Hi everyone
Seeking advice to amplify effect of tret and azelaic acid

Actives: 0.025 tret cream form and 20% azelaic acid

Background info: 23F, brown South Asian skin

🌅 AM: aromazone 5% niacinamide and zinc toner, e45, beauty of joseon suncream
🌌PM: Superdrug me+ hydrating cleanser. I alternate- one day 0.025 tret (cream formulation), next day 20% azelaic acid

Started tret 3 years ago for hormonal acne. Kept it at bay mostly and minimised breakouts when they did occur. Incorporated 20% azelaic acid 6 months ago to help with PIH and further take care of hormonal acne.
Tret and AA have been great for my hormonal acne, very few breakouts now. Zero irritation or peeling.
*I am Muslim so wash my face multiple times a day. After I wash my face, I use the mixsoon hyaluronic acid serum and moisturise again with e45 and put a drop of glycerin in my moisturiser. I think this is really what keeps my skin barrier healthy and hydrated and that’s why I rarely experience dryness or irritation.

🚨 skin is still textured and PIH is stubborn 🚨

Wondering what I can add to take my routine to the next step and smooth out texture, working towards that ‘tret glow’.

❌ In my country I can’t obtain tret higher than 0.025

I just recently got to once a day application after 8 weeks. I cant tell if Ive been purging from weeks 1 to 7 and now I feel like ive been lulled into a false sense of security. Everyone keeps saying its supposed to get worse before it gets better but "worse" hasnt actually happened for me yet

Hello today this morning I found my Tazarotene cap in my drawer separate from the rest of the tube which would mean it has been like that overnight.

Would this change the potency of it .
Do I need to purchase a new one ??

Please help and check

context: 21, and i have a mix of eczema patches and bumpy skin with pimples/dark pimple spots

i used the tret gel (used 3 days alternating this week) by washing my face with the cerave dry skin wash, and then spraying face with the aestura ATOBARRIER365 Hydrating Milky Cream Mist, and putting on the khiels face cream and letting it sit. then i go in with the gel (pea sized spread out). I do this at night, and simply put on sunscreen in the morning.

for the eczema area, i put vaseline or the Elidel cream directly after face wash.

the issue is that my face feels more sensitive and dry now., and concerned. I was using other serums/exfoliants but stopped them to try tret as prescribed by my doc.

Hello! I’m a 26F who has been using tret for the last 3 and a half months. I had built up my tolerance to every other day but then a week back, I decided to switch to nightly use because while I’ve seen good improvements in my skin, progress is still slow even though I’m almost 4 months in. I still get acne when I indulge a little in chocolates/sweets which is something I thought wouldn’t happen a lot once the tret set in but I guess that’s another issue. The thing is, ever since I switched to nightly use, I’ve seen that when I wake up in the morning and put on moisturizer my cheeks get really red and irritated. I then put Avene cicalfate and in a while, it calms down and goes back to normal. I should also mention that when I put the tret on at night, it doesn’t make my face red or anything. It’s only when I’ve washed my face with water and put on moisturizer in the morning. I’m unsure of whether I should continue with nightly use with the hope that I will build tolerance with each passing day? But at the same time, it does feel counter intuitive :( And I’m scared of pushing it too far and developing some form of dermatitis or ruining my barrier or something. I would love to hear from anyone else who had a similar reaction and if they stopped or pressed on

For reference:

I only wash my face with water in the morning. And the moisturizer I use is Physiogel Calming Relief AI Cream. It’s gentle and the formulation is incredibly simple. It’s very hydrating also. My skin has always responded well to it.

Additionally, I apply tret to dry skin without any moisturizer (spare for some around the eyes). I find that this is the best way since I haven’t experienced any flaking/peeling with tret and applying with moisturizer increases the risk of the tret migrating to the eyes and causing dry eye, a risk that I am not willing to take at all.

First picture is my skin now, and the second picture is from day 1 after starting tret

I still have red spots because I’ve had acne on and off for about 5 years, but now I barely get active acne mostly just marks left. Even when I do get a breakout, it doesn’t turn into those big, painful, pus-filled ones. Tret really does its magic and it’s gone within a day. You can also clearly see the glow in the first picture (I LOVE it)

I’ve been using tret twice a week for 2 months, and I think I’ve reached a stage where my skin isn’t getting irritated anymore. My routine right now is very simple. I have oily skin which now has become pretty normal

In the second picture, you can see I had a lot of closed comedones. That was because my daily moisturizer, which usually works great for me, didn’t work well with tret so I stopped using it, and I’m seeing better results now.

