I have a tube of Retirides 0.025% in my sweaty paws....

[Juliesipadwillcallyouback]

After months of my finger hovering over the 'Buy' button, last weekend I finally took the plunge and bought a tube of 0.025% Retirides from Farmacia Andorra. It looked like there had been a problem with the payment and that it hadn't gone through, so then I thought that was maybe a sign that I shouldn't go there and I was kind of relieved..... But lo and behold, a couple of days later the money came off my card and I got an email to say it was being dispatched and it arrived today! So, it turns out I am that crazy woman who orders prescription grade shit for my face from foreign online pharmacies

Anyway, I have watched a lot of YouTube videos and read Hot and Flashy's blog and I think I am going to go for it (although not this week because we have people I haven't seen for months coming for garden visits next weekend and I don't want to risk being a peely mess when I see them!)

These are the things I am thinking:

Low and slow - I am going to start with once a week. I am not unhappy with my skin as such, I feel like this is something I want to do long term to try and keep things at bay, rather than a big transformation now?

Applying to a completely dry face.

SPF 50, I already use this daily, just bog standard Boots Soltan which does the job for me.

Applying as Hot and Flashy says, avoiding nasal folds, around eyes, around mouth.

Is it worth doing a patch test on my cheek before I put it all over, just to check I'm not completely allergic to it?

Is there anything else I need to think of? I am keen to try and avoid as much irritation as possible, but is some peeling inevitable?

I should also say, I have never used any sort of retinol before in a facial product before, I just felt like it wasn't worth it if it wasn't going to be that effective, is this a problem? I do use glycolic acid and that red Ordinary Peel as an exfoliator regularly and don't have any issues with that (I know you have to be careful using these with tret).

Am kind of scared, eeeeeek!

This was me a a couple of years back. You do peel a bit at first, I personally think Retirides is particularly strong.

I introduced a hyaluronic acid in the morning for additional moisture.

If wanting to be super cautious you can do moisturiser-tret-moisturiser. I still do this around my eyes (‘eye goggles’) but otherwise I apply to bare skin.

I leave it for a while (up to 15 mins) before applying moisturiser. You should also massage it in well, so it isn’t just sitting on the surface.

The moisturiser should be plain, unfraganced but pretty rich.

I went every other night at first as it can take a while for the dryness to show. But these days I use 0.1 every night from Dermatica and no issues whatsoever.

I did have some periods where I wondered if it was actually worth it, my skin got dry then waxy then oily but it has definitely helped me stave off the ageing process, and reduce my acne too.

Hi, been using it for three years now, just go slowly once a week for a while maybe 3to4 weeks then twice and so on and so on, your skin will soon tell you if its to much, when I brought my last tube from menorca, all they had left was 1% the strongest as it was the day we were flying home i brought it, but I still peel if I use it more then twice a week, its too strong for me, so now I am going to mix it with a moisturiser to see if my skin can take it. When I go back to menorca I will buy the 0.05 %.

Things that worked for me when I started:

• buffer with a really gentle moisturiser first, then apply maybe 20 mins later. This means that you can use the tiniest, pea sized amount to start off with as it is easier to spread on recently moisturised skin.

• I started every other night, but if my face became red/ felt sore or I had any really peeling patches I left it another night or two.

• use a pea sized amount for a couple of weeks, then a little bit more. I've moved up to 0.05% now and I still only need to use a tiny amount - means it lasts for ages though!

• don't use physical exfoliants, even a flannel. I massage my cleanser into my face for 60 seconds before rinsing when I wash my face morning/ evening and I find that really, really helps with any flaky skin.

• SPF, SPF, SPF!

Thank you everyone!

Are you supposed to moisturise after applying the tretinoin then? I might do the buffering with moisturiser before as well to start with. Do you have any recommendations for moisturiser (cheap!) I currently use Weleda Skin Food which I love and suits my skin great but it is quite fragranced? I already use Hada Labo hyaluronic acid (my refill for that arrived today as well, so it was a great delivery day!)

I don’t bother moisturising after if I’ve buffered before, but will if I apply the Tret straight to dry skin - maybe 10-20 mins after? I did get to the stage when I was using a lower strength tret of applying to dry skin and not having to moisturise after, but I’ve never managed that with the 0.05%.

I use Avene Skin Recovery cream which is mid-price but very gentle.

I do tret then moisturiser. I use Avene too, Tolerance Extreme Cream

I’ve recently started .05 tret. Mostly for my acne. I was sceptical as the only things that have worked for in the past were roaccutane and anti androgen versions of the pill such as Yasmin. Can’t take pill anymore due to migraine auras and my acne wasn’t bad enough for roaccutane. Antibiotics did nothing so tret was suggested as the next step.

I went to using it daily straight away but my skin is pretty oily. No side effects apart from a mild acne flare up at the start.

My skin is usually worst just before my period to the point where I wouldn’t even pop to the supermarket for 5 minutes without makeup. This month for the first time in ages I’ve been able to go without makeup on the weekend without makeup pre period .

You've just talked me into it - I've been hovering for days myself!

Tu pedido ha sido procesado!

@ViciousJackdaw

You've just talked me into it - I've been hovering for days myself!

Tu pedido ha sido procesado!

Brill!

I'm going to patch test my cheek tonight, argh!

Unfortunately, I still get the odd peeling skin around my nose and mouth even after more than 18 months of use , but overall I tolerate it well.

It was a tough few months at first though, if you can ride out the worst of it, your skin will look brilliant in a year or so. Definitely not a quick fix. You should take photo of your skin before, and look back at them in a year's time, just for reference.
I never took photos, but I can see now how much brighter, clearer and plumper my skin is (I use other actives also, but tretinoin definitely made the biggest difference).

Be careful going into summer, as your skin will be more sensitive. Even with the spf, I would stay out of direct sunlight.

Also, be careful with your neck - I cant use tretinoin on my neck or it goes red and blotchy, I think the skin on our necks is far more sensitive. I also rub any remainder on the backs of my hands.

For moisturiser, Cerave do a good moisturising lotion without fragrance and it has hyaluronic acid. It's pretty cheap too.

Also, now that I think about it, when I started to use Niacinamide it really helped reduce the peeling.

After I cleanse my face at night, I just use a drop in my moisturiser and then wait 10 mins and put the tretinoin on.

Be careful going into summer, as your skin will be more sensitive. Even with the spf, I would stay out of direct sunlight.

Yes, I realised it is a bit of a shame I'm doing this going into summer, although at least I'm not going abroad this year!

I have just put a small patch on my cheek and forehead as a test. From all the stuff I have been reading and watching I was half expecting it to start sizzling and smoking on contact with my skin! 😂

My tretinoin journey begins....