Does retinol really work?

[nataliecherisse]

Hello all, I’m a 25 yr old that deals with mostly moderate combination acne prone skin. My acne for the most part is hormonal. My skin is mostly dry but gets oily in the t-zone area. I get the majority of my breakouts on my chin and jawline area as well as my cheeks. Ive been going to the dermatologist for almost a year now and she prescribed me spironolactone. I started at 25 mg and had great results. Eventually i guess my body became immune to it and i started breaking out again. She she went up to 50 mg & my skin HATED IT. I feel like nothing works, ive tried exfoliating face washes with salicylic acid in it, ive spot treated with products with the same ingredients, I’ve tried everything under the sun and nothing really works. but I’ve heard amazing things about retinol. I guess what im really trying to say is: what is the best retinol treatment that can possibly work for my hormonal acne? Any recommendations or ideas are welcome please.

[averylayne]

@nataliecherisse  I love retinol/retinoids! I’m currently breastfeeding so I’m unable to use it, and my skin is definitely missing it. I’ve always suffered from hormonal acne, and it really helped keep my skin clear. You won’t see immediate results though. Retinol takes time for results. If you want to test out a couple options, The Ordinary carries several different formulations of retinol/retinoids and they’re very inexpensive (less than $10). If you find that these products are a little too harsh for your skin, there are phyto-retinols which are plant based and more gentle (with similar effects). Biossance has a plant based retinol and so does Herbivore. When I’m finally able to start using it again, I’ll be using Sunday Riley A+, which I haven’t tried yet, but have heard great things about.

[averylayne]

Also, I suffered a very very bad hormonal breakout after I had my first kid. It was cystic, painful, ALL OVER my cheeks, and lasted for months. My dermatologist recommended several things including EltaMD UV Clear sunscreen, which contains niacinamide. I’m not sure if it’s because I started using sunscreen everyday, or if it was the niacinamide, or both, but I haven’t had any major breakouts since i started using it (3 years now).

[lmms95]

Retinol is basically vitamin A that boosts your cell turnover so the new cells underneath your skin are surfaced and the dead skin cells on top go away. I’ve been using it every other day for a month now and I’m obsessed. Not only does it make your skin baby soft, but I have definitely seen a difference in my hormonal acne. I also get breakouts on my chin and I have very large pores/blackheads in my t-zone area. Now it doesn’t really do anything for my blackheads/pore (I’ve been trying to find something for years...), but I say give it a shot. I started using First Aid Beauty retinol because it’s a small dose, then went to Drunk Elephant (both as samples), but I finally settled on the Murad one. Just depends on how much retinol you want in your product.