Tretinoin (Retin-A) Update & Sephora Haul

10:17:00 PM mandy 7 Comments

I mentioned a while back that I saw a dermatologist, who prescribed a tretinoin gel (generic brand of Retin-A) for me to use for my acne. I did diligently follow her instructions and slowly increased my usage until I reached a once every night application.

Doing so made my skin peel like never before. (When I first started to use the La Roche Pose Efflaclar Duo, my skin did peel but it I don't think it was as bad.) All the exfoliating and moisturizing I was doing did not seem to help either. After a follow-up visit to the derm, she told me to decrease the applications to every other day since daily was, obviously, too strong for me.

But I must admit, I didn't follow the doctor's orders. Instead I completely stopped using the treatment altogether. (I think) I saw her a month or two after the initial appointment and at the time I didn't see too many benefits, acne/break-outs wise, from the tretinoin gel. Pair that with the unsightly flaky skin (in the summer no-less), I wanted to 'run' as far away as possible from the treatment and the dermatologist. (I haven't made a follow-up appointment since that second/last visit.)

After a few months of taking myself off the gel, my skin seemed to regulate itself and there wasn't massive amounts of flakiness on my face. I was and am still breaking out quite often and a lot. But I didn't want to risk using the treatment and having to go out of the house all flaky and peeling. So I took the opportunity before the holidays and right after my Fall semester ended to put on a layer of the tretinoin gel and give it a second chance. "This time I know better!" is what I said to myself.

But I didn't. Either I was a little too heavy-handed or my skin really can't handle the tretinoin because my skin started to immediately peel, flake, dry-up, so on and so forth the day after. Even the trusty ol' Olay Beauty Fluid that I relied on for the past 2 winters didn't help the flakes (which lasted for over a week, not exaggerating).

I hadn't been thinking of getting any new skincare items, despite the skin condition. I even settled on the idea of just riding it out (even though I still sulked about it here and there). But a "quick" stop to a Sephora to check out eye creams got me curious about some new Dr. Jart+ items that I remembered the Muse spoke highly of for drier skin folks. After doing a bit of review searching, the Ceramidin line seems to be pretty effective for other dry-skin gals as well. So with the combination of the weather being all chilly now and having dry-ish/combo & flaky skin, I went from having an itty-bitty speck of curiosity to flown-blown desire to have the products. (Why does this happen?!...)

Here are the items that got:

L to R: Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream, Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream, Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Liquid

I can't wait to use them. Maybe with these in-hand, I'll give the tretinoin a third chance. Perhaps third time's the charm?
Has anyone tried any of these products before? How do you like it?

7 comments:

  1. I've used Tretinoin before, and what I've learned, is that when you get a small pimple, just put a little bit on. Do not apply it around the entire area. If you do, your skin will start to peel real badly. And I only use it when my skin gets a lot of acne. If that doesn't seem to work well with you ask your doctor for differin. I use that currently, and that one is amazing. It's light on my skin, and it doesn't irritate at all. But make sure you have insurance before you check that out, because it can get pricey.

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    1. Heh if I ever get myself to the dermatologist again I shall ask her about it. But thanks for the tip! I'm definitely going to give it a try =)

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  2. Good luck with this new rotation. Be careful not to over exfoliate during the winter cause that has a tendency to aggravate dryness and acne. I've heard great things about that Ceramidin Cream btw.

    Rowena @ rolala loves

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  3. I've read so many great things about all of the products you've bought and I've also contemplated purchasing the Ceramidin cream & lotion too The price does make a little uneasy though! It doesn't help that there are other creams to be used up at the moment /sigh.

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  4. Hope these products work out for you! I noticed ceramide is one of the ingredients in the cera ve sunscreen I tried out recently... not sure if that's the thing that broke me out O_o (prob has nothing to do with the active ingredients but the fact that the sunscreen was SO thick) but I learned that it's supposed to be really moisturizing. really hope your acne problem would get better soon! my roommate used to have terrible acne and she finished her 4-month accutane a few months ago and her face is now clear... in her words... for the first time in her life. she still has the scarring left from the breakouts but she hasn't had any break out since. maybe you could ask your derm about it? i think that's the last line treatment if everything else fails...

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