Retin-A Day 16

Ok, I am on 0.1% retin-a every night, I have used retin-a before so I had this left over. I tried the 0.025 before too and it really is not as effective as the 0.1%, trust me. Anyhow, I took like a year break from retin-a and holy cow my skin looked like crap without it. Trust me all women need retin-a, nightly. I am on day 16 at this time and I am reminded of the peeling, redness and tenderness that comes along with the initial adjustment. Want to offer some advice that helps get you through this. Also I am an LPN and current RN student, I read my pharmacology book to learn the most I could on retin-a and I researched ways to soothe during treatment. So based on my experience and small amount of knowledge on skin and retin-a here it goes...and I think this applies for usage on acne or anti-aging. Ok..first week I got mild stinging, then after week one and maybe even during week one I got peeling especially around my lower mouth and def. on my chin, still peeling and probably will for one month or two according to my books. I tried various products and should have known better not to use ones that had fragrance and color etc in them, do not do that! Stingy, red, inflamed, owy! What I found works and makes all skin types look great is..in morning wash face with baby wash and a facial scrubby LIGHTLY but thoroughly, pat dry and then apply Neutrogena Age Shield Face Sunblock 110spf mix 3 drops of glycerin into sunblock lightly pat on face and neck, use vaseline on areas that are raw or stinging (put vaseline on stinging areas before the sunblock). At night gently wash face with cool water only, pat dry then put 3-4 drops of glycerin into a dab of your retin-a and blend it into your face and neck, trust me avoid it touching your lips it will affect your mucous membranes in lips and cause cracking on the sides of your mouth, bad look! Most important thing is the vaseline when you feel dry or raw-derms use it post laser surgery, vaseline actually has not only protective and moisturizing benefits but it has been proven to heal wounds faster too, look it up. When too raw or red then take a retin-a break for 1-2 days only on raw areas but keep applying vaseline on the raw areas for benefits stated above. You may need to carry oil-free lotion and glycerin around for awhile until your face gets use to it, but it's SO WORTH IT. I would not use Cetaphil and the other products recommended by a lot of users as Cetaphil has oil in it and can clog those pores of yours that you are trying to shrink, glycerin is a better choice and is in all oil-free moisturizers and Neutrogena is your best bet. Glycerin attracts water to your skin thus keeping it moist, whereas oil is a lipid (fat) and blocks water from leaving your skin all while blocking those pores from purging toxins and it keeps them open, yuck. Soon your face will be clear, smooth and plump if you are patient! Gosh I cannot believe I quit using it, I just thought I had that great look naturally, guess not! Don't give up, bad idea..trust meeee :) Also, you will get crazy zits even if not prone to acne, it is the under layers of skin getting pushed up and out as retin-a reaches deep into the dermal layers and accelerating skin cell turnover. Look at it as purging of sorts, the retin-a did not cause it it just caused it to happen sooner and is getting it all out at once.