My Attempt At Using Tret Again.

I started using tret again. My skin was looking dull. It was lifeless. I needed to do something about those issues. Acne marks became more prominent as well. I can’t use too many skin care products, but I thought I could give tret another chance. So here I am using tret again. Here’s my 1 week experience using tret.

I was able to use tret 4 times this week. I used it back-to-back for a total of 4 days and took a break for the rest of the week. During my use of the product, I was using a moisturizer. It was the Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Face Gel Hydrator. It worked amazingly for my skin. My skin felt extremely moisturizing. At one point, I thought it gave my skin too much hydration. I thought about dialing back on the product. I didn’t. I just kept using it. Tret and this moisturizer went well together. I noticed smoother skin that’s brighter (probably the niacinamide in the hydrator). I was so happy that I was seeing results with this combination of products. Yesss! Finally! It’s working! Sadly, the moisturizer ended up breaking me out. I had clogged pores in areas that were acnegenic. I had to stop using it. Once I did, the breakouts went away. Once I stopped using the moisturizer, my skin couldn’t take tret daily anymore. It burned my skin. For the rest of the week, I took a break. I picked up another moisturizer called Cetaphil Rich Hydrating Cream for Dry to Normal Sensitive Skin. I purchased this to use as an eye cream, which works so much better than what I was using (Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin Face Creme). Eucerin wasn’t that moisturizing and did nothing for my skin. I noticed some fine lines and wrinkles underneath my eye area vanished with Cetaphil! It works better as a moisturizer! I’m switching!

So! The Cetaphil Rich Hydrating Cream helped to alleviate any scalding, burning, and redness. This is awful! I burned my skin again. I’ll have to use a moisturizer with tret. I hope Cetaphil Rich Hydrating Cream works! I’ve been using it for 3 days and night without any issues. No breakouts. Nothing yet. It leaves my skin feeling soft too. It’s a two-in-one product for me. It works as a face cream AND an eye cream. Hey! Let’s see what happens. So far, so good.

Stay tuned for what’s going to happen next! 🙂

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

I stopped using tret, lol. After last week’s results, I wasn’t happy with any of it. Using tret directly on my skin yielded better results, but it tore my skin up. The lower strengths of tret, from my experience, don’t have any positive affects on my acne. I tried buffering to lessen the side effects, such as dryness, redness, and any other skin irritations. My results buffering was so poor. My skin ended up so clogged. But It might’ve been the Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence clogging my pores. Or, Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin?? I get mixed results with this moisturizer. So I stopped using Cosrx Snail Mucin Essence and kept using Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer. It’s the only moisturizer that I have. I still can’t find another moisturizer that works without ruining my skin. Vanicream it is for now. Just for now, haha. That’s until I find a better moisturizer for my skin type. Just using the Vanicream moisturizer and leaving out the Snail Mucin Essence, my skin looked better and less clogged. But, my skin didn’t look that good. I could tell that I still had acne issues. It could’ve been better. I can just tell if my skin is improving or not. It just seemed stagnant. Since I stopped using tret, I started using a different retinoid instead. It’s time to switch things up again for another time. This time, it’s tazorac. This retinoid isn’t anything new to me. I’ve used tazorac with amazing results before. It actually cleared my acne up once before like tret. Let’s give it another try. I also started using benzoyl peroxide more frequently than I expected this week too. Here’s my experience and results for week #2!

My Experience with Taz & Benzoyl Peroxide this week!

