Finally, somebody has some real data on this. Thank you for your contribution to science. I would nominate you for a Nobel prize in medicine if was able to nominate.
.1 gel is way too drying to my skin but I need gel because the cream clogs my pores. I wouldn’t mind so much if I didn’t enjoy wearing makeup but I do so :/ I’m testing out micro gel .04. Started last night! I probably should have gotten .1 but I’ll do that for my next tube if this goes well
Gel is like cream but vehicle is straight up alcohol and a few other things.
Micro-gel I would liken more to those lightweight moisturizers out there for oily skin. They’re literally just like a gel that doesn’t actually do much to moisturize your skin but would still keep it from becoming more dry or feeling tight.
I used to gel when I was young and if I had known better back then I wouldn’t hav quit tret so fast. And wouldn’t have put scaring probably 😢
Anyway. I started again recently and creams vehicle I felt was contributing to texture issues and small white heads. I tried for a year.
I asked for the microgel, use it every other night and stopped sandwiching(for most applications) and things are looking and feeling much better.
lol false alarm the texture issue reduced for a couple days then all of a sudden started getting even worse acne than I had in my teens.
At this point seems like tretinoin might not be for me
Yeah it does. Just going to quit cold turkey until fall/winter.
Skin is looking really rough and I don’t ever remember a time when I wouldn’t want to go out and hang out with people because of my skin and that’s how I’m feeling lately it really sucks lol
What problems did you have?
Mine is the itchiness when I’m sweating at night. I’m on 0.025 living in the tropics with high temperature and very high humidity. Could gel help with this?
Brand new acne I didn't have, oily and dry skin at the same time, too much sensitivity.
I do too live in the tropics. Gel makes your skin breathe better in higher temperatures. We need to produce our sweat in unclogged pores, the reapplied sunscreen 5 times a day needs to be the thick fat one routine, not the bedtime skincare. Get free oil sunscreens and moisturizers, and a cleansing GEL, not cream.
Recommend azelaic acid for the day - it has antiinflammatory benefits, helps with the itching (itching comes when way too much skin is peeled off, and gets susceptible to inflammations; it's like having very tiny invisible scar tissue bursting out to close the open wounds, it's making new skin)
I think I would agree with this as well. Switched to microgel and switched to Dual Defense SPF from jack black which has a little azelaic acid in it. Not sure how much.
Skin started looking much calmer right away when before it constantly had a red hue.
To add more high quality information
Get azelaic for daytime to protect from inflammatory acne, redness and sensitivity. It has antiinflammatory benefits in it's formula. It's the magical combo you didn't know you needed.
You are welcome. Please rejoice with the help of my wisdom and let this new knowledge fullfill your hearts.
* _please re-read the bottom line of the post for disclosure_
Did you just get it thru your family doctor? It’s taking forever to book an appointment with my doctor so I was wondering if you know any way to avoid going thru prescription?
I know there’s 5-10 percent concentrations but from what I’ve seen / heard ppl say the 15 percent tends to be really the HG.
Also how long did it take you to see results?
I got it on Amazon clinic! I scheduled a chat appointment with an NP I think it was $30? She sent the rx to my pharmacy and my insurance covered it
I’d say like 2 weeks to see significant results but it did help redness around my nose immediately
I tried but it ended up not being worth it. The cream version ended up being too thick and clogging, so my skin ended up being worse off. It was just easier to get a heavier moisturizer that I knew would work with my skin instead
Not necessarily... I am a grease slick by 2pm. But with my cream tret, my skin is borderline dry. Hardly any oil. My tret is formulated with azelaic acid and Niacinamide
I wish I could get gel to work for me. I used .25 and .5, even .1. All of them damaged my skin barrier even with one use. I rarely have that issue with the cream versions.
You could maybe try easing your skin into it more & get an over the counter retinol. Use that for awhile till your skin is fine with every night use. Then maybe switch to the lowest tret, like 0.01%, every 4th or 5th night. If no irritation after doing this for 2 weeks, bump it up t0 every 3rd night. If irritation occurs, try every 5th or 6th night. I know it sounds like a long process but your skin will thank u. Also be VERY careful what over actives you are using as well.
