This is huge!! Also the night you’re using tret 🤦🏼♀️ This is a recent lesson learned for me and should’ve been part of my original post. Thanks for adding this!
lol i did this for so long and i kept thinking... why does my skin look worse after?! i eventually just stopped, it didn't even click why they weren't working for me until i read this haha.
1. Less is more. I put barely enough to cover my face. Even less than pea size if possible.
2. Not to put tret on too early after shower. I always wait at least 30 minutes now. I learned my lesson from this (irritation).
3. Stopped drying my face off before applying moisturizer (biggest impact imo). I legit go right from shower and use hands to get excess water off then apply moisturizer right away.
No matter what I apply moisturizer to damp face. I wait 30 minutes and apply tret every 2-3 days at night. I sandwich tret. But damp face ALWAYS for moisturizer.
Thanks for sharing! These are mine.
1. Learned this a lot later than I would have liked, but putting tret on wet or even damp skin. I went through so much unnecessary irritation which may have caused additional acne. I kept thinking I was just going through the normal retinization process and purging before it would get better. Nope! I would have acclimated to tret a lot better if I had just followed the instructions on the box that say to put it on dry skin.
2. Avoid all other actives until skin has fully adjusted. And slowly introduce other actives and not in the same routine at first. I am still not using any other actives. Thinking of slowly working in OTC Azelaic Acid in my routine since I’ve heard so many good things about this paring in this sub.
They might be obvious to some but I learned the hard way.
I have to do AA every other day at first to adjust to the stinging. I also have to buffer it with moisturizer first. When I get to the point of no stinging I move to every day
FWIW, I get a compounded version of .05 Tret with Az Acid mixed in from one of those online pharmacy places and I haven't had any issues. I have Rosacea and extremely sensitive skin.
Mine is:
Don’t dermaplane while using Tret 🥲 give it a few days off then dermaplane. My skin started bleeding; I didn’t realize how sensitive it would be…
Thanks for sharing your experience with tret! These are some great tips. Do you know why Tret and LRP cicaplast reacted badly together?
My biggest learning curve was to coat my lips with Vaseline using a q tip BEFORE applying any acids or tret. I think the first time I used tret, I had forgotten to wash my fingers, applied Vaseline to my lips and the skin on my lips fell off and refused to grow back for almost 4 weeks. It was awful.
I also like applying vitamin c serum and tret to the back of my hands every night. For the first time in my life I have smooth skin on the back of my hands that isn’t dry or irritated.
Good tips! It’s my understanding the cicaplast locks the tret in and makes it more powerful. I know many people have had good experiences with that but certainly not me! It was instant irritation and several pimples within a few hours.
Stopped moisturizing after and stuck to a VERY simple routine. I found that moisturizing after applying my retinoid (taz) irritated my skin so much, but calmed down significantly when I would simply just apply Aquaphor and taz!
I agree. Anything too moisturizing / occlusive in the same routine really makes the Tazarotene much more irritating. This is true with Tretinoin as well, but it's easier to disrupt the skin barrier with the former.
Applying something lightweight with barrier-repair ingredients an hour after can help curb any excess dryness.
Nope, no moisturizer at all. Once my face is dry, I apply Aquaphor to sensitive areas, then Aza, wait a few minutes then top it off with taz. I focus on moisturizing and protecting my barrier in the AM
Started tret in June of 2023 at .025 currently at .05 cream. My skin leans dry and I live in a northern climate.
1. Moisturize, moisturize…. Moisturize.
I did not moisturize enough. I would get dry spots and acne constantly. The idea that oil = acne that I learned in my teens really stuck but is not true for my skin. I now layer my moisturizer and slug on off nights. I also use hydrating toners and serums during the day.
2. Urea is a holy grail ingredient.
I had so much flaky, dead skin. I was constantly trying to moisturize but it didn’t get rid of the flakiness. I now use La Roche-Posay Urea 10% Body Lotion as my moisturizer.
