6 months in and Tret still makes my skin sting. Should I give up? :(
I’ve been trying to incorporate tretinoin into my skincare routine since Dec 2025, starting off with once a week then increase to 2 times a week, etc. Eventually I got up to 3 times a week but that quickly wrecked my skin barrier. I backed off for a week, added slugging which helped tremendously, got back on. I tried the sandwich method, I’m following all general recommendations (no wet skin etc). And even now 6 months later, using tret 2-3 times a week, it still hurts my skin and I can’t maintain the usage unless I’m slugging at least 2 times a week.
I’m so frustrated and honestly my skin is the worst it’s ever been. My main concern is anti-aging but now I’m getting acne from damaged barrier. I was using retinol for 1.5 year before starting Tret and didn’t have this reaction but also not much anti-aging results.
Should I continue to try to use tretinoin? It’s been 6 months so my skin should get used to it by now right? Do I give up and go back to retinol?
I’m using 0.025% retinol and lots of barrier support products, illiyoon ceramide ato concentrate cream, atobarrier 365 cream, vaseline for slugging.