I used taz 3 times this week. And I used taz 3 times in a row, back-to-back. That was a bad decision. It worked to help clear up some clogged pores, but my skin started to feel dry and started to sting. After using it 3 times in a row, I took a day off. After a day of not using anything but a moisturizer (which stung my skin), I decided to increase my application of benzoyl peroxide. My skin just looked so clogged even when using taz. After 2 days of using benzoyl peroxide, I noticed a dramatic change in my complexion pretty quick. My breakouts diminished. My skin looked cleaner and less clogged. It killed active acne blemishes on the spot. It helped to decrease sebum on the surface of my skin. I also noticed some skin peeling all over my face. Wow, this thing called benzoyl peroxide is amazing. It seems like I’m stuck using it for the rest of my life. It’s the only acne treatment that makes any changes in my skin in a short period of time. Since my skin looks pretty good right now after increasing my use of benzoyl peroxide, I decided to use benzoyl peroxide more often than taz. Taz helps, but I think benzoyl peroxide is where it’s at when it comes to clearing my skin. Every time I use benzoyl peroxide, my skin gets better. I have less closed comedones, less blackheads, less chances of pimples developing. I’ll figure something out in the upcoming weeks, but my skin looks clear at the moment because of benzoyl peroxide. So, by the end of the week, I took a break from actives and just moisturized my skin. I’ll restart when my skin is ready. It’s looking very crusty and dry. It itches too from the dryness, haha. I have no new pimples though!

Update on Sunscreens! 🧴

Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50:

How much I love the high UVB and UVA in this sunscreen. I simply cannot use on my face. I noticed clogged pores and whiteheads/blackheads on my nose, forehead, and chin area. The formula of this product is just not working for my skin. I wished it did. I stopped using it after noticing an increase in clogged pores. I guess I could use the rest of what I have on my body. This sucks because I really wanted it to work.

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Face Sheer Tint:

I’ve been using this sunscreen as my main sunscreen. I like it, but there are some things that I don’t like about it. First off, the tint of this sunscreen makes my face look super orange. Repplying the sunscreen makes my face look even more orange than before, lol. Other reasons I don’t like about this sunscreen includes it being only SPF 30, the fact that it feels a little heavy on my oily skin, and it stings my face when I’m using acne products that peel the skin. My skin literally burns with this sunscreen. But, yes, I’m still using it anyways, lmao. I’ll be on the look out for another sunscreen. That’s if I can find another one that works just as well as this one while being afforable.

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

I picked up two new bottles of Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40. I missed it, so I purchased more. It’s also effective, has SPF 40, has a nice texture to it (silky, smooth, moisturizing, doesn’t burn my skin), is broad spectrum, and is very affordable. It costs less than the CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Face Sheer Tint. Trader Joe’s SPF 40 is a chemical sunscreen though. I do prefer mineral sunscreens over chemical sunscreens. But, this chemical sunscreen makes my skin feel super elegant and nice. I’m loving it using so far after using it again.

That’s my 2 week update! Stay tuned for next week!

Check out my first week experience here!

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

I was going to switch over to Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum after The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution didn’t work for me. If you missed out on my experience with The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution, follow these links!

My Experience After 1 Week Using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution + Other Skin Care Updates

2 Weeks Using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution. My Results!

3 Weeks With The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution + BP!

But, I moved in another direction. I was using benzoyl peroxide (which cleared up a ton of my acne!) when I decided to use tret again. It was so random. It was out of the blue. I thought, hey, let’s give this another try again. I’ve tried so many acne skin care products to get rid of my closed comedones and acne in general. I have acne-prone skin, so I need to keep my zits in check. I only have a select few closed comedones left on my forehead, upper lip, and chin area. They seem to be concentrated in these areas while my cheeks are extremely clear. I have no acne there. Benzoyl peroxide did a great job, but I needed to push it even further. Yes, I’m back to using tret. I’ve been on the lower strengths of tret for so long that I think it’s time to use the highest strength once again. I’ve had no results with the lower strengths. My acne did not budge. When I run my fingers over my facial skin, it feels bumpy. The bumps are not too visible to the naked eye, but I can feel them. I cringe every time I wash my face. I wish something as simple as 2% salicylic acid would work on my skin. Even a gentle salicylic acid face wash would be awesome. I’ve tried both of these and those darn closed comedones are still sticking around! So! Here I am using tret + benzoyl peroxide. I’m not using benzoyl peroxide at the same time as tret. I use it on my off days when necessary. If a pimple pops up or if I feel that need to use benzoyl peroxide all over, that’s what I’m going to do. I really do think benzoyl peroxide will always be a staple to treat my acne. It helps. But it seems like a combination of treatments would work better.

