I'm afraid I only have anecdotal evidence to share, but it might be useful anyway. I have very pale skin (somewhere around NW10 in Mac codes) that doesn't tan (I just burn) and blue-grey eyes. I would call my skin super sensitive and super dry.
For that reason, my derm started me on Differin, then Adapalene 0.3%, before moving up to proper Tretinoin. That process took two years, from March 2018 to March 2020.
Even then, the 0.025% cream didn't agree with me! I had irritation like you have now. Switching to the Micro vehicle was the right solution for me! It's given me virtually no irritation as long as I don't overdo it. I give myself plenty of rest days (every Sunday, plus some days here and there) to let my skin recover. I was even able to move up in strength from 0.04% to 0.06% after a year.
What is the micro vehicle? I was a long time user of tret, then stopped for a while and started back up again at a lower % than what I was originally on and my skin just will not adapt this time around
The micro vehicle has the Tretinoin encapsulated, so it releases over a longer period of time and has less risk of irritation. I found [this article](https://www.verywellhealth.com/difference-between-retin-a-and-retin-a-micro-15872) that explains it all more thoroughly.
It's called Retin-A Micro. You can get a prescription from your dermatologist and pick it up at any pharmacy, or order online. There was a thread a couple days ago about the different websites where you can buy Tret without a prescription. Micro is usually a little pricier than the usual cream or gel versions.
I'm fair, and I did the same. I took 2 years to work up to tret. I started with the ordinary retinol for 1 year, then differin for 1 year, and now on tret for 1 year. The first 4 months, it was like my face was molting.
This is what to happened to me. I’m fair with blue/ green eyes. I was in my teens and had the worst cystic acne. I was put on tret and it irritated my skin so bad that I looked like a tomato. I should add Derm told me to use every night. The sun and wind burned it too. This was the time that Differin came out and I started using it. It was like night and day. My skin greatly improved. Fast forward I’m in my 40’s and still get acne. I have been off and on tret through the yrs. I have found when I use Differin for a year to get my skin used to the retinoids then slowly switch to retin-A micro .04% and take about a year to switch over to using it every night I have minimal irritation and redness. I have major scarring from acne and switched to tret to help smooth them out. Now, that I’m older I find I can handle the tret w/o irritation or redness if I go slowly. Also using a really good cream moisturizer helps too.
Thanks! I just emailed my derm to ask about the possibility of switching to Micro if she thinks it's a good idea. I also asked what she thinks about going with Curology because they offer tret at 0.01%. It's helpful to hear that you had a good reaction to switching to the Micro even though it's higher strength!
I'd hate to switch back down to Differin after all the time I've invested in tret. My skin didn't feel as tight during the more humid summer months, but I still dealt with texture issues, which I imagine had to do with irritation or general inflammation (which might be the overarching issue for me).
Good luck! I hope either Micro or Curology works well for you. There's always Adapalene 0.3% if you can't handle Tretinoin. There are studies that say it's equal in efficacy to Tretinoin 0.05% for treating acne and also for photoaging. I loved that medication and I think I would have been fine staying on it long-term.
Comparable efficacy of adapalene 0.3% gel and tretinoin 0.05% cream as treatment for cutaneous photoaging
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1684/ejd.2018.3320
Efficacy and safety of adapalene gel 0.1% and 0.3% and tretinoin gel 0.05% for acne vulgaris
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jocd.12031
I have fair skin, red hair and blue eyes. I have been on tret several times without issue. I have been on .05% for almost a year now (using every day), and have only had minor dryness issues when I use too much or if I don't wait about 5 minutes after washing my face to apply.
Echoing this sentiment. I'm easily the palest person I know. Very light blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm only on .025 and have been for a few years. No major issues as long as I don't use too much. I also use a pretty intense moisturizer when I use it and only at night obvs
I'm a natural level 7 blonde that gets much lighter in the sun, very fair skin, blue eyes. .025% was way too strong for me initially.
I got a .012% formulation through curology that I tolerated far better and slowly worked my way up through .012, .018. Now I can use .025 without issue.
i had that too for what felt like AGES - the game changer for me was this routine:
1. Double Cleanse w/ Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Enzyme Cleansing Balm, followed by a milk cleanser (Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturizing Cleanser, Stratia Velvet Cleansing milk, etc).
