Tretinoin help!

[Dearly89]

Hi all,
I started tretinoin at the start of April and it's been very up and down to be honest. Still getting acne and not seeing much improvement. I'm not crazy spotty but I've always got at least 2 spots on my face and loads of blackheads on my t zone.
I use a 0.025% gel.
I started using it every other night, too much irritation so I moved to every 3 nights.
I used a hydrating cleanser, moisturise with cerave (original), Tret, then use the moisturiser again and put Vaseline around my nose and mouth to seal.
I very stupidly waxed my eyebrows the other day, not knowing the effects it would have on my skin and I have about 8 huge under the skin spots around my left eyebrow which are a nightmare, they won't go away.
I have also squeezed a pretty large black head on my cheek (I never get spots there) and this morning I've woken up to a huge load of scabbing. This fell off when I washed my face and now it's like a layer of my skin has been ripped off around where I squeezed (pea size in diameter.)

Am I using it too much? I feel like every 3 days should be ok and I have really oily skin. It's only recently started being so bad.

I also can't find an SPF that works with my skin so I feel like that might be giving me acne.
Am I doing something wrong? I have tried using niacinamide with it too but it doesn't really help.

Why are you moisturising twice and then adding Vaseline too? That can't be good for your skin, especially if it's normally oily.

No eyebrow waxing when you're using Tret. You need to stick to threading. (I found out the hard way when I had an eyebrow wax and it looked like had burns afterwards!)

Where did you get your tret? If it's Dermatica or skin and me ask them to drop you to 0.015%.

Stop the tret and go back to basics. Gentle skincare and products that support your barrier such as Dr Jart Ceramidin. Cleanse, tone and moisturise. No acids no other actives until your skin has balanced then go back to tret and buffer it so add a moisturiser after cleansing wait for it to sink in add tret.

Once a week for a a few weeks then twice a week and take it slowly.

Your skin should have adjusted now. I always wait for an hour after cleansing before applying tret and then wait at least half an hour before using a moisturiser. I see you use tret immediately after moisturiser, perhaps this could cause an adverse reaction. I would contact your doctor and ask for advice.

Tretinoin can cause purging but after this long I'd expect you to be over that. Your skin will always be sensitive to waxing and squeezing while you're using it though.

Are you trying to treat acne? You might get on better with adapalene - still a retinoid but slightly gentler than tret, slightly better for acne. I'm having better results with that compared to tretinoin - just has endless peeling and dryness with that.

You also need an SPF when using tret, you are speeding up the skins cycle leaving it vulnerable to sun damage etc. Ultra Violettes SPF is good or Trinnys new one is also nice.

Why are you moisturising twice and then adding Vaseline too? That can't be good for your skin, especially if it's normally oily.

Sandwiching retinoids between 2 layers of moisturiser is a very common recommendation if you're suffering with dryness or irritation.

OP were you using cerave before April? I know a few people find it causes breakouts for them. As for SPF, zinc-based or other physical sunscreens are much better for clog-prone skin and less likely to cause breakouts. (They are however pretty heavy and not as 'nice' to wear but could be worth a try to pinpoint what's causes the spots)

Sandwiching retinoids between 2 layers of moisturiser is a very common recommendation if you're suffering with dryness or irritation.

That contradicts my dermatologist's advice for oily skin when using tret. He recommends you moisture before tret IF you're suffering dryness / irritation but certainly not before and after. And certainly not moisturise twice and then add Vaseline.

Honestly, I think it’s the Cerave/Vaseline combo. That’s a shitload. Grab some La Roche Posay Lipikar Baumé. It’s soothing and healing and not quite as heavy. Use it for both layers for a few days and see how you go. I’m a long-term user of Tret and had to stop recently after surgery and that’s the only thing that worked for me when I started again.

Hiya! Yes I have always used cerave. I used the SA range before I started Tret but I worried this would be too harsh so now I use the hydrating cleanser and the original moisturiser tub

Hiya! I have actually just bought this. The Cicaplast b5 Baumé?
Is this a moisturiser? Should I replaced the cerave with it?

The moisturiser tub breaks me out @Dearly89 - maybe switch back to the SA range to see if that helps.

@Dearly89 Ah if you've always used it then it should be fine then.

The cicaplast is not very moisturising on its own, I layer it on top of my lighter day one at nighttime. It's too greasy to use in a morning.

What's your main issue at the moment, the damage done from wax/squeezing, or the fact it's not fixing the acne? Is it still causing irritation now you're using every 3 days?

I've only just had this reaction to squeezing and it's worrying me. Should my skin literally be falling off the next morning if I squeeze a spot? As in I squeezed a large blackhead, this morning there was some yellowy looking dry skin/scab around it. When I washed my face the warm water took it off and revealed an open wound. It's not deep but it's like a couple layers of my skin has come off around where I squeezed. I've got antiseptic on it. My biggest worry is that is this worth it? My skin doesn't even look any better and on top of that I've got this dryness, inability to wax, sensitivity to light and I can't even deal with spots when I get them.
I am only 24 and my friend recommended this to me as a holy grail. Is it silly even using it at this age? I have seen some people say best to start early with retinoids.

Hi sorry yes Cicaplast is the one! It’s brilliant! Just sandwich the tret between it. Honestly if you feel you still have los of blackheads, can you check that they’re not pore filaments? (Usually nose and below lip) They’re normal and the tret wont touch that, but does improve the look. You could also try moving up to 0,05% and using twice a week for a month, then 3x for a month, then every second day., etc. That’s how I tell people to start tret.

I think it is quite easy to cause more damage than you expect when using retinoids, I'm definitely guilty of taking a tiny blemish and making it much worse!

At 24, this sounds like far too much hassle for anti-aging to be honest! All you really need is a decent sunscreen. If you want to persevere, you could try 'short contact therapy', which is washing it off after 30-60 minutes, it gives similar results with less side effects.

If it's acne treatment rather than anti-aging you really want, I still say think about adapalene instead, I'm having much more success with that

Actually not bad advice above. Grab some adapalene (Differin) and try some tret again in your mid-late 30’s.