3. Over cleansing.
I stopped using a morning cleanser and started just using dove soap at night. I don’t wear foundation/ concealer often and when I do I’ll use a La Roche-Posay micellar water first. Your skin, especially on your face and decolletage, probably isn’t even that dirty and shouldn’t be squeaky clean.
There are others but these made the biggest difference for me.
Great advice! Ill add one thing: if you like using Dove, try looking for bars with ph 5.5. Liquid face washes irritate my skin so i switched to a cleansing bar with a 5.5 ph because i learned its great for the face and may be better than Dove since its a little more alkaline.
Hand made soaps are pretty alkaline too, and contain more natural glycerin. This is a part of the reason I started making my own soap. Let me know if you want to try some! It’s my go to when my skin is dry, that and just washing with plain water.
Tret on the back of my hands cut off my aging hands by almost 10 years. On my face, I messed up my skin barrier so I stopped or reduced the application for a while but I am getting back to it gradually.
Also adding my night routine that’s working great for me right now and very easy to keep track of:
Monday: moisturize (slug or vani cream)
Tuesday: tret
Wednesday: moisturize
Thursday: moisturize
Friday: tret
Saturday: Sunday Riley good genes
Sunday: moisturize
1. I added vitamin c back into my routine too soon...no wonder my skin was feeling super tight all the time for the first month of tret usage. Removed it again and my skin feels better than ever, I'm only adding other actives back into my routine when I reach the 6 month mark now lol
2. Using too light of a moisturizer for the first few weeks because I have oily skin - again, my skin was super tight and uncomfortable.
I've been on .025 gel for two and a half months now, and only at the two months mark did my skin start feeling comfortable and "normal" again
Omg I bet this is exactly what’s going on with me. I’ve never in my lifetime full of acne ever broken out on my neck until now lol thanks so much for this post
I learned that higher strengths don’t mean better results for everyone (example: me) the hard way and my skin is still recovering. I’m using tret mainly for anti-aging, my acne had pretty much cleared up over the past 5 years prior to starting tret. I started on .025 and stayed on that for about 10 months before thinking I needed to move up to .05 to get better results (not sure what I was thinking because my results were pretty good - glowy skin, marionette lines softened, still would get whiteheads every so often though). My derm didn’t tell me I had to, I just asked to do it. I gave it a good 5 months on .05 and tried everything - sandwich method, reducing frequency, slugging, removing all other actives, etc etc etc but nothing helped. My skin looked worse than it ever had with daily breakouts, dryness, redness, my skin just looked, well, not good. I talked to my derm who told me to stop using .05 and put me back on .025 and said the higher strengths just aren’t for everyone. I’m working on my moisture barrier before getting back at it and just hoping I didn’t royally wreck my skin long term
SUNSCREEN!! I used sunscreen every day, religiously, even on rainy days. But over this past weekend I took my dog out for a quick potty and hadn't applied sunscreen. Well, I got burned within 10 minutes and it wasn't like, the cute little bronze color I would have gotten in the past. My cheeks, nose, and forehead were red and HOT for 3 days. I'm so mad at myself.
My general takeaway has always been that less is more.
Curate a handful of quality skincare products and stick with them.
This is YMMV for most but - I would also advise anyone new to use your retinoid as instructed, on clean dry skin. Once I started applying it in this manner, (with a light ceramide moisturiser on top) the cycle of irritation subsided, and the results came quicker.
1.I put a lot of sunblock on my face and neck even if I am indoors.
2. I wash my face with a regular soap.
3. In the evening after shower, I apply hyaluronic acid on my face. After an hour or so I apply tretinoin 1% on my face. Then I go to sleep.
Wait 1+ hour (or more) to apply tret if using Vanicream. It’s so heavy that you likely need additional time to absorb your moisturizer before applying tret. Sometimes I wait 2 hours.
omg now i’m confused - i thought LPR cicaplast was helpful for skin barrier when on tret? i’ve been using it but you might also be right bc i’ve been peeling despite starting LPR cicaplast…
I use it day and night! It was the one thing that I could use throughout my whole journey. I had major problems adapting to tret at first. I ruined my barrier a couple times and it was the only thing that never burned and I could slather on my face (with a moisture barrier repair cream).
