Sarah: hey hey =) i googled tretinoin and ur page came up...and i was wondering how it started for you and if you use other products with it? did you experience dryness and awful purging? i just got perscribed to it and im sooo nervous bout using it lol
Hello, Sarah! Thanks for visiting my blog. I've been on tretinoin for about a year now, and in the beginning, I did experience a lot of dryness, peeling, and some minor skin irritation. I first started off by using it every other night, and when my skin became more tolerant to it, I began to use it every night. My dermatologist also prescribed me clindamycin, which is an antibiotic solution, and I use this every morning.
I've experimented with a few different cleansers, and didn't know NOT to use ones that contain salicylic acid until I did my own research on-line. The dermatologist didn't even warn me about this, and all she said was to use Neutrogena products, and a LOT of their cleansers contain it, so make sure you check the ingredients labels and stay away from the ones with salicylic acid.
Gentle cleansers are key if you're on prescription retinoids, and I've found that Neutrogena's Extra Gentle Cleanser works great for sensitive skin, however, it isn't effective at removing make-up, so I use this after make-up removal with a
Magic Mitt. I'm also currently experimenting with some
La Roche-Posay cleansers, which I will be reviewing after a few weeks. Using a toner is optional, but I use one regularly to remove any last traces of gunk from my face. I really like L'Oreal's Hydrafresh Toner. It is 99% alcohol free, and it helps moisturize the skin.
The moisturizers I currently use are the Clinique Moisture Surge and the Laneige Balancing Emulsion 2, though I'm only using the latter just to use it up and prefer the Clinique Moisture Surge. It's a very light moisturizer, but it's really effective at keeping dry skin at bay.
I also like to use Evian Facial Spray in conjunction with moisturizer if my skin is feeling extra tight and dry.
One thing you should ALWAYS remember is to use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 every single day. Because retinol speeds up the skin shedding process, your skin becomes more vulnerable to sun damage. I recently discovered that the sunscreen I had been using for a year was the cause of my breakouts because it contains beeswax, and this was majorly clogging up my pores, so if you're a victim of clogged pores and breakouts, I would suggest to check the ingredients in all of your facial products to see if they contain beeswax. All the Neutrogena sunscreens I've checked do contain this pore-clogging ingredient, and naturally, the dermatologist also said to use any Neutrogena sunscreen! I've recently switched to Coppertone NutraShield Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30, and it's been working well.
I've only visited an actual dermatologist once for 15 minutes and this was just so I could get an Rx for retinol. Although her product recommendations were way off, probably the one piece of advice that made the most sense was to be patient when using the tretinoin and not to expect overnight results. She said that I probably wouldn't see any noticeable results until 6 months in, so I endured the flaking and the dryness and the irritation, and sure enough, at about 6 months, I noticed the improvement in my skin, and so did others that knew about how horrible my breakouts were in the past.
I still get a blemish or two here and there, but it's nowhere near as bad as my horrible breakouts from before. I hope that you found this post helpful, but do take into consideration that the products that work for me might not work for you, so be sure to take caution when trying out new products and do your research.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 |
Category:
Beauty
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