Tretinoin

My acne wasn't very severe, but my derm prescribed Atralin. She said it would help remove all the whiteheads I had under my skin. I read the reviews on here before I started using it and I thought I was ready for the IB. I was definitely wrong. This product made my acne probably 5 times worse than it had been, no joke. It wasn't bad a first, but the second week it turned into hell. I stuck with it thinking the IB wouldn't last much longer, but 4 WEEKS later my acne was the worst it had ever been and didn't show any sign of improvement. So now I'm stuck. I stopped using it and my face has been improving a little, but I have horrible hyperpigmentation from the IB. Maybe I should have stuck with it longer, but the initial breakout was just too severe and lasted too long for me to handle. I would only recommend this product of you're sure you don't have sensitive skin, and only as a last resort.

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Amanda

April 16, 2010

Pros:

It worked for a little bit
Makes my skin glow

Cons:

Only worked for a little bit
makes skin extremely dry
Acne is now the same as all ways

At first, This product was amazing, All my acne was all most gone that was 3 months ago, Ive been using this product since December 2009 I was hoping it'd work, For awhile It did. But now the product Isn't helping at all, Its good for awhile.

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Kristen

April 14, 2010

Pros:

blemishes are almost completely gone
no IB
skin is smoother and softer
basically cured my acne after only a few weeks
dries up my oily skin

Cons:

smelly
wish the red marks would go away faster

I never had completely flawless skin, but my acne was never so bad of a problem that I needed to see a derm or anything. I would get the occasional pimple but nothing horrible. Well, I decided to go on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo birth control pills to get rid of the mild acne I had...BIG MISTAKE. After 3 months of taking the pill, my acne had gone from mild to moderately severe. I had huge blemishes all over my face and got pimples in areas I never had them before, like my cheeks and jawline. It was horrible :( After going off of the pill, my acne was still pretty bad so I decided to see a derm. She prescribed Retin A along with brevoxyl, minocycline, dove soap and nizoral shampoo. After almost 3 weeks, my acne is WAY better. No more blemishes at all. I use the Retin A every night before bed and it has helped me so much. The peeling is the cell turnover, which indicates that the skin is healing - and it shows. My skin is softer, smoother, and most importantly, acne free!! I think I got lucky on the IB front because the birth control pill had done a "great" job of bringing all my pimples to surface already, so that's probably why I didn't get the IB. The only thing is I still have PIH marks (red marks left from the acne). It's only been a few weeks so I'm still hopeful, and they have definitely started to fade a little. I'll post again in a few weeks. Bottom line, Retin A did wonders for my acne and once the red marks are gone my skin will be looking better than before I went on the Ortho. P.S. my derm told me that Ortho Lo is really bad for acne, and that the only FDA approved BC pill for acne is Ortho Tri Cyclen (regular, not Lo). P.P.S. I know this is a review for Retin A, but using the Nizoral shampoo as a facial cleanser every couple days has worked WONDERS on my acne too! Good luck everyone :)

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rebeq

April 12, 2010

Pros:

Smooths skin texture, reduces blotchiness, prevents pimples, helps pimples heal faster

Cons:

Takes a full 3 months to have effectivenss and causes initially breakout for the first 3 months (the most acne I have ever had at one time), dry and flaky skin but adjustment occurs through time (I used Retin A micro to decrease this), thinner skin which requires sunblock

Did not totally cure my presistant adult acne, but much reduced it, enough so that it doesn't bother me when I wear a little makeup. The acne is smaller and easier to address. My skin is glowing and smooth. It is the best exfoliator out there plus it has anti-aging benefits. It is the backbone of any mulitple regimen acne plan because it helps other products penetrate the skin better.

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jasmine99

April 12, 2010

Pros:

Clears and tones skin making my compleaxion very beautiful.
Diminishing my fine lines around my eyes greatly. Evens out skin tone and gives a beautiful glow.

Cons:

Breakout for the first 2 weeks but that is supposed to happen. That is how this cream works.Is somewhat drying but has not been to bad.