My Experience – 1st Application

I started using tret at the end of last week. I applied it directly to my skin and moisturized with Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. I woke up the next morning with flaky skin. Skin looked a bit red. My face didn’t burn. Yay! No crazy signs of irritation. Then bam! The next day, my skin started to burn, itch, it looked darker compared to the rest of my neck/body. Ugh! It’s a tret burn! I knew I should’ve sandwiched! My skin burned when I applied Vanicream Facial Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin or any other skin care products to my face. None soothed my red, irritated, burned skin besides CeraVe Healing Ointment. I used this product to heal my skin. I didn’t use it to slug. I used it more like a face mask. This worked to help diminish some redness, itchiness, irritated skin. My skin softened, looked silky smooth after I removed the CeraVe Healing Ointment from my skin (when using it as a face mask). It took about 3-4 days for my skin to heal. I gave my skin a rest for 4 days before starting tret again. My skin started to peel and shed during the rest days. I noticed new pimples popping up in my acne-prone areas. Tret gave me a big nodule on my chin. It’s the biggest pimple I have had in a long time. It’s red, swollen, and hurts upon touch. 😭 When will it go away? Who knows, lol. At night, I stuck to using La Roche Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin. It’s not the most moisturizing moisturizer. I eventually had to add Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence to add moisture to my skin. La Roche Posay Matte Face Moisturizer works better as an occlusive rather than a moisturizer. It dried my face out at times when used alone. With all that has happened after the first application, there’s good news. Tret removed all of the closed comedones on my forehead and most of the closed comedones on my upper lip and chin area. My skin looks so clear with some blemishes that will purge soon enough.

My Experience – 2nd Application

After 4 days of giving my skin a rest, I started using tret again. This time, I sandwiched. I used Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence and Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin before applying tret. After applying tret, I applied Cosrx Snail Mucin and Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin once more. This application seemed like a good idea at first, but with this method, I didn’t notice any changes in my skin like I did with the first application besides some redness and tenderness in my skin. No peeling. I took 3 days off for my skin to settle down even though my skin felt fine the next day. I’m pretty disappointed in the sandwich method because I just didn’t see an improvement in my acne at all. I actually noticed more acne (not from purging). I noticed random blackheads (on other parts of my face and nose) and more sebaceous filaments on my nose. Could it be the Snail Mucin Essence or Vanicream that’s breaking me out? Possibly. My skin didn’t look better or feel better after using these moisturizers with tret. I might try the Vanicream moisturizer alone or try out another moisturizer. I need to move on from this Vanicream crap, lol. These products (Snail Mucin Essence and Vanicream) may be messing up my skin. I also stopped using La Roche Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin. It’s not moisturizing. I didn’t see the point in using this product anymore. Terrible product if you’re looking for a moisturizer that actually moisturizes. I’m done with it for now once again, lol. I tried to make it work, but I’m left disappointed each time. It just doesn’t do anything for my skin. I rather just not using anything on my skin if it doesn’t improve my skin and doesn’t provide any moisture. It even dried out my skin. I really think it’s time for a new moisturizer after this experience. My skin’s just really picky when it comes to moisturizers, which makes it very difficult to find one. Hmmm, what to do… 🤔

That’s my first week experience! Stay tuned for next week to see what happens! 🙂

My Acne Journey: 7 MONTHS!!!

I took a whole week off of tret. I just wanted to take a break from it for a little bit and restart maybe next week?? I’m not sure yet. So this week, I focused on using an antioxidant. I chose vitamin c. Yes, it’s back, hah!

