Topical Retinoid
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Works about the same as the other two topical retinoids, tazarotene and adapalene, and lands in the middle of those two when it comes to side effects. Should provide partial clearing, but comes with sensitivity when you first start using it. It probably won’t be a total game changer but it should help reduce acne.
Topical Retinoid
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Tretinoin? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
August 25, 2012
Cons:
I'm on week 2 now...acne is worse
expensive
I've had acne since age 12 (6th grade) and have used several different products from Clean&clear to Acnefree to Ziana, differen, etc. But recent;y i've been breaking out on my cheeks and chin rather than my forehead and T-zones. The pimples are much larger now even though there are fewer of them! I've been on this product almost 2 weeks and i'm hoping this is the "purging" stage because my acne seems worse. I'm going to stick with it for atleast another month or so....
July 26, 2012
Pros:
- clears up acne
- brigthens face
Cons:
- flakes
- dry patches
- excess oil on skin
Well i reviewed this product a month or two ago. I have now been using this product since April 2012 and it is now the end of July 2012. So around 4 months of trying out this product. Honestly my acne was not very severe to begin with, it was very light except when i became very stressed out. As i mentioned in my earlier review i did have verrrryyy dry flakey inflamed skin for the first month and a half. My acne cleared up but has come back atleast once or twice while still using the product, except when my acne shows up now it goes away in about 3 days. I was using tret 0.05 but just recently got switched to 0.025 becuase of the dry patches that kept showing up on my face. I could not handle having dry patches while the rest of my face was beyond oily. Conciously putting on lotion to an oily face was just not working for me. So far with the 0.025 version my face is not as dry, however my acne is not drying out as fast. :/ Also, the oil on my face is still very bad. I will continue using this product for at least one year before I completely give up on having perfect skin. I can definitely tell that i have had a change of heart about this product, especially considering my sensitive skin type. I though that it would continue to make my skin glow and look amazing but it did not live up to expectations. Bottom Line: If you have severe acne this product will definitely help you. The pros will definitely outway the cons. However, if you are like me and have very light acne, this product may be a little too much for the skin.
July 11, 2012
Pros:
-acne heals faster
-
Cons:
-initial breakout was HORRIBLE
-doesn't help hormonal acne
-causes flaky skin(this can be fixed with moisturizer and exfoliators)
I'm 15 years old, and my acne was dreadful. I had cystic acne, whiteheads, blackheads, the whole nine yards. After a while, I figured I had suffered enough and I went to my dermatologist, who prescribed me with minocyclin(not sure if I spelled that right) twice a day orally and Retin-a Micro 0.1% gel at night. The first month somewhat sucked, just because the retin-a caused an initial breakout. The initial breakout is basically the retin-a dragging all the bacteria from deep within your skin out to the surface, causing pimples. I must say though, the initial breakout was worth it. Keep with it, and your skin should clear up. To this day, my acne still hasnt completely cleared up, and ive been using it religiously for the past 8 months. Hormonal acne is still a problem for me, but other than that my acne has improved drastically.
July 11, 2012
Pros:
Seems to work.
Cheap.
Easy to get via the internet.
Should do other good things for your skin besides reducing acne.
Cons:
Takes a little while to work.
May cause side effects (hair loss, being tired etc.)
May cause lot of peeling and redness in the first weeks.
I bought this as I heard it did a lot of good things for your skin besides fighting acne. It was supposed to make your skin more even look younger etc. I did not experience that. As I worked towards the 0.1% retin a I did notice less new acne was forming but still some remained. Scars didn't seem to disappear as there is a lot of alcohol in it. After about two months of using the 0.1% I started using the acne.org system again during the day (retin a should not be used with benzyolperoxide but can be used after using it or before). My acne disappeared completely and I stopped using the retin a. I am now using the acne.org system as before, - during the day and night and my skin looks a lot better then when on the retin a. It is expensive as I have to pay a lot of shipping cost and taxes but it's worth it. Hope Dan will start selling in Europe one day. P.S. Do not buy the cream version! It made my acne much, much worse. The retin a gel is what you need when having acne. P.P.S. Also do not use peelings when on retin a. I did and wasn't able to go outside for at least a week.
June 24, 2012
Pros:
-Makes blackheads and whiteheads less severe
-Makes skin easier to exfoliate
-Brightens skin tone
Cons:
-Did not prevent my inflamed acne
-Did not completely purge my pores
-Does not affect sebum production
-Will cause redness and irritation if used to frequently or in too high of a concentration
I can't say that this is the best option for those with persistent inflamed acne, but if you have large pores and severe comedonal acne like I do, this is a good thing to try. I use a .25 solution before bed on my t-zone only and have noticed that my blackheads are easier to wash away and I'm not getting bad whiteheads on the sides of my nose anymore. I also like that it has positive effects on aging skin.
June 22, 2012
Pros:
Gives your skin great skin texture.