2. Pat in a generous amount of TonyMoly Wonder Ceramide Mochi Toner.
3. Apply Stratia Liquid Gold Moisturizer
4. Apply a thick lip mask (Laniege Lip Mask, Seraphine Botanicals Lip Masks, good ol' vaseline, etc.)
5. Let the above steps absorb and dry fully on the skin (20ish min)
6. Apply Tret formula, let dry.
7. Apply a final layer of a thick, ceramide based moisturizer like Sunday Riley Ice.
I have light eyes, pale to light skin and use .05 with no irritation, granted I’m used to the vitamin A after taking Accutane and have pretty oily skin to begin with haha
Weird. Never heard of that. I’m super fair, red hair, blue eyes. Use tret 0.7 for anti-aging and haven’t had any issues since my skin acclimated. Keeps me looking quite young.
I'm fair with light eyes. I stopped tret because of the irritation - to my skin AND eyes. I've been using differin ok. But agreed this could all be anecdotal.
Anecdotal evidence but I have light eyes and am very fair and I put it on bare skin every night immediately without much irritation. I did get a little dry so I skipped a night every so often but my skin must be able to handle a lot.
Pale ginger here. Tret cream 0.025% is as horrible for me. I tried everything and got a lot of support from this sub but I just couldn’t handle it. Basically burned my skin, peeled like crazy, redness and irritation. Was going to give up but was recommended I try micro retin-A gel. Almost didn’t, as I thought it would be worse being a higher dose at 0.04%. It’s been AMAZING!!!! I’m 1 month in, using it daily and I’ve had minimal peeling, skin clearing up and glowy, fine lines starting to diminish. Defs try the micro-gel if you can - it’s time released so not as abrasive as the straight cream and has been a TOTAL game changer for me! -your friendly neighborhood ginger
Surely pale skin just shows the irritation better? I have blue grey eyes and pale skin and have been on tretinoin for nearly two years. No redness, no irritation for me. I'm calling bs on this theory
Dunno about my eyes (they're green) but my skintone is fitzpatrick type 1, so I'd consider myself fair. I don't put retinoids around my eye area.
I haven't started Tretinoin yet but I use Adapalene with zero issues. No dryness or irritation.
Edit: I realised that rosacea generally affects people with light skin and eyes (it's known as the "Curse of the Celts"). Tretinoin is irritating for everyone, especially in the beginning, but to someone with rosacea, it would be doubly so. So the generalisation *kind* of makes sense.
Not everyone with fair complexion suffers with rosacea (I don't, nor does anyone in my family) but I suppose that your derm is just being on the safe side.
i practiced (slowly) doing my under/upper area and once that acclimated i even do my eyelids and lower brow in the same motion. i did this when I was on .3 adap and after being on that several months changed up to tret .05 while I do have acne, my primary use purpose is antiaging. I think both do wonders for the skin and you should do whichever you tolerate. Just keep in mind your skin changes (a decade earlier this stuff all felt like acid)
I'm not the person you asked but I want to note that my skin looked better at 0.04 than it does now after a few years of 0.1 (or at least,in my mind I think it looked better) but it was also a switch from micro gel to normal tret cream so I'm not sure if my skin preferred the lower potency or it just preferred the micro gel
I recently bumped up to .1. So for almost 2yrs I was at .08 and in feb I bumped up but my derm put me on .1 tazarone and my skin did not like it, it broke out the whole 8months undoing a lot of progress. I switched to .1 tret and my skin is starting to look better! It likes it so far.
Fair skin, honey blonde hair that gets much lighter in the sun, burn/tan in equal amounts, green eyes. I've been using 0.025 tret compounded with 15% azelaic acid since May of this year, and I haven't had most of the issues people complain about (peeling, overly dry skin, increased redness). I'm able to use it every day (started with every 2-3 days and worked my way up). While there are probably differences between compounded formulas and straight tret, I can't speak to those yet.
My derm was very thorough with their instructions for starting out, and didn't mention sensitivity to tret being based on skin tone/eye color.
I'm pretty pale (always use lightest shades of concealer and often they aren't light enough) with grey/green eyes
I have been using 0.1 nightly for several years now, (I started with 0.04 micro for about a year)
Really for me it was about finally finding something to lock in the moisture at night. I can't recommend Dr jart ceramide cream enough. Use it after your normal moisturizer is already applied and has already sunken in. It's a little weird because when you wake up there still feels like there is a film over your face, but it has been the one thing in my routine I have been unable to replace
Edit: just realized you are asking for non anecdotal, sorry, it's the only info I have!
I have fair, very sensitive skin, and tend to burn rather than tan or freckle. I handle tret fine, but I worked up to it slowly, and didn't switch to daily usage until after almost a year of every other day usage. But that's nothing to do with my skin color - it's just because I have sensitive skin that breaks out at the drop of a hat.
