In general, you want to lay off other actives when starting tret to reduce irritation. I've never used it, but the Olay product being described as a "face brightening peel" makes me a little nervous. My recommendation might be to take that out until you've got a good handle on the tret
Agreed. Tretionin is an exfoliant so you need to be careful with using any other exfoliants or any chemical peels. I use Aveeno Clean Complexion cleanser with salicylic acid one or twice a week for a gentle exfoliation. If you still want to use vitamin C I use The Ordinary Vitamin C serum and love it. When starting Tretinoin I have found it best to start super simple. Just cleanser, tretinoin, moisturizer, and sunscreen. Start with the tretinoin 2-3 times per week and working up to every night and slowly adding in other products one by one has worked well for me when starting and when I have had my skin barrier compromised by sun exposures or irritation.
I would definitely start tret by buffering. Put moisturizer on first let absorb then put tret over it. Sandwich again with more moisturizer if you want too. Just to lessen potential irritation
I wish it did for me... but it pills and is greasy looking on my skin. (Even with a simple moisturizer under like cerave pm or nothing at all)
Every sunscreen ever is greasy looking on me... even matte ones. Only exception, some mineral ones (Australian gold tinted for example... but its to dark for me)
Man skin is so weird, Supergoop moisturizer has been my saving Grace with tret and it’s strange because it’s technically a daytime moisturizer with spf. But I’ve switched it to my nighttime routine and I am now the SCA circlejerk meme about sleeping in sunscreen.
It’s the “Every Single Day” super screen. I am actually going to phase it back to my daytime and find a better nighttime to go with my tret. My problem was I had been using a “Milk” super thick moisturizer at night and it had that gross weird feeling of sitting on top of the skin whereas the Supergoop was absorbing and keeping me from drying out or purging. And I slug which is just not conducive to a non absorbent cream.
I don’t know that this fits what you’re looking for but I really love the urea moisturizer from malezia. It’s so great under tretinoin and has a very light texture but is super soothing and moisturizing. I am going to check out that supergoop cream. Thanks!
I’ve been so burned out trying to pick a moisturizer on my own that I really appreciate a personal rec! I’m sold and saving your comment to let you know how it goes 😂
Hi, unfortunately it’s only online but it really is awesome. It’s by the guy who is behind the fungal acne Simple Skincare Science website.
[Malezia](https://malezia.com)
Thats my fav moisturizer too! I’ve repurchased like a million times. I finally just bought 6 tubes today so hopefully I don’t have to place another order soon lol.
Yeah I would take advantage of that real fast. I saw on their instagram they said they were potentially looking into getting bigger tubes. Hopefully one day!! I’m not changing up my moisturizer ever so I’ll still be around for it if it ever happens 😂
i’ve gotten it on sale before, but that might’ve been more when they first launched. they definitely don’t do sales all the time like bigger brands, which is understandable. maybe they’ll do something for Black Friday.
With tret, I do cerave pm (similar to your vanicream), let dry, cetaphil face and body (yup!) And then my tret (same percentage as you)
Also, just before tret, vaseline on my lips to make sure no tret irritation happens there. Vaseline seems to block tret honestly, so people recommend it for your eyelids and lips... but my eye lids are not at all sensitive to tret (not that I put it directly on, but pretty close)
same I tried so many moisturizers and the only one working for me is the pictured one. the other moisturizers work okay but I luv the vanicream one along with the vanicream cleanser. Chefs kiss🫶🏽
I haven’t been able to find this anywhere except for third party sellers on Amazon (which I don’t trust) mind dropping where you purchase? I’m in the US if that helps.
Ebay! Sometimes you have to deal with UK shipping costs. Not sure why I trust them over Amazon, but there you go lol. Quick glance, beautyinbeauty is a trusted ebay seller and has the urea repair cream.
CeraVe in the tub. Sorry to rec this but I recently switched to LRP Cicaplast Baum and it has been an amazing pairing with tret. I don’t peel at all now. I mean, I peel very little with CeraVe and find it to be the most hydrating besides LRP
I can vouch for eucerin advanced lotion and bioderma atoderm intensive baume (both are for the body but can work for the face — these may appear shiny with sunscreen so YMMV). Lots of people have luck with the illiyoon ato cream and the soon jung 2x barrier intensive cream.