Heals acne fast
Exfoliates
Helps reduce acne
Heals hyper pigmentation
Heals indented scars somewhat
Cons:
Does not completely get rid of acne
Makes you peel like crazy in the beginning
Very red skin
Gets way worse before it gets better
Took me 2-3 months to see results
Alright, let me be realistic about Retin-A. Retin -A is an amazing product. It made me skin texture amazing and completely got rid of my blackheads on my forehead and nose. Here's the thing though: I did a rave review on this site many months ago talking about how great Retin-A is and how much is helped my acne. I used to get 5 new pimples a day. Retin-A reduced my pimples to about 1 every 3 or 4 days. However I would still suffer with a small breakout around my period. Although it was healing my hyper pigmentation faster than normal and reduced my acne, I decided enough was enough. Retin A wasn't doing enough to completely clear my skin. I still felt like I had to wear full coverage foundation when I went somewhere. So I decided to drop the Retin-A and start Dan Kern's Regimen. I was terrified to stop using Retin-A since it took me from moderate acne to light acne and made my skin texture so amazing. But right now I've been now two weeks without Retin-A and on the regimen and it was the best decision I made. My skin has just began to clear in only two weeks. Yes, when I stopped Retin-A my face blew up and was getting 5 new zits a day again. But now after two weeks I am now getting no new breakouts and that's much better than two to three months of waiting for results while your face is freaking out. However I am going to wait about 2-3 weeks for my face to be completely clear on the regimen and I am going to pick up retin-a again, only in the smallest concentration, and only for the purpose of keeping up that great texture I got from it and getting rid of hyperpigmentation. The texture of my skin is not bad now, but when I touch is I feel the dryness. With Retin-A my face was baby smooth (Exfoliating all that peeling ofcourse). So, yes, I do recommend Retin-A and I think it's worth it, however I wish I did Dan Kern's regimen first and then incorporated a small concentration of Retin-A later to avoid that nasty period of purging.
May 24, 2012
Pros:
clears up acne
clears up any new acne very quickly
face is brighter
Cons:
flakey skin
sensitive to sunlight
red tint to face
I am 19 years old and have never had any issues with acne until i started college a year ago. I also never had any issues with back acne either until college. I was very discouraged about my change of skin and my doctor recommended 3 seperate products. 1) an antibiotic to clear up my acne 2) tretinoin cream .05% 3) and erythromycin mix. I took all of the antibiotic and began the tretinoin cream (night time) and was supposed to take the erthroycin during the day (twice). I began this regimen one month ago but forget after one week of beginning to take the erythromycin. I stopped using the E gel and used tretinoin only.
First 2 weeks: worst ever! my face flaked everytime i washed it and looked horrible when i would try to cover it up with makeup. My face also burned and was sensitive (RED all over). I tried several different mosturizers until hearing that cetaphil ultra hydrating worked best (it does!)
Week 3: break outs! not very badly (i had light acne to begin with)
Week 4: my face is starting to clear up and hopefully will continue.
I have many acne scars from my breakouts and hope that the tretinoin will take care of these like it says! Recommendations: stick with it! it is the most embarassing this for the first 2 weeks or more, but the pros outway the cons for me, so hopefully they will for you too!
May 23, 2012
Pros:
Gave skin a nice glow
Helped control body acne
Cons:
HORRIBLE initial breakout. Left me with scars.
Caused me to grow ALOT of "peach fuzz" and a moustache( im female so it sucks)
stung very badly when I first began
Made skin extremely sun sensitive.
I wouldn't reccomend this for women at all. Maybe if you are a guy. Defenitely not worth the money..takes a toll on self esteem. I would never use it again
May 13, 2012
Pros:
makes skin healthy
prevents breakouts (sometimes)
doesn't dry skin out
Cons:
can make skin oily
inconsistent results
I have been using this at 0.025% for 7 months. I didn't really get a bad initial breakout, and my skin started clearing up. However, after it'd clear up, I'd get break outs again. In the winter, it can be a bit drying, but in warmer weather, it makes my face really slick! It may have even caused breakouts. I have always used this with Cetaphil products because they're so gentle, and at one point, I stopped using this and was getting great skin. Right after, though, I started breaking out HORRIBLY and thought I should go back on this. This did nothing for the current breakouts, and these pimples weren't like the usual ones I get. They were hard, painful, and lasted for weeks. I still have some of them. When I went back on this, I think I got a real IB. I'm going to the derm tomorrow to discuss it, and maybe I'll go up to 0.05 or try Retin-A Micro. All in all, this works OK, but it will not totally clear your skin, especially if you have teen acne. This doesn't really help hormonal acne.
April 5, 2012
Pros:
Definitely exfoliates
Very, very few new pimples.
Cons:
Dry flaky skin
Sensitivity to sun
I have been using this for a week, and thought I'd review now, and then after a couple of months. I have mild-moderate acne... primarily just little comedones that bump up my skin and look unattractive. Eventually most of them turn into a full fledged zit, but they are always so tempting to pick and try to squeeze out. Doing so caused more acne and cysts, and so I've decided to seek professional help. Benzoyle and Salicylic Acid alone were not enough. I tried mild cleansers, harsh cleansers, Alpha Hydroxy... everything. Nothing really helped. It's been a week on Retin-A (PM) and Clindamycin+Benzoyl (AM) and I haven't had much new acne... The bumps are still there but I'm assured that in time they will go away. My doctor recommended combining the Clindamycin with the Benzoyl in the AM as the Benzoyl helps keep your body from developing a resistance to the Clindamycin. This is combination with the Retin-A seems to be doing good things, but dealing with all of the peeling is a lot to handle. Reading these reviews is the only thing that is keeping me going right now!
Pros:
Skin feels softer