Retin-A: Stories

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4 Months Using Retin-A = Smoother Skin and Smaller Pores

  • posted 3 years ago
  • updated 1 year ago
  • Worth It
  • Cost: $100
  • Wisconsin

I use retin-a .05% and will say its the best thing...

  • 22 Jun 2009

I use retin-a .05% and will say its the best thing in my regime and I will never go without. You will experience peeling and redness for several weeks while your skin adjusts to using it, but believe me it is well worth it.

I've been using it for almost 4 months and my skin is already looking smoother, fine lines have already begun to fade and my pores are looking smaller. The best thing I ever did for my skin in my opinion.

Well, in Feb 12 it will be 3 years since I started...

  • 21 Oct 2011

Well, in Feb 12 it will be 3 years since I started using retin-a and it's still going strong and still the most important part of my beauty routine. It is a texture refiner to the max!! Before I started on retin-a, looking at myself close up in the mirror was a nightmare...I now can buck up to the mirror and like what I see as far as texture and smoothness. Ladies, this is the single most important thing you can do for your skin over the age of 30...use it, stick with it and you'll be glad you did!

Great review?

Comments (90)

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Irish Wexford 14 Apr 2013
I've been using it since March 2012. It fixed a problem of large pores on my face except the forehead. I assume this is because the forehead tends to bear the brunt of photoaging. I will continue using it in the hope that eventually my forehead will improve. I have quite deep wrinkles there too and I am only 33.
Daria Kournikova 20 Mar 2013
What is the best time of the year to start Retin-A ? I was told it's fall/winter, away from the sun.
kingdollar 17 Jan 2013

I've been using Johnson and Johnson's tretinoin cream 0.5% for over a month and i've not had any skin irritation whatsoever. I apply quite a lot of it, and on my under eye area. I find it strange my skin hasn't reacted to it, especially as i've always tended to have sensitive skin. Also use the tretinoin 0.025% microgel on top of it and still nothing.

suspiria 19 May 2013
funny this is exactly what is happening with me when I use mine. I was just looking on the internet if this is normal or not. Mine is also 0.5% (Retrieve cream - the same as retin a) and I usually go beet red when I apply something like this to my skin because my skin is super sensitive. But so far I have had nothing. Nada. No redness, peeling. Just a little bit of tightness that soon goes away. I thought it might be expired, but its fine. I don't know if I should get it stronger or if this is normal. When I took retin a in my teens I remember my skin peeling, breaking out, turning red in the beginning stages.
DeeSF 9 Oct 2012
I've been using it for 10 years and I absolutely agree with you. By far the best beauty regimen ever. I'm 43 and I still don't have any wrinkles. I did upgrade to 0.1% after about 7 years and my skin was able to handle it fine.
DeeSF 9 Oct 2012
Been using Retin A for 10 years and this is how I apply it: wash face wait 20 minutes to apply Retin A (you want your face to be as dry as possible - so don't add water!) after 30 minutes, you can apply lotion over the Retin A It's really important to wait. You get more peeling and redness if your face is wet and the medicine won't work as well unless the Retin A is absorbed into your skin before the lotion.
Hessa 15 Nov 2012
please dont apply water with retin a it will worsen the peeling ,you should wait at least 30 minute after washing your face before applying retin a ,I use moisturizer the next morning
FSRB (RealFriend) 19 Sep 2012

Thanks for coming back and updating! 

 
TsZaner 12 Sep 2012
Great info, thanks!
A couple of quick questions: what amount do you use everyday? I use about a 'pea' size - should I use a bit more? Because it is thick and dries quickly, I add a drop of water. Does anyone else find that this helps, or do you spread it on as quickly as possible?
Lastly, do you apply a moisturizer over it or wait until the next morning to use anything? I have been applying Clinique Dramatically Different lotion over mine which I don't think would lesson the effects. ? Thank you!
EFH1956 30 Jul 2012
Wow Dolphin you are PATIENT, let me just tell you that,
and it is NOT in regards to the retin-a use haha, hint hint sandip.
kingdollar 1 Jun 2012
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kingdollar 14 Jun 2012
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Jan Menary 17 Jan 2013
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Bargain Botox - Corners NOT to Cut When Shopping Online

Lizzy10 14 May 2012
Ok thanks Gina :)
Gina. 11 May 2012
Hi, there isn't a cream on the market that will improve skin that has sagged, that's why we
have Plastic Surgeons. By law they are allowed to get away with exaggeration and it's
wrong.They sell dreams for gullable women. Why don't you try both creams at night! It doesn't matter much which you put on first and you will get a shining complexion. You
might wake up a bit pink,but that will settle. With my ReTrieve which is same as RetinA
I use NeoStrata Renewal Cream 12 PHA which contains Pro-Retinol. You should get results within a few weeks. As they say Rome wasn't built in a day,just be consistant.
Jan Menary 17 Jan 2013
Where do you buy ReTrieve?
Lizzy10 11 May 2012
Hi I am wondering firstly if Retinol cream strength 1.25 would work as well as Retin A? And also should it be used if you don't have lines, and already have very smooth skin, but want benefits more for slight skin sagging? To firm the skin? And how long would it take to see results for this if so?
Surrey2318 3 May 2012
I'm 40 but loosing my facial fat quicker than my age. Is Retin A works on deep laugh and frow lines as I was advised for filler and botox but botox didn't work for me at all. I guess my immune system is strong and my muscle didn't get paralised by botox not even for a month and fillers are very costly. Looking for cheaper alternate. Do you think Retine A can help me to diminish wrinkles.
Megan P (Community Manager) 4 May 2012

Its my understanding (and personal experience) that Retin-A can help soften fine lines, but nothing deep. Its definitely not going to deliver what Botox or fillers would, but it will help maintain things overtime.

Gina. 2 May 2012
RetinA is not available in Australia anymore so have been using ReTrieve which is the same I use it every night together with NeoStrata Renewal Cream. I'm 69
and my skin is fabulous.
newyear44 4 Dec 2012
Hi Gina is ReTrieve the same as Retin-A? I am about to ask my GP for a retin-A product and saw that reTrieve is government funded..so if its the same I may as well get that
auro 27 Apr 2012
Thank you Dolphins and Bunnyman. this is very useful .
I wonder what is lightening serum ? is this the actual name or ?? Thank you again :)
Bunnyman 25 Apr 2012
For melasma, first apply a lightening serum, wait a few minutes and apply the Retin-A over it. Agree you should start with 1-2 nights a week and take a month building up to a few days a week.
dolphins21 25 Apr 2012
You start using at night only. Once a day. How often you use it depends on your own skin. If you've never used retin-a before, you will probably not be able to use it every night and will have to work up to nightly due to redness and irritation.

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