First Year Starting Tretinoin: What to Expect With This Powerful Anti-Ager

A quick hunt through my articles on this site and you will clearly see I have a love for all things Vitamin A. I’ve been using it for a number of years now in one form or another for anti aging, and this time last year I decided to take the plunge and go full-scale Tretinoin. So, I thought for my 1 year anniversary of using this product, I would share with you how starting Tretinoin worked for me.

While over-the-counter retinoids can certainly have excellent effects, Tretinoin remains the gold standard with extensive research showing its unparalleled ability to reduce fine lines, improve tone/texture, and increase collagen production.

My goal today is to objectively detail my first year using Tretinoin including the prescription process, side effects and management strategies, the timeline for visible improvement, routine adjustments, lessons learned, and my overall takeaways after 12 months of consistent use.

I hope this information will prove useful, whether you are considering starting Tretinoin yourself or simply interested in an honest firsthand account of using this anti-ageing ingredient. Let’s get started!

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Why I decided to use Tretinoin

I’m sure most people know of this general anti-ageing family of skincare from retinol products in the over-the-counter market. I, on the other hand, was introduced to it as a nurse working with patients who were using it for dermatology reasons.

My knowledge of it was sort of upside down…….I knew the topical drug Tretinoin was an early step for acne treatment, and at some point, had learnt that the active ingredient in this ointment was in fact also amazing at preventing the signs of ageing.

I’m a little hazy on the timeline, (plus it really doesn’t matter!) but at some point, I realised that cosmetic skincare companies had been producing a weaker version of this ingredient that we could buy without the need for a prescription.

I can assure you, I didn’t hang around getting my 1st tube of whatever brand I started using (if memory serves me, it was SkinCeuticals). 

Knowing it was nowhere near the strength of Tretinoin, I still didn’t care – anything was better than nothing when it comes to retinoids!

I was, however, frustrated by YouTube videos showing women in the US starting Tretinoin for anti-ageing and getting hold of the script through “their” dermatologist (I use quotation marks because the concept of having your own consultant is an entirely alien one in the UK). 

If you are anywhere other than the UK, let me tell you, with the NHS you are only able to access a consultant specialist through a referral from your GP, who is our first port of call medical provider.

If you asked your GP (and trust me, these days that’s not easy either!) for a referral to a consultant dermatologist for anti-ageing purposes, you are likely to be laughed at….before being politely asked to buggar off!

So, I started retinoids, on a fairly low-strength product, knowing that I still had to make my way up through the over-the-counter strengths. I had hoped that once I had reached the end of the road with those, there was a chance that we too in the UK, could get our hands on some Tretinoin

Starting Tretinoin, right from the start of my retinoid journey, has always been the ultimate goal!

Related posts:
– WHEN TO START USING RETINOL: THE MAGIC AGE

How I Purchased Tretinoin in the UK

I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I learned that a few skincare companies had started to use Dermatologists to assess and prescribe Tretinoin to customers for anti-ageing (and I’m sure hyperpigmentation and other benefits)…….not just for acne.

The stars had aligned, and I discovered this around the time I had made the increase of over-the-counter retinol up to the strongest Retinaldehyde (it was Medik8 Crystal Retinal 10, the strongest of the retinaldehydes). I was primed and ready to go with Tretinoin!

Incidentally, here’s a review post about Medik8 Crystal Retinal – if this is of interest to you!

A quick Google led me straight away to Dermatica. I have to admit in my excitement to get started with Tretinoin cream, I didn’t even think to check reviews or any other brands to make sure it was the best one for me. 

I’m not doing a review on Dermatica in this post (I will do that in another at some point) but just want to give you a brief rundown on how my Tretinoin, a prescription drug, was obtained:

• You start with an online consultation that includes your biggest skin concerns, a description of your skin, your skin sensitivity, sunscreen usage, skin history with psoriasis etc, and medical conditions. 
• It gives you a choice to let you choose your own concoctions or allow Dermatica to choose the active ingredients for you. 
• You will have to send them a few photos of your face, without makeup, including side views and face on. 
• Once you submit all these answers, you wait for a dermatologist to review it all and devise a care routine for you, then you’ll get an email with your personalised treatment plan

Here’s the link to Dermatica should you want to try this brand.