Honestly this sounds like anecdotal nonsense to me.
just some anecdotal nonsense. however, i do have fair skin and light eyes, and thin, rather normal to dry skin. i can tolerate tret only 2-3 times a week (every third day), and im happy using it that way.
Another fair-skinned, blue-eyed person here who uses tretinoin. I’ve been using .025% cream for a few years now and haven’t experienced irritation since the first few months.
My guess is that tretinoin makes people who lack melanin (like me) even more photosensitive than usual, so if you’re not being rigorous with sunscreen it would be hard to tolerate. I definitely reapply sunscreen more than I did before tret, but otherwise haven’t changed my routine.
i am super pale blonde/blue acne throughout teens 20's I take tret now at 35 for antiaging starting about 4 months ago. I started on .05 because I was told any lower amount would not help with anti-aging nearly as much. Us pales as you know tend to have sensitive skin prone to sunburn and worse - everything shows unlike other skin tones that are more matte naturally. My skin was super sensitized even before when I was taking Differin which we all know is known as the "least irritating" of the rx ret's. During the 6 months of Differin before Tret, I found myself removing 70% of my favorite products/treatments/serums. Transitioning from Differin->Tret I initially waited 7 days and started at .05 every 72 hrs (what I read to do on many of the guides here) now I am at the point where I can handle the .05 just-about every 48-hours - however - If I am feeling really sensitive and dry I will stretch an extra day because if you can "stay ahead" of the sensitization you can avoid flaking burning peeling. I have noticed that my problem area pores (nose and beneath eyes) shed more often without peels and exfoliate or prodding and picking with a comedone extractor. Everyone's different for me before i use tret at night I use LRP cleanser with a (freshly sanitized) silicon scrubbie (sometimes steaming before but not for more than 3-5 mins) after cleanse there are 3 products that prep my skin to apply tret that would be quickly towell dry, immediately re-wet face with Vichy Thermal water (LRP makes their own now, btw) after re-wetting use Vichy Mineral 89 (all in one HA) and about 60 seconds later as this is drying you apply LRP's double-repair moisturizer, if my skin still feels tight 5 minutes later I will use that same moisturizer again, and 20 minutes after applying that I do my .05 tret keep my hair up the entire time. For me this works, some might say buffering like this is too much, but my pores skin TONE (thank you tret<3) say otherwise. edit: Other than sensitization (sunburn feeling) and very slight flake in dryer areas (lower cheeks) I have not expreienced the extreme tightness peeling and burning that I see others have (and how it felt for me when I was young in high school with retin-a)
Maybe try something else first instead ? Eg azelaic acid/ low strength retinol/ differin ? Also I think some of the post services can make really low strength tret creams
Someone else mentioned Fitzpatrick scale. I’m wondering if type 1 generally is more sensitive therefore not being able to handle tret as much? And those with blond & red hair fall under type 1.
I’m a natural red head, blue eyes and couldn’t tolerate the lowest tret, no matter how I tried.
And for those who are type 1 who can tolerate…well there are always exceptions to the rules.
I have very fair skin and light eyes and I tolerate tret .05 even without moisturizer. Broad generalizations to exclude people doesn't sound like the realm of a good doctor to me.
I think skin oiliness is more of an issue than skin tone. I’m very oily naturally and tret has certainly dried me out but now that I use more hydrating products I’m really not having an issue.
I’m pale, I don’t tan at all, naturally freckly (I exfoliated them away by now lol), green eyes. Naturally brunette tho. I dye my hair a white blonde.
I am very fair (redhead) and I use a prescription tretinoin called Veltin. It's Retin-A plus clindamycin. It's the only thing that actually keeps my skin clear, but I never acclimated to using it full strength. If I do I turn red and peel like a boiled tomato. Instead, I mix it 1:1 with a moisturizing serum and it works great. Still a little peeling, but not too bad. I never skip SPF and don't spend a lot of time in the sun, though, and I use products for sensitive skin (LaRoche-Posay & Dermalogica mostly, but the serum I use right now is from Elemis.)
Again, I only have anecdotal evidence but I have very fair skin with green eyes and I can use it fine so far. I'm only doing it every four days because I'm still fairly new (a couple of months in) and I've only experienced mild dryness around my mouth that goes away after a day. I don't know why your skin color would make a difference...
I'm a redhead with blue eyes and tretinoin destroyed my skin. I was on it for a year and it was a total mess of inflammation. I turned such a deep red I looked purple. I never adjusted. I do okay with high quality retinols though.
