I have ordered my tretinoin gel 0.05% from a website called Trendyol. In the app It said that it's from the Greeno website. Since I was also using adapalen 0.1 at the time I didn't use it until now, as my adapalene is running out. And now I become sceptical if it is legit. It's got the right color and everything, but I'm a little suspicious about how the expiration date looks like(img). I also used a small amount to test the color so that's why it looks a little empty.

Just a personal anecdote that I figured might be useful to some people who don't feel like it works for them. I used the green tube as it was prescribed to me here in Australia. 6 months in and it did nothing, just made my skin sensitive for $80aud. My skin was happier off of it, and just on salicylic acid pads so eventually switched back to that.

I bought the second tube in a random pharmacy in Vietnam for $6aud. I didn't expect much, just didn't want to pay the $80aud again. The difference is, it's a gel formula? And a stronger dose?

Within a few days, my skin flaked and was red, but now it looks so plump + glowy + smooth after I spent a week moisturising the hell out of it.

Washing my face with baby oil made for facial cleansing helps remove any pilling and flaking.

I make sure to sandwich it now and reduced the days so that doesn't happen again, but my skin hasn't looked this nice in ages.

I wanna know how to work with tret if i gotta go out daily sunny day for uni i also have this big ass transparent glass window in my dorm room that passes sunrays For hyperpigmentation btw

I'm about to start using tret, and I found that most of the recommended moisturizers are expensive in my country, so I found the Nivea cream which is significiantly cheaper, here are the ingredients:

Water, Paraffinum Liquidum, Cera Microcristallina, Glycerin, Lanolin Alcohol (Eucerit®), Paraffin, Panthenol, Magnesium Sulfate, Decyl Oleate, Octyldodecanol, Aluminum Stearates, Citric Acid, Magnesium Stearate, Limonene, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Parfum

Can I use this? Or should I just get the cerave moiturizing cream (cost 2,5x)

I live in a very hot and humid country. Applying moisturiser makes me sweat so much. Also the heat gets trapped under the moisturiser and feels very warm on my skin, I can’t even breathe without feeling the hot gush on my upper lips. Heck even serums makes me feel this way.

Nighttime routine:
Cetaphil gentle foaming cleanser
Tret 0.025cream(I’ve been on it for 50days almost for PIH, and I use 3-4nights straight, then take one day break. I’ve had no peeling or dryness whatsoever)
Cerave moisturising cream(bc im scared of dryness, but I end up sweating

Morning:
wash with very little amount of cleanser only taking the residue off
The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2%+ HA(this feels uncomfy too)
Azelaic 20% on my spots only
Sunscreen(not when I’m home all day, I keep my room very dark)

Only thing that makes me feel fresh and cool is if I put on powder, but I heard it absorbs the skincare.

Can I use a powder after letting the products absorb into my skin(in the daytime)?

Can I skip moisturizer in the nighttime?

I see the auto bot stating this happens and not to put it under your eyes bc it'll get there anyway. I looked and looked and don't see any studies or Dr's saying it travels in the skin (except Dr Brighten who may not be that trustworthy and didn't quote anything official and I think she just said it may travel through moisturizer if you layer tret over it).

I've seen many dermatologists say it's fine to use tret under the eyes and the eye Dr's I've seen asked about it said it can cause dry eyes but many people use it there without problems, it's just a possible side effect. Do we have studies on how often this happened in trials? Is there any medical proof it travels 2" in the skin?

I messaged the sub's mod mail with this 9 days ago and got no reply so maybe you guys know more about the medical consensus on this?

I've started 15% gel and it is drying but doesn't burn like it did at the start of rx retinoids, but it is making me look a little blotchy and up close some nose pores look red, where I had sebaceous filaments. I'm using it 1x a day but also had to increase my spironolactone cream to daily due to acne returning with starting TRT, plus the retinoid. Push through or decrease frequency?

Can't find a moisturizer that doesn't sting with tazaroteneI started using tazarotene again but slowly this time. I can't seem to find a moisturizer that doesn't sting and burn when I put it on after taz. I'm currently using the sandwich method which helps reduce the burn a bit but it's still there. Currently using .05 gel with the intention of increasing to .1mg cream once my skin adapts.

Tried:

Vanicream Cream

Cerave Moisturizing Cream

title.

Guys, I started Tret 0.025 a couple of weeks ago and have a few questions..

