I once started retin-a last year because of a few dermatologists saying I had clogged pores. I stopped within a month because my skin was so red, itchy, uncomfortable and I had broken out like crazy. My skin went back to normal but I still had hundreds of clogged pores. Months later I was tired of looking in the mirror and decided I was not looking for a quick fix but wanted to see less clogged pores. I did a little bit of my own online research and decided to take a different approach to retin-a. I would ease my way into it. The first three weeks I was using the tretinoin cream (.05%) every two nights. Then the next three weeks I was using every other night and then I started using every night. With easing myself into the grl I hardly had an initial break out and my skin comfortably got used to the gel without drying out. This is not an overnight magical gel but it definitely has improved my skin and I cannot live without it. My skin is much more "normal" with much less breakouts and all of the tiny bumps on my foreheads are completely gone. It has been six months since i started using tretinoin cream and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to calm their acne and improve the overall texture of their skin. Be careful not to use too many other products with retin-a though. I started using lactic acid clothes at night and my skin gt so irritated. My advice with the gel is to stick it out because the results are worth it. Thanks to tretinoin I am for the most part clear and will start on mixto laser resurfacing for scars later this week.