0.5% retinol from Spain. Will this destroy my skin?

[Tygertiger]

I used Skin+Me for a long time but stopped due to the cost. My friend brought me back a tube of this from Spain. It’s 0.5mg tret. Would I be mad to use it once a week initially? I’m just nervous as I think I was previously on 0.1 which I thought was the max dose.

https://www.mediplus.me/product/retirides-0-5-mg-g-cream-2/

I use this and it's fine

It's fine - your skin might be a bit dry after a few uses so use a rich moisturiser 15 mins after you have applied the retirides.

I did exactly the same thing OP (on wet skin no less) and it burned my face off! I was red for days and then peeled. I have dropped down to 0.025 now and make sure to wait 20mins after washing my face to apply.

Can you apply it after a plain moisturiser to tine down the effect?

It’s basically 0.05 v 0.1 so it’s theoretically half the strength of the Skin and Me you were using, But a) if you’ve had a gap your skin needs to ‘retinise’ again, ie get used to it and b) imo Skin and Me formulate the tret into a more gentle formula.

Just make sure you go easy, start every three nights or so, buffer with moisturiser (before, after or both) - sometimes peeling etc is on a delay and you realise you’ve gone too far too late.

It will be ok if you ease into it. Start off using it once a week, applying it AFTER your moisturiser. When you can tolerate that, start using it before your moisturiser. Then gradually increase the frequency. If you start to feel any stinging or redness, stop using it, then start at a previous stage when your skin has recovered. Don't use it at the same time as an exfoliant, toner, or other acids (e.g. Vit C).

Thanks everyone. Super helpful! I’ll start slowly with moisturiser and see how I go.

It's 0.5 mg/g which 0.05 so if you were using 0.1 before you sound be OK as it less strong.

I use this, it will be fine. As others have said start once a week don't forget your spf