made the biggest change is my skin. I had moderately severe acne for may years that was beginning to cause scars, and my doctor put me on this and YAZ birth control as a last resort before Accutane. I am shocked at how effective this product is- for the first time since I was 14, I haven't had a pimple in over 2 months. The initial dryness and flakiness around your mouth and chin is difficult to deal with, but I really encourage you to stick with it. Carry moisturizer with you and if you don't suffer from acne on your chin, don't apply it there. Within a few weeks to a month you will seriously be enjoying the best skin of your life. It is so exciting for me to wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and feel that I look good without covering my acne with tons of makeup. I also had some textural issues/mild scarring that I am hopeful Retin-A will help with. I plan on staying on it for a very long time. Best of luck to everyone!

I started using Retin-a about 8 weeks ago and until last week i didnt see any change but this week i have almost no acne on my face just scars left.Its amazing.Just give it time and dont give up.Be patient.It boosts up self esteem so much.Im gonna continue using it for 3 more months and hopefully never get acne as much as i used to.Only a person that went through a stage of acne will understand each others problem,i know how depressing it can be.Dont give up using this medicine and hopefully all of you will see the results.

I'm not really sure whether to recommend this product or not. It didn't particularly hurt my skin, but the results aren't noticeable enough for me to say it's great. I suppose I'd say it's worth a try.