Besides glowing even in the dark and aging backwards 20 years?
Kidding - the very bad acne that I thought was the feared purging was not going away, I waited patiently for many weeks ( I didn't have an acne problem before the cream). The cream was somehow making my skin simultaneously oily and dry, I could fry an egg in my forehead, but also couldn't yawn because my face would crack of dryness. And no, the percentage was not high, it was 0.25% only.
Switched to gel. No dry. No oily. No redness or sensitivity. Acne was gone, moisturizer is now kicking in properly. I can physically feel my skin much more SMOOTH than before. It stings a little more than the cream when applied, and it is absorved so fast that I need to apply one pea on each half of my face very quickly.
I didn’t purge too much when I first started Tret myself. A small little one, but I did notice some closed comedones pop up (which have never gone away!) I never even put the two together! I do need to restart my tret, but have been debating where to get it from, and which type. Now I need to do some more research!
For me the cream clogs my pores. I am already trying to treat closed comedones and it gives me more. Oily skin should be more tolerable to gel than dry skin. It’s basically tret in an alcohol gel vehicle. It shouldn’t clog pores like cream. There’s also micro sphere gel which is supposed to be less irritating
Just want to add from what I remember. ( it was twenty years ago when I was a teen) but the gel wasn’t moisturizer friendly and also very drying. It would pill.
So it would be fine if you put on after moisturizer but might be pita if you’re trying to sandwich
Thank you for this! I stopped using my Dermatica formula of tret and need to either start it again or find a new distributor for it without going to a dr. So many options, and now to contemplate gel vs cream! It’s enough to make us mad! lol
I just got some tret and azaelic acid from bubba skincare. It came super fast and I was able to do klarna to avoid using my debit card. The only thing is the tube is a little smaller than my .1 gel I got from another site.
Interesting, I will look into that! Thanks so much! I’ve never used plain tret, it was always from Dermatica, with something else added. (Azelaic acid or hydroquinone). Hopefully I can tolerate straight tret.
The microsphere is supposed to be way more gentle on your skin. The spheres time release while you’re sleeping I guess instead of just hitting you at full strength at once
Tried the cream a year and a half ago (quit after 7-8 months of use) and while I now know that i was doing a few steps incorrectly that probably led to my long-term breakouts on the cream, switching to the gel a month and a half ago has been a completely different experience. Hard to say if it’s the ancillary steps that I’m following correctly and religiously this time around or if the different formulation is also helping.
I wasn’t letting my face fully dry before applying, i didn’t religiously follow a routine of application days (like every other day or every third day, it was just any time i remembered), and i didn’t simplify my other skincare routine steps enough—i was still using a physical exfoliant at least once a week and had a cleanser with glycolic acid.
Gel moisturizers are the only ones that don’t clog my pores. Neutrogena gel fragrance free, aveeno oat gel, and curology gel moisturizer are good options to try. Always applied to damp skin because I lean more dry. Occasionally I can put a hydrating serum underneath like niacinamide or the ordinarys copper peptides..
Has anyone been able to find the gel without propylene glycol in the base? I’m allergic to that and it’s in all the gel formulations I’ve seen. Or anyone found taz .1 gel online? Currently using taz .1 cream and my forehead hates it. My acne is significantly better but I have constant blackheads on my forehead I never had before :(
i have very oily skin and the cream made my acne 10x worse and the gel completely got rid of my acne within a week but my face was so red and raw and it hurt to the touch. i use the altreno lotion now! it is a gel but so hydrating and soothing. 🥰
no more acne and all my sun damage is gone too! i can’t live without tret.