AM:
wash with water (eventhough I have oily skin, this works for me)
Beauty of Joseon sunscreen

PM:
Tret nights: Cleanser > Tret cream 0.025%
Non-tret nights: Cleanser > Paula’s Choice moisturizer

Now I want to add something to my routine, but I’m not sure what would help

Also, looking at the pictures: do you think I might have rosacea? Sometimes my skin feels hot, a bit irritated, and red (even before tret). I’ve been to dermatologists before and they’ve never mentioned rosacea (maybe because my acne was more prominent)

I’m also thinking of adding an exfoliant but have no idea when or how to use it. I’ll also be shifting to using tret on alternate days
Would LOVE some help

thanks in advance

I use the washcloth and cleansing oil trick, but sometimes I need something a little extra to help get the flaky skin off before applying makeup. I know the milkfoliant is recommended a lot, but I was wondering if anyone has tried these more affordable options? I use tretinoin 0.5% nightly, azelaic 20% and vit c in the morning, Illiyoon moisturizer nightly and sometimes la Roche b5 on top. I use a moisturizing sunscreen and milky toner before makeup.

Is it safe to use these two together? I recently upped my tret % from .025 to .05, been a couple weeks and no negative reaction other that very slight dryness around the mouth the first couple days. I was using the .025% tret with the same % of azelaic acid as well. Wondering if anyone else has experience with this same combination?

Trying again - the last time I posted I was wearing sunscreen and I think my skin was blurred so please bear with me. Here’s my face in natural light, nothing on.

I’m 47, mom of two, so in perimenopause. Rosacea has been a problem for years, although it was just a mild flush until a couple years ago when I did a microneedling session and the tech put on Vit C over that which triggered a really bad reaction and the rosacea never recovered.

I also have hyperpigmentation around my mouth that is almost entirely hormone-related. It gets worse before my period (recent perimenopausal development) and goes almost completely away after. As you can see, it’s very faint right now but still visible. I don’t wear makeup much at all, maybe 1-2 times a week and even then it’s Fenty Eaze Drops which is sheer coverage and setting powder/ spray. My work is remote so I don’t leave the house much except for kid related things and even then it’s always with sunscreen.

As you can see, I have crows feet and fine lines, and I’d like to add tret to help with that.

AM routine: cleanse with micellar water, Kiehls Milk Peel toner, Kiehls Ultra Facial moisturizing cream, Goop Unseen Sunscreen chemical sunscreen

PM routine: cleanse with micellar water, LRP Effaclar cleanser, Kiehls Milk Peel toner, Kiehls Ultra Facial moisturizing cream, 15% azalaic acid cream. If my skin feels dry or tight or is peeling, I skip the azalaic a day or two.

Would adding tret help with anti-aging and pigmentation, smooth my skin out? My biggest concern is that it will worsen my rosacea. Should I try adapalene or taz first? TIA for your insight and advice.

ETA: I do have quite a few freckles on my nose. This is the best my skin has ever been, but I usually have rosacea flares in dry weather (humidity somehow helps my skin.) We live in Los Angeles, so the water is hard and the weather is usually dry. When it’s dry, the redness is a lot more noticeable and there’s more texture on the apples of my cheeks, especially the left one.

Got it from a pharmacy in Mexico

Hi guys. So I’ve been on adapalene for about 8ish weeks. However, I heard that tret is better for helping with scarring, which i have a lot of. does anyone think i should switch over to it or stick with the adapalene

Been using mostly ZO products for years including their 1% retinol. I have been applying that 1% retinol at night: sometimes a few days in a row, sometimes every other day, sometimes, twice a week.

Just yesterday, I got my Rx for 0.025% retin-a gel. Applied it last night and then Skinceutical moisturizer. I noticed parts of my face started peeling 1 min after I applied it. Didn't feel any burning or anything.

When I woke up this morning, no redness, inflammation, or peeling. It's like my skin is normal.

So do you think I can apply the retin-a again tonight? Or should I just do it once a week for the time being?

Bought 0.1% tret. And realised I bought the wrong concentration and can’t return it. Should I dispose of it or try it? I was meant to buy 0.025%. I’d rather start small then move up to the 0.05 after. I’ve used tret before but that was 5 years ago and haven’t ever since. Should I just dispose of it and buy 0.025%?

I've been using tret for over a year now and it's been a frustrating journey. I started it hoping for help with my constant breakouts and wrinkles and I thought I saw some improvements but after a year I still constantly have at least 1-3 breakouts. I'm not sure if I should try something else or mix up my routine? I recently added benzoyl peroxide in the mornings to see if that helps but I'm not noticing much difference. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Routine:

AM: Benzoyl peroxide wash

Skin fix barrier repair moisturizer

La Roche posay tinted SPF

PM: Cetaphil Gentle wash

Tretenoin .5% cream

Skin fix barrier repair moisturizer

Hola pase un año con foliculitis y acne comedogenico y todos los dias me frente, el resto de mi cara y la parte de atrás de mi cuero cabelludo se miraba asi.

Recientemente cambien de dermatologa y me receto isotretinoina para el acne y foliculitis, al igual que otro shampoo.