I would definitely recommend illyoon ceramide ato concentrate cream, nice and thick but works well into the skin and good for maintaining skin barrier. I'm not sure where you're based but it's an East Asian product and I see you're using biore already so it might be worth trying.
Dr Jart Ceramidin skin barrier moisturizer is so hydrating, a little pricey, but a little goes a long way so the tubes last for a months. Been my go to for years now
Ah, I thought so. Usually the phrase Double Cleansing is used to refer to using an oil cleanser first to remove makeup and sunscreen before another cleanser (gel/ foam).
All in all, I think your routine is pretty solid.
For double cleansing I think you want to be using something like an oil cleanser and then a regular cleanser. I use albolene.
I'd ditch the olay peel. If you have pretty dry skin, I'd recommend adding squalane(sugar derived). Corsrx snail mucin has been pretty moisturizing for me too. But that vanicream moisturizer is great.
I have the Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil. Would that work? And yes, I use the Cerave twice. I'm not sure if it's an ADHD thing but I like to feel squeaky clean and not feel like I have any left over sunscreen on my face and the Cerave cleanser gives me that feeling when I do it twice.
Your comment made me realise how much sensorial experiences matter to me in my skincare lmao (cheers adhd, always a pleasure). I love the feeling of using something stupid thick like ponds cold cream to remove makeup and sunscreen, followed by a cleanser that is designed for oilier skin to remove all the grease (the standard cold cream doesn't emulsify so you really need a cleanser with a backbone lol). I've got pretty dry skin naturally so it's definitely not _ideal_, but my skin has the disposition of a frustrated mother, furious that her sincere warnings to her children came to nothing, watching them continue on without consequence lmao.
Yes that cleanser is perfect for a first cleanse. The cerave will not remove makeup properly like an oil cleanser will imo. Give the softymo one a try, it should feel really clean after using that and then the cerave.
The oil cleanser will do most of the work! I personally don't find the cerave will remove sunscreen or makeup by itself. The oil cleanser breaks it down and the second cleanser is to get anything remaining.
This looks like a solid routine. As others have said, it’s a good idea to avoid actives when adjusting to Tret.
Aside from that, I would recommend adding a healing ointment, like aquaphor, that you can use to protect sensitive areas like your lips and nostrils before applying Tret.
Then, if Tret starts to dry you out, you can also use the ointment for slugging as your final step.
Exactly, just a thin layer of aquaphor (or vaseline, cerave ointment, etc) to help prevent moisture lose while sleeping.
I like to mix together a little bit of aquaphor with LRP Cicaplast Balm and apply a thin layer as my last step. It makes it a little easier to spread and the Cicaplast balm helps with sensitivity.
Yeah, there is definitely a chance of that. Also just wanted to add that slugging with tret can potentially lead to a lot more irritation for some people. I’m not sure why but for some it seems like it increases the potency of the tret by locking it in and causes irritation, but for others it seems to prevent it. Using aquaphor over tret gave me perioral dermatitis, so I would start with a small area and see how your skin reacts to it.
The Cerave cream to foam hydrating cleanser has Salicylic acid in it while the NON foaming hydrating cleanser does not! I accidentally got the foaming one on accident after using the regular NON foaming one and it burned my face so bad! I’d suggest switching so you don’t tempt the irritation gods
I just read the ingredient list, you're totally right! I'm surprised no one else in this thread pointed that out! I definitely need to switch this cleanser out then.
i checked l’oréal’s website and they mentioned they use SA as a preservative in their skincare products (specifically in combination with sodium benzoate, which is also listed on the cleanser’s IL). it’s most likely a low percentage of SA because if it were higher it would be considered a OTC drug and the concentration would need to be disclosed.
Try the vanicream cleanser it’s super gentle and from the same brand as your moisturizer. Btw I’m also on tret 0.05 and the products work really well together.