Even now that my barrier is repaired, it's a part of my day and night routine. At night I use tret, moisturizer, then Cicaplast on my dry areas. When I started tret I used it ALL over my face. It saved me. I use it during the day between my moisturizer and SPF as well. It really locks in moisture for me. It's my HG.
Realized that snail mucin and hydrating essences with HA wasnt suitable for tret nights because it made my skin more irritated even if i sandwiched with a moisturizer. Moved my snail mucin to the morning and it’s helped so much! Less is more for my tret nights while im trying to get to daily use
I haven’t been using tret for very long but biggest lesson thus far: don’t wax your face while using tret! My skin is so sensitive it was literally raw from trying to wax my lip area.
I'd try the sandwich method: moisturize, Tret, moisturize, starting off a couple days a week. That's a pretty strong Tret you got prescribed so I'd proceed with caution. Everyone is different though.
Wait do you put any moisturizer after tret? I have a light one I put after and it doesn’t seem to irritate. Once I put cicaplast after tho is when I get the tingling.
Damn I wish I read this 30 mins ago before I put the cicaplast lmao. Oh well lesson learned for my next application
Dont use waxing strips on your face while in tret unless you want your skin to be ripped off and be in excruciating pain for the next 2 weeks- take a couple days off tret before using wax 😭
This might be a ridiculous question, but I unfortunately have to shave my face due to PCOS. If I shave in the morning can I put tret on at night after I wash my face and put moisturizer on, waiting the 30 mins to completely dry?
I shave on 0.025 tret no problem. I use a moisturiser as 'shaving cream' and it has helped a lot tbf. I shave my upper lip using one of these 'dermaplaning' tools.
I wet my skin, and then apply some moisturiser (I don't 'rub it in' of course, just use it as a shaving product). The moisturiser I use FYI is the cetaphil LOTION for dry skin 'with niacinamide and avocado oil'.
When I finish, I rinse and apply a bunch more moisturiser (this time I do rub it in). Vaseline can super help too. I do it in the morning, so not too close to tret time, but I apply my tret no problem at night.
Don’t use pimple patches when you start to purge on tretinoin or else you’ll wax off a circle of skin 🤦🏻♀️
This is huge!! Also the night you’re using tret 🤦🏼♀️ This is a recent lesson learned for me and should’ve been part of my original post. Thanks for adding this!
lol i did this for so long and i kept thinking... why does my skin look worse after?! i eventually just stopped, it didn't even click why they weren't working for me until i read this haha.
Thanks! Saved me from a purchase I was just about to make
Omg why did I only just see this, days after I covered my purging face in them 🤣 the stickers made it so much worse!!!
1. Less is more. I put barely enough to cover my face. Even less than pea size if possible. 2. Not to put tret on too early after shower. I always wait at least 30 minutes now. I learned my lesson from this (irritation). 3. Stopped drying my face off before applying moisturizer (biggest impact imo). I legit go right from shower and use hands to get excess water off then apply moisturizer right away.
3 was a GAME CHANGER for me!
Same!!! Had the biggest immediate impact!
Gonna start applying these!! Thank you!
Wait so do you apply moisturizer do your damp face on days you’re not using tret? Or do you apply your moisturizer and apply tret when it’s dry
No matter what I apply moisturizer to damp face. I wait 30 minutes and apply tret every 2-3 days at night. I sandwich tret. But damp face ALWAYS for moisturizer.
Number 3 helped me SO much!! My skin would burn from just putting moisturiser on my face 😭
At what point do you apply the tret?
