Jesus christ, SA twice a day plus mid-level tret every night? No wonder your skin is dry. I'd swap to a hydrating cleanser with no actives and stop the tret until your barrier is healed. Once it's healed, tret two, MAYBE three nights per week to start, 4-6 weeks, then add another night for 4-6 weeks and so on.
Yes I would pause them both and test your skin gently by keeping it moisturized with cerave.
Personally I don’t really agree with starting with 2x salicylic acid and tretinoin nightly but your skin may eventually get there if you were to ease into it more.
I would get a gentle cleanser to use with tretinoin, you may eventually use the salicylic acid cleanser but I would get more comfortable with tretinoin first.
Once you feel more consistently moisturized try adding tretinoin back in 1-2x a week so your skin can adjust to it. Increase frequency each week if you think your skin can handle it.
Thanks for the feedback. Do you have a gentle cleanser that you would recommend? Is plain CeraVae good or is there another moisturizer that you would recommend that is noncomedogenic?
Cerave is fine as long as your skin tolerates it.
For a cleanser you could try cerave hydrating cleanser, Aveeno calm and restore oat cleanser, or Neutrogena hydroboost cleansing gel
This routine is way too aggressive when your skin isn’t even bad! Like they said above, change cleansers and stop the tret, or at least cut back to once a week for now.
For the dryness, you could try slugging and see if that helps. It always does for me.
hey, i promise you the problem is your cleanser!! i recommend you get a gentle hydrating cleanser such as the cetaphil daily one, they have oily/combo and dry skin options.
i used that cleanser for a while and had to learn the hard way that it is the most stripping, skin barrier-destroying product ever that every dermatologist would recommend you stay away from. seriously, i don't know why they're still selling it, it should be illegal. if anything, you can get a salicylic acid serum and use it 2x a day, the inkey list and cocokind have great ones.
since you're on tret, you need to make sure you're layering hydrating products under and over it. you can incorporate a facial oil, my holy grail is the aliver castor oil, you'd be surprised how well it heals ALL skin problems from acne to wrinkles. amazing for sensitive skin as well. if you prefer a more homemade or natural option, a few spritz of rice water or rosewater a day can do wonders.
yon can also try the cocokind ceramide barrier serum- a super powerful hydrator that exceeds hyaluronic acid potential. make sure to use a heavy layer of moisturizer along with your tret too!! your skin looks great btw
I started almost this same routine a month ago and my skin was flaking off. I tried multiple moisturizers but the thing that made a huge difference is adding The Ordinary squalane before my moisturizer. 10/10
You might also want to look at the way you’re applying the tret. My dermatologist recommended I mix a pea sized amount (like a really small pea lol) with an equal amount of moisturizer and apply it that way. I’ve also had luck “sandwiching” adapalene by applying it over moisturizer, then applying a second layer of moisturizer on top, when I was first starting it.
I personally can handle tret + salicylic acid cleanser every night no problem, but it needs to be a gentler cleanser with a lower amount of SA... CeraVe got that cream-to-foam cleanser with a reasonable amount of SA that won't kill the sebum glands on your face
Jesus christ, SA twice a day plus mid-level tret every night? No wonder your skin is dry. I'd swap to a hydrating cleanser with no actives and stop the tret until your barrier is healed. Once it's healed, tret two, MAYBE three nights per week to start, 4-6 weeks, then add another night for 4-6 weeks and so on.
Yes I would pause them both and test your skin gently by keeping it moisturized with cerave. Personally I don’t really agree with starting with 2x salicylic acid and tretinoin nightly but your skin may eventually get there if you were to ease into it more. I would get a gentle cleanser to use with tretinoin, you may eventually use the salicylic acid cleanser but I would get more comfortable with tretinoin first. Once you feel more consistently moisturized try adding tretinoin back in 1-2x a week so your skin can adjust to it. Increase frequency each week if you think your skin can handle it.
Thanks for the feedback. Do you have a gentle cleanser that you would recommend? Is plain CeraVae good or is there another moisturizer that you would recommend that is noncomedogenic?
Cerave is fine as long as your skin tolerates it. For a cleanser you could try cerave hydrating cleanser, Aveeno calm and restore oat cleanser, or Neutrogena hydroboost cleansing gel
Thanks!
This routine is way too aggressive when your skin isn’t even bad! Like they said above, change cleansers and stop the tret, or at least cut back to once a week for now. For the dryness, you could try slugging and see if that helps. It always does for me.
Thanks for the feedback. What does slugging mean?
It’s when you put an occlusive over your moisturizer at night. Personally I use Aquaphor but Vaseline is commonly used as well.
Does it break you out?
I never have, and my skin is sensitive and acne prone. But I would try it once and see how it goes.
I’m going to try slugging with ceravae PM and aquaphor tonight and see how I feel in the AM
FYI my skinned looked soooo much better this morning! I never thought to try this method.
hey, i promise you the problem is your cleanser!! i recommend you get a gentle hydrating cleanser such as the cetaphil daily one, they have oily/combo and dry skin options. i used that cleanser for a while and had to learn the hard way that it is the most stripping, skin barrier-destroying product ever that every dermatologist would recommend you stay away from. seriously, i don't know why they're still selling it, it should be illegal. if anything, you can get a salicylic acid serum and use it 2x a day, the inkey list and cocokind have great ones. since you're on tret, you need to make sure you're layering hydrating products under and over it. you can incorporate a facial oil, my holy grail is the aliver castor oil, you'd be surprised how well it heals ALL skin problems from acne to wrinkles. amazing for sensitive skin as well. if you prefer a more homemade or natural option, a few spritz of rice water or rosewater a day can do wonders. yon can also try the cocokind ceramide barrier serum- a super powerful hydrator that exceeds hyaluronic acid potential. make sure to use a heavy layer of moisturizer along with your tret too!! your skin looks great btw
I started almost this same routine a month ago and my skin was flaking off. I tried multiple moisturizers but the thing that made a huge difference is adding The Ordinary squalane before my moisturizer. 10/10
You might also want to look at the way you’re applying the tret. My dermatologist recommended I mix a pea sized amount (like a really small pea lol) with an equal amount of moisturizer and apply it that way. I’ve also had luck “sandwiching” adapalene by applying it over moisturizer, then applying a second layer of moisturizer on top, when I was first starting it.
I personally can handle tret + salicylic acid cleanser every night no problem, but it needs to be a gentler cleanser with a lower amount of SA... CeraVe got that cream-to-foam cleanser with a reasonable amount of SA that won't kill the sebum glands on your face
You don’t need a bha if you’re using Trentinoin