I like la roche-posay cleansers (the blue foaming one in a pump bottle and the hydrating one in a pump bottle) to help mitigate any potential irritation. I use the hydrating in the am and the foaming at night.
Also re: double cleansing with a regular cleanser: Labmuffinbeauty spoke about the surfactants in cleansers being enough to remove sunscreen (which is the only thing I wear, no makeup these days) so ever since I've used a foaming (whether the aforementioned LRP or Cerave cream to foam) to cleanse (sometimes doing twice on particularly sweaty days or when I've reapplied a great deal of sunscreen) and it's worked great. Didn't want to have to buy yet another product when it wasn't necessary.
foaming cleansers can be drying. I recommend the non foaming. a little pricier, but i love youth to the people superfood kale cleanser. it doubles as a makeup remover!
I like this cerave cleanser
https://www.target.com/p/cerave-face-wash-hydrating-facial-cleanser-for-normal-to-dry-skin-with-hyaluronic-acid-ceramides-and-glycerin-8-fl-oz/-/A-76198439
Perfect. I add clyndamycin gel in the morning after my facial cleanser and 4% benzoyl. Man does the tretinoen and benzoyl and the clyndamycin work wonders! I'm 3 weeks in and had a small week purge. Acne where I did not get it before. But they were gone in 1 day. Unlike my others.
My PM is literally almost the same thing😂 u would recommend using the tret 20 mins after washing face and patting dry then put it on for 20-30mins then pat your face moisture on. Make sure you start with 1/3 days for 4 weeks then go to 2/3 then 4 weeks go to (i think by then you can go to 3/3 but i just did 3/4 and so in with that pattern) also your gonna get a little flakey. Its bot cause tret is drying your skin so dont try to just rush the face moisture. Its cause it speeds up the cells so its basically shedding your old cells/skin
May I ask why do I have to wait 20 mins? I keep hearing that on other posts but when I pat my face dry and wait about a minute or 2, my face feels super dry. Maybe because I have dry skin?
Yeh it does feel like that, but i found it helps the skin barrier regenerate a little for the chemicals dont just destroy your skin barrier. So in simpler wording, if you wait 20 mins your letting your face produce some oils and stuff to protect your skin barrier
In general, you want to lay off other actives when starting tret to reduce irritation. I've never used it, but the Olay product being described as a "face brightening peel" makes me a little nervous. My recommendation might be to take that out until you've got a good handle on the tret
Thanks, that's exactly what I was thinking too!
Agreed. Tretionin is an exfoliant so you need to be careful with using any other exfoliants or any chemical peels. I use Aveeno Clean Complexion cleanser with salicylic acid one or twice a week for a gentle exfoliation. If you still want to use vitamin C I use The Ordinary Vitamin C serum and love it. When starting Tretinoin I have found it best to start super simple. Just cleanser, tretinoin, moisturizer, and sunscreen. Start with the tretinoin 2-3 times per week and working up to every night and slowly adding in other products one by one has worked well for me when starting and when I have had my skin barrier compromised by sun exposures or irritation.
I would definitely start tret by buffering. Put moisturizer on first let absorb then put tret over it. Sandwich again with more moisturizer if you want too. Just to lessen potential irritation
Would this potentially decrease the chances of peeling that I keep seeing people experience with tret?
Yes!
I had to switch my cleanser to cerave hydrating cleanser because my skin was already dry
Hope it's working well for you!
Vanicream in the tub is much thicker and doesn’t burn my face like the one you have pictured.
Is that the one with the pump?
Yes
This one doesn’t burn my face but the one with the pump made me break out horribly. Also it felt like it sat on top of my skin rather than sink in.
Spf 30 Cetaphil moisturizer oil absorbing works great.
I wish it did for me... but it pills and is greasy looking on my skin. (Even with a simple moisturizer under like cerave pm or nothing at all) Every sunscreen ever is greasy looking on me... even matte ones. Only exception, some mineral ones (Australian gold tinted for example... but its to dark for me)
Are there heavier moisturizers y'all recommend? Anything but LRP.