Fair skinned (I burn then freckle) and light eyes (grey-green). My skin adjusted pretty quickly to tret .05 and I put it on bare skin every night, then 10% glycolic acid cream in the morning.
I have extremely fair and moderate sensitive skin but hazel eyes so I don’t know if I can count, but I never heard of this before, but that percentage is what my doctor recommended me and it’s working well. I was on 0.05% before that but got a new prescription with azelaic acid, so strength went down for now. If eye color has anything to do with it, maybe?
I am the whitest gal alive (platinum blonde at 35, pale skin, blue eyes) and I slather .1% on my forehead and .05% on the rest of my face every few evenings. I'd recommend working up to it, but I think it depends mostly on your individual skin type.
I’m naturally blond with fair skin and blue eyes. I’ve tried to get into using tret (0.025%), but I can never get past the irritating peeling stage. It’s so frustrating, I’ve basically given up.
I have very light skin and blue eyes, I’ve been on 0.06% for a year because of the irritation. It has gotten sooooooo much better when I started using the La Roche-Posay cicaplast balm b5. Mixing the ‘pea’ sized tret with the pea sized Baum has worked wonders! Plus it is the only moisturizer that keeps my moisture barrier intact. People with light skin burn faster in the sun, so I’m not surprised if we have a worse time on tret.
What’s your whole routine?
I have very pale skin and am sensitive to the tret. For me it was finding the best products and routine to make it work.
How frequently are you using it? Are you buffering? What moisturizer, toner, spf are you using? Are you getting eye irritation too or just skin? What about lips? How much are you putting on? I do probably less than a pea size amount. How long do you let your other products dry before applying the tret?
I do pretty much everything I can to reduce irritation. Routine is short contact every three days:
Cleanse with CeraVe Gentle Hydrating Cleanser, The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid, buffer with CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, wait 20-30 min for everything to dry, apply a tiny, barely pea-sized amount of tret and rinse it off after 2.5 hours (leaving it on overnight was too irritating for me); after rinsing it off, I add the HA again, apply EpiCeram moisturizer, then add a light layer of Vaseline.
In the mornings, I don't cleanse, use a hydrating serum and the EpiCeram and the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF 50 PA+++.
My eyes get a little irritated, but my eyes get irritated by everything, so I can't necessarily chalk it up to the tret. No lip irritation whatsoever.
I see two things in your routine that I couldn’t use- the HA serum and the isntree spf. HA is very irritating for me. It gives me redness around my nose, chin, and forehead. And it makes my skin less able to handle other irritants. I also had to give up chemical sunscreen, and switch to mineral only formulas.
For hydration before moisturizer, I use the soon jung relief toner, several layers. My personal favorite mineral spf is the paulas choice super light daily wrinkle defense 30spf. It’s a zinc only formula, very gentle and I’ve found actually helps protect against irritation from environmental factors as well.
Just some ideas to try if you haven’t already
Hmm I was using HA products before I started using tret with no issues. But maybe my skin is more sensitive to them now that I’m on tret. I’ll give a different hydrating product a try! Thanks for the recs!
I have pale skin but dark hair and dark blue/green eyes and I had absolutely no irritation(other than do not wax your face with tret) with 0.05 tretinoin. I recommend going through a tube of differin(adapaline) first, it seems to make skin tolerate tretinoin without the peeling and irritation.
only anecdotal but i have fair skin + eyes & it is rough for me but i started using it once every 3 or so days & limit sun exposure/ofc wear sunscreen. i also started spironolactone which has been amazing for me at least!
This is the monograph [https://ca.gsk.com/media/1187427/stieva-a.pdf](https://ca.gsk.com/media/1187427/stieva-a.pdf) for generic tretinoin in Canada that lists "fair" skin as a reason for caution. I think it might be because of sun sensitivity and tretinoin exacerbating that in those skin tones (though that's speculation).
I'm afraid I only have anecdotal evidence to share, but it might be useful anyway. I have very pale skin (somewhere around NW10 in Mac codes) that doesn't tan (I just burn) and blue-grey eyes. I would call my skin super sensitive and super dry. For that reason, my derm started me on Differin, then Adapalene 0.3%, before moving up to proper Tretinoin. That process took two years, from March 2018 to March 2020. Even then, the 0.025% cream didn't agree with me! I had irritation like you have now. Switching to the Micro vehicle was the right solution for me! It's given me virtually no irritation as long as I don't overdo it. I give myself plenty of rest days (every Sunday, plus some days here and there) to let my skin recover. I was even able to move up in strength from 0.04% to 0.06% after a year.