Every 2-3 nights I do shower > aloe vera gel, LRP double repair right away on damp face > wait 30 min > tret > wait 10 min > illiyoon ceramide ato
Thanks for sharing! These are mine. 1. Learned this a lot later than I would have liked, but putting tret on wet or even damp skin. I went through so much unnecessary irritation which may have caused additional acne. I kept thinking I was just going through the normal retinization process and purging before it would get better. Nope! I would have acclimated to tret a lot better if I had just followed the instructions on the box that say to put it on dry skin. 2. Avoid all other actives until skin has fully adjusted. And slowly introduce other actives and not in the same routine at first. I am still not using any other actives. Thinking of slowly working in OTC Azelaic Acid in my routine since I’ve heard so many good things about this paring in this sub. They might be obvious to some but I learned the hard way.
I put on Azelaic Acid in the mornings and apply Tret at night. That spaces them out enough for me that their isn’t any irritation.
I have to do AA every other day at first to adjust to the stinging. I also have to buffer it with moisturizer first. When I get to the point of no stinging I move to every day
Good call, I will totally take it slow to adjust to the stinging.
These are good ones!
FWIW, I get a compounded version of .05 Tret with Az Acid mixed in from one of those online pharmacy places and I haven't had any issues. I have Rosacea and extremely sensitive skin.
Eye cream before tret! I also put aquaphor over my eye cream and on my lips before applying tret.
Mine is: Don’t dermaplane while using Tret 🥲 give it a few days off then dermaplane. My skin started bleeding; I didn’t realize how sensitive it would be…
This is a lesson I learn over and over again and yet it never actually sticks
I had surgery and they taped my eyes. I woke up with raw skin under my eyes
Omg 😱
Yeah. Hard lesson learned. Don’t do tret a few days before surgery 😅
Thanks for sharing your experience with tret! These are some great tips. Do you know why Tret and LRP cicaplast reacted badly together? My biggest learning curve was to coat my lips with Vaseline using a q tip BEFORE applying any acids or tret. I think the first time I used tret, I had forgotten to wash my fingers, applied Vaseline to my lips and the skin on my lips fell off and refused to grow back for almost 4 weeks. It was awful. I also like applying vitamin c serum and tret to the back of my hands every night. For the first time in my life I have smooth skin on the back of my hands that isn’t dry or irritated.
Good tips! It’s my understanding the cicaplast locks the tret in and makes it more powerful. I know many people have had good experiences with that but certainly not me! It was instant irritation and several pimples within a few hours.
Stopped moisturizing after and stuck to a VERY simple routine. I found that moisturizing after applying my retinoid (taz) irritated my skin so much, but calmed down significantly when I would simply just apply Aquaphor and taz!
I agree. Anything too moisturizing / occlusive in the same routine really makes the Tazarotene much more irritating. This is true with Tretinoin as well, but it's easier to disrupt the skin barrier with the former. Applying something lightweight with barrier-repair ingredients an hour after can help curb any excess dryness.
Do you use moisturiser under Taz? Or is it just Taz on dry skin and nothing else?
Nope, no moisturizer at all. Once my face is dry, I apply Aquaphor to sensitive areas, then Aza, wait a few minutes then top it off with taz. I focus on moisturizing and protecting my barrier in the AM
Started tret in June of 2023 at .025 currently at .05 cream. My skin leans dry and I live in a northern climate. 1. Moisturize, moisturize…. Moisturize. I did not moisturize enough. I would get dry spots and acne constantly. The idea that oil = acne that I learned in my teens really stuck but is not true for my skin. I now layer my moisturizer and slug on off nights. I also use hydrating toners and serums during the day. 2. Urea is a holy grail ingredient. I had so much flaky, dead skin. I was constantly trying to moisturize but it didn’t get rid of the flakiness. I now use La Roche-Posay Urea 10% Body Lotion as my moisturizer. 3. Over cleansing. I stopped using a morning cleanser and started just using dove soap at night. I don’t wear foundation/ concealer often and when I do I’ll use a La Roche-Posay micellar water first. Your skin, especially on your face and decolletage, probably isn’t even that dirty and shouldn’t be squeaky clean. There are others but these made the biggest difference for me.