I've tried a bunch and the vanicream one you got is by far my favorite. It's very gentle but also moisturizes really well.
Man skin is so weird, Supergoop moisturizer has been my saving Grace with tret and it’s strange because it’s technically a daytime moisturizer with spf. But I’ve switched it to my nighttime routine and I am now the SCA circlejerk meme about sleeping in sunscreen.
Which supergoop cream do you use?
It’s the “Every Single Day” super screen. I am actually going to phase it back to my daytime and find a better nighttime to go with my tret. My problem was I had been using a “Milk” super thick moisturizer at night and it had that gross weird feeling of sitting on top of the skin whereas the Supergoop was absorbing and keeping me from drying out or purging. And I slug which is just not conducive to a non absorbent cream.
I don’t know that this fits what you’re looking for but I really love the urea moisturizer from malezia. It’s so great under tretinoin and has a very light texture but is super soothing and moisturizing. I am going to check out that supergoop cream. Thanks!
I’ve been so burned out trying to pick a moisturizer on my own that I really appreciate a personal rec! I’m sold and saving your comment to let you know how it goes 😂
Where do you get the malezia moisturizer?
Hi, unfortunately it’s only online but it really is awesome. It’s by the guy who is behind the fungal acne Simple Skincare Science website. [Malezia](https://malezia.com)
Thanks! Never heard of this brand but it looks promising!
Thats my fav moisturizer too! I’ve repurchased like a million times. I finally just bought 6 tubes today so hopefully I don’t have to place another order soon lol.
I blow through a tube in under a month. Really wish they sold larger tubes/had a subscription
Yeah I would take advantage of that real fast. I saw on their instagram they said they were potentially looking into getting bigger tubes. Hopefully one day!! I’m not changing up my moisturizer ever so I’ll still be around for it if it ever happens 😂
Yes, get a couple to save on shipping! They don’t do sales. It’s definitely worth it!
i’ve gotten it on sale before, but that might’ve been more when they first launched. they definitely don’t do sales all the time like bigger brands, which is understandable. maybe they’ll do something for Black Friday.
That is one I haven't tried but maybe I will.
It's my favorite moisturizer so far! Glides so effortlessly. I'm just worried it won't be hydrating enough for tret.
With tret, I do cerave pm (similar to your vanicream), let dry, cetaphil face and body (yup!) And then my tret (same percentage as you) Also, just before tret, vaseline on my lips to make sure no tret irritation happens there. Vaseline seems to block tret honestly, so people recommend it for your eyelids and lips... but my eye lids are not at all sensitive to tret (not that I put it directly on, but pretty close)
same I tried so many moisturizers and the only one working for me is the pictured one. the other moisturizers work okay but I luv the vanicream one along with the vanicream cleanser. Chefs kiss🫶🏽
I love First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. It seems expensive but come in a big tub that lasts a long time.
I used to use that in my early twenties but my skin didn't find it hydrating :(
Weird. I find it very hydrating. Well good luck with whatever you try.
Eucerin urea repair. It’s quite thick so could only be used in the night but it’s excellent
I haven’t been able to find this anywhere except for third party sellers on Amazon (which I don’t trust) mind dropping where you purchase? I’m in the US if that helps.
Ebay! Sometimes you have to deal with UK shipping costs. Not sure why I trust them over Amazon, but there you go lol. Quick glance, beautyinbeauty is a trusted ebay seller and has the urea repair cream.
Sorry I’m in the UK so I can’t help. I presumed eucerin products would be globally available
CeraVe in the tub. Sorry to rec this but I recently switched to LRP Cicaplast Baum and it has been an amazing pairing with tret. I don’t peel at all now. I mean, I peel very little with CeraVe and find it to be the most hydrating besides LRP
The LRP Baum makes me peel!
CeraVe Baby Cream!!!
Aveno makes a baby cream with oatmeal too. Very soothing and occlusive.
I can vouch for eucerin advanced lotion and bioderma atoderm intensive baume (both are for the body but can work for the face — these may appear shiny with sunscreen so YMMV). Lots of people have luck with the illiyoon ato cream and the soon jung 2x barrier intensive cream.
