Using tretinoin after 30 percent TCA peel on upper & lower eyelids, why did the gel dry my eyelids?

I had a jessners/ 30 percent TCA peel done on my upper and lower eyelids. The results were awesome! About 2 weeks later I went back to using 0.1 tretinoin on my upper and lower eyelids. This time I used gel instead of cream. The gel dried out my eyelids so bad! I continued using thinking I was going through a new purging phase. 2 weeks using the gel my eyelids didn’t get better! I switched back to 0.1 tretinoin cream and the eyelids are looking good again. Why did the gel do this to my eyelids?