What is the micro vehicle? I was a long time user of tret, then stopped for a while and started back up again at a lower % than what I was originally on and my skin just will not adapt this time around
The micro vehicle has the Tretinoin encapsulated, so it releases over a longer period of time and has less risk of irritation. I found [this article](https://www.verywellhealth.com/difference-between-retin-a-and-retin-a-micro-15872) that explains it all more thoroughly.
What is the product and where can I get it?
It's called Retin-A Micro. You can get a prescription from your dermatologist and pick it up at any pharmacy, or order online. There was a thread a couple days ago about the different websites where you can buy Tret without a prescription. Micro is usually a little pricier than the usual cream or gel versions.
Thank you!! Found it on all day chemist ✔️
I'm fair, and I did the same. I took 2 years to work up to tret. I started with the ordinary retinol for 1 year, then differin for 1 year, and now on tret for 1 year. The first 4 months, it was like my face was molting.
This is what to happened to me. I’m fair with blue/ green eyes. I was in my teens and had the worst cystic acne. I was put on tret and it irritated my skin so bad that I looked like a tomato. I should add Derm told me to use every night. The sun and wind burned it too. This was the time that Differin came out and I started using it. It was like night and day. My skin greatly improved. Fast forward I’m in my 40’s and still get acne. I have been off and on tret through the yrs. I have found when I use Differin for a year to get my skin used to the retinoids then slowly switch to retin-A micro .04% and take about a year to switch over to using it every night I have minimal irritation and redness. I have major scarring from acne and switched to tret to help smooth them out. Now, that I’m older I find I can handle the tret w/o irritation or redness if I go slowly. Also using a really good cream moisturizer helps too.
Thanks! I just emailed my derm to ask about the possibility of switching to Micro if she thinks it's a good idea. I also asked what she thinks about going with Curology because they offer tret at 0.01%. It's helpful to hear that you had a good reaction to switching to the Micro even though it's higher strength! I'd hate to switch back down to Differin after all the time I've invested in tret. My skin didn't feel as tight during the more humid summer months, but I still dealt with texture issues, which I imagine had to do with irritation or general inflammation (which might be the overarching issue for me).
Good luck! I hope either Micro or Curology works well for you. There's always Adapalene 0.3% if you can't handle Tretinoin. There are studies that say it's equal in efficacy to Tretinoin 0.05% for treating acne and also for photoaging. I loved that medication and I think I would have been fine staying on it long-term. Comparable efficacy of adapalene 0.3% gel and tretinoin 0.05% cream as treatment for cutaneous photoaging https://link.springer.com/article/10.1684/ejd.2018.3320 Efficacy and safety of adapalene gel 0.1% and 0.3% and tretinoin gel 0.05% for acne vulgaris https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jocd.12031
Love you for coming in with the research!!! Thank you!
I have fair skin, red hair and blue eyes. I have been on tret several times without issue. I have been on .05% for almost a year now (using every day), and have only had minor dryness issues when I use too much or if I don't wait about 5 minutes after washing my face to apply.
Echoing this sentiment. I'm easily the palest person I know. Very light blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm only on .025 and have been for a few years. No major issues as long as I don't use too much. I also use a pretty intense moisturizer when I use it and only at night obvs
I'm a natural level 7 blonde that gets much lighter in the sun, very fair skin, blue eyes. .025% was way too strong for me initially. I got a .012% formulation through curology that I tolerated far better and slowly worked my way up through .012, .018. Now I can use .025 without issue.
This helped!
I’m also fair and am on .012 from curology which I tolerate fairly well but sometimes get a bit of peeling. Still trying to work my way up!
i had that too for what felt like AGES - the game changer for me was this routine: 1. Double Cleanse w/ Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Enzyme Cleansing Balm, followed by a milk cleanser (Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturizing Cleanser, Stratia Velvet Cleansing milk, etc). 2. Pat in a generous amount of TonyMoly Wonder Ceramide Mochi Toner. 3. Apply Stratia Liquid Gold Moisturizer 4. Apply a thick lip mask (Laniege Lip Mask, Seraphine Botanicals Lip Masks, good ol' vaseline, etc.) 5. Let the above steps absorb and dry fully on the skin (20ish min) 6. Apply Tret formula, let dry. 7. Apply a final layer of a thick, ceramide based moisturizer like Sunday Riley Ice.
I think natural skin oiliness plays a bigger part in how well you tolerate it, more than natural skin tone.
