A couple of Tret questions

[FastingBitchFace]

Just started Dermatica, and I'm surprised to find that my nose is peeling, but the areas of my face that are much drier normally are not, what's going on there?

Also, I don't find the product nice to use, it feels a bit draggy when I put it on, and in the morning my face feels and looks tight and dry even though I'm moisturising afterwards. Is this why people sometimes moisturise underneath first, or is that just for discomfort? My skin feels fine, a bit tingly when the moisturiser goes on top of the tret, but otherwise fine.

If my face stings or feels tingly or starts to peel I stop using it immediately and wait till my skin calms down then I reapply

I use retirides 0.5

I only apply it twice a week

You don't have to apply it every day for it work and your face doesn't need to be falling off for it to work

If my face stings or feels tingly or starts to peel I stop using it immediately and wait till my skin calms down then I reapply l

By this I mean I wait a few days

Do you have Azelaic Acid in your formula? I find when that was in mine, it made the formula more gritty feeling and had less slip.

Hhm, it's not gritty as such, it's just a bit draggy and doesn't feel moisturising, but then I suppose that's not its function. My prescription is Tretinoin 0.015% / Niacinamide 4% / Azelaic Acid 4%.

I took last night off. Is the idea to slather on as much moisture as possible the rest of the time? When I wake up my skin looks dehydrated and sad compared to usual.

Yes you do need a lot of moisturising. You can try putting it on before and after the Dermatica. Your skin should adjust.

As I say I didn’t like the AA in it and asked for it to be removed, it felt very harsh. It did wonders for some pigmentation I have/had but that was because it felt like it was taking off the top layer of my skin and wasn’t something I persisted with. It made my skin very dry and over sensitive.

Ah, well I would love to make some headway regarding pigmentation so perhaps I should persevere. I'm not suffering discomfort, it just strikes me as odd that a product I'm using to hopefully get more youthful skin means I'm waking up looking like a dried out prune.

I think you are expecting too much too soon. If your skin is just a bit sad looking you've got off quite lightly! Google 'retinol uglies'! Yes you need to keep on top of the moisturiser but you won't see decent results in terms of fresh glowy skin until a few months in.
You may find that you need to change your moisturiser - ceramides are good when you're using tret.

I agree with MissAtomicBomb1, you need to be patient - tretinoin is not a quick fix, it's a long term game.

They really should make it clear to people buying this stuff that it can take months to get good results, and your skin may look worse before it looks better. Also, more is not always better, as in you don't need to use it every night for it to work, 2 or 3 times a week is fine.

Thanks. Yes, I was thinking there might be redness or peeling, which would make me think something was happening. Just to have my skin looking as if I have no skincare routine at was unexpected!

I started Dermatica one week ago, same ingredients as you.

I know exactly what you mean about it being 'draggy'. I'd been using La Roche Posay retinol for some time and that went on silky smooth. This feels more like an ointment, it doesn't really want to rub in. Not really sure what I was expecting.

I'm not getting peeling but I am very dry when I wake up and need lots of moisturiser. I've been using it each night because that's what it says on the instructions.

Everything I've read says it gets worse before it gets better and that results take a long time so I'm going with it.

Ah, good to know you're waking up in a similarly uncared-for state! We will persevere, and slather our chops in lard during daylight hours.