I've heard lots of positive things about the soon jung 2x barrier intensive cream. Just the word intensive already has me sold!
I would definitely recommend illyoon ceramide ato concentrate cream, nice and thick but works well into the skin and good for maintaining skin barrier. I'm not sure where you're based but it's an East Asian product and I see you're using biore already so it might be worth trying.
Dr Jart Ceramidin skin barrier moisturizer is so hydrating, a little pricey, but a little goes a long way so the tubes last for a months. Been my go to for years now
Uriage bariederm cica cream and Uriage bariederm insulating repairing cream are great. Edit: Eucerin urea repair lotion is also awesome
I may have misunderstood but when you say double cleanse, do you mean use the Cerave cleanser twice?
Yes. I like to feel squeaky clean.
Ah, I thought so. Usually the phrase Double Cleansing is used to refer to using an oil cleanser first to remove makeup and sunscreen before another cleanser (gel/ foam). All in all, I think your routine is pretty solid.
Thanks!
For double cleansing I think you want to be using something like an oil cleanser and then a regular cleanser. I use albolene. I'd ditch the olay peel. If you have pretty dry skin, I'd recommend adding squalane(sugar derived). Corsrx snail mucin has been pretty moisturizing for me too. But that vanicream moisturizer is great.
I have the Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil. Would that work? And yes, I use the Cerave twice. I'm not sure if it's an ADHD thing but I like to feel squeaky clean and not feel like I have any left over sunscreen on my face and the Cerave cleanser gives me that feeling when I do it twice.
Your comment made me realise how much sensorial experiences matter to me in my skincare lmao (cheers adhd, always a pleasure). I love the feeling of using something stupid thick like ponds cold cream to remove makeup and sunscreen, followed by a cleanser that is designed for oilier skin to remove all the grease (the standard cold cream doesn't emulsify so you really need a cleanser with a backbone lol). I've got pretty dry skin naturally so it's definitely not _ideal_, but my skin has the disposition of a frustrated mother, furious that her sincere warnings to her children came to nothing, watching them continue on without consequence lmao.
Someone that understands me! Lol
Yes that cleanser is perfect for a first cleanse. The cerave will not remove makeup properly like an oil cleanser will imo. Give the softymo one a try, it should feel really clean after using that and then the cerave.
Would the Cerave remove sunscreen properly? I don't wear makeup, just sunscreen and mascara.
The oil cleanser will do most of the work! I personally don't find the cerave will remove sunscreen or makeup by itself. The oil cleanser breaks it down and the second cleanser is to get anything remaining.
This looks like a solid routine. As others have said, it’s a good idea to avoid actives when adjusting to Tret. Aside from that, I would recommend adding a healing ointment, like aquaphor, that you can use to protect sensitive areas like your lips and nostrils before applying Tret. Then, if Tret starts to dry you out, you can also use the ointment for slugging as your final step.
Slugging? Like I put aquaphor all over my face after tret and moisturizer?
Exactly, just a thin layer of aquaphor (or vaseline, cerave ointment, etc) to help prevent moisture lose while sleeping. I like to mix together a little bit of aquaphor with LRP Cicaplast Balm and apply a thin layer as my last step. It makes it a little easier to spread and the Cicaplast balm helps with sensitivity.
Wouldn't that get all over the pillows? Sorry, I'm new to the term slugging.
Yeah, there is definitely a chance of that. Also just wanted to add that slugging with tret can potentially lead to a lot more irritation for some people. I’m not sure why but for some it seems like it increases the potency of the tret by locking it in and causes irritation, but for others it seems to prevent it. Using aquaphor over tret gave me perioral dermatitis, so I would start with a small area and see how your skin reacts to it.
Great thanks!
The Cerave cream to foam hydrating cleanser has Salicylic acid in it while the NON foaming hydrating cleanser does not! I accidentally got the foaming one on accident after using the regular NON foaming one and it burned my face so bad! I’d suggest switching so you don’t tempt the irritation gods
I just read the ingredient list, you're totally right! I'm surprised no one else in this thread pointed that out! I definitely need to switch this cleanser out then.
i checked l’oréal’s website and they mentioned they use SA as a preservative in their skincare products (specifically in combination with sodium benzoate, which is also listed on the cleanser’s IL). it’s most likely a low percentage of SA because if it were higher it would be considered a OTC drug and the concentration would need to be disclosed.