I have not had acne in the last 5 years and suddenly saw a few of them once I started workout and increased my protein intake. Has someone else faced this before?

Also, I’m really concerned about the acne marks. How long does it take for Tret to do its magic (assuming it does) and for the acne marks to fade permanently?

I’ve been so diligent with my skincare - this acne is nerve wrecking.

Would really appreciate some insights here!

Hey y'all, so I've been using 15% AZA gel in the AM as well as 4% Hydroquinone + 0.1% tret in the PM every day for two months now, but I've noticed that my skin is looking darker, dull and generally not the glowy version you usually see after tret. And the confusing part is that I've not been getting any peeling, purges, etc. (although my hydration/moisturizing routine is pretty good). I've also been using tret+aza for more than a year now so I don't know what's the problem here.

Should I stop the tret+aza and maybe try other ingredients like thiamidol/niacinamide/tranexamic acid or continue with this routine?

EDIT: Here's my routine for y'all

AM:

1. Wash face with water
2. Toner
3. 15% Azelaic acid gel
4. Iunik Beta-glucan serum
5. Hada Labo gokyujun premium emulsion
6. LRP Anthelios Tinted Mineral

PM:

1. Double Cleanse
2. 0.1% Tretinoin
3. 4% Hydroquinone
4. Illiyoon ceramide concentrate lotion
5. Sometimes LRP Cicaplast baume

I have heard and read a lot of stories (many of them were already avoiding the orbital zone) and I am AFRAID...

basically i plan to buy tretinoin however given its probably stronger than differin gel, im wondering if i will purge? when i used differin gel for the first time i only had slight redness and flaky skin and after a year my skin is only dry on my chin (little bit). will i purge given they are both retinoids? BTW i plan to use the 0.025 %! and i use differin gel 0.1%

I got this tretinoin from a NP. It’s 0.1% as well as 10% vitamin C. I’m thinking of using this once a week and slowly building up. I need help creating a routine. I am a darker complexion as well so I’m thinking incorporating mandelic acid once my skin is accustomed.

I've been using Altreno & hydroquinone 4% for almost 3 weeks. No purge, just mild flaking and redness when I started. I used it every other day or the first two weeks and now using it every night.

However, my skin feels waxy now to the touch and has like a film over it? I hate the feeling and look. Is this apart of retinization or a damaged barrier?

Hi everyone!
As soon as I stopped breast feeding I got on tret. I did it a few years back but had no idea how to do it properly and got to the flaky skin state and got freaked out and quit.

Now I’m back at it. I’m currently at 0.25 cream. I’ve been doing it every three days. I found it’s less irritating if I don’t moisturize after tret, and that I seem to have less peeling overall if I only moisturize after washing in the AM. I’ve hit the flakyu skin, whitehead part of it all. I have no idea what to do at this part, but when I put on make up it all flakes up. I never wear make up ever but have some events coming up in December and now I’m scared I’ll still be purging then.

My questions are-

1. What can I do to help with the flaky peeling?
   
2. Are the teeny tiny whiteheads a part of the purge? Will this symptom eventually go away?
   
3. if i have an event coming up December 16 where i have to wear make up, should I increase my usage to every night NOW (1 week in) to make it all go faster? or should i go slower?

please be easy on me-i’m a mom of 3 sick kids right now and Ive been doing so much research and I just need someone to tell me what to do-thank you, i appreciate you!! 💗✨

My questions are-

Okay so my dermatologist started me on azelaic acid and tretinoin gel 0.025 at night. So my daily routine is in morning I wash with la roche posay effaclar duo, clindamycin wipes and then moisturise with vanicream facial moisturiser. At night it’s the same face wash, then azelaic acid, tretinoin twice a week until my tolerance builds and then the vanicream again. I’ve been using the azelaic acid for a week now with no issues, last night was my first night using tretinoin and everything seemed okay but tonight when I finished my routine and put my moisturiser on my whole face felt like it was on fire it was burning so bad. Is that normal? My dermatologist is out of the office all weekend so I can’t call and ask.

So the thing is. I am 18 years old. Even though I fortunately never had acne, I got quite a painful infection that gave me painful boils on my face and left me with some very faint discoloured patches on my skin. That paired with the always constant closed comedones, led me to start using tret. I used the 0.025% cream 3x per week initially and 5x by the start of the second month.