Related posts:
– MEDIK8 CRYSTAL RETINAL 3 REVIEW IN FOCUS: CRYSTAL CLEAR RESULTS
– RETINALDEHYDE VS. RETINOL – CHOOSING THE BEST FOR YOUR SKIN

The Initial Treatment Plan

Within a day I got an email telling me my plan was:

• Month 1: Tretinoin 0.015%/Niacinamide 4% lotion
• Month 2: Tretinoin 0.025%/Niacinamide 4% lotion
• Month 3: Tretinoin 0.05%/Niacinamide 4% lotion
• Month 4+: Tretinoin 0.015%/Niacinamide 4% lotion

And a few days later, my little pot arrived, with a little booklet on how to use Tretinoin correctly.

A quick mention of what my skin was like before starting Tretinoin: 

• my skin is generally normal but does tend to show signs of oiliness in the T-zone. 
• My pores are obvious, less since starting retinol, but still visible. 
• I get the odd red patchy areas, particularly on my cheeks. 
• I’ve been very blessed to have no problems with spots
• Generally speaking, I’ve been quite happy with my skin, but I’m now showing signs of fine lines around the eyes. I’m well aware that the future only holds more of these unless I can slow that down……why I’m bringing out the big Tretinoin guns now

IMPORTANT NOTE:
This starting Tretinoin routine was tailor-made for me and my scenario. I had spent a good year building up my skin to retinoids already, using the strongest OTC retinoids on a daily basis. This routine, obviously, may not be suitable for you!

If you are a retinoid newbie YOU NEED TO START SLOW!

Related posts:
– HOW TO APPLY RETINOL FOR BEGINNERS – THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

The First Week of Starting Tretinoin

I kept a little diary of how the whole experience went, and I’m pleased to say, it was much easier than I anticipated.

My skincare routine when starting Tretinoin was as follows:

• AM Skincare routine
  – Gentle cleanse
  – Vitamin C
  – Moisturiser
  – SPF

• PM Skincare routine
  – Gentle cleanse
  – Tretinoin
  – Hyaluronic acid
  – Moisturiser

Here is a rundown of what happened with this routine:

• Day 1
  – My first day applying Tretinoin! 
  – My skin was chill about it – no irritation or freak-outs to report! It’s only the first dose after all…….

• Day 2
  – Skin was a little tighter after cleansing this evening. 
  – I felt a bit of stinging when I put the Tretinoin on. 
  – My face appeared slightly redder in the morning and a fair bit redder after exercise, but on the plus side, it appeared slightly softer to the touch.

• Day 3
  – More stinging happened both with the Tretinoin and the moisturisers, and I was glowing red, especially after exercise! 
  – I discovered, after properly reading the instructions on how to apply Tretinoin, that I should avoid the nostrils area – that was the stingiest place on my face! Whoops! 

At this point, I did a bit more research (remember, I jumped straight into ordering this as soon as I discovered the service was available!). When starting tretinoin, we officially have sensitive skin, so I need as much moisturiser as possible to protect the skin barrier. 

I decided to get a heavy-duty, but gentle moisturiser, rather than use one that was focused on anti-ageing……I am, after all, using the king of all anti-ageing!

I also decided that I was leaving too long a gap between applying the Tretinoin and then the moisturisers, so needed to shorten that. My skin was spending too much on its own partying with the tretinoin.

• Day 4
  – Even with the sting, my face was smoother and firmer. But was feeling tight and starting to flake. 
  – Slathered on more moisturizer and stinging chilled out. 
  – There was a faint feeling of skin irritation, a bit of a background tingle and a slight heat to it. 
  – Maybe my imagination, but crow’s feet seemed less visible – only when NOT smiling though!

• Day 5
  – I woke up with a dry patch under my lips like a sunburn but the skin feeling like 6 year old’s! 
  – More flakes but redness only where I’d put the Tretinoin on. 
  – Skin around the lips and eyes were all ghostly white where I hadn’t applied it. It’s a sexy look!

• Day 6
  – Redness and sting decreasing a bit each day from now on. Had that strange tingle all day, and the increase skin irritation was still present, but nothing painful. 
  – Face still sensitive to touch

• Day 7
  – No redness or flaking today but still some stinging! 
  – I decided to skip the Vitamin C to see if it would make a difference. 
  – Pores looking smaller and skin smoother but a bit sensitive still

• Dose 8
  – 1st week of Tretinoin completed and hoping I’m on the homestretch. 
  – No stinging at all today, possibly thanks to leaving Vitamin C off. 
  – No tingling or dryness but still a bit of redness in the morning

Starting Tretinoin In The Second Week

I carried on with the skincare plan I ended the first week with – without Vitamin C. It could have been a coincidence, but the stinging stayed away without it.