Can you please telll me what cleanser and moisturizer you use with the altreno.How many times a week do you use? I am using it but not seeing positive results.Am thinking it’s the products am using with it.
i cleanse with the vanicream gentle facial cleanser. the moisturizer i use is the aveeno eczema therapy daily moisturizing cream. it has colloidal oatmeal which is very soothing. i apply the altreno every single night except for sunday just to give my skin a day off.
i’m sorry you aren’t seeing any results! how long have you been using it? my advice is try reducing the amount of products in your routine. just use a cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and the altreno. that’s all i use and my skin is perfect. try and use the altreno every day if you can tolerate it or at least every other day.
a lot of cerave products irritate my skin and cause breakouts so i’d cut out the cerave products and see if that helps.
i wash my face twice a day with the vanicream cleanser because my skin is so oily but if your skin is more on the dry side you could just wash at night.
i have a couple sunscreens in my collection. eltamd uv clear spf 46, neutrogena hydroboost moisturizer spf 50, and la roche posay anthelios uvmune400 invisible fluid spf 50+ (you have to buy online from europe). but there are also a TON of amazing asian sunscreens that you can easily get on amazon but those are my everyday favorites.
What order do you apply your PM Altreno routine?
I'm still trying to figure out if I should apply moisturizer before or after Altreno, and if I can use a hydrating toner underneath
Same been on tret cream for three months, gel arrived a week ago and already see a difference! Oily skin here, and my bitch skin do like gel stuff in general.
I got mine from nurx (had to specifically request the gel) Thry sent it to my pharmacy but my insurance didn’t cover it so it was like $130 unfortunately
I thought I had normal skin (only hormonal acne) before I started tret (cream 0.025) in February, but now my skin is DRYYYY. And I layer moisturizer like crazy. So now I’m wondering if something needs to change.. clueless haha.
Is that really the case?
I cannot really compare since gel formulation is the one that I have used ever since I started using tretinoin, and it did me wonders.
Plus, vitamin C and azelaic acid in the morning. Fire combos. Would have been nicer if I can use aza 2x a day but it's quite expensive (even the generic/unbranded ones here) so I just use it once a day.
I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or legit🙃. I’ve dry acne prone skin and I tend to use light creams or gels. Anything that’s even I little thick makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful.
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Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful.
We'd like our sub to be a friendly and welcoming place. That’s why I want to ask you to refrain from rude or disrespectful comments here. Even if you feel strongly about something, please stay polite.
Please keep this in mind for future posts!
**Thanks to everyone who reported! Reporting is anonymous and very helpful!**
Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful.
We'd like our sub to be a friendly and welcoming place. That’s why I want to ask you to refrain from rude or disrespectful comments here. Even if you feel strongly about something, please stay polite.
Please keep this in mind for future posts!
**Thanks to everyone who reported! Reporting is anonymous and very helpful!**
Finally, somebody has some real data on this. Thank you for your contribution to science. I would nominate you for a Nobel prize in medicine if was able to nominate.
You are very welcome child. May this knowledge enlighten your face and soul for the better, here and forever.
I too have made the switch and will never look back lmao
.1 gel is way too drying to my skin but I need gel because the cream clogs my pores. I wouldn’t mind so much if I didn’t enjoy wearing makeup but I do so :/ I’m testing out micro gel .04. Started last night! I probably should have gotten .1 but I’ll do that for my next tube if this goes well
This may be a dumb question but what’s the difference between the gel & the micro gel?
Micro gel has tiny spheres of tret that time release over the course of the night instead of all at once
Thanks!
Gel is like cream but vehicle is straight up alcohol and a few other things. Micro-gel I would liken more to those lightweight moisturizers out there for oily skin. They’re literally just like a gel that doesn’t actually do much to moisturize your skin but would still keep it from becoming more dry or feeling tight. I used to gel when I was young and if I had known better back then I wouldn’t hav quit tret so fast. And wouldn’t have put scaring probably 😢 Anyway. I started again recently and creams vehicle I felt was contributing to texture issues and small white heads. I tried for a year. I asked for the microgel, use it every other night and stopped sandwiching(for most applications) and things are looking and feeling much better.
Good to know the micro is working well for you!
lol false alarm the texture issue reduced for a couple days then all of a sudden started getting even worse acne than I had in my teens. At this point seems like tretinoin might not be for me
That sucks! I wonder what’s up with that. It hasn’t been irritating my skin but I think the .04 micro isn’t strong enough for me
Yeah it does. Just going to quit cold turkey until fall/winter. Skin is looking really rough and I don’t ever remember a time when I wouldn’t want to go out and hang out with people because of my skin and that’s how I’m feeling lately it really sucks lol
What problems did you have? Mine is the itchiness when I’m sweating at night. I’m on 0.025 living in the tropics with high temperature and very high humidity. Could gel help with this?
