A Journey in Adulting & Self-Care

 Welcome! So you are ready to enter the mystical and magical world of tretinoin. If you are unsure of what tretinoin is, please check out my earlier post about the basics of this wonderful active ingredient. The following post will break down in a week-by-week basis on how to add tret but please know, your skin will determine the speed and number of steps to take. The important thing is that you don't go to slow (otherwise your skin will never get used to it) or too fast (or you risk compromising your skin barrier). Week 1-4:  Your dermatologist will start you at a low strength, something around .01 or .02. If you are getting it with a prescription, go with a low strength so that your skin can get retinized or adjust to this new ingredient. Again, too fast or too furious will mess up your skin unnecessarily and remember, you do not need to purge or have a reaction to know if the tretinoin is working.  Do not apply everyday. You derm or online provider (Curology, Apostrophe, etc.)

The inspiration of this blog came from my friends and families admitting that all the information and products out there about skin care was so daunting that they didn't even know where to start. I am a self-professed skincare nerd so I love learning about the chemistry and science behind it but I can certainly relate to it being complicated. Here I will provide different tiers of a morning routine to get even the very beginners off to a right start! Level 1: Help! I splash water on my face...when I remember First of all, yay! You are inspired enough or have come to some sort of realization that maybe you want to do some sort of routine. For the very, very beginners, all you really need in the morning is: - cleanse your face. I personally just like to splash water on my face . That's it! My sensitive, oily skin does better if I don't strip it of all the natural oils and goodies that have been on my face from my PM routine the night before. You do not need to use a cleanser