Tretinoin

makes your skin incredibly dry and makes it peel like crazy. the initial breakout is pretty bad. my acne was the worst it has been in a year during the first few weeks of treatment.

i have been using this along with doxycycline 100mg a day. i've been using the retin-a 0.025% for 3 months and i'm finally seeing an improvement. it takes a while to work but its definetley worth the wait. if you can get through the first few weeks after that its plain sailing

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Anonymous

January 8, 2008

Pros:

Worked very fast, inexpensive, easy to use, and doesn't leave an oily look at all. Got rid of 90% of her acne after just a few weeks as well as blackheads too. Her scars are fading too.

Cons:

She complains of burning.
Very little sun will cause a massive sunburn.
The first week and a half the extreme redness and peeling was awful. But now she is only a little red, and instead of peeling has more of a dry look.

I will keep getting it for her to use only at bedtime due to the photosensitivity. I'm actually pleased with this med.

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Another Someone

January 8, 2008

Pros:

Speeds up regeneration of skin surface.

Cons:

Achieves the above by causing cells to scale; therefore, it's a lot of work to not look like a fish.

I have dry, quite fine, acne prone skin, and this stuff at .025% strength is too much for my face to handle on a regular basis. I wind up scrubbing away the profuse flakiness, and that only makes things worse; my spots tend to bleed. I suppose if you had the patience/opportunity to live a flaky life for a month, your skin condition could balance itself out. In the end, I can only use it as an occasional 2 day treatment when I have no new acne; it's not worth it for the price.

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gigi

January 3, 2008

Pros:

nice consitency. cheap w/ insurance

Cons:

smells bad. takes forever to work. sensitive to other products.

it smells like olives. like seriously... ive been on it for like 6 weeks now, and im patiently waiting for some payback. everyone says you need to wait a while to see results. so far, everything has only gotten worse.LIKE ALOT WORSE! and i had very mild acne when i started now its almost at the point that i would call it severe. im also on minocyline with it. it makes my skin very sensitive to other products, like im using dans moisturizer and it burns the hell out of my skin when i use it. idk.. ill keep waiting but im making an appointment w/ my derm soon.

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Lindsey

December 31, 2007

Pros:

Not any at all

Cons:

Horribly drying, doesnt work, expensive, makes your face burn

The first few months I was on this stuff, it made my acne far worse (which was expected) but also dryed my skin out so much it was flakey, red and no matter how much lotion i put on, it wouldnt help. People would ask me what was wrong with my face. I would much rather take mild acne over this crap. It left horrible scars on my face as well. TERRIBLE STUFF! I waited and waited for my skin to get better but it never did.

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Jane

December 20, 2007

Pros:

Cleared up skin, I hardly ever breakout, and when I do it's a small whitehead and never any of those huge, underground monster zits. Also shrinks pores.

Cons:

Kinda makes you oily if you use too much, the first few weeks/months are awful, and it has never really seemed to lighten hyperpigmentation. In fact, it seems to make red marks redder.

You need to be patient. You will not see great results after only one or two months. I didn't see significant results until the fourth month of using this. The first month is horrible, even the second and third are pretty bad. You need to keep up with it and not give up and it will eventually get better. I am happy I finally gave this a chance, even though I was worried about the initial breakout. However, it didn't help me a bit with red marks, so it's not too great for that, imo.

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LunaRosa

December 2, 2007

Pros:

helped during the summer, cleared up fine so i quit for a month and went back on it when i started acting up and now its worse again

Cons:

it sucks! such a pain not worth the redness, flakyness, and worsening after the first couple days of use

try something else, its not bad but really not worth it

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Tracy

November 25, 2007

Pros:

affordible, easy to apply

Cons:

a little drying at first, by prescription only

I use Retin-A MICRO (.1%) (this is for acne) its time released so you don't have to WAIT after washing your face, just simply pat dry and apply. I love it because I only have to apply it once a day (at night) DO NOT WEAR OUT IN THE SUN AND NEVER APPLY TO ANY AREAS BELOW YOUR JAW AND NEVER USE ANY OTHER ACNE TREATMENT IN COMBINATION WITH RETIN-A MICRO...these tips are key. follow their directions ([link removed]), use a moisturizer during the day no matter what the weather is. I've been using this product for 3 weeks and have little irritation, somedays my skin looks better than others (due to my bad habit of touching, poking and picking, which I am trying to control). I believe this medication will actual work for me, unlike the million others I've tried). For one, its so simple to use and thats important and two I've seen a some improvement which will keep me motivated. I wish you all luck in your quest to cure your skin.

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Gretchen

November 6, 2007

Pros:

Clears up blackheads (retinoids are basically the only thing that clears up blackheads, according to my derm.)

Cons:

Redness. Peeling - can't wear make up. Acne never really cleared up. Major sensitivity to sun - must wear tons of high SPF.

You *CANNOT* get your eyebrows waxed when you use a retinoid. Your skin will come off with the wax strip and scar!

I've used this over the years. All it's ever done is make me red and my skin never emerges from the, what I call, snake-skin phase - b/c you shed your skin like a snake! I will use this as a spot treatment on a specific spot if I have scarring from a particularly bad zit. I will also use it on my nose to curb blackheads (it really does help w/ blackheads). Even so, I only use it two nights a week. I will never go back to the days of using Retin-A all over my entire face every day. I also dab it around my eyes in a preemptive strike against wrinkles. Call me paranoid but who wants zits AND wrinkles?

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Kimmy

September 20, 2007

Pros:

Keeps my skin quite clear, stops pimples before they develop AND it will keep wrinkles under control as I age.

Cons:

Can cause redness & flaking, but I just use less or skip a day and it clears up.

I have been using tretinoin products since I was 15 (25 years). It didn't completely eliminate my teenage acne, but it made a huge difference. Now at age 40, people hear that I use acne medication and ask 'why' since I don't have any pimples. But if my prescription runs out, after a few days I start to see pimples and am reminded why I keep using the medication. I now use Retisol-A, which has sunscreen built in, so I use it in the mornings. My dermatologist says now I get a dual benefit as prescription-level Retin-A products are the only clinically-proven wrinkle reducer. (over-the-counter products are so dilute they don't make a difference)

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