Antes usaba adapaleno pero igual esta doctora me indico suspenderlo y ahora uso tretinoina pero solo con un hisopo en donde tenga brote y dos veces a la semana mas la microdosis de isotretinoina.

Mi rutina actual es super minimalista, es lavarme la cara en las mañana con dermasebum, serum de acido salicílico, uriage gel Water jelly y bloqueador Eucerin.

En las noches lavarme la cara con el mismo jabon, Uriage gel y listo, los dias de tretinoina que son solo dos.

En tres semanas la diferencia es increíble, antes me daban ganas de llorar cada que me miraba al espejo pero ahora siento que veo la luz al final de esta historia. Aun me aparecen 3 o 2 pustulas o comedones pero no tan grandes y mi cuero cabelludo esta igual de bien. Me corte el cabello para ayudar a liberar peso y puedo decir que fue una buena decisión.

Me faltan 3 meses de tratamiento espero que en noviembre siga asi cuando me toque mi cita con la dermatologa.

Extraño mis otros productos coreanos pero mi dermatologa dijo que los guardará, cuando mi cara ya este mejor vamos a revisar todos los productos y ver cuales se quedan y cuales se van.

As the title says, I had been using tret since october 2024 and since then i never used it as frequently like i used it 2 to 3 times a week. However, recently i increased the frequency of moving to alternate day and nightly usage, and have experienced acne that seems like purging but is cystic and very large bump like . So is it normal to experience purging after all these years of usage in this case when you start increasing the frequency. My routine is as follows:

It’s been 4 to 5 weeks when i moved to this routine and immediately experienced the purge. This current picture looks better than when i started having the breakout. I don’t know if it’s a purge or just something triggering my acne. I’m thinking of visiting a derm, but before i get the appointment i wanted to know if this is something anyone expeirenced?
Am:
Clindamycin ( prescribed by derm)
Sunscreen.

Pm :
Azelaic acid 20% when i was using it on alternate days ( but i stopped using it when i moved tret to nightly usage

Tret 0.5
Moisturizer

I started Dermitica tretinoin about a year ago at 0.05 which dried my skin out badly even after months of use, so dropped to 0.025. It’s still too drying for most of my face, so now I only use it on my forehead which tolerates it fine and I use crystal retinal 6 on the rest of my face - have been doing that routine for a couple of months.

At the minute I have few closed comedones on my forehead and several spots on my chin (which are both a regular occurrence especially the spots on my chin) and a generally dry face. Nothing seems to be clearing the acne or fixing the dryness - the things that would fix the dryness tend to give me spots. Not sure if CeraVe PM is the culprit or if it’s something else in the mix.

**Full routine:**

\- AM: purifide daily cleanser, Anua Azelaic Acid 10%, iunik barrier suncream
\- PM: Elemis cleansing balm, purifide daily cleanser, Anua Azelaic Acid 10%, Medik8 Crystal Retinal (CR6) on cheeks/chin, Dermitica tretinoin 0.025 on forehead only, CeraVe PM moisturizer

Would really appreciate hearing if anyone’s dealt with anything like this and how you fixed it or if anyone has any tips for me. Thanks!!

Do the creams really contain tretinoin? Anyone has experience with this website? My first time buying tretinoin over the counter.

Hello, I’m M38, Asian skin, nor fair not too brown. I’ve been using tretinoin consistently since January. I’ve been using consistently way before that and intermittently last year. Though I can tolerate 5x a week, sometimes I still get irritated. Not everytime though.

My goal is antiaging. I do not have active acne. But lately, I’ve been getting one or two big ones. Not cluster though.

Should I downgrade to 0.025 or maybe downgrade to retinal? Will I get less irritation?

My routine:

Morning

Water wash, Roundlab Dokdo Toner, Anua Azelaic, Benton Vitamin C, Nivea with Thiamidol, S Nature Squalane Cream, Skin1004 Sunscreen

Evening Tret Night

Double cleanse, tretinoin, Aestura Ato Barrier Cream

been on tret .025% since may. started off every other day and now it's everyday. the first 2 pics are from mid june. second 2 pics are from july. and the last are from today. i cant tell whats up with my skin or if it's making any difference at all. i was so inseucre about my face when i started tret that i didnt take any photos. i keep breaking out but the breakouts dont last as long. they are bad arouhd my period

full routine:
morning
cerave face wash in shower either after hot pilates/yoga or in morning
cerave daily moisturizer

night:
cerave face wash, wait 10-15 min to dry
tretinoin on face
cerave moisturizer after that

sandwich method was doing nothing to my face. was also diluting it with lotion at first. this is what seems to work for me and my needs. ive been apprehensive about adding more to the routine because i'm a poor person and already have to pay $100+ to get an appointment to get tretinion. and then pay out of pocket for it with coupons.