lol, i'm sorry but here is no way you look 38-39 if you're fifty...maybe if it's from like, 10 ft away but not within normal speaking distance. Retin a does not keep people from getting actual wrinkles; it just smooths fine lines, and there's only so much it can do.
Retin a and Retinol are two different things, and stop exaggerating. I know exactly what your referring to (as I too, experienced leathery skin from retin a) but there is no way if made your skin have the texture of a 70 yr old. Lol, a 50 yr old man is what I always compared mine to! But seriously, I bet your skin looks better now.
Ugh. I'm kinda sick of people belligerently defending retin a and refusing to accept that people can use it correctly and still damage their skin. Trust me, it happens, and the longer you use the stuff, the more likely it is to happen to you, so you need to watch out for it. I used retin a CORRECTLY (even less than I was supposed to, in fact) off and on for years so I can say this from experience.
You are all secretly afraid of it happening you--and you are right to fear it. Yes, Retin A can be a great help sometimes, but it also THINS THE TOP LAYER OF YOUR SKIN while it does it, making it more vulnerable to damage (not just sun, but acne scars, if you suffer acne). It's why over time, people get slow healing and scars, and ironically, the thinning of the top layer can also make you more vulnerable not just to acne scars, but to the acne itself due to the fact that the skin doesn't have that extra layer of protection from bacteria and germs. Because it's slower to heal, it's also slower to fight off infection. This is why eventually, zits can stick around forever and the skin sort of just stops shedding (there is nothing left to shed so it just eats away more and more of that top layer making you skin appear craggy).
I suspect we all have a different threshold when it comes to the point where it starts to damage (some seem to get it much much earlier than others), but I'd just exfoliate daily with a clarisonic brush or olay brush if you want smoother looking skin and only use the retin sparingly after the inital 6 months. My skin eventually started appearing leathery and I was only using it 2x a week when I quit it. Ever since I switched to an olay brush my skin appears SO MUCH better it's not even funny.
That said, it's not the end of the world if you do get a little damage people! Sure, it sucks, but I think some of you need to get a grip....this is not the kind of damage that anyone but YOU is likely to notice. Any damage you could get from retin a will only ever be shallow (as it thickens the bottom layer) and damage like this slowly heals over time (I would know).
Recent comments
Posted to Did Retin A and Hydroquonine Permenantly Damage my Face??-San Jose, CA on 19 Dec 2012
Posted to Did Retin A and Hydroquonine Permenantly Damage my Face??-San Jose, CA on 19 Dec 2012
Posted to Did Retin A and Hydroquonine Permenantly Damage my Face??-San Jose, CA on 19 Dec 2012
Posted to Did Retin A and Hydroquonine Permenantly Damage my Face??-San Jose, CA on 19 Dec 2012