Both before and after pics are taken, when nothing is added to the face (moisturizers, SPF, nothing). No filter was used and with back camera was.
I was 28 years old at the time before pic was taken. Been in the sun most of my life, without sunscreen. Genetics on crow’s feet plays also a big role in my family.
One day I didn’t like what I was seeing in the mirror and decided to do something about it - and gladly, found this sub.
I see the difference the routine has made, and I’m so happy about it. I know the lines won’t disappear fully (I had fine lines when I was around 16 years old, even when my face was resting), but even after 5 months of using it, it’s done more than I was waiting for.
The tretinoin has not affected my skin negatively (dry eyes, irritation, peeling, nothing), so I will keep going and will post next time after 1 year of using tretinoin.
I believe, that the most effective thing for smoothing out lines is using SPF50 and good moisturizers.
At this point, I want to thank this sub so much, for the advice I got 5 months ago! So many were also offering Botox for me, but it’s not my kind of stuff. I will use SPF and moisturizers for the rest of my life.
So, I want to clarify - I don’t apply tret right under the eye, but I add it to near the corners of my eye. For me, it works (so far), but for many others, it might not be suitable.
The second thing is, that I work 10 hours from Monday to Friday outdoors only - I’m lucky that I can wear a large hat. If I had to wear a helmet or a small cap, I definitely would NOT use tret.
May I ask how many days a week you use the tretinoin? It seems like the skincare results on males are more dramatic and rarely negative, especially with tretinoin. I guess because you guys have thicker skin and can handle actives and exfoliation better. Well done!
I use it every day. My derm was surprised when I told her that .025 had no side effects. Might be more surprised, when I call her and tell them that i use .05 every day and still have no side effects (now that I mentioned it, I will be doomed for sure )
I think men can handle tretinoin better because their skin is thicker but men tend to start from worse baselines so the improvements look more noticeable. I don’t think I know a single guy who wears sunscreen while all the women I know do.
Because I wanted the C-vitamin moisturizer and Q10 but did not want to use them at the same time. I let the C-vitamin effect for like 6-8 hours and Q10 for 4-5 hours. It’s just that i wanted to try it that way.
Did you notice a big change when you switched from .025 to .05 strength on tret? My skin is acclimatized now and I’ve been waiting to jump strength but Imm not sure
I truly believe the biggest difference was at the time I moved to stronger tretinoin. However, I used the .025 for three months, so maybe it started to affect me around that time too, I really can’t say for 100% sure. All I can say for 100% sure is that tretinoin is superb for my skincare routine, based on my experience.
It looks great! I have a similar crows feet issue and I have a good routine like yours with Tret.
I now question my improvement sometimes because I just hydrate that area more, so it looks like there are fewer lines there. Not saying the tret isn’t doing the work for ya, but for me, I’ve noticed that when i don’t hydrate my under eyes, it goes back to the lines