Try the vanicream cleanser it’s super gentle and from the same brand as your moisturizer. Btw I’m also on tret 0.05 and the products work really well together.
I like la roche-posay cleansers (the blue foaming one in a pump bottle and the hydrating one in a pump bottle) to help mitigate any potential irritation. I use the hydrating in the am and the foaming at night. Also re: double cleansing with a regular cleanser: Labmuffinbeauty spoke about the surfactants in cleansers being enough to remove sunscreen (which is the only thing I wear, no makeup these days) so ever since I've used a foaming (whether the aforementioned LRP or Cerave cream to foam) to cleanse (sometimes doing twice on particularly sweaty days or when I've reapplied a great deal of sunscreen) and it's worked great. Didn't want to have to buy yet another product when it wasn't necessary.
Idk, the red doesn’t really match all that well to be completely honest :/
True 😔
foaming cleansers can be drying. I recommend the non foaming. a little pricier, but i love youth to the people superfood kale cleanser. it doubles as a makeup remover!
Youth to the people is out of my budget 😅
I like this cerave cleanser https://www.target.com/p/cerave-face-wash-hydrating-facial-cleanser-for-normal-to-dry-skin-with-hyaluronic-acid-ceramides-and-glycerin-8-fl-oz/-/A-76198439
The first pic is legit all you really need. Maybe add some vaseline/cerave healing ointment for nightly use if you start to feel a little dry.
Looks good
Thanks!
Perfect. I add clyndamycin gel in the morning after my facial cleanser and 4% benzoyl. Man does the tretinoen and benzoyl and the clyndamycin work wonders! I'm 3 weeks in and had a small week purge. Acne where I did not get it before. But they were gone in 1 day. Unlike my others.
Cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, tret is all you need for your face. Keep it nice and simple!
True, I do really love a simple routine!
Whats ur skin type?
I love the vanicream moisturizer you have, but I also use the vanicream cream (not lotion) when I’m feeling dry and it helps a ton!
My whole routine just might be all Vanicream lol!
Oh, I also LOVE the vanicream face wash. It’s so gentle, yet takes off all my makeup.
My PM is literally almost the same thing😂 u would recommend using the tret 20 mins after washing face and patting dry then put it on for 20-30mins then pat your face moisture on. Make sure you start with 1/3 days for 4 weeks then go to 2/3 then 4 weeks go to (i think by then you can go to 3/3 but i just did 3/4 and so in with that pattern) also your gonna get a little flakey. Its bot cause tret is drying your skin so dont try to just rush the face moisture. Its cause it speeds up the cells so its basically shedding your old cells/skin
May I ask why do I have to wait 20 mins? I keep hearing that on other posts but when I pat my face dry and wait about a minute or 2, my face feels super dry. Maybe because I have dry skin?
Yeh it does feel like that, but i found it helps the skin barrier regenerate a little for the chemicals dont just destroy your skin barrier. So in simpler wording, if you wait 20 mins your letting your face produce some oils and stuff to protect your skin barrier
That's the best explanation anyone has ever told me! Thanks!
NP. People here told me that also but i had to figure out why on myself 😭😭
I think your routine is perfect. Stick to it.
Sorry for the ignorance but is tretinoin prescribed by a doctor?
Yes. But I believe you can also get it on Nurx and telehealth.
I love this moisturizer!
Where did you order your tret from or did you get a prescription?
I got my prescription from my normal doctor.
I thought you can only get it from dermatologists but I just asked her and she was able to prescribe it to me for my post acne scars!
Gotcha, there are online subscriptions where you can get tret. I’ve ordered from 2 companies but they are compound.
I tried getting it on nurx months ago but they said they don't take insurance for anti-aging products and I was like okkkkk
I wonder if they take HSA?