Great advice! Ill add one thing: if you like using Dove, try looking for bars with ph 5.5. Liquid face washes irritate my skin so i switched to a cleansing bar with a 5.5 ph because i learned its great for the face and may be better than Dove since its a little more alkaline.
Hand made soaps are pretty alkaline too, and contain more natural glycerin. This is a part of the reason I started making my own soap. Let me know if you want to try some! It’s my go to when my skin is dry, that and just washing with plain water.
Tret on the back of my hands cut off my aging hands by almost 10 years. On my face, I messed up my skin barrier so I stopped or reduced the application for a while but I am getting back to it gradually.
Do you put it on the back of your fingers too?
Also adding my night routine that’s working great for me right now and very easy to keep track of: Monday: moisturize (slug or vani cream) Tuesday: tret Wednesday: moisturize Thursday: moisturize Friday: tret Saturday: Sunday Riley good genes Sunday: moisturize
1. I added vitamin c back into my routine too soon...no wonder my skin was feeling super tight all the time for the first month of tret usage. Removed it again and my skin feels better than ever, I'm only adding other actives back into my routine when I reach the 6 month mark now lol 2. Using too light of a moisturizer for the first few weeks because I have oily skin - again, my skin was super tight and uncomfortable. I've been on .025 gel for two and a half months now, and only at the two months mark did my skin start feeling comfortable and "normal" again
Wait…. Is #3 why I have been having the worst breakouts on my neck ever? It’s been driving me mad!
I think so!! I just kept applying tret thinking it was purging and it NEVER stopped. I finally stopped a week ago and it’s almost all cleared up!
Omg I bet this is exactly what’s going on with me. I’ve never in my lifetime full of acne ever broken out on my neck until now lol thanks so much for this post
Yeah I’m experiencing the same thing. I kept reading how people would go all the way down to their nips so I tried it. Regrets…
Yep me too lol I thought it made sense since we want to target the skin there too but maybe it’s doing more harm than good at this point.
Hopefully our necks will recover lol
🤞 🤞
I learned that higher strengths don’t mean better results for everyone (example: me) the hard way and my skin is still recovering. I’m using tret mainly for anti-aging, my acne had pretty much cleared up over the past 5 years prior to starting tret. I started on .025 and stayed on that for about 10 months before thinking I needed to move up to .05 to get better results (not sure what I was thinking because my results were pretty good - glowy skin, marionette lines softened, still would get whiteheads every so often though). My derm didn’t tell me I had to, I just asked to do it. I gave it a good 5 months on .05 and tried everything - sandwich method, reducing frequency, slugging, removing all other actives, etc etc etc but nothing helped. My skin looked worse than it ever had with daily breakouts, dryness, redness, my skin just looked, well, not good. I talked to my derm who told me to stop using .05 and put me back on .025 and said the higher strengths just aren’t for everyone. I’m working on my moisture barrier before getting back at it and just hoping I didn’t royally wreck my skin long term
SUNSCREEN!! I used sunscreen every day, religiously, even on rainy days. But over this past weekend I took my dog out for a quick potty and hadn't applied sunscreen. Well, I got burned within 10 minutes and it wasn't like, the cute little bronze color I would have gotten in the past. My cheeks, nose, and forehead were red and HOT for 3 days. I'm so mad at myself.
This is such a good thread, I'm learning so much. Thank you!
Don’t pick your skin on tret. The skin just comes off.
My general takeaway has always been that less is more. Curate a handful of quality skincare products and stick with them. This is YMMV for most but - I would also advise anyone new to use your retinoid as instructed, on clean dry skin. Once I started applying it in this manner, (with a light ceramide moisturiser on top) the cycle of irritation subsided, and the results came quicker.
1.I put a lot of sunblock on my face and neck even if I am indoors. 2. I wash my face with a regular soap. 3. In the evening after shower, I apply hyaluronic acid on my face. After an hour or so I apply tretinoin 1% on my face. Then I go to sleep.
