for those who've tried tretinoin 🤔

Start off slowly (once a week) and then build up your tolerance from there. Use thick moisturizers to help alleviate dryness and flaking. SPF 50+ all the time! Listen to your skin - if burning occurs, drop down your frequency until your skin can acclimate and then increase your frequency from there. Don't apply it near your eyes- it can cause permanent dryness. Good luck :)

Definitely start slow and don't slack on sunscreen! I started using tret when I was 13 (a long time ago lol) and I used to put it on daily since those were the doctor's orders and never wore sunscreen. For a while I was running around so flaky and sunburnt LOL. Also a tip! If you find it irritating/harsh, you can "buffer" it by applying it AFTER a layer of moisturizer. It will still be just as effective but less harsh!

My main tip would to be to listen to your skin. I still end up in the same trap every year when the seasons are transitioning and it's getting a bit colder, during that time, like most people, my skin goes a bit off. Adding tretinoin on top of that is a recipe for disaster, my skin's barrier is melted off and is extremely sensitive. If your skin is at all a little bit sensitized, I would recommend skipping tretinoin. Of course, you have to build up tolerance but I believe that destroying your skin barrier is a bigger set back than taking a longer time to build up the tolerance to use tretinoin everyday. Also maybe protect sensitive areas like the corners around your nostrils as those areas are particularly dry for me.