Most people do not understand that when you use Retin A it is normal for your acne to get worse the first few weeks of use. This is supposed to happen and means that your Retin A is working and doing what it is supposed to. This means that the Retin A is bring out all of the pimples that are laying under your skin waiting to come out. The Retin A brings the dormant pimples to the surface because it is making the process happen much faster. The worse your acne is, the worse your breakout will be. All of that acne would have come out on your face eventually anyway's but the Retin A is doing it's job to bring it out much more quickly. When all of the dormant pimples are out and then gone, it stops more from being produced so having to put up with a few weeks of bad acne is normal and will go away. You have to keep using it for it to work properly and i guarentee you that in a month or so you will be so happy you did. love the Retin A Micro. I am using the 0.01% and it works great. I use it at bed time only. I squeeze a small amount the size of a green pea into the lid of my Neo Strata Level 2 smoothing cream and mix with an equal amount of the Neo Strata and apply to my whole face. This method works best. Mix a pea sized amount with whatever moisturizer you use and apply at bed time.It is very important that you only use the pea sized amount because this cream is very powerful and that is all that is needed i assure you. I went through the,"my skin looks terrible stage", but my doctor told me to stick with it because that showed it was doing it's job and she was right. My skin is now more beautiful than it has ever been and i am 39 years old. I look 25 and get compliments everyday on my skin and how young i look. Stick with the bad skin fase and you will be so happy with the results. This is truly a miracle cream.

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tehouse

April 9, 2010

Pros:

none

Cons:

made my skin worse

It turns out I was allergic to the Retinoid gels. If retin-a gel made your skin worse, try tazorac CREAM. something with gels irritated my skin until i found a retinoid in cream form

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katiepro29

April 6, 2010

Pros:

-gets rids of pimples
-prevents pimples
-helps with scars

Cons:

-very drying, difficult to open mouth
-i use mousturizer and sunscreen every morning then apply light coverage liquid foundation on, and this allows my skin to feel not so dry

i've been using this product for 1 week and 4 days, along with benzoyl peroxide on my more severe areas, and it has saved my skin from all of its pimples. i've only gotten 1 new pimple while on this product, and that pimple disappeared within 2 days of using my treatment. i'm very happy with this, and the smooth face it has given me. it has also helped tremendously with scars. although not fully gone, it is aiding in the fading of my scars, and i'm hoping within a few more weeks i'll be completely clear. has taken me acne from moderate to light im not sure how much it cost, my dermatologist recommended it three years ago and i never gave it a chance until recently.

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hudsy

April 5, 2010

Pros:

dries out acne, tightens skin, good on wrinkles!

Cons:

skin sort of hurts at first, flaky dry skin but still oily :'-(

I wasn't sure at first but I've been really happy with it so far. I've tried, benzoil,clindamycin,epiduo,egg mask,tea tree oil, Tretinoin is the first thing to actually dry out my acne and it's slowly starting to smooth out my insane bumpy pimple face! I'm getting an at home blue light in a couple days will use them together, tretinoin exfoliates and encourages cell turnover where the blue light kills bacteria, wish me luck!! Oh and by the way, I read it's good to switch off every other night between Retin A and a light glycolic gel, and I've been really happy with the results, didn't see results until after the first week

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aphroditewannabe

April 3, 2010

Pros:

smoother skin after a few weeks, if u pop a pimple it starts to heal in like 3 seconds and is gone. Scars start to looks better and skin is a bit more even cuz of the peeling.

Cons:

Dry skin, tight uncomfortable feeling, flaking, initial breakout

I have horrible cystic and comedonal acne everywhere on my face, especially in the cheeks chin area and its impossible to cover up. My mom finally got me a derm.appt. who put me on the oral antibiotic of bactrim, the morning bp of clindamycin and at night 0.1% trentinoin. After a week my skin felt softer, I still have red pimples spread throughout my cheeks. My skin is tough from all the horrible products I have used on it in the past, to burn the crap out of my acne in frustration. I have faith that this will work, if i do it CORRECTLY like everyone else should be doing. I'm trusting my dermatologist. My best advice is don't give a crap about what people say on the internet, I listened for years and all it had me end up doing was goin on crazy fruit diets and trying all this weak natural crap. If your acne is pretty bad, then LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!!!!

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blahblah16

March 30, 2010

Pros:

Basically it makes my skin peel a lot but my scars are almost all gone. My skin feels smooth and soft after a week of using it.

Cons:

I still get huge cysts under the skin but they go away quickly.

I would recomend using a soft cleanser like Biore exfoliating scrub. It helps the 'peelies' go away sooner and leaves my skin looking better. At first with this treatment my skin felt horrible and nasty, but I found that by using it about once or twice a week my skin has been getting less irritable and my friend has also been using it and her skin is perfect now.

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