Does Retin A continue working forever?
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free skin care · Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:21 pm

I understand it takes 6 month before improvement really starts and it continues for a couple years if you use it every night. Thenyoure told to back off to once a week, or twice a week for maintainance. What if you continued using it every night for 5 years, 10 years. Would it keep you looking the same. Or would it continue to make you look better? My question is if someone age 20 started using retin a every night, used sunscreen and avoided the sun, aswell as took care of themselves dilagently, could you possibly still look 25 at 50?

free skin care · Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:36 pm

Hawkman564 wrote:

My question is if someone age 20 started using retin a every night, used sunscreen and avoided the sun, aswell as took care of themselves dilagently, could you possibly still look 25 at 50?

The short answer is no. No cream no matter how good is going to stop the aging process. There is not a cream on the market that makes you look 25 when you are actually 50. Now Retin A can make you skin look better. It can help with tone and texture etc. but it is not a miracle in a tube. Avoiding the sun and always using sunscreen will help a lot with the aging process but won't make a 25 years difference either.

Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:38 am

I wish! Not due to retinols. If someone looks 25 at 50, they either have ultra-amazing genes to start with, or they have an excellent surgeon. BTW, I used retin-a and retin-a micro for years and also tried azalex (sp? I forget) for years. My derm had me switch to Tazorac a couple years ago, and I like it wayyy better. For me, Tazorac is more effective with less side effects (i.e. redness).

free skin care · Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:14 pm

I wish too...that is to look 25 at 50. Very Happy

I agree with the girls but gotta say there may be a little something we can take from your question.
Lets compare ( for the heck of it lol) 2 identical twins with the same skin type and routine, skincare use and application, same physiology and biology , are exactly the same and drank water of exactly the same amount, except one twin used retin-a and the other didn't. I would say the retin a user may appear a few years younger than the other.
I don't think it's a miracle worker but over time will help people look more youthful than say what they would of looked like not using it. But this is a very general statement and retin-a doesn't agree with everyone, but generally speaking I would assume this. At least we know its scientifically backed up.
Hope I are sense, and what I've said is simply MHO.

free skin care · Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:36 pm

I wonder if those who use Retin to reduce the appearance of stretch marks notice lasting results even after discontinuing use?

free skin care · Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:39 pm

The only reason i ask is that, studies say it continues to work, as you use it longer and longer, and most have there participants taper off to 1-2 weekly doses after desired improvement. Ive also heard of a study, where ppl in there 70's used it and it de-aged there skin by 15 years. The study was to determine the benefits to regular aging.
Ive also heard some say that it continued to show improvement 3 years out. Has anyone used retin a for more than 10 years..using it everyday, id love to know if there was someone who started it at my age, 20, and is 40 now after using it everyday, what they think of there skin

free skin care · Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:33 pm

a person looks older not only cause of skin texture but also due to muscle sagging, fat pads sagging, weight gain or extreme weight loss.. and retin A only helps with skin texture n removing sun damage... even if someone gets whole lot of cosmetic surgery looking 25 at 50 is simply not possible.. but may be a jaded looking wanna be 25 who is trying too hard... Wink

edited to add: well, anything is possible, there are lucky people out there so who knows may be there are 25 yr old looking 50s..

Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:46 am

it definitely is an interesting study. I've been using it since I was 24 (for acne). I'm almost 36. my sister is 35 and never used it. we look the same, agewise. but there are so many other uncontrolled factors going into the way our skin ages. she started using it last year. my mom has been using it for nearly 15 years. it is effective in turning over the skin cells, so it helps with acne and wrinkles and fine lines to an extent. I haven't seen on either of us or on anyone else (and frankly cannot imagine) the type of results where aging is turned back by decades, but who knows. maybe my mom would look way older than 60 now had she never used it. and maybe I would look older too. I certainly don't feel like I look young for my age, though.

Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:49 am

ps. I have used it every day for these past 11 years. the higher strength version.

free skin care · Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:23 am

I think most of the studies on pubmed with Retin A are done over the year mark, and so 6 months is still relatively too short a timeframe in my mind of using it. Plus it depends what you are using (gel, cream) and what sort of skin type you have (dry, oily etc). These are all factors that will play a role in the process.

