Tretinion; is it worth it?

[Itisabeautifulday]

I started Dermatica a few months ago, very slowly and started building up; my face started to peel a bit around my mouth and stinging so I reduced again to twice per week, which seems ok. I think there is a bit of sn improvement, cant really tell, maybe a slight pigmentation.

My concern is that I joined the facebook group and there are more posts about sides effects than anything else; eg: headaches, dry eyes, pigmentation, breakouts.

I am honestly wondering whether it is really worth it?

What is people’s experience? I am using .05% Dermatica twice per week.

Best ( beauty) thing I have ever done. But I have zero side effects and skin like a rhino.

Thank you. Which one do you use? How often? What is your routine? How often have you used it for? Do you hydrate often?

I use 0.025% every other day or 3 times a week in winter. But I get it from family in India ( no help to you) . I put ordinary Oil of Olay or Nivea over it.

Been using it for about 5 years and my skin has never been better. No headaches or dry eyes or any side effects.

Thank you very much. I think I will ask Dermatica to reduce the prescription. Less is more sometimes.

Do you moisturise often during the day? Or only once? Do you use suntan lotion every day? Drink lots of water?

I’ve been using skin&me 0.025 every other night for a couple of years now and my skin is smoother and more even, for the price the best thing I’ve ever done for my face but not miraculous or anything.

I worked up from 0.005 and 0.015 and I had stinging and minor peeling at first, you have to work through it to some extent. I find now that if I have more than a couple of days off it starts stinging again.

I find what works for me is not to moisturise at all on tret nights, but apply a thick layer of Avene cicalfate cream on the in between nights. I apply vitamin C moisturiser and factor 50 SPF in the morning.

It hasn’t done anything about the light pigmentation they diagnosed during the consultation though. Its probably not strong enough but I think Skin & Me are very cautious and don’t like prescribing more than 0.025%. Perhaps keeping the strengths down is more profitable!

The best thing I spend money on. It’s definitely something you need to persevere with in almost a year in and my skin is the best it’s ever been.
fine lines are reduced along with deeper line being less so. No blemishes and scarring from old blemishes are gone. My skin is softer and plumper looking and just looks fresher and more youthful. I’m 42

Two thumbs up from me. I had some peeling and flaking for a few weeks - it was manageable with extra moisture and reducing to only using tret twice a week. It's one of the best things I've ever done for my skin. I get compliments all the time and I'm really happy with how my skin looks

I can't get on with it , even at 0.15 % my face reacts terribly and I need steroids to calm it down .
It's a shame because at my very start of the journey , shared my refer a friend code on here ( when stuff like that was more allowed ) and it blew up and I've got nearly £400 in credit just languishing in my a/c and even years later I occasionally receive an email from them telling me they've added £10 to my a/c .

I’ve been using 0.025% for about a year, averaging twice a week. I haven’t noticed much difference, but also not many side effects. I probably need to increase the strength.

That’s about where I am. I can’t be bothered asking them to increase the strength though as I don’t know what I’d tell them for why I want ut stronger.

I’d prefer it if they just worked up until we said ‘hold on, that’s strong enough for now’, but Skin&Me seem to want to stop increasing at 0.025%, which I’ve learned on here is not very strong.

Thanks. Can you please share brand, strength and routine? Do you still use it twice per week?

Thanks. Would you mind sharing routine, strength and brand?

Dermatica, currently on 0.025 about 5 nights a week

Just about to increase to 0.05, and will take it back down to twice a week and build up v slowly

I’m on the strongest skin and me and my skin is fine as long as I stick with every other night

if you’re sensitive then make sure you apply on totally dry skin and you could moisturise before

I tried it twice and just couldn’t get past the constant dry, flaky, sore skin. That was even with taking it incredibly slowly and constant moisturising. It just took wasn’t worth it for me.

I started on 0.025% for a few years, then upped it to 0.05% but actually didn’t like the increased irritation so I mainly stick to the lower strength and I’m not bothered about upping the strength.

The main thing is using it consistently, along with sun protection. I see it as long term maintenance - I’ve been using it for about 5 years now, and my skin looks better than it did when I started.

Here’s a summary of a clinical study which showed there was no statistically significant difference in effectiveness of the highest and lowest strengths after almost a year of use.
What it did show is that the higher strength resulted in more irritation.

https://santilondon.com/the-surprising-revelation-two-tretinoin-concentrations-offer-similar-photoaging-improvement/

Thank you. Do you use it daily?

The best thing I've ever subscribed too and have been a user for 6 years. People say XYZ about it however they aren't following the rules for.

You must use gentle moisturiser and cleanser daily morning and night. I use CeraVe available on Amazon as well as Boots.

The most important part is you must use suncream everyday. Make it a part of your daily routine.

If you can't put the few minutes or time into it and looking after your skin daily, then it isn't going to work and your going to end up with horrible skin.

If anyone wants to try it this is on offer. It's Skin + Me. 1st dose and 5th dose £3.50. It's the same as Dermatica. Just a different company

I swapped to them from Dermatica as they were slightly cheaper and doing an offer a while ago

https://www.skinandme.com/?promocode=CAROLT5VTM

Hi, no I use the lower strength 2 - 3 times a week, and my skin tolerates it really well.

I’ve used it for around 15 years (retinol originally, Tret now). Yes it is.

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. My (previously able to put anything on it) skin has never been more troublesome since using tretinoin in my skin and me and I've developed perioral dermatitis and rosacea since. Skin and me are useless and just send me complimentary (which they then charge me for but that's another story) creams which flare it all up. I rue the day I started to use it. I would avoid it at all costs, but if you do choose to try it I'd definitely avoid skin and me as a source.

I've worked my way up to 0.1% tret which is the strongest prescription you can get. I use Renew + Me which is for peri menopausal/menopausal women. Its something to do with Skin+Me (step on from it I think) and having used both, Renew + Me is a more moisturising complete cream so no flakes.

I was told by the prescriber to use it every day otherwise you might lose tolerance. I use it every other day though as I like using more hydrating creams in between. As to whether it works, I'd stopped using it over the summer and my face really missed it by the end of August.

That's interesting as I developed peri oral dermatitis and I think it was from using too strong tret too quickly together with one of those charcoal rip off face masks. Eventually I got antibiotics from the doctor which cleared it up and it took me a while to go back on to tretinoin.

And yes, at the time I was on Skin + Me!! Now using Renew + Me and all good.

'Here’s a summary of a clinical study which showed there was no statistically significant difference in effectiveness of the highest and lowest strengths after almost a year of use.'

That's really useful, thanks. I'm about to start a higher prescription but will drop back down to my lower dose if the side effects get too much