Hello and welcome to what we shall call the golden rules of Tret!
So you’ve heard all about Tretinoin on your social media but how do you use it? As you have likely heard, there are specific dos and don’ts to Tretinoin use because it can cause some irritation, but with these rules, you should be off to a great start! Remember, Tretinoin is a marathon and not a sprint. The whole goal is to use this cream LONG TERM so we want to make it comfortable and tolerable for you. Using this cream the wrong way can lead to a lot of irritation and irritation causes inflammation which causes aging- that is the opposite of our goal! So here are the golden rules of Tret:
Tretinoin comes in different concentrations- 0.025%, 0.05% and 0.1%. My recommendation is to start with the lowest dose to see how you tolerate it. If you do not have a lot of irritation, you may consider moving on to a higher concentration for your next tube but as long as you are using your cream regularly, you will see the benefits of Tretinoin.
When you first start using Tretinoin, it is important to start slow. Do a patch test to see how your skin reacts. If you do not have much irritation, you can progress to using Tretinoin once or twice a week at night. If you tolerate this, then you can increase your use to every other night, and if this goes well that you can use Tretinoin nightly.
Make sure you apply the cream to clean dry skin. Initially, when you first start using Tretinoin, I would recommend waiting at least 10 mins after washing your face until your skin is very dry. Putting Tretinoin on moist skin can lead to a lot of irritation and I do not recommend this!
When you apply Tretinoin, don’t overdo it! Apply a pea-sized amount to your whole face- a little goes a long way. When you first start using this cream, I recommend avoiding the more sensitive areas- around your eyes, your smile lines, the top lip, and the area around your nostrils. You can gradually progress to using a small amount of Tretinoin in these areas as you get more used to it.
Use cream on top of the Tretinoin to decrease skin irritation. As you progress with your Tretinoin use, you may choose to wait an hour before putting on cream to get the full potency of the Tretinoin.
Make sure you are only using Tretinoin at night as sunlight can be a strong irritant. In the daytime- use sunscreen! Do you know what’s not fun? A sunburn on top of already sensitive skin.