Tretinoin

I've tried many different acne systems since High School and this is the best medication. I finally feel confident to look strangers in the eye and smile. I love it!

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bittersweet88

March 14, 2010

Pros:

Breaks up all the plugged dirt to the surface
Leaves skin really smooth
Easy to apply on skin

Cons:

Pigmentations/scars
Horrible IB
Drying/flaking

In the beginning I was very skeptical about using this because of the IB. Majority of people said their IB lasted around 6 weeks and then their skin started to clear up. For me, I'm usually really unlucky with every medicine I try for my acne. Every medicine I've tried so far has worked well for everyone else but me based on reviews. So I was pretty pessimistic about using tretinoin, especially if i had to go through the IB. But I was wrong. It's been week 3. The first two weeks were horrendous. I broke out with white heads and tiny bumps everywhere, especially my chin area. However, I have noticed a significant difference in my chin area. Most of the tiny bumps are gone. I still have white heads, but I know that I'm still going through the IB so I'm patient with that. The amazing thing that I realized today was that my blackheads on my nose are disappearing! I have never had any medicine that was able to do that. Overall, I'm really glad that I stuck to this. I'll update my review if I see any significant difference in the weeks to come.

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Andrew

March 11, 2010

Pros:

-Bringing all the crap underneath my skin to the surface
-Smoothing out my skin, and scars are disapearing
-Skin tone looks alot better and less patchy
-Very easy to apply, and dries really quick
-Less drying than BP

Cons:

-Makes the skin flake
-Makes it Red some days

This stuff is the one thing thats finally starting to remove my scars and the spots underneath the skin. It makes my skin flake and regenerate it so newer skin can come through and its also reorganising the skin cells so my scars are fading away becoming less shallow every week. I would say If your fed up with scarring and spots that are stuck there underneath the skin then give this a shot. It makes you look pretty dame ugly for a month or two but Its the long term benefits that will be worthwhile sticking with it. Im planning to stay on this untill my shallow pop marks are complety gone, which at this rate should be about another month or two. I apply my Retin A every night before I go to bed, First I was with a gentle cleanser then I wait about 20-30 mins for my skin PH level to get back to normal. I then apply the retin a, I just spread a thin layer of it over my bad areas and then thats it. It dries super fast and you dont have to rub it in for ages like I had to with BP. I would recommend this to people like me, that have tried stuff and still have acne underneath the skin and have bad texture/pop marks. Its definatly working for me, the pop scars are improving and all the crap under the layers are coming away. Hope that this works for you, its certainly working for me :D But rember to stay with it dont give up like so many people do on here, It will be worth it in the long run. Goodluck guys xD

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infinity15

March 9, 2010

Pros:

-Skin More Tone
-Some Acne went Away
-It brings the crap out then got rid of some of it...
-Easy to Apply(but I miss being able to snuggle up in my bed because I have to be careful with my face lol)

Cons:

-Didn't help with blackheads on the nose.
-Tzone was still oily
-I got these red marks that were firm and bumpy, yet smooth and my derm said they were cyst underneath my skin, so apparently no positive results there.
-I am on my 12th week and I am still breaking out and even broke a cyst near my neck.
-Skin looks worst then before because of the redness on my skin that is still firm like I said before.
-Dryness [easily dealt with a good moisturizer]
-IB was really bad for me e

So in total I have been on this product for 12 weeks ~3 months.I used Retin-a Micro .1% right from the beginning. I would apply it religious every night right when I got it and surprisingly very mild irritation the first week and other than that just dryness and flakes after I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. It was easily managed and especially with Cetaphil Moisturizer. I stuck with it for the recommended amount of time and it is sad for me to say probably I am one of those people who does not respond to this. I also took doxycycline, an oral antibiotic while on this to control the IB, but it didn't fair so well. So finally, I decided to see a real dermatologist and he is going to put me on Accutane. I definitely recommend it to everyone plagued with acne.Just try it out, if it works it works, if not go see your derm like me and he/she will either like my be dropped on accutane[Which I am glad, don't need to deal with topicals and acne(soon enough)] or find alternatives. Best of Luck! [side note: I got a 20 mg for free one month which got covered by my insurance, then next month policies changed and cheapest I got was for a $100... yeah sucks so that's why I put the price at 100]

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girl28toronto

March 6, 2010

Pros:

This product works. I had moderate acne and I have been using it for a little over a month and my biggest breakouts have dissappeared or are dried out. Skin is much smooth now with a nice texture. New breakouts have been minimized as well.

Cons:

After using it for 1 week, my skin broke out very badly for the 2nd and third weeks. This was very depressing. My acne went from moderate to moderately severe. My skin around my mouth started flaking a lot and dry. Was a little painful to smile.