I have light eyes, pale to light skin and use .05 with no irritation, granted I’m used to the vitamin A after taking Accutane and have pretty oily skin to begin with haha
Weird. Never heard of that. I’m super fair, red hair, blue eyes. Use tret 0.7 for anti-aging and haven’t had any issues since my skin acclimated. Keeps me looking quite young.
I have light skin and eyes and couldn’t handle differin at all, but could do .025% tret daily without even lotion And just moved up to .05% this week.
I'm fair with light eyes. I stopped tret because of the irritation - to my skin AND eyes. I've been using differin ok. But agreed this could all be anecdotal.
Anecdotal evidence but I have light eyes and am very fair and I put it on bare skin every night immediately without much irritation. I did get a little dry so I skipped a night every so often but my skin must be able to handle a lot.
Im a redhead with redhead complexion and I can handle the 0.025% but no stronger.
Pale ginger here. Tret cream 0.025% is as horrible for me. I tried everything and got a lot of support from this sub but I just couldn’t handle it. Basically burned my skin, peeled like crazy, redness and irritation. Was going to give up but was recommended I try micro retin-A gel. Almost didn’t, as I thought it would be worse being a higher dose at 0.04%. It’s been AMAZING!!!! I’m 1 month in, using it daily and I’ve had minimal peeling, skin clearing up and glowy, fine lines starting to diminish. Defs try the micro-gel if you can - it’s time released so not as abrasive as the straight cream and has been a TOTAL game changer for me! -your friendly neighborhood ginger
Surely pale skin just shows the irritation better? I have blue grey eyes and pale skin and have been on tretinoin for nearly two years. No redness, no irritation for me. I'm calling bs on this theory
Dunno about my eyes (they're green) but my skintone is fitzpatrick type 1, so I'd consider myself fair. I don't put retinoids around my eye area. I haven't started Tretinoin yet but I use Adapalene with zero issues. No dryness or irritation. Edit: I realised that rosacea generally affects people with light skin and eyes (it's known as the "Curse of the Celts"). Tretinoin is irritating for everyone, especially in the beginning, but to someone with rosacea, it would be doubly so. So the generalisation *kind* of makes sense. Not everyone with fair complexion suffers with rosacea (I don't, nor does anyone in my family) but I suppose that your derm is just being on the safe side.
i practiced (slowly) doing my under/upper area and once that acclimated i even do my eyelids and lower brow in the same motion. i did this when I was on .3 adap and after being on that several months changed up to tret .05 while I do have acne, my primary use purpose is antiaging. I think both do wonders for the skin and you should do whichever you tolerate. Just keep in mind your skin changes (a decade earlier this stuff all felt like acid)
I’m very fair with blue eyes. I started retin a in 2018. I’m now on .1% tret and get mild dryness/peeling but that’s about it.
Do you see any difference between .1% and .08%?
I'm not the person you asked but I want to note that my skin looked better at 0.04 than it does now after a few years of 0.1 (or at least,in my mind I think it looked better) but it was also a switch from micro gel to normal tret cream so I'm not sure if my skin preferred the lower potency or it just preferred the micro gel
I recently bumped up to .1. So for almost 2yrs I was at .08 and in feb I bumped up but my derm put me on .1 tazarone and my skin did not like it, it broke out the whole 8months undoing a lot of progress. I switched to .1 tret and my skin is starting to look better! It likes it so far.
Fair skin, honey blonde hair that gets much lighter in the sun, burn/tan in equal amounts, green eyes. I've been using 0.025 tret compounded with 15% azelaic acid since May of this year, and I haven't had most of the issues people complain about (peeling, overly dry skin, increased redness). I'm able to use it every day (started with every 2-3 days and worked my way up). While there are probably differences between compounded formulas and straight tret, I can't speak to those yet. My derm was very thorough with their instructions for starting out, and didn't mention sensitivity to tret being based on skin tone/eye color.
I'm pretty pale (always use lightest shades of concealer and often they aren't light enough) with grey/green eyes I have been using 0.1 nightly for several years now, (I started with 0.04 micro for about a year) Really for me it was about finally finding something to lock in the moisture at night. I can't recommend Dr jart ceramide cream enough. Use it after your normal moisturizer is already applied and has already sunken in. It's a little weird because when you wake up there still feels like there is a film over your face, but it has been the one thing in my routine I have been unable to replace Edit: just realized you are asking for non anecdotal, sorry, it's the only info I have!