I still had a slight tingle feeling throughout the day, but that had just about passed entirely by the end of the two weeks. 

As for the redness, that remained mostly in the mornings, but was easily resolved by either not caring or popping a bit of makeup on when out and about.

I tried to avoid makeup during the first two weeks, but I will say that was based on nothing scientific whatsoever – I suppose I just wanted to give my poor bashed-up skin a bit of a break!

During this week, I also continued to leave only a few minutes between applying the Tretinoin and the moisturisers

I had a good assessment this evening of any improvements I might see at this point. I know it’s way too early to expect many changes to be seen, but I can’t help but check it out.

As it happens, there was a change to my skin! I suddenly realised I couldn’t see my open pores. The fine lines I know will be a long time till they’ve reduced, but my skin really does look healthy. It’s smooth and bright with no red patches.

Related posts:
– HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE RESULTS WITH RETINOL?

Starting Tretinoin In The First Month

By the end of the first month, things had entirely settled down. Nothing had changed in my skin care routine to what I was doing at the end of the first fortnight – I figured “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

My skin felt completely back to normal, however, the redness was still a feature of my post-exercise mornings, which generally passed after I did my am skincare. 

As for the condition of my skin, well it felt like I was a teenager again……and one without zits! I think the fine lines had improved, but that change was harder to notice than the others, particularly as it was still early days

All in all, I was thrilled to be on the other side of the starting Tretinoin beginning phase and to get through relatively unscathed!

Related posts:
– SIDE EFFECTS OF USING RETINOL DEMYSTIFIED: YOUR ULTIMATE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE

Adjusting My Routine Through The Stages Of Using Tretinoin

Over the next few months, I ticked along without any problems. The weather was getting better and I was aware that as the summer was looming, I had to think about how I was going to adjust the routine – or if I even needed to.

I never intended to stop the Vitamin C entirely – it is a really useful ingredient in our anti-ageing arsenal after all – so by the second month I considered bringing that back into the routine.

You can use Vitamin C with retinoids, provided they are applied at opposite ends of the day (which if used correctly, would be anyway), so I slowly brought it back into my morning skincare regime. For the first week or so, it was alternate days, and then every day. Thankfully, all went smoothly. 

The other thing I changed over the next few months was to increase the length of time between applying the Tretinoin and the moisturisers.

Moisturisers essentially act as a buffer for the Tretinoin, perfect when you require that in the early stages, but once your skin is used to it you can do the opposite and allow your skin more time with the active ingredient. 

I roughly increased the time between them to about half an hour, but honestly, that was a very rough amount of time. It all depended on what distractions happened, and with the kids, there were a lot. The important thing to note is that there were no issues with any amount of a time gap.

I nearly forgot to mention the other thing I reintroduced into my routine was a BHA. Salicylic acid has always suited my opened-pore and slightly oily skin, so this was restarted after a month or so. 

Tretinoin does do a job very similar to exfoliation from AHA/BHA, but sometimes, due to the higher skin cell turnover rate, those dead skin cells need a bit of help to get off your face.

I struggled to get into a routine, combining it with the Vitamin C, but eventually found what worked was to not use the Tretinoin once or twice a week and use the acid instead.

I found the acid was necessary, especially if I was going through a flakey patch.

Related posts:
– HOW TO AVOID RETINOL PURGE – 17 TIPS FOR STARTING RETINOL

Summer Adjustment

As it happened, the summer in the UK wasn’t a major difficulty for me, so I continued with my routine without any change. The biggest concern is the stronger sun and more chance of being out in it, but this summer brought heat but not much sun. 

We can still get UV damage from cloudy skies, but there wasn’t much problem with direct sun on my skin. Apart from the odd picnic after school with friends in an open field, there seemed to be plenty of opportunity for shade in my life.

Obviously, I had the usual sun protection SPF on as well, I just wanted to reduce the sun on my face.

The concerning two weeks for me were regarding our holiday in Florida – I knew here there would be plenty of times when I would be stuck outside with direct sun on my face.

Not wanting to stop the tretinoin entirely and have to go back to restart it, I planned to stop the Vitamin C and reduce the Tretinoin to alternate days.

So that’s exactly what I did, and I’m pleased to say it worked a treat!

Once back from our hols, I just got back into my normal routine with Vitamin C and daily Tretinoin.

Related posts:
– RETINOL AND SUN EXPOSURE: HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATE THIS FOR FLAWLESS SKIN

Starting Tretinoin In The First Year

I’ve ticked along easily with the Tretinoin for the majority of the year. Dermatica did send the stronger doses of Tretinoin as per the treatment plan, but I don’t think my skin even noticed!