Vitamin C 🍊

I started using vitamin c again. Not the powder version. The essence or serum version. I started off with whatever vitamin c product that I had (Melano CC Vitamin C Essence). I used Melano for two days. Melano has a lightweight, oily, greasy texture to it. It absorbs into the skin fast and leaves a matte finish. It slightly moisturizes the skin but not by much. I’m not a fan of the texture of the product. The essence stung my skin upon application. It irritated my skin just a little bit. After a few seconds, the stinging sensation disappeared. So, what are the results from this product? The essence brightened my skin instantly after a day of use. I noticed a brighter, more glowy complexion. But, I stopped using it after 2 days because I wanted to try another vitamin c product. I’ve been using Melano on and off over the years. I think it’s time to let it go if it hasn’t worked for me for this long. The vitamin c product I’m using now is L’Oreal Revitalift 10% Pure Vitamin C Serum. I picked this product up this week. This vitamin c product contains 10% ascorbic acid. It also comes in a metal tube. One of the reasons why I chose to purchase this one. I’ve only used this serum for…I’m nearing a week soon. I started off using it at night at first then moved up to twice a day, morning and night. So far, the texture of the serum is soft and moisturizing. It has a silicone feel to it, but I’m not bothered by it. It smooths over my skin nicely and effortlessly. It feels nice, and it’s very easy to apply to the skin. I only use a pea-size amount for the whole face. I’m liking this serum a lot more compared to the Melano (texture-wise). As for results, I can’t say it. I haven’t been using it for too long. I’ll make an update on my new vitamin c serum soon.

What happened when I took a break from tret??

As mentioned earlier, I took a week off of tret. I’m glad I did. My skin needed it. I still don’t know when I’m going to restart it or if I am. My skin looks pretty decent right now. When using tret, my skin looked so thin. I lost so much fullness from my face. It’s been a week off of tret, and my skin looks normal again. My skin thickness is back! It looks more youthful and more natural-looking now. It’s not shiny and plastic-like. Tret gave me this weird, odd look to my skin. It makes my skin look smoother, but how it makes my skin look overall is a bit too much for my liking. It just doesn’t look natural or even normal. It made my skin appear more aged. Hmmmm, that’s something to think about. 🤔

At the beginning of the break, my skin was so dry. I stopped using a moisturizer because the moisturizer I was using was breaking me out (Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin). I didn’t have any other moisturizer to use. All I had was CeraVe Healing Ointment. I used it. Applied a whole bunch of it to my face. I know slugging isn’t for me, but my skin was too dry to do nothing. I love the CeraVe Healing Ointment too. It’s a versatile product and contains ingredients that I love like ceramides and hyaluronic acid. It helped to prevent my skin from drying out, but I won’t be doing this (slugging) again. It was a once in a while type of thing. It feels too sticky. It gets in my hair and makes it difficult for me to get a good night’s rest. It’s difficult to wash off in the morning too. It is oily after all.

During this break, I started a new acne product. I needed a product to treat my acne. I picked up the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser. I’ve been meaning to try this product out. What put me off from trying it out were the negative reviews on it. But, everyone’s skin is different. It could work. I’m currently using it. Stay tuned for my 1 week experience on this product soon! It’s coming up real soon! The other cleanser I was using was from Neutrogena. I stopped using it for now just to try out CeraVe. Neutrogena cleaned my skin and didn’t dry out my skin, but I needed a product that would help with acne. In particular, those close f*cking comedones. They’ve been hanging out on my skin for far too long! Also, it’s time to try a new acne product when I’m not using any harsh acne products.

Product Updates

Remember that eye cream I stopped using? The RoC Multi Correxion Hydrate + Plump Eye Cream. I stopped using it on my eye area weeks ago, but I started using it on my neck for a week. After a week of using it on my neck and chest area (to finish it up, need to use it somewhere), I developed a rash on my neck! It was red, swollen, and itchy. WTF. I don’t know what they did to the formula of this eye cream, but it sucks. It used to be soft, smooth, and moisturizing. Now it just burns and makes the skin itch. It’s not cheap either. 😡

Happy 7 months! 🥳 This is my last update on my acne journey. It’s time to move on to new things. I feel like this journey has run its course. I need something new. A new adventure. A fresh start. Look forward to a new update on my experience with the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser!

