Hey friends. I've recently realized that what I thought were freckles is actually melasma, and my dermatologist has prescribed me tretinoin for it. I have very pale skin, generally normal in the winter and a little oilier in the T-zone during the summer, but it can dry out really badly with things like AHA. From what I've heard, tret is pretty drying. My dermatologist recommended that I start with applying it only two nights a week, and using a pea-sized amount mixed into my moisturizer. I use the Tatcha Water Cream moisturizer, which is pretty light and has been great for me, but with tret I'm wondering if I'll need a heavier moisturizer. I'm also worried that my usual double-cleansing will worsen the dryness from tret. I double-cleanse with an oil balm to remove my mineral sunblock, then with the Tatcha Rice Wash to get rid of the sunblock & oil balm residue. But I'm thinking the rice wash might be irritating because it's got a (mild) physical exfoliant, so maybe I need to find something else for my second cleanse?
Does anyone have any experiences to share about dryness on tret, or just starting tret in general? Anything I should be aware of? I'm weirdly nervous about it!
This is going to sound very stupid, but you just made me realise that I can just not apply my retinal near my mouth area. My retinal routine works great in summer but during winter, even with a less frequent routine, I will have to take a break eventually because my skin gets dry and flakey around the mouth. It somehow never occurred to me that instead of pausing completely, I could just apply it only to the less sensitive areas. So thanks for that.