The skin has a cycle to it and that is obvious at times when I had a flaky moment – thankfully nothing of concern and to be honest I didn’t change anything with my routine to adjust for it.

I’m not one to use the same products ad nauseam – plus I trial different products for this blog. Change for me is refreshing, so with the exception of the Tretinoin, once my skin had settled after the first month or so I did occasionally change the rest of my skincare. 

Nothing drastic……I still had the basis of cleansers, Vitamin C, serums, moisturisers, SPF etc, but just tried different brands. Happy to report no problems occurred!

My Skin Right Now and Thinking of the Future

Strangely, right now on my 1st anniversary, I’m struggling with my skin more than I ever have since the very first dose! The flaking is the worst it’s ever been (it’s like it’s pouring off me all day) and the stinging is quite bad.

But no matter…..it’s a bit annoying (and embarrassing!) but it will resolve. 

I did initially think it was just a normal part of the skin cycle, but it’s much worse than normal and has gone on a bit too long now. There are a few suspicions as to what is causing it, the top of which is the stronger Vitamin C I’m now using. I think I will give that a miss for a while and see if things improve.

This latest week aside, my skin is still looking great and for sure the fine lines are gone – provided I don’t smile (I’m not expecting miracles!). I do get a lot of compliments too, not that I’m too bothered about that but it is nice to get validation that the effort is worth it. 

To be completely honest, I’ve no idea what the future of the Tretinoin holds. I can’t see myself stopping, and I certainly don’t want/plan to, but I will roll with whatever changes occur as needed

Every couple of months I get an email from Dermatica wanting to check in with me. Just a few questions to ensure I’m doing ok and to download the three photos again. I think, perhaps naively, that Dermatica will let me know in the future if there is anything different I should be doing. 

Related posts:
– RETINOL NOT WORKING? 17 REASONS YOU’RE OVERLOOKING IT’S MAGIC

Tips for Starting Tretinoin From My Experience

• You might have noticed I had no outbreak of spots, or purging as it’s also called. Starting Tretinoin, or retinoids in general, doesn’t always mean this is what will happen. It could happen, and the likelihood is higher if you do struggle with them.

• You can see I started seeing a difference in my skin within the first week. Not a massive amount, but enough to be noticeable for me.
  
  Generally, the changes with Tretinoin are much quicker than with OTC retinoids as there is no time-sapping conversion going on to the cell-communicating ingredient retinoic acid. Of course, how long does Tretinoin take to work does depend on how often you apply it.

• Bear in mind that the difference I saw in the early days was not so much to my fine lines but with the open pores and red blotchy areas – the fine line changes took longer. This was also with me using it daily.

• The length of time to see improvements depends very much on your skin’s condition, your age, how often you apply it and what the change is you are looking for.

• Don’t be big-headed like me and assume you’ll be fine with another strong active in the early days, even if your skin is used to it.
  
  You’re better off knocking your skincare right back to the basics and introducing other actives when things have settled down. Save on all those skincare products for now.

• If you don’t heed this advice, then listen to your skin as you go along – if it struggles you then need to consider stepping something back.

• You can see my routine is particularly pared down – this is deliberate. Skin goes through quite a battering when starting retinol and it’s a good idea to not give it too much to cope with.

• I used Tretinoin every day when I started. I managed this purely because my skin was quite used to high-strength OTC retinoids used daily. I would advise that you build up gradually.
  
  Have a look at my post on starting retinol – this applies to whatever strength retinoid you are using. How often to use Tretinoin is quite individual to all of us.

• I adjusted for the seasons, but now that I’ve done the full year, I would say the cold winter months were more of a struggle than the sunny summer months. That was a big surprise!

• Once everything had settled down, an exfoliating acid was wonderful for those periods when I was more flaky.

Well, that wraps up this saga – thanks for sticking it out!  I know that was almost a novel but I really wanted to cover all the nitty gritty details about starting Tretinoin.

While the process has not been without its uncomfortable stages, I am pleased to report the treatment has delivered on its promises.

Quite honestly, the temporarily rough skin is worth it when I look in the mirror and could pass for my early 20s with the right lighting and filter! I haven’t seen my crow’s feet at rest in months and my skin texture is smoother than a baby’s bottom.

And if you’re already on Tretinoin, let’s connect and swap stories! Misery loves company and all that. What was your experience like? If you’re not do you think you will start using it?