Here’s the rest of my Acne Journey if you missed out!! 👇🏻

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😃

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 3 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 4 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 1 Week Results.

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 3 Weeks! What I’m Doing to Maintain My Clear Skin. 🙂

My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 5.5 Months Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 3 Weeks

My Acne Journey: 6 MONTHS!!! 🎉

My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 1 Week!

My Acne Journey: 6.5 Months

My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 3 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 3 Weeks!

I’ve reached 39 days on tret! & 6 Months + 3 Weeks on this acne journey. I feel like it’s never-ending, lol. This is what happened this week!

Moisturizer Problems 😒

After a week of using the new strength (from last week), holy macaroni! My skin turned beet red and burned when applying moisturizer. Did I stop using tret? NOPE! I continued on with treatment. This happened within the first few days of this week. To lessen the redness and irritation, I started using moisturizer more often (even when the moisturizer burned my face). I moisturized in the morning and at night. Eventually my skin calmed down and went back to normal after slathering my face with moisturizer. I kept on moisturizing my face twice a day for the rest of the week, except for the last 2 days. Using moisturizer for most of the week was a bad idea because my skin couldn’t tolerate that much moisture or could it be the moisturizer I’m using? The moisturizer I’m still using is Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. I feel like I’ve said this so many times already, lol. Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin is a nice moisturizer. It’s lightweight, soft, soothing, and contains skin repairing ingredients. It works to prevent my skin from drying out. It also heals and protects it too. But, I don’t think it’s working for me. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s right for me or not. Well, I found out the answer today. I stopped using this moisturizer for 2 days, and my skin stopped having breakouts. I tried using it again this morning. By night, my skin started to get bumpy. Some spots on my forehead and around my mouth area. I developed pimples out of nowhere when using this moisturizer. It’s not tret. It’s the Vanicream moisturizer. I think it could be the squalane in this product that’s clogging my pores. It breaks me out. I tried squalane oil and other products with squalane before. No success with any of those products, except for the squalane cleanser. It gets washed off, so it doesn’t stay on my skin for long. I’m officially done using Vanicream on my face. Ugh! I really liked how it made my skin feel (moisturized and protected). I guess I have to find something else to use or not use a moisturizer. It’s not working out, and I’m tired of getting random pimples out of nowhere. Vanicream works well as an eye cream though, lol. Compared to an eye cream, it’s way more affordable. I’ll use the rest for that purpose.

Sunscreen Updates!

I had to stop using the Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50 on my face. I used it last week and noticed breakouts while I was using it. I developed tons of hard sebum plugs within my pores and blackheads. I thought it was from another skin care product, but all of the breakouts occurred when I was using this sunscreen. It would’ve been awesome if this sunscreen worked on my skin. The sunscreen is moisturizing. It has a soft and creamy texture and blends into the skin well. Even though it leaves the skin looking shiny and greasy, I wasn’t too bothered by it. It provides high UVB and UVA protection. I just can’t use it on my face due to breakouts. I’ve been using what I have left (couple of tubes, lol) as an eye cream and neck cream with SPF. Since I can’t use it on my face, I’m not sure if I’m going to purchase it again. I’ll have to think about it. It feels great on the skin around my eyes and neck. Blends in effortlessly and smoothly.

That’s all for this week. Just eliminating products that don’t work on my skin and have been causing problems. It sucks knowing that I’ve been using them this whole time! I’m glad they’re out of the way. I think I’m going to take a few days off tret. I honestly don’t want to think about it right now. This whole journey has been pretty frustrating. In the meantime, I’ll replace tret with a vitamin c serum or another antioxidant. Hopefully it’ll do something good for my skin. That’s my update for this week. It’s almost 7 months… 😌

My Acne Journey 👇🏻

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😀

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 3 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 4 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 1 Week Results.

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 3 Weeks! What I’m Doing to Maintain My Clear Skin. 🙂

My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 5.5 Months Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 3 Weeks

My Acne Journey: 6 MONTHS!!! 🎉

My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 1 Week!

My Acne Journey: 6.5 Months