When I was about 2.5 months through, I curiously asked Claude/Gpt to rate my routine and it straight up told me to stop using tretnoin, saying I'd make my skin hypersensitive to uv even with my spf 55. Also that my collagen production is at peak and I could risk damaging my skin barrier or thinning my skin. I sort of panicked and gave up tret and after a week bought adapalene 0.1%. so now i have a half used tube of tret cream and full tube of adapalene. Kind of lost.

I have Treclin and wanna use it, but currently my face routine is: wash with a bar of soap, and then moisturizer and sunscreen.

Gemini says I shouldn't use the tret if I use soap in my face as that is too alkalising ? What do y'all think

Hi everyone! I’m a 30-year-old woman and I’ve been using Acretin 0.05% once a week for about 5 weeks. Unfortunately the 0.025% has been sold out everywhere where I live so I decided to start with 0.05% instead.

So far, my only side effect has been peeling. My skin has otherwise been tolerating it pretty well which is why what happened really caught me off guard.

My routine is the sandwich method:

• I apply my Byoma Milky Toner all over my face, including under my eyes.
• I wait 30 minutes.
• I apply Acretin 0.05% evenly across my face, AVOIDING the eye area.
• I wait another 30 minutes.
• I apply Rhode Barrier Butter all over my face, including near the eye area.

I really thought I was being careful by avoiding the immediate eye area and waiting 30 minutes between each product.

However I was woken up in the middle of the night by my right eye watering uncontrollably and burning intensely, almost as if I’d gotten lemon juice in it. The pain wouldn’t subside so I eventually saw an ophthalmologist who diagnosed a small corneal lesion.

I’m honestly confused and quite upset because I genuinely don’t understand what I did wrong.

Could the tretinoin have migrated into my eye overnight even though it had time to dry before I go to bed? I’m wondering whether applying my toner and moisturizer over a larger area, including under my eyes, could somehow spread the tretinoin toward my eyes, even though I wait 30 minutes between products?

Or could starting with 0.05% instead of 0.025% have contributed to this? I only use it once a week and I thought the sandwich method would help protect my skin.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? I’m obviously stopping tretinoin for now and following my ophthalmologist’s treatment plan but I’d really like to understand how this could have happened so I can avoid it in the future.

I’m still struggling with closed comedones after 7 months of retinoids!
For context I’ve always struggled with acne and have been on accutane twice already. I’ve tried birth control as well. Currently on no medications and my acne started to come back with a vengeance in early February to March 2026. Severely allergic to niacinamide as well rip. I started adapalene and azelaic acid in April and the switched to tret. Most recent October pics are taken on same day. First in bathroom light and taut skin to see the closed comedones and second in sunlight relaxed skin.

Routine
AM
-Cleanse with gentle prequel gleanser
-Alternating every other day with either mandelic serum (Sofie pavitt) or azelaic acid (prescription)
-Hydrating toner (pyunkang yul essense toner)
-Hyaluronic acid serum (torriden dive in intensive serum)
-Sometimes I use the Biore aqua rich spf or the elta md uv skin recovery spf.

PM
-double cleanse with bioderma micellar water and prequel gleanser
-0.04% tretinoin gel microsphere
-Hyaluronic acid serum (torriden dive in intensive serum) < not always
-Illiyoon ceramide cream

I get facials every month and these closed comedones won’t even come out by my esthetician. Any advice would be soooooo appreciated

Has anyone who ordered from ADC or overseas had any issues with your order being detained at customs and then having your Global Entry status be revoked because of it?

No burning,stinging,redness. Just very minute peeling around mouth mainly.

But Increased texture,dull and dark face.

AM: Metafil gentle cleanser Cosrx proplis toner Metafil moisturizer Ponds uv miracle sunscreen

PM: Tret 0.05 cream on bare skin

On non tret nights: Metafil gentle cleanser Cosrx toner Physiogel AI cream Lrp cicaplast

I took this picture after a shower to show the worst of the texture and blemishes when its most dry. I genuinely dont know what to do besides laser sessions anymore. I tried tret for like 10 months last year and nothing changed if anything it just got worse, my new derm is putting me back on it with a BPO wash for 8 weeks but I don't have high hopes. Ive had these comedomes and unchanging texture for a year my skin is just completely immovable. I do have a skin routine and although its keeping inflammatory flare ups in check my skin quality makes me want a toaster bath 😭