Another retinol post......

[T1610]

I've been using The Ordinary 1% (in squalene) for a couple of months now. I started off once a week and now up to twice a week. I had a bit of itching, tight, dry (slightly peeling) skin at first but am over that now.

I'm going to continue upping it very gradually.

My questions is...what should I be aiming for? How often should you use it once your skin is used to it? I can't find any info on how much is optimum once you are okay with it, it all seems to be about starting out.

If you've used it a long time...how often do you use it now? Will you stick with that frequency? Has it helped with anti aging?

I got the ordinary 1% in Squalane after reading these threads. I only use it twice a week as it made my skin itch. It seems better if I use it and then immediately rub in coconut oil but maybe I’m just imagining that. Should I be using it every night? I’m 55

I don’t mind saying which is me! Mine is the 3rd pic on her feed. The collage of 4 pics showing my skin a few months back, compared to now. If you’ve any questions about tret and need help with your routine, send me a message on here or instagram

@mamazita
Did you get much peeling when you started with tretinoin? I’m thinking of upping my regime and maybe trying Obagi but I’m worried about how obvious the flaking will be and if it can be hidden by makeup.

@dirtyjellycat With the Dermatica tretinoin I only had a little peeling at the very beginning. I attended an Obagi event on Wednesday, as they want to work with me. I do skincare blogging. They had all their doctors there and some cast members of the Real Housewives of Cheshire. All those that had used the Obagi tretinoin, said they had peeling.

Niacinamide can help with any sensitivity from tretinoin. For the peeling, I just used a damp muslin cloth in the morning to gently buff it away. The peeling lasted a couple of weeks and mainly around my nose and on my chin.

Foundation can make the peeling look worse, if you don’t buff away the flakes.

I was scared to start tret due to the horror stories about peeling, but I haven’t had it at all. The worst side effect I’ve had has been a slight soreness, like sunburn.

Peeling was really mild in my case, I had a bit of it on day 3 after using Tret on its own but it was manageable except for the fact that it would pretty much start midday out of nowhere, and I forgot to keep track which day was day 3. The upside was that with just cleansing at night it would be gone.

Makeup makes the peeling look worse so best to just skip it at that time, but we're talking liking a touch dry/ashy nothing majorly embarrassing. Peeling stage only really lasted 2-3 weeks for me. I had an initial purge around the chin when I rarely ever have spots, that was more annoying to deal with than the peeling tbh.

From my impression from those with the peeling horror stories is that they usually start with 0.05 straight rather than 0.025 diluted and build up quicker. Dermatologists have differing opinions on whether to go gently, gently, or force it through and just be done with it ASAP. From a user perspective, starting with buffered Tret at a low percentage and slowly working up to unbuffered and frequency is just a lot more pleasant and the end result is much the same except for those who really can't take Tret.

Dementedma, I really don't rate the ordinary retinoids. Retinol is a very active and therefore unstable ingredient, it really needs light and air tight packaging and a lot of care needs to be taken with formulating. TO has economised on both, so unless you're using it up very quickly you'll be tossing it out as it's lost efficacy or if you're unlucky like me and several others on the Fantastic Skincare threads experienced, the formula goes off and sabotages your skin. I think the itching you're describing does have to do with the formula, TO formulas are stripped back to very little so there's nothing soothing in there to compensate the excessive drying effect of retinol. Coconut oil is generally acknowledged to be really bad for your skin, so you must be quite dry to start with to tolerate that without breaking out. Those two factors would understandably leave your skin not feeling great.

Mamazita - great results! I will probably need your advice somewhere along the way so thanks for the offer to inbox.

I had my email prescription. 0.025% tretinoin and niacinamide. I'm going to start off every other night and see how it goes. I'm assuming that the niacinamide is a buffer so should be fine.

I agree with you about coconut oil Botemp, I found it to be quite drying.

Personally I'd start with 2x a week and see how you go unless they've indicated otherwise?

Niacinamide is not a buffer, it's just a really good all round ingredient that helps with sensitivity.

When the term buffering is used WRT tretinoin it's basically a term for diluting it with a plain moisturiser, usually one to one, or layering on moisturiser before or after application.

Others don't buffer but will leave an hour after cleansing before applying tret, both are methods to stop the Tret going full force whilst you're still getting used to it.

It really depends on your skin, some can handle using it without buffering straight after cleansing (skin must be dry though) without issue, others really need the adjustment period.

Why is coconut oil bad for skin? It leaves mine feeling really soft

Coconut oil is highly comodogenic ie. the culprit of blocked pores, blackheads, whiteheads, breakouts, etc. Now if you belong to a very small group of people with very dry skin that may not be such an issue.

However, at the end of the day it is just a single ingredient product which acts as an occlusive and nothing more. All it really does is deliver a layer on top of the skin that will help preserve the moisture that's in your skin already but it's not delivering extra moisture to it which dry skin is always lacking in. A plant oil (preferably a non comodogenic one) can be helpful in enriching moisturiser or layering over it but on its own they're more of an instant sensorial improvement rather than actually doing something for skin.

