tretinoin .025 and dry/flaky effect...QUESTION!!

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au1880

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i was on retin-a generic (just tretinoin .025) for two years and it worked great...I went home for the summer this year from college and got reallllly lazy and stopped applying it every night. Then I went back to school about two months ago and used it normally (cetaphil bar in the morning with moisturizer and tretinoin on clean skin every night) and it was fine....but now all of a sudden it is like it has stopped working...my face is getting very dry after i wash it with my normal cetaphil bar and i broke out really bad this week. (thinking back...my skin has not been as perfect as it was before the summer, but this is bad right now) The tube i was using was exposed to 100 degree temps for a week when i went camping in June....i wonder if it went bad. so i got a new tube and have been using it for two weeks, but still the same deal.

SOOOO! What I am wondering is....the dry skin! If I leave it be and just apply a moisturizer in the morning...will it clog my pores and make me breakout more? I had this really bad breakout this week....and my skin HAD been very dry and it concerned me, but I just washed and moisturized with an SPF and AHA moisturizer anyway.

Is there any way to wash the dead skin off? I am so scared to use an exfoliator...I read the boarRAB and the general feeling I get is NO SCRUBS! But I really want the dead top layer OFF! Buff puff? Baking soda? Washcloth?

Thank you so much if you reply to this! I really need some guidance!
 
All I can help you with is the moisturizer clogging your pores question. Just buy a moisturizer that is non-comedogenic, I use Curel "Continuous Comfort" which is dermatologist recommended. As far as applying it, my derm said to wait a little bit after applying any prescriptions, maybe 10 minutes, before using a moisturizer.
 
If you use an oil-free moisturizer, it won't make you break out.

I use the moisturizer from the Dr. Wexler line at Bath & Body Works...it works really great, and it's never made me break out, since it's specially formulated for acne.

As for the dryness, you can actually break out more when your face is dry, so using an acne-friendly moisturizer would definitely be in your best interest.
 
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