Welcome to my first review in 5 years! As a lifestyle blogger, I love to get all dressed up and go to nice restaurants and to fancy places. I notice when I was taken selfies for my social media post the dark spots on my face were getting worse!
I wouldn't call them sunspots but rather great-grandma spots since I inherited them from my great grandmother my grandfather and my mother. Because I was so busy with blogging and vlogging I guess I became blind to them?
But in June of 2019, I decided that I would do something about them because in Nov of 2019 I was turning 50 and we were all going a big family vacation to Orland FL and I wanted to look my best!
So I went to my dermatologist and she told me that Liquid nitrogen would be my best treatment. So I agreed, she took out what looked like a small fire hydrant and sprayed my face for about 30 seconds and to sit here and say that it didn't have a light bunning sensation would be a lie, but I was so desperate it didn't bother me.
Now I have heard of Retin A for many years but I always heard it was for very bad acne? But I recently heard through social media that it's also good for fading dark spots, lighting your skin, and filling in wrinkles.
So I asked her if she would prescribe me some? Of course, she prescribes the lowest dose which is 0.025%. Unfortunately, my insurance didn't cover it and it costs $130 for a tube of Tretinoin.
Before I went forward I decided to get some reviews on youtube. The problem was 95% of the reviews were by women who were giving their 6 months 1 year and even 2-year review on Retin A aka Tretinoin cream.
The other 5% were by men who were in their mid 30's whose skin looked just as good as the women. My point is no one looked like me? Thick skin big beard and dark spots. So I'm hoping I can represent a demographic society that has gone unnoticed! Seems a bit dramatic ha? Well, I love a bit of drama!
The whole time I was researching Retin A the liquid nitrogen treatment was kicking in. My dark spots were starting to dry up and shrink. But I decided to start the Tretinoin anyways because I could use all the help I could get. There was an instore coupon at Walgreens which bring the price down from $130 to $83.00 which I was happy about.
Of course, all the vloggers recommend starting a facial regimen when starting Retin A with special soaps, scrubs and creams which are used before and after applying the Retin A. So I went to the ever-popular
( Lush fresh handmade cosmetics ) in the Staten Island Mall, and I told them my situation and they suggested Kalamazoo beard and face wash. made with pineapple juice and jojoba oil amongst many other natural ingredients.
I love this face soap because instead of one soap for my beard and one for my face it kills two birds with one stone. It also smells like your sitting by the pool drinking a Pina Colada! Besides that, it leaves my face and beard feeling soft light and well condition. Oh, did I tell you it smells delicious?
They also recommended an exfoliation scrub a few times a week.
The nice lady at Lush suggested Ocean Salt face and body scrub. This stuff looks and smells just like the ocean. Being a boy from the Jersey shore you know that was my favorite part. The white and blue form is infused with vodka and sea salt that really gives your face a great work over and leaves your skin looking fresh and clean. I'm very happy with the results!
I also needed a moisturizer and Lush has a great one called Vanishing Cream which is very good but at $45 a tub it should be! lol. I ran out of the cream in the middle of the pandemic mall shut down but the Vitamin Shoppe was still open.
I so ran in and grabbed vitamin C cream which is only $3.49 a jar only until I could afford to order the vanishing cream online. But to my surprise, the vitamin C cream is really good for brightening the skin so I'm going to continue using it.
While researching Retin A on youtube I heard all the horror stories about the peeling the redness and how your skin will look worst before it's get's better and despite the bad reports I was willing to move forward with the process only to be a bit disappointed when nothing happen?
Even after 6 months of a consistent regimen of washing with Kalamazoo in the morning and add the vitamin C cream to my damp face wait 10 minutes and add a 40spf + sunscreen. At night I would repeat the process but instead of the sunscreen, I would add a pea-size amount of Retin A which is recommended.
My dermatologist scheduled my appointments for a liquid nitrogen spray every 3 weeks and after the 4th session take a few months off. On one of my visits, I asked her why wasn't my Retin A working? I didn't have any peeling or no redness? She said that it wasn't necessary for any of the side effects to take place for the Retin A to work. But if I was unhappy with the results then she will up my strength from 0.025% to 0.05%.
I,m on my second tube of 0.05% and I'm happy to say my wife found another coupon and got it for $53.00 ( If things keep going this way I might be making a profit from Walgreens ) Well anyhoo, even after almost a year of using Retin A I truly feel I'm not getting the full effect and benefits from it. So I searched youtube and came across this video.
( Advanced Retin A, Application Tips To Help You Get Better Results )
He explains that not all people have the same skin type and that the pea-size amount was a suggestive size. If you feel your skin can take a little more then a pea size amount then do so! Well for the past week I have been adding a little more than usual the pea size andI'm hoping I will get more of a dramatic result over the next few months.
I can't sit here and say that I haven't got really nice results from Retin A. I mean my skin looks a lot lighter and brighter. And if you have acne, light sunspots, or wrinkles I believe its worth the effort. I mean just youtube it and there are thousands of testimonies of very happy campers!
But as they say, the proof is in the pudding. I haven't had a liquid nitrogen spray since Christmas and even though I have been admin with my regiment of soaps scrubs creams and Retin A, I notice a few dark spots showing up on my face again. So to me the clear winner for quick and effortless results? LIQUID NITROGEN!
Please don't misunderstand I am definitely going to continue to use Retin A and even going to bump up to the 0.1% because I believe that my whole regiment is helping the healing prosses after the liquid nitrogen sprays. But I truly believe the grandma spots I had would've taken years and years of using Retin A where the liquid nitrogen took about 6 months and 5 treatments with great results!
But I will leave you with the same advice all the bloggers left me with. To truly know for sure how all this works for you? You must try it for yourself!
To see the end results watch my video review!