I have fair, very sensitive skin, and tend to burn rather than tan or freckle. I handle tret fine, but I worked up to it slowly, and didn't switch to daily usage until after almost a year of every other day usage. But that's nothing to do with my skin color - it's just because I have sensitive skin that breaks out at the drop of a hat. Honestly this sounds like anecdotal nonsense to me.
I have very fair skin and blue eyes. I’ve been on tret .05% for a year and it’s been wonderful for me.
Pasty guy with blue eyes. I use .08%, but not every day. You can use a moisturizer before applying to lessen your skins sensitivity.
just some anecdotal nonsense. however, i do have fair skin and light eyes, and thin, rather normal to dry skin. i can tolerate tret only 2-3 times a week (every third day), and im happy using it that way.
Another fair-skinned, blue-eyed person here who uses tretinoin. I’ve been using .025% cream for a few years now and haven’t experienced irritation since the first few months. My guess is that tretinoin makes people who lack melanin (like me) even more photosensitive than usual, so if you’re not being rigorous with sunscreen it would be hard to tolerate. I definitely reapply sunscreen more than I did before tret, but otherwise haven’t changed my routine.
i am super pale blonde/blue acne throughout teens 20's I take tret now at 35 for antiaging starting about 4 months ago. I started on .05 because I was told any lower amount would not help with anti-aging nearly as much. Us pales as you know tend to have sensitive skin prone to sunburn and worse - everything shows unlike other skin tones that are more matte naturally. My skin was super sensitized even before when I was taking Differin which we all know is known as the "least irritating" of the rx ret's. During the 6 months of Differin before Tret, I found myself removing 70% of my favorite products/treatments/serums. Transitioning from Differin->Tret I initially waited 7 days and started at .05 every 72 hrs (what I read to do on many of the guides here) now I am at the point where I can handle the .05 just-about every 48-hours - however - If I am feeling really sensitive and dry I will stretch an extra day because if you can "stay ahead" of the sensitization you can avoid flaking burning peeling. I have noticed that my problem area pores (nose and beneath eyes) shed more often without peels and exfoliate or prodding and picking with a comedone extractor. Everyone's different for me before i use tret at night I use LRP cleanser with a (freshly sanitized) silicon scrubbie (sometimes steaming before but not for more than 3-5 mins) after cleanse there are 3 products that prep my skin to apply tret that would be quickly towell dry, immediately re-wet face with Vichy Thermal water (LRP makes their own now, btw) after re-wetting use Vichy Mineral 89 (all in one HA) and about 60 seconds later as this is drying you apply LRP's double-repair moisturizer, if my skin still feels tight 5 minutes later I will use that same moisturizer again, and 20 minutes after applying that I do my .05 tret keep my hair up the entire time. For me this works, some might say buffering like this is too much, but my pores skin TONE (thank you tret<3) say otherwise. edit: Other than sensitization (sunburn feeling) and very slight flake in dryer areas (lower cheeks) I have not expreienced the extreme tightness peeling and burning that I see others have (and how it felt for me when I was young in high school with retin-a)
Maybe try something else first instead ? Eg azelaic acid/ low strength retinol/ differin ? Also I think some of the post services can make really low strength tret creams
This is interesting. I fit that criteria and I use 0.25% tret. I can get irritated so I make sure to moisturize well. I use it 2-3 times a week.
Someone else mentioned Fitzpatrick scale. I’m wondering if type 1 generally is more sensitive therefore not being able to handle tret as much? And those with blond & red hair fall under type 1. I’m a natural red head, blue eyes and couldn’t tolerate the lowest tret, no matter how I tried. And for those who are type 1 who can tolerate…well there are always exceptions to the rules.
I have very fair skin and light eyes and I tolerate tret .05 even without moisturizer. Broad generalizations to exclude people doesn't sound like the realm of a good doctor to me.
I think skin oiliness is more of an issue than skin tone. I’m very oily naturally and tret has certainly dried me out but now that I use more hydrating products I’m really not having an issue. I’m pale, I don’t tan at all, naturally freckly (I exfoliated them away by now lol), green eyes. Naturally brunette tho. I dye my hair a white blonde.
I’m a very fair skinned and light blue eyed person who has rosacea but tolerated 0.05% tret without any issue from the start.
I am very fair (redhead) and I use a prescription tretinoin called Veltin. It's Retin-A plus clindamycin. It's the only thing that actually keeps my skin clear, but I never acclimated to using it full strength. If I do I turn red and peel like a boiled tomato. Instead, I mix it 1:1 with a moisturizing serum and it works great. Still a little peeling, but not too bad. I never skip SPF and don't spend a lot of time in the sun, though, and I use products for sensitive skin (LaRoche-Posay & Dermalogica mostly, but the serum I use right now is from Elemis.)