Oh man, I've just signed up with Dermatica as I definitely need some guidance (don't use anything currently, but skin feels like it's aging and needs something more than moisturiser), but because I am breastfeeding, they can't proceed. Annoying. Thank you though, I will try to remember the details and get going once I have stopped.

Do you have a routine at all Wallabyone? Your skin might see some perking up with an acid toner, hydrating serum and/or Vitamin C serum if you're not using those yet and they're pregnancy/bf safe (with the odd exception).

Interesting botemp. I know nothing about all this stuff. What would you recommend for a 55 year old skin on a budget?

Thank you @botemp I don't use any of those things. I literally wash off in the shower using Nivea face wash, and moisturise when I remember in the night, but every day before make up. My skin is not hideous, but I'm 37 and it's starting to show its age. Do you have recommendations for which brand to buy? Is The Ordinary any good?x

dementedma, you mean a moisturiser for you? I'd recommend Eucerin Urea Repair face cream, it's real good for dry skin. If you want an oil alongside that I'd say rosehip (Pai makes a good one) rice bran or marula.

Wallabyone, I don't really ever recommend a single brand, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. IMO The Ordinary is more weaknesses than strength where the low price point encourages excessive use of products and doesn't work out that cheaply at all.

Thank you. I will look into these. I wouldn’t have said my skin was dry but as coconut oil doesn’t aggravate it, maybe it is. It’s quite sallow, with very dark under eye shadows but not many wrinkles yet

I would like to join the retinol gang on here I've been using glycolic acid creams for years & I've just upped my game & started using retinol in the last couple of weeks. This one here has rave reviews if you google it, it's the one I've been using. So far so good, I have noticed a difference which is my skin looks more even toned, my pores lots smaller & my skin tone is more even toned. It's strong stuff though & it's recommended to wait 30 mins after cleansing as it causes a reaction if skin isn't really really dry. Ive had little irritation using it nightly for approx 3 weeks now, I think this is due to the fact that my skin is hardy from the regular glycolic lotion & TCA peels I've performed. My skin looks better now than it did in my 20's & I'm almost 40 now. Here is some info, it can be bought on Amazon.

bryjaimea.com/review-a313-pommade/

Due to me not getting any real irritation from the A313 Pommade I'm going to buy some of the Tretinoin 0.1 % & slowly introduce that & see how I get on.
Although my skin is now fab & the best it's ever been & I am extremely happy with it, I do still have a few forehead wrinkles that I would like to improve on / erase off

@Pollypocket952 don’t use 0.1% tretinoin, it’s far too strong! Start at 0.025% and work your way up to 0.1% I’ve been using 0.05% for 6 months and I don’t feel ready to move up to 0.1% just yet

Some people say that 0.05% is enough for anti-ageing, and 0.1% is best reserved for treating acne.

@Mamazita .... I bought some ages ago ( tretinoin 0.1 ) but it's 6 months out of date, I put it on last night & I've had no dryness, nothing. Been using 2% retinol for last couple of weeks & the slight dryness I had from that has subsided into using it nightly with no ill effects at all. Although I'm not sure if the tretinoin I used last night has lost its potency ( kept in fridge in box )

I only use/used the above on dry skin no moisturiser mixed in or over too.

I think my skin has maybe become super hardy from using the high strength glycolic & doing my own TCA peels maybe ?

Think I will carry on with the out of date tretinoin 0.1 & see what happens before I purchase a new one - as of now not sure if it's working to it's full effect or not?

Also I would like to recommend a heavy duty facial moisturiser that I swear by .... which keeps the dryness away from using retinol. I swear that these products have saved my skin from the usual uglies associated with the dryness of using retinol based products

Face wash - www.boots.com/ProductDisplay?errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&storeId=11352&urlLangId=-1&productId=1734054&urlRequestType=Base&categoryId=560100&langId=-1&catalogId=10551

Daytime moisturiser - www.boots.com/ProductDisplay?errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&storeId=11352&urlLangId=-1&productId=1734058&urlRequestType=Base&categoryId=560100&langId=-1&catalogId=10551

Night time off retinol intensive moisturiser Balm

www.boots.com/ProductDisplay?errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&storeId=11352&urlLangId=-1&productId=1734018&urlRequestType=Base&categoryId=560100&langId=-1&catalogId=10551

How are you all getting on with the retinol/retin a?

Thanks to Botemp, I started on the tretinoin and have been doing ok with it. I've gradually increased it from twice a week to three times a week (now upped to 0.5%) I have had some peeling, redness and itching but nothing too troublesome. Not seen any improvement in wrinkles as yet, but I know it's a long term thing.

Just wanted to ask your thoughts on what frequency of 0.5% would be required for it to be effective? Do you need to use it nightly for maximum effects or would staying at 3 x weekly be any good?

I'm assuming 3 x week at 0.5 is as good as 7 x week 0.25?

I use retirides 0.025% on my face and 0.1% on my hands - real retin A is unbeatable and orders of magnitude stronger than retinols despite the apparent tiny content. I order online from a spanish pharmacy

I've built up the retin A on my face from 2 nights a week to 6 nights a week now with no irritation at all