27 Year Old Treating for Hormonal Cystic Acne - Scottsdale, AZ

Ok, so I didn't want to write my review until I had a few weeks to understand how the Retin-A would react with my skin. After switching birth controls with my doctor I started to get severe cystic acne on my face. I was getting one every 2 days! They hurt and scar my face, so I decided to talk to my doctor about a solution. She recommended the .025 Retin-A, in which my pharmacist gave me the Tretinoin. The first few weeks were completely awful! Week 1 my face was tight, felt like a sunburn, and I started to see peeling around my mouth. Week 2 was just as bad but even worse! The sunburn effect was really kicking in and my cystic acne was insane. A lot of oil and lesions were coming to the surface. I was getting severe acne that was bright red, extremely sensitive to the touch, and my makeup would not soak into my skin to cover it up. I felt like I was applying water to my face because it would not cover my blemishes but just look like streaks of paint that would melt off. (I will say this, though... Despite getting a lot of lesions and cysts on my face because of the Retin-A, they would also clear up faster when I would put the Retin-A over them.) By week 3 I couldn't take it anymore. I had been applying the Retin-A every night, my skin would burn, turn red, and get really tight. The peeling was driving me nuts and my face was in so much pain. I had been applying CeraVe to my face as a moisturizer but I felt like this was not enough.

I decided to go to the store and look up any aloe vera products that could calm my skin because I didn't want to stop using the Retin-A. I knew this was just a phase so I needed to keep pushing through. I went to Target and found a product called TriDerma Psoriasis Control and TriDerma Facial Redness Repair Cream. The reviews seemed very good to help people suffering with psoriasis, flaky skin, redness, pain, etc. so I decided to give them a try and use it on my face. The results were astounding! It helped my face so much. The Facial Redness Repaid Cream came with a test tube of Facial Redness Repaid Cleanser that I would use to cleanse my face and it felt absolutely amazing on my skin. It reduced the redness and tightness on my face and the cream further helped to soothe my skin. The Psoriasis Control cream had a slight sting at first, because it also has an acid ingredient to sanitize the area, but helped my peeling and inflammation drastically! Every day I was using the creams and I have to say that I would not have survived the Retin-A side-effects if it wasn't for these creams. They are very thick and I was afraid that they would clog my pores and create the opposite effect on my face, but they haven't done that at all. In fact, it compliments my Retin-A cream nicely and my face has begun to heal. I still have slight peeling, but the redness and inflammation have gone away. I'm on week 5 of Retin-A and I'm so happy with the results. My cystic acne has subsided. I still get the occasional bump on my face, but it's the Retin-A doing it's job. My skin doesn't feel thin anymore and I feel like my natural glow is coming back.

There are a lot of reviews on Retin-A from girls my age who worry that the Retin-A is making them look older with wrinkles, thin skin, and dark spots on their face. This happened to me too and I worried that I was not doing my skin a favor using this. However, the reviews were SO good I knew that I had to keep with it. After 5 weeks my skin is coming back and it's actually helping my fine lines and wrinkles. I'm getting a glow on my face again and I actually feel soft and clean for the first time. My makeup is finally absorbing into my skin again and I don't feel like an oily greasy mess. It's definitely a rough road at first, but I'm definitely convinced it's worth it. My cystic acne was the worst, so I'm really satisfied with how it's helping that problem.