Retin-A: Stories

When I was teenager, I was always told that acne will be gone after the hormones got stable and going into adult skin. But unfortunately it wasn't true. I wish I had the photos to show you how bad my skin was; it was so oily (I have to touch up 3 times a day) & I can't go a day without make up, even just to the grocery store.

I was frustrated, I tried every cream, goes to all different doctors, going through all those painful facial & let's not forget herbal medications. Until I saw Retin-a. I tried the 0.1% cream.

People said they had itchy, red, burning; but I had none of it and I use it every night before bed. All I had was skin peeling (which cause me unable to wear make up as foundation/powder made the skin itchy as hell). And that's tip #1: No make up! If you have to, wear tinted moisturiser, mineral powder, and make sure minimum SPF 30.

Then I change to 0.1% gel and that's when the fun starts. They said oily skin better off with the gel as it absorbs better. Redness, itchy, burn, peeling & acne starts to come as soon as I put the gel on my skin. But this is what I learnt: most creams from dermatologist hide your acne. The purpose from their cream is to push back the acne into your skin so it looks like their medication works & fast (and of course you'll come back for more); but once you're not using it again, the acne will appear again. But retin-a release all the acne from inside the skin and release them out. Tips #2: Scrub once a week once it starts peeling. Because dead skin contains dirt & bacteria from your acne, if you don't get rid of it, the acne will just keep coming back. Cheapest & easiest scrub: Lemon & raw sugar.

Tips #3:Moisturise, moisturise & moisturise. As your outer layer of your skin is peeling, your body needs to create another layer skin from inside (because if your skin is thick enough, you won't feel the itch/burn). So get yourself the best hydrations serum in the market. Mine was estee lauder hydrotionist & idealist; they are pricey, but soooo worth it (especially idealist).

Tips #4: Eat well. It doesn't worth the pain if you don't help the process from inside. Seriously. No alcohol, sleep at least 8 hours, water, green tea instead of coffee, no sugar (seriously, if you have acne, sugar is your worst enemy)

Tips #5: Be patient. It took me a year until I can see (and others to see) the different. Everytime I told people I used to have severe acne, they don't believe me because I have no pimple, no scar, even skin tone & I don't have to hide under make up anymore. I've been through a lot (and I mean a lot) of different regimes, but nothing come as good as retin-a. I am very happy with the result. I haven't use retin-a for a year now and none of my acne comes back. And please, go for a well-known brand. Go to your GP and get prescriptions, it is not expensive, mine cost $27ish a tub.