Retin-A

[ThetaPrincess24]

A common side effect of all of your topical acne medications will be