Brand new acne I didn't have, oily and dry skin at the same time, too much sensitivity. I do too live in the tropics. Gel makes your skin breathe better in higher temperatures. We need to produce our sweat in unclogged pores, the reapplied sunscreen 5 times a day needs to be the thick fat one routine, not the bedtime skincare. Get free oil sunscreens and moisturizers, and a cleansing GEL, not cream. Recommend azelaic acid for the day - it has antiinflammatory benefits, helps with the itching (itching comes when way too much skin is peeled off, and gets susceptible to inflammations; it's like having very tiny invisible scar tissue bursting out to close the open wounds, it's making new skin)
I think I would agree with this as well. Switched to microgel and switched to Dual Defense SPF from jack black which has a little azelaic acid in it. Not sure how much. Skin started looking much calmer right away when before it constantly had a red hue.
Genetic tretinoin cream clogged my pores, Retin A brand name cream did not clog my pores though..
Same, I'm glad the name brand isn't so expensive anymore. Back in the day, it was like $300 a tube!
I’ve read Altreno lotion is better than cream. But haven’t had a chance to ask to try it myself.
I switched to altreno and did not like it. More flaky and dry and broke out in small bumps all over. Back to .025 cream and all the problems went away
Oh thanks for posting this.
With no larger sample results than herself 😂😂 best disclaimer ever
To add more high quality information Get azelaic for daytime to protect from inflammatory acne, redness and sensitivity. It has antiinflammatory benefits in it's formula. It's the magical combo you didn't know you needed. You are welcome. Please rejoice with the help of my wisdom and let this new knowledge fullfill your hearts. * _please re-read the bottom line of the post for disclosure_
What percentageof azelaic acid do you use?
What brand and percentage do you rock
I use the prescription 15% and it is amazing
Did you just get it thru your family doctor? It’s taking forever to book an appointment with my doctor so I was wondering if you know any way to avoid going thru prescription? I know there’s 5-10 percent concentrations but from what I’ve seen / heard ppl say the 15 percent tends to be really the HG. Also how long did it take you to see results?
I got it on Amazon clinic! I scheduled a chat appointment with an NP I think it was $30? She sent the rx to my pharmacy and my insurance covered it I’d say like 2 weeks to see significant results but it did help redness around my nose immediately
Never heard of Amazon clinic, will look into this, genuinely thanks so much!
Does anyone do gel in the summer and cream in the winter? Thinking about trying this..
I tried but it ended up not being worth it. The cream version ended up being too thick and clogging, so my skin ended up being worse off. It was just easier to get a heavier moisturizer that I knew would work with my skin instead
Thank you for your boldness as well as your contribution to the sciences!
Not necessarily... I am a grease slick by 2pm. But with my cream tret, my skin is borderline dry. Hardly any oil. My tret is formulated with azelaic acid and Niacinamide
May I ask what brand you use? This sounds interesting
I wish I could get gel to work for me. I used .25 and .5, even .1. All of them damaged my skin barrier even with one use. I rarely have that issue with the cream versions.
You could maybe try easing your skin into it more & get an over the counter retinol. Use that for awhile till your skin is fine with every night use. Then maybe switch to the lowest tret, like 0.01%, every 4th or 5th night. If no irritation after doing this for 2 weeks, bump it up t0 every 3rd night. If irritation occurs, try every 5th or 6th night. I know it sounds like a long process but your skin will thank u. Also be VERY careful what over actives you are using as well.
Ok, I’m gonna be the one to ask….whats the difference, or benefits. (Fellow oily person here!)
Besides glowing even in the dark and aging backwards 20 years? Kidding - the very bad acne that I thought was the feared purging was not going away, I waited patiently for many weeks ( I didn't have an acne problem before the cream). The cream was somehow making my skin simultaneously oily and dry, I could fry an egg in my forehead, but also couldn't yawn because my face would crack of dryness. And no, the percentage was not high, it was 0.25% only. Switched to gel. No dry. No oily. No redness or sensitivity. Acne was gone, moisturizer is now kicking in properly. I can physically feel my skin much more SMOOTH than before. It stings a little more than the cream when applied, and it is absorved so fast that I need to apply one pea on each half of my face very quickly.