I’ve used Retin A for 30 years. Having said that, I went to a derm in my late 20’s and have been with him ever since (and god help me if that man decides to retire is all I can say!). He knows my skin very well, and I trust him for sure with things, and he knows how crazy I am, and what I do to my face with exercises and massage. What I will say is that for me (dry skinned) cream worked so much better for me than the plain gel did for the first 10-20 years at least. I did start off using it slowly – 2/3 times a week and then moved gradually to applying it nightly. At one point I did move to using it every other night to see if I got less results but they were the same as when I was using it nightly so I decided it was a waste of product to continue daily use. Having said that, my sister who did use Retin A when she was younger, stopped about 10 years into her usage of it, and even though I’m older, we often get confused age wise by people. So whether its down to the retin A or the other stuff I do I don’t honestly know but think it’s a combo of all those things.

Now with using Retin A, its important to understand all it does is encourage the cells to turn over faster. So if you get to a “maintenance” stage (and that means different things to different people), then you may want to slow down your cells turning over. I’m not sure you could look 25 at 50 years, or if you would want to really at the end of the day. I think Retin A if used sensibly can help a person age nicer in the sense that they look more healthy and have healthy skin, but its not a magic cure for the aging process, and anything that claims to be should be treated as a joke in my book.

I was advised by my derm to switch to the microgel a few years ago. The way he explained it to me was that it was the 0.1% strength but delivered in a time released fashion into the derma, so not overloading it all at once like the regular cream/gel did. I have to say was really weary about using a gel (first one I used was 0.025 and burned my face) but the microgel presents no problems for me, and my skin does drink it up.

Tessie

free skin care · Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:03 pm

Hawkman564 wrote:

id love to know if there was someone who started it at my age, 20, and is 40 now after using it everyday, what they think of there skin

I think it would be really great to find someone that used it from age 20-40 but with pregnancy and nursing, that excludes most women from this mythical study.

I have put my husband on retin-a and his devotion to his new routine is much less than 100% Smile

free skin care · Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:05 am

I agree completely with what you say below re 20-40, but the pregnancy and nursing bit is a tough one. Ha ha re hubby, mine just shakes his head when he sees me doing things sometimes, and sometimes I go through thinking things aren't working and then I see photos of myself with my sister and think yeah I look better than they do.

LauraLizzie wrote:

I think it would be really great to find someone that used it from age 20-40 but with pregnancy and nursing, that excludes most women from this mythical study.

I have put my husband on retin-a and his devotion to his new routine is much less than 100% Smile

free skin care · Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:18 am

AND who just uses retin-a? Nope, most people add in hydrating cleansers, Clarisonic, eye cream, spf, vit c, peptides and spa services so when you add all that up, what % improvement is the retin-a? Who knows?!

Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:01 am

I have used it from 6th grade, differin gel which is a form of retain a then switched to retin a .25 then .5 now I've been on 1% for years the majority of my retin a usage. So from sixth grade, age 12 to I just turned 28 and people think I am still in high school. Once I stopped for about a few months because I got lazy and I noticed tiny crows feet coming on and that's when I realized retin a really did something and I was spoiled.

I use it every night. Have for 16 years. I use a clarisonic, with a charcoal based cleanser and alternate with Lushs Aqua Marina (calamine and algae based wash/mask) then I put my retain a on at night. In the morning I use Lush's Full of Grace solid serum bar (portobello mushroom oil, calamine powder, rose oil, chamomile blue oil, almond oil) and a few drops of jojoba oil on my fingertips and rub it in.

Honestly I don't mess with lotions. You know why? Too many additives. I don't know what they are putting in that stuff. So I stick to the basics and my skin is on the oily but GLOWY side. Idk. People always ask me to tell them my skincare regimen. I also use an exfoliator and a rose water toner spray everyday over light makeup. Then I take my makeup off and use miceller water after my makeup wipes, then wash, then to ensure all make up and residue is off I use a toner.

So I don't mess around. 16 years of retain a and after the age of 21 my insurance quit payin so my doctors had to write and say it's for acne...which it is under my jaw line and chin.. So now insurance covers it again.

And that is all folks. I hope I look young when I am old! I get told I look 16 all the time. It's worth checking out yall.

free skin care · Tue May 03, 2016 12:43 pm

LauraLizzie wrote:

AND who just uses retin-a? Nope, most people add in hydrating cleansers, Clarisonic, eye cream, spf, vit c, peptides and spa services so when you add all that up, what % improvement is the retin-a? Who knows?!

"hydrating cleansers, Clarisonic, eye cream, spf, vit c, peptides and spa services" did not work for me.

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