Retinoids

[AppropriateAdult]

I've been using retinol from The Ordinary for a while now, but despite using their highest strength I've never had any sort of skin reaction to it - all the advice is to build up slowly so the skin can get used to it, but I've never had even mild redness or irritation. Hard to know if it's made a positive difference either. So I'm presuming I should move on to something stronger now - I think retinal is next, or should I move straight on to tret? And can anyone recommend one that won't break the bank?

Nadine Baggott did a YouTube video recently on retinoids and recommended some retinals at different price points. Personally I use tret from Dermatica (there's also Skin & Me or you can get tret online from pharmacies abroad) and have done for about 5 years and it's made a big difference to my skin. It's much stronger then retinol / retinal so if you do move to tret, go slowly. I use Dermatica 5-6 times per week and a bottle lasts me about 6 weeks. If you do want to try it then my referral code gives you (and me) a £10 credit off your second month and you just pay for postage on your first. You do need to be careful in the sun with tret so use a daily SPF50.

https://www.dermatica.co.uk/referrer/MQ3RL7

Thanks @TattiePants! I'll check out your suggestions.

I have some high strength tret that a friend brought back from Spain (Retirides). I mix it with Freederm (niacinimide) and azaleic acid. The tret is lasting ages…one tube lasts over a year!

I haven’t looked lately but last time I looked it proved difficult to get tret from any online pharmacies.

You can still get Retirides from Farmacia Tristaina (in Andorra)- they don't advertise it on their website anymore due to a change in the law, but if you email them they will still sell it to you.
I have been buying from them for more than 5 years, they're pretty reliable. Not sure what the customs charges would be for the UK though, might be pricey.

If I have a pal in Spain can they send this to me do you think?

You can get tret from Tretinoin World in the UK if you don't want to use farmacia Andorra etc.

I went up to Tret after using several strengths of retinol slowly but surely, but have come back down to retinal (it's stronger than retinol but less likely to irritate) and I'm sticking with that. Am very happy with it.

I generally get it online from a trusted place as its economical. So here is my routine that I follow with tretinoin:
Morning:
Using water to wash your face and micellar water
Sebamed clear face gel,
LRP spf
Evening:
LRP moisturizer,
Started with Tretinoin (0.025) from skinorac
Sebamed clear facial gel