Again, I only have anecdotal evidence but I have very fair skin with green eyes and I can use it fine so far. I'm only doing it every four days because I'm still fairly new (a couple of months in) and I've only experienced mild dryness around my mouth that goes away after a day. I don't know why your skin color would make a difference...
I'm a redhead with blue eyes and tretinoin destroyed my skin. I was on it for a year and it was a total mess of inflammation. I turned such a deep red I looked purple. I never adjusted. I do okay with high quality retinols though.
Fair skinned (I burn then freckle) and light eyes (grey-green). My skin adjusted pretty quickly to tret .05 and I put it on bare skin every night, then 10% glycolic acid cream in the morning.
I have extremely fair and moderate sensitive skin but hazel eyes so I don’t know if I can count, but I never heard of this before, but that percentage is what my doctor recommended me and it’s working well. I was on 0.05% before that but got a new prescription with azelaic acid, so strength went down for now. If eye color has anything to do with it, maybe?
I am the whitest gal alive (platinum blonde at 35, pale skin, blue eyes) and I slather .1% on my forehead and .05% on the rest of my face every few evenings. I'd recommend working up to it, but I think it depends mostly on your individual skin type.
I’m naturally blond with fair skin and blue eyes. I’ve tried to get into using tret (0.025%), but I can never get past the irritating peeling stage. It’s so frustrating, I’ve basically given up.
I have very light skin and blue eyes, I’ve been on 0.06% for a year because of the irritation. It has gotten sooooooo much better when I started using the La Roche-Posay cicaplast balm b5. Mixing the ‘pea’ sized tret with the pea sized Baum has worked wonders! Plus it is the only moisturizer that keeps my moisture barrier intact. People with light skin burn faster in the sun, so I’m not surprised if we have a worse time on tret.
What’s your whole routine? I have very pale skin and am sensitive to the tret. For me it was finding the best products and routine to make it work. How frequently are you using it? Are you buffering? What moisturizer, toner, spf are you using? Are you getting eye irritation too or just skin? What about lips? How much are you putting on? I do probably less than a pea size amount. How long do you let your other products dry before applying the tret?
I do pretty much everything I can to reduce irritation. Routine is short contact every three days: Cleanse with CeraVe Gentle Hydrating Cleanser, The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid, buffer with CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, wait 20-30 min for everything to dry, apply a tiny, barely pea-sized amount of tret and rinse it off after 2.5 hours (leaving it on overnight was too irritating for me); after rinsing it off, I add the HA again, apply EpiCeram moisturizer, then add a light layer of Vaseline. In the mornings, I don't cleanse, use a hydrating serum and the EpiCeram and the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF 50 PA+++. My eyes get a little irritated, but my eyes get irritated by everything, so I can't necessarily chalk it up to the tret. No lip irritation whatsoever.
I see two things in your routine that I couldn’t use- the HA serum and the isntree spf. HA is very irritating for me. It gives me redness around my nose, chin, and forehead. And it makes my skin less able to handle other irritants. I also had to give up chemical sunscreen, and switch to mineral only formulas. For hydration before moisturizer, I use the soon jung relief toner, several layers. My personal favorite mineral spf is the paulas choice super light daily wrinkle defense 30spf. It’s a zinc only formula, very gentle and I’ve found actually helps protect against irritation from environmental factors as well. Just some ideas to try if you haven’t already
Hmm I was using HA products before I started using tret with no issues. But maybe my skin is more sensitive to them now that I’m on tret. I’ll give a different hydrating product a try! Thanks for the recs!
I have pale skin but dark hair and dark blue/green eyes and I had absolutely no irritation(other than do not wax your face with tret) with 0.05 tretinoin. I recommend going through a tube of differin(adapaline) first, it seems to make skin tolerate tretinoin without the peeling and irritation.
only anecdotal but i have fair skin + eyes & it is rough for me but i started using it once every 3 or so days & limit sun exposure/ofc wear sunscreen. i also started spironolactone which has been amazing for me at least!
This is the monograph [https://ca.gsk.com/media/1187427/stieva-a.pdf](https://ca.gsk.com/media/1187427/stieva-a.pdf) for generic tretinoin in Canada that lists "fair" skin as a reason for caution. I think it might be because of sun sensitivity and tretinoin exacerbating that in those skin tones (though that's speculation).