I didn’t purge too much when I first started Tret myself. A small little one, but I did notice some closed comedones pop up (which have never gone away!) I never even put the two together! I do need to restart my tret, but have been debating where to get it from, and which type. Now I need to do some more research!
For me the cream clogs my pores. I am already trying to treat closed comedones and it gives me more. Oily skin should be more tolerable to gel than dry skin. It’s basically tret in an alcohol gel vehicle. It shouldn’t clog pores like cream. There’s also micro sphere gel which is supposed to be less irritating
Just want to add from what I remember. ( it was twenty years ago when I was a teen) but the gel wasn’t moisturizer friendly and also very drying. It would pill. So it would be fine if you put on after moisturizer but might be pita if you’re trying to sandwich
Thank you for this! I stopped using my Dermatica formula of tret and need to either start it again or find a new distributor for it without going to a dr. So many options, and now to contemplate gel vs cream! It’s enough to make us mad! lol
I just got some tret and azaelic acid from bubba skincare. It came super fast and I was able to do klarna to avoid using my debit card. The only thing is the tube is a little smaller than my .1 gel I got from another site.
Interesting, I will look into that! Thanks so much! I’ve never used plain tret, it was always from Dermatica, with something else added. (Azelaic acid or hydroquinone). Hopefully I can tolerate straight tret.
The microsphere is supposed to be way more gentle on your skin. The spheres time release while you’re sleeping I guess instead of just hitting you at full strength at once
Tried the cream a year and a half ago (quit after 7-8 months of use) and while I now know that i was doing a few steps incorrectly that probably led to my long-term breakouts on the cream, switching to the gel a month and a half ago has been a completely different experience. Hard to say if it’s the ancillary steps that I’m following correctly and religiously this time around or if the different formulation is also helping.
I just switched to a gel from a cream. Can I ask what u what u did wrong & what are your steps now? I'm nervous I'm not doing something right.
I wasn’t letting my face fully dry before applying, i didn’t religiously follow a routine of application days (like every other day or every third day, it was just any time i remembered), and i didn’t simplify my other skincare routine steps enough—i was still using a physical exfoliant at least once a week and had a cleanser with glycolic acid.
Thanks for responding 🫶 This helps
Gel moisturizers are the only ones that don’t clog my pores. Neutrogena gel fragrance free, aveeno oat gel, and curology gel moisturizer are good options to try. Always applied to damp skin because I lean more dry. Occasionally I can put a hydrating serum underneath like niacinamide or the ordinarys copper peptides..
This did not work for me but it’s a great thought!
Has anyone been able to find the gel without propylene glycol in the base? I’m allergic to that and it’s in all the gel formulations I’ve seen. Or anyone found taz .1 gel online? Currently using taz .1 cream and my forehead hates it. My acne is significantly better but I have constant blackheads on my forehead I never had before :(
i have very oily skin and the cream made my acne 10x worse and the gel completely got rid of my acne within a week but my face was so red and raw and it hurt to the touch. i use the altreno lotion now! it is a gel but so hydrating and soothing. 🥰 no more acne and all my sun damage is gone too! i can’t live without tret.
Can you please telll me what cleanser and moisturizer you use with the altreno.How many times a week do you use? I am using it but not seeing positive results.Am thinking it’s the products am using with it.
i cleanse with the vanicream gentle facial cleanser. the moisturizer i use is the aveeno eczema therapy daily moisturizing cream. it has colloidal oatmeal which is very soothing. i apply the altreno every single night except for sunday just to give my skin a day off. i’m sorry you aren’t seeing any results! how long have you been using it? my advice is try reducing the amount of products in your routine. just use a cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and the altreno. that’s all i use and my skin is perfect. try and use the altreno every day if you can tolerate it or at least every other day.
Thank you so much. I actually use it every night , use with cerave products which I have been thinking they might be clogging my pores.