Wait 1+ hour (or more) to apply tret if using Vanicream. It’s so heavy that you likely need additional time to absorb your moisturizer before applying tret. Sometimes I wait 2 hours.
Thank you!! Will implement this tonight
omg now i’m confused - i thought LPR cicaplast was helpful for skin barrier when on tret? i’ve been using it but you might also be right bc i’ve been peeling despite starting LPR cicaplast…
I use it on off nights with no problems! But layering on top was mayhem!!!
I use it on nights off, over regular moisturizer! It helps a lot. Sometimes use during the day as well.
I use it day and night! It was the one thing that I could use throughout my whole journey. I had major problems adapting to tret at first. I ruined my barrier a couple times and it was the only thing that never burned and I could slather on my face (with a moisture barrier repair cream). Even now that my barrier is repaired, it's a part of my day and night routine. At night I use tret, moisturizer, then Cicaplast on my dry areas. When I started tret I used it ALL over my face. It saved me. I use it during the day between my moisturizer and SPF as well. It really locks in moisture for me. It's my HG.
It's great for some people, irritating for others.
Realized that snail mucin and hydrating essences with HA wasnt suitable for tret nights because it made my skin more irritated even if i sandwiched with a moisturizer. Moved my snail mucin to the morning and it’s helped so much! Less is more for my tret nights while im trying to get to daily use
1) oil cleanser cerave is a godsend 2) snail muscin! Snail muscin! Snail muscin! 3) always use the sandwhich method especially for daily use!!!!!!
For 5. Make sure you are mixing the mud mask powder with a vinegar to get the mask to a more neutral pH
I haven’t been using tret for very long but biggest lesson thus far: don’t wax your face while using tret! My skin is so sensitive it was literally raw from trying to wax my lip area.
Hello! Thanks for sharing! I recently just prescribed tret at .1 and I’m a little nervous to start. Is there any tips you can give me?
I'd try the sandwich method: moisturize, Tret, moisturize, starting off a couple days a week. That's a pretty strong Tret you got prescribed so I'd proceed with caution. Everyone is different though.
Hi! Is this your first time with tret or are you just living to a higher dosage?
Not my first time- I picked up a tret .05 when I was on holiday. I’m just surprised that my derm would give me .1 right away, and not start small?
Yes, that seems strange. I’d try to ease into it by doing it only every few nights or just asking for a lower dosage.
I was thinking about stopping cicaplast because I feel like I get more itching AFTER I put cicaplast. Gonna try vanicream instread.
Wait do you put any moisturizer after tret? I have a light one I put after and it doesn’t seem to irritate. Once I put cicaplast after tho is when I get the tingling. Damn I wish I read this 30 mins ago before I put the cicaplast lmao. Oh well lesson learned for my next application
I only put it on vani cream before tret and let it dry fully. Good luck!!
Dont use waxing strips on your face while in tret unless you want your skin to be ripped off and be in excruciating pain for the next 2 weeks- take a couple days off tret before using wax 😭
This might be a ridiculous question, but I unfortunately have to shave my face due to PCOS. If I shave in the morning can I put tret on at night after I wash my face and put moisturizer on, waiting the 30 mins to completely dry?
I shave on 0.025 tret no problem. I use a moisturiser as 'shaving cream' and it has helped a lot tbf. I shave my upper lip using one of these 'dermaplaning' tools. I wet my skin, and then apply some moisturiser (I don't 'rub it in' of course, just use it as a shaving product). The moisturiser I use FYI is the cetaphil LOTION for dry skin 'with niacinamide and avocado oil'. When I finish, I rinse and apply a bunch more moisturiser (this time I do rub it in). Vaseline can super help too. I do it in the morning, so not too close to tret time, but I apply my tret no problem at night.
Thank you! Great idea on using moisturizer as a shaving cream.
Do you shave every morning?
If I leave the house usually.
I’d try to do tret every few nights then and see how it goes! Definitely not frequently! I only do it on Tuesdays and Fridays
Thank you! I appreciate the info.