This product works but you have to keep using it past the bad breakout part. I am just waiting for it to fade my PIH marks now. Hopefully this will happen after 2 months...I have seen a little improvement in the PIH marks but not that much. However, they are smooth now...but they haven't gotten that much lighter in color. I recommend this product to people with moderate to moderately severe acne.

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Jen

March 3, 2010

Pros:

Skin finally cleared around 9th-10th week of use. After that, I would only get a small pimple or two that would go away quickly (2-3 days) and usually only around my period. My skin is finally smooth and clear.

Cons:

Took 9-10 weeks until my acne went away. I went through HELL. I used it for 7 weeks and then quit because I was breaking out horribly. Worse acne in my entire life. Went on it again because nothing else worked. I stuck with it and finally saw the benefits. Bad news is that the bad acne left some red marks (hyperpigmentation) and scars, but I'm sure they'll eventually go away.

I was breaking out horribly for 3 months before improvement was seen. It was really hard to stick with tretinoin when I wasn't seeing any results. YOU MUST BE PATIENT with this product. You WILL see improvement if you stick with it. Also used Bactrim for two months, and Aviane since then. I used .05% every other day b/c my acne and skin was so bad, and then moved to every day when the redness and inflammation stopped. Use a cleanser without salicylic acid to prevent redness and over-drying. I use Neutrogena foaming cleanser and it works very well. Bottom line: Tretinoin cleared my skin, but it took about 2 1/2 months. If I would've stuck with tretinoin the first time I took it, it would've saved me an extra 9 weeks of acne hell. Be patient and don't give up. The weeks waiting will be worth the clear skin later.

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Natalie

March 2, 2010

Pros:

make skin clear and toned, my skin looks flawless and is unbelievably smooth. Cleared up all the small pimples under the skin. Absolutely love this product

Cons:

flaky around the mouth and my eyes kinda burn when i put on concealer, plus the initial break out was pretty bad

You have to use this medication if you have any type of acne. It will clear up your acne if you give it time i promise. For the first 3 months i was on the .05% my face looked way worse than it did before I started using tretinoin. Then my doctor bumped me up to the .1% and now my face is absolutely flawless. I'm in love with this product i recommend it to everyone who isn't happy with their skin. You just have to wait out the initial break out, I understand it sucks because you think the medication is making everything worse, but it's just bringing all the bacteria up at the same time. It will get better, I suggest starting off on the .05% so that the IB isn't as bad and then move up a dosage. USE IT! and don't give up on it, it won't change over night. But after 4 months your skin will look better than it ever has

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Kelly from Brooklyn

March 2, 2010

Pros:

none that I experienced

Cons:

I broke out worse than I ever did in my entire life. It never really cleared up my skin.

I used Retin-A Micro for about a year. I was bracing myself because I knew it would get worse before it got better. Within a week, my entire face was inflammed and covered with cystic acne. I went from being moderately severe to extremely severe for about six weeks. It did go back to being moderately severe, but never really improved past that point. I was extremely disappointed. One dermatologist told me that I needed to stop using if I went on vacation where I was going to be out in the sun. When I stopped, my oil production when into overdrive and my face was very oily. I broke out really bad on vacation. The next doctor told me that it was okay to use (for my skin) in extended sun exposure, but I just needed to be very careful applying sunscreen every couple of hours. Finally, after one year, I decided to stop using. It did not seem to be exfoliating my skin, decreasing the oiliness or decreasing break outs.

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Jacob R.9

February 23, 2010

Pros:

-works well after initial breakout

Cons:

-routinely makes skin flake
-makes skin a bit red and inflamed, especially if you have sensitive skin
-stops working after a few months

For me, Tretonoin worked miracles for a month or two. My skin was clearer than ever and it helped fade post acne red spots, but it eventually stopped working about four months after I started it. I even tried a stronger dose of it for a couple months, and that did not help.

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Layla16

February 21, 2010

Pros:

-Cleared up small pimples around nose area
-Face looks less red the morning after

Cons:

-Has done nothing for blackheads around nose
-Make breakout on forehead bigger and worse
-Bigger and more red pimples are emerging

I started using the 0.05% early in December. I used it for around two months and it didn't help me very much. It cleared the pimples in my nostril creases, but essentially made my forehead break out much more. I went back to the doctor, and she gave me a higher dosage, 0.1%. I have been using that for around a week or so, and I haven't noticed a difference. I use it at night, and the morning after my skin does look less red. I do experience some minor peeling around my nose, on my chin, and a bit on my forehead. To combat this I use Aveno Clear Complexion Moisterizer, more than I did before I started this treatment. Even though my first two months of the lowest dosage didn't do anything, I am hoping that if I stick with this dosage my skin will clear up.

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