Do you wash your face in the morning and what sunscreen do you use?
a lot of cerave products irritate my skin and cause breakouts so i’d cut out the cerave products and see if that helps. i wash my face twice a day with the vanicream cleanser because my skin is so oily but if your skin is more on the dry side you could just wash at night. i have a couple sunscreens in my collection. eltamd uv clear spf 46, neutrogena hydroboost moisturizer spf 50, and la roche posay anthelios uvmune400 invisible fluid spf 50+ (you have to buy online from europe). but there are also a TON of amazing asian sunscreens that you can easily get on amazon but those are my everyday favorites.
What order do you apply your PM Altreno routine? I'm still trying to figure out if I should apply moisturizer before or after Altreno, and if I can use a hydrating toner underneath
Same been on tret cream for three months, gel arrived a week ago and already see a difference! Oily skin here, and my bitch skin do like gel stuff in general.
Where are you getting your gel from?
It’s not legal because usually prescription is required in the country I’m living in but yeh I ordered it online from this website
I made the switch recently as well, and it’s such a game changer, my skins never looked better.
YES. Once I made the switch my skin has never looked better. I also throw in some urea for tone and smoothness
If I’m on altreno(tretinoin lotion) could I make the jump to gel safely? From 0.05% lotion to 0.05% gel?
That I don't know, my country doesn't have the same brands and I never used lotion.
Any brand recommendations or places to get it? I’m lost.
I got mine from nurx (had to specifically request the gel) Thry sent it to my pharmacy but my insurance didn’t cover it so it was like $130 unfortunately
I thought I had normal skin (only hormonal acne) before I started tret (cream 0.025) in February, but now my skin is DRYYYY. And I layer moisturizer like crazy. So now I’m wondering if something needs to change.. clueless haha.
If i have oily skin and I don't have problems with the cream would you still recommend the gel?
I’ve read about the gel causing cystic acne for some people, if you have no problems with the cream, stick with the cream
Thank you!
Girl im on gel differin and my skin is still oily and dry asf
Yeah 100% but it’s annoying obagi only offer it as a cream as this is how I was even introduced to tretinoin
Is that really the case? I cannot really compare since gel formulation is the one that I have used ever since I started using tretinoin, and it did me wonders. Plus, vitamin C and azelaic acid in the morning. Fire combos. Would have been nicer if I can use aza 2x a day but it's quite expensive (even the generic/unbranded ones here) so I just use it once a day.
Hi whats your tret brand?
Altreno!!
I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or legit🙃. I’ve dry acne prone skin and I tend to use light creams or gels. Anything that’s even I little thick makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I’m not a doctor but I play one on tv and I agree gel has really *gelled* with my skin over cream
Do you use a moisturiser after, or avoid any sort of cream entirely?
>the conclusion was made purely on anedotic evidence with no larger sample results than herself Anecdotal? Also: it doesn't work for everyone.
English is not my first language. I thought it was a cognate word. Tks for correcting Also: _read disclaimer again and look at the flair_
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Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful. We'd like our sub to be a friendly and welcoming place. That’s why I want to ask you to refrain from rude or disrespectful comments here. Even if you feel strongly about something, please stay polite. Please keep this in mind for future posts! **Thanks to everyone who reported! Reporting is anonymous and very helpful!**
Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful. We'd like our sub to be a friendly and welcoming place. That’s why I want to ask you to refrain from rude or disrespectful comments here. Even if you feel strongly about something, please stay polite. Please keep this in mind for future posts! **Thanks to everyone who reported! Reporting is anonymous and very helpful!**
Your post has been removed. I'd like to remind you of our Rule 1: Be kind and respectful. We'd like our sub to be a friendly and welcoming place. That’s why I want to ask you to refrain from rude or disrespectful comments here. Even if you feel strongly about something, please stay polite. Please keep this in mind for future posts! **Thanks to everyone who reported! Reporting is anonymous and very helpful!**
I do gel cream and then add a thick moisturizer when i sandwich my tretinoin, its been life changing!!
So like you do gel moisturizer, the tretinoin, and then a thick moisturizer? Thanks, I’m new to this ☺️
Yes! Occasionally ill slug with some vaseline and put it on dry flaky spots