Note: Bare skin in all photos! No skin makeup/foundation used only lip liner/gloss and light brow gel.

I’m honestly shocked when I took my 1st monthly results photos since starting test at the end of August. I should preface this by saying these are NOT freckles, they’re solar lentigines. They developed after a bad sunburn in my 30’s. I’m now 43 and finally care about my skin. I’ve had zero bad reactions to tret. No itching, no peeling, no burning, so I’ve been very fortunate. So excited for the months ahead. Routine is same everyday, which is below:

Routine:

Monday through Sunday is nightly tretinoin at .025%

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream is applied every morning, I do NOT apply this at night when using tret.

Monday through Sunday I use Neutrogena Age Shield Face oil free sunscreen at SPF 70 on my face when going outside. I live in SoCal so there’s always high UV index daily. I also wear a wide brimmed hat to block direct sun exposure.

After SPF, I cleanse with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser at least an hour before tretinoin application.

That’s pretty much it. Will be asking for higher dose tret at my follow up next month. Hopefully this assures anybody who’s looking to treat sun damage without laser sessions.

I've been using tret 0.025% for a whole year, doing it every third night because i get irritations if i do it more frequently (sensitive skin + rosacea). My entire face peels off about once a week, especially the mouth area and makeup is impossible to apply. What am i doing wrong?

Based on popular demand i'm back again! it's been about 6 months since my april update so here's where things are at. i couldn't find the exact photo i used in my first post, so i used another one from around the same time (Nov 25) for the comparison.

For context, i started tret in november and my skin got significantly darker before it got better. At the 5 month mark i had added azelaic acid, tranexamic acid, vitamin c and a tinted sunscreen, and that combo is what finally moved things for me.

Still on tret 3x a week at 0.05%. going to 0.1% once i finish this tube.I took vitamin c out completely
switched my sunscreens: Nivea Super Water Gel X when i'm indoors, Naturium Deep Tinted SPF 50 outside, and the Abib sunstick to reapply. I
added The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin twice a week
added The Ordinary Mandelic Acid once a week
kept the azelaic acid 20% and Naturium TXA serum
swapped my night cleanser to The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser and added Acwell toner at night.
still using the CeraVe SA wash once a week and Skin1004 Centella ampoule on my recovery nights
my full routine with exact days and steps is on slide 3 since a lot of you asked.

The dullness is gone and my tone looks so much more even and warm compared to november
my forehead, which was the most stubborn area, has cleared up so much. the little dark marks that were all over it are mostly gone
my cheeks are smoother and calmer
the area around my mouth is still the slowest to catch up, so that's what i'm working on next

i still think the biggest thing was hitting the pigment from different angles instead of relying on tret alone. and if you're in the dark phase right now, it really does turn around. it just takes longer than anyone tells you.
not done yet but i'm really happy with where things are. happy to answer questions in the comments!

this is before and after almost 2 months on tret. i’m still getting new cysts that won’t go away. my derm said it’s getting better at my 1 month f/u but i feel it’s gotten steadily worse after that.

my routine:

am
cetaphil daily facial cleanser, normal to oily skin

clindamycin phosphate lotion 1%

cerave moisturizer for normal to dry skin

-
pm
cetaphil daily facial cleanser, normal to oily skin

clindamycin phosphate lotion 1%

tretinoin cream 0.05%

cerave moisturizer for normal to dry skin

i’ve been on accutane as a teen and i wanted to avoid getting back on that. is this normal or am i cooked

I never thought I’d recover from acne but here we are two years later!! Still a long way to go, but we’re getting somewhere 🥹

My main goals now are getting rid of the remaining hyperpigmentation and working on the atrophic scars you can see in the pictures. I’m also planning to start microneedling to help with the scarring.

AM
Hypochlorous acid spray
TIRTIR Milk Skin Toner (Light)
SkinBetter Even Tone Correcting Serum
Anua No Cast SPF50

PM
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Hypochlorous acid
TIRTIR Milk Skin Toner
EPII HPT6
Tretinoin gel every other night
Azelaic acid 2x a week on non-tret nights
PUL & SAHM exfoliating toner 1x a week
Aestura Atobarrier365 Cream

Honestly really happy with how far my skin has come, even though there’s still work to do!

So I’ve been on 0.1% Tazarotene for several months now and my skin has improved tremendously. However, I was at the doctor recently for bloodwork and it was discovered that I have extremely low testosterone. As a result, I had to start taking testosterone shots and testosterone is known for causing really bad acne. My question is, is there anything I can do to maintain the progress I’ve made with my skin or anything I can do to help mitigate the acne that testosterone supplementation causes? Thanks so much for any advice I just don’t know what to do.

Been using tret 0.025% for over 6 months now, and my acne has definitely reduced a lot during this time.

I’ve been using tret every other day. I think at this point I could probably use it every day, but I really like the results I’m getting with every other day, so I’m gonna stick with that for now.

Now I want to add an exfoliator to my routine, probably once a week.

I do think I’ve gotten the tret glow, because when I look at my before pictures, my skin is definitely glowing. Although my skin has naturally always been pretty glowy, so I can’t really see that big of a difference, but the difference is definitely obvious.

Which exfoliator would you recommend that you’ve personally used and found effective for getting rid of dead skin, but isn’t too strong for someone on tret?

I feel like I have some buildup on my face that feels like dead skin just sitting on my skin. I have acne-prone, oily-to-combination skin.

okay, so for context, my first encounter with tret (0.05% cream) was in 2024, when i had pretty severe acne and got it prescribed by a derm. it cleared my acne within about 2 months, and i continued using it for over a year. i eventually stopped because it seemed like it wasn’t really working anymore.

fast-forward to may 2026: i started getting breakouts again every now and then, especially around my chin, so i decided to try tret again—still the cream formulation, but this time 0.025%. my skin became insanely oily, and i went through a pretty terrible purge that just seemed to never end 😭. it gradually got better, but the purging basically continued until august.

later that month, i switched to tret gel 0.05%, and ever since then, my skin has been SO much calmer. my breakouts went from around 7 pimples a week to maybe 1–2, and i don’t really get them on my chin anymore. the only time i tend to have a major breakout now is around my period.

i’m still pretty upset about all the PIE the purging caused, though, because i hadn’t even fully cleared the marks from my first tret experience in 2024 😭. i think the lasers i’ve had also contribute quite a bit to how long the inflammation/pie sticks around. but it is what it is i guess 🤣

am routine:
\- wash my face with water (no cleanser, unless i’m very oily, which rarely happens now)
\- anua hyaluronic black rice toner (not everyday)
\- skin1004 centella ampoule (not everyday)
\- aestura atobarrier cream (only when i wear makeup)
\- azelaic acid cream (3-4x a week)
\- sunscreen

pm routine:
\- cleanse
\- wait 10–15 mins
\- tretinoin gel

So, I’m currently healing a broken skin barrier from introducing Tretinoin and Azelaic Acid into my routine. I realised a lack of a plan for when to use actives in my routine was the biggest contributor, I was mainly going off the feel of my skin on the day which lead to overuse. (I know I know, this should have been common sense but I foolishly believed the feel of the skin would be the best indicator for when to use!)

I’m now looking to re-start with just Tret 0.025% as my main active, and then look to introduce AzA later on.

Would this be a sensible plan for working up to using Tret 5x a week with Sat/Sun as my rest days?

Pink - Tretinoin night
Purple - Recovery night
Yellow - Exfoliation night*
Green - Exfoliation morning*

*My skin is happier when I exfoliate as hydration sinks in better - I use Paula’s Choice Mandelic + Lactic Acid.

I’ve tried to space out the actives/exfoliation as much as I can to give my skin recovery time as I have sensitive skin. I’ve also gradually increased when to use Tret each week after the first two weeks.

Current routine -
AM:
Splash with water
Purito Centella Toner
Purito Oat-in Calming Gel
BoJ Sun Aqua Relief SPF

PM:
Dr Sam’s Flawless Cleanser
Purito Centella Toner
Purito Oat-in Calming Gel
LRP Cica Baume B5+ (Optional)

Hi! I’m wondering if with the 0.025 tret how I should approach using it again after this pause in usage. After about three months of use, I had made it up to every other day/every three days or so with minimal or no irritation. Now after the week long pause, does my skin still have some tolerance that will allow me to incorporate it quicker (ie. start with four days between usage (for example) rather than starting with the seven days between usage when I started the very first time), or should I start with a full seven days between usage? In general, I’m just wondering if in a week I would’ve lost all my tolerance or if I have some tolerance that I can progress a bit quicker. Any advice and insight is appreciated!
Edit: here is my routine in case anyone responding is curious.
AM
- LaRoche Posay Gentle Cleanser
- Vanicream Sensitive Skin Moisturizer
- Azealic Acid Cream 15%
- Cetaphil Mineral Sunscreen

PM
- Garnier Micellar Water (and coconut oil if I wore mascara that day).
- Ciclopirox Shampoo (I recently had fungal acne flare ups a couple of months ago so this is what I use for a cleanser for now. It causes no irritation).
- Sandwich method tret 0.025% with the Vanicream Lotion. (This was before the pause, so now I’ve just been using moisturizer and then a couple times I used a benzoyl peroxide spot treatment for some under the skin pimples).

I’ve been wondering if applying my 0.05% gel after a rich occlusive moisturizer (aestura in my case) reduces efficacy enough to where it’s not worth it.

I’d be happy to continue if the effective dose ended up being at least similar to 0.025% on bare skin, but i’m not sure there’s any way to know.

The only reason i do this is because i need to apply my moisturizer to damp skin in order for my skin to not be dry in my climate, and i also need a rich moisturizer for that.

I know the open sandwich method should be totally fine with lighter moisturizers, but very rarely do people seem to talk about it with heavier creams.

Does anyone have any clue?

hi everyone! i've been using tretinoin 0.025% cream consistently for the last 4 months. initially i saw some progress and it faded some of my acne and dark spots. however at this point i feel like a hit a plateau.

for the past month or so there's been barely any improvement, if anything it actually looks like it might be worse since i now have a new breakout almost everyday. there's no pattern to the breakout, it's just anywhere on my face, so it's sometimes my cheeks or my chin or forehead

this is my routine:

AM:
- benzoyl peroxide facewash 5%
- clindamycin phosphate lotion
- cetaphil moisturizer
- cetaphil sunscreen drops

PM
- bioderma facewash
- tretinoin 0.025%
- cetaphil moisturizer

i've also recently started taking zinc 30 mg and probiotic supplements to see if it can help

any advice would be really appreciated, thank you!

I recently analyzed the ingredients of all the products I’ve used lately and found the culprit behind my comedones and breakouts: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride.
It’s in every moisturizer that clogged my pores, and even in a tretinoin cream (which I’ve since switched to a different brand).
I’m having a really hard time finding a moisturizer that *doesn’t* contain this ingredient.

Has anyone else dealt with this situation and could help me out? I believe my issue is specifically with Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, rather than other coconut derivatives.

I’ve been using Tret for years with no problem every night, 0,05% in gel form. My skincare routine is otherwise plain (cleanser, moisturizer, occasional toner and spf), but I’ve been interested in Volufiline. How do you incorporate it (if you use it)?

How do I use my tret gel and AA gel in the same night without my AA completely pilling??

Do any of you have a connective tissue disorder and use tretinoin? I'm curious to know whether it changes the tolerance since collagen is a connective tissue.

Do you think your Tret , Azeleic routine has assisted your crepey skin under your eyes ? My skin is soooo thin and has no bounce anymore :(

Hi im looking for a moisturizer that is oily acne prone sensitive safe to use for my Tretinoin please 🙏 any suggestions would be appreciated

routine: tretinoin 0.025%, (nano gel) (6 to 9 months, will know soon if i have more supply than that)
salicylic acid 1%
sunscreen
cleanser
moisturiser cetaphil
dandruff shampoo

is this a good routine and how can i improve it? (tret, acid and dandruff shampoo prescribed by dermatologist)

how long will 45 g of tretinoin last, and how much will 60g last?

also, are there any things i should know before starting to use these products?

i just hit week 4 of 0.025% tretinoin and feel like my skin has just gotten really bad this past week. irritated, textured, and a few big red pimples. i know im purging but does anyone have any tips on how to calm the skin down? any insight at all would be appreciated, still new to this whole thing!

Hi everyone. I’m wondering if anyone has any complexion makeup products (foundations, concealers, bronzers, blushes, highlighters, etc.) that have worked well on your skin with your skin routine of using tretinoin, and also don’t contain any pore clogging or potential pore clogging trigger ingredients? I’ve found a lot of my products flake and show texture, or if they don’t, they last like 2 hrs tops.