Talk to me about Retin-a

[Anonymous]

I've been buying it off ebay for years. You can buy it from countries where it is OTC, and they will ship it to you. Ebay takes down the listings as they find them, so you will have to alternate between sellers, but just order a few tubes at once. It is so cheap that you can even order various strengths and formulations (gel, microsphere, cream) all at once and design your own regime.

[Anonymous]

Which concentration do you get? .025%? .05%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ordered from the website with no prescription. When I bought they only has tretinoin gel, not the cream that I prefer. Now they have the cream so I'm going to buy again.

How do you skip the part on the alldaychemist.com site that asks you to fax them your prescription and also asks for your doctor's name and phone number?

[Anonymous]

What about Differin for anti-aging? Because starting this month it's available OTC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Differin for anti-aging? Because starting this month it's available OTC.

I didn't realize that. Thanks, PP!

[Anonymous]

What is differin? Is it si liar to Retin-A?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been buying it off ebay for years. You can buy it from countries where it is OTC, and they will ship it to you. Ebay takes down the listings as they find them, so you will have to alternate between sellers, but just order a few tubes at once. It is so cheap that you can even order various strengths and formulations (gel, microsphere, cream) all at once and design your own regime.

How do you know that this is legit and not filled with scam, harmful chemicals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ordered from the website with no prescription. When I bought they only has tretinoin gel, not the cream that I prefer. Now they have the cream so I'm going to buy again.

How do you skip the part on the alldaychemist.com site that asks you to fax them your prescription and also asks for your doctor's name and phone number?

If I remember correctly (it's been a year), I just didn't. I skipped that stuff and they sent it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can get a script at Minute Clinics which is easier than finder a derm and making an appointment for six months from now.

Really? Like just go in and have some acne to show them? And ask for what specifically? Will they give you a script that says it is necessary so insurance will cover?

+1

And what if you have no acne and breakouts? What do you say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm almost 40, fair with decent skin in terms of wrinkles but some discoloration from sunspots and hormonal stuff from kids. I'm officially done with being pregnant or trying to get pregnant so ready to try retin-a. If you've used it- how long did it take to see some results, does it help with pore size, did your skin look awful for a period of time before it got better? I don't have any acne but the reviews online scared me a bit since people said they broke out in horrible pimples. What kind of thick moisturizer do you use? What level of sunscreen do I need? I'll ask the doc too of course but hoping to get it from my primary care doc since our insurance is changing to an HMO and I don't think they'll approve a derm visit. Anything else I should know? I want to try this before moving onto botox or lasers or other more expensive stuff!

I know Retin-A gets a lot of love on this forum, I'll be the lone dissenter. I had a prescription from my derm because of acne. I have hardly any wrinkles so didn't need it for that purpose. All it did was completely suck out every bit of moisture from my face, even my lips would become dry.

I used just the tiniest amount and started off slowly with 2x a week and then every other day. Used a thick moisturizer afterwards to combat the dryness but after 6 months my skin looked much worse.

The acne went away and the pores on my nose were smaller but I looked much older due to the lack of natural moisture within my skin. It also irritated the balance of my skin so much that when I quit I developed rosacea.

I'll never touch it again. I look much better with moisture in my face from the inside and not just from a layer of heavy moisturizer. Now I use a lighter moisturizer that provides fantastic hydration and my skin looks so good. Glowing and healthy looking rather than the dull, moisture less look I had going on with the Retin-A.

Just wanted to offer another perspective here. It's not for everyone.

I have dry skin and retin-a dries me out. The solution I have found is slathering on olive oil, which I was with and then apply afterwards with argan and rosehip oil. But olive oil is one of the most moisturizing oils out there and its kind of amazing that I need it to deal with the retin-a- says a lot.

[Anonymous]

I use tactupump. It's retina plus benzoyl peroxide. I do have acne. I also use an oil based moisturizer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been buying it off ebay for years. You can buy it from countries where it is OTC, and they will ship it to you. Ebay takes down the listings as they find them, so you will have to alternate between sellers, but just order a few tubes at once. It is so cheap that you can even order various strengths and formulations (gel, microsphere, cream) all at once and design your own regime.

How do you know that this is legit and not filled with scam, harmful chemicals?

It comes in its boxed, with the inserts. I check batch numbers and dates, which are imprinted on the tube and the box.

Mostly, though, I know it is "legit" because I've been using it for years and I have really great skin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can get a script at Minute Clinics which is easier than finder a derm and making an appointment for six months from now.

Really? Like just go in and have some acne to show them? And ask for what specifically? Will they give you a script that says it is necessary so insurance will cover?

+1

And what if you have no acne and breakouts? What do you say?

That you want it for cosmetic purposes. Insurance isn't going to pay, but if you want it easily, you can it there.

[Anonymous]

My insurance has a cut off date for acne -- 35. I guess I could ask the derm to write a letter saying it is medically necessary, but I just pay. It seems like a lot of money up front, but you use very little of it at a time and a tube lasts a long time. And the results for me are worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been buying it off ebay for years. You can buy it from countries where it is OTC, and they will ship it to you. Ebay takes down the listings as they find them, so you will have to alternate between sellers, but just order a few tubes at once. It is so cheap that you can even order various strengths and formulations (gel, microsphere, cream) all at once and design your own regime.

How do you know that this is legit and not filled with scam, harmful chemicals?

It comes in its boxed, with the inserts. I check batch numbers and dates, which are imprinted on the tube and the box.

Mostly, though, I know it is "legit" because I've been using it for years and I have really great skin.

I bought some retin-a off of Amazon, and it wasn't legit. Didn't work and broke me out. Those knockoffs sometimes have dangerous ingredients. I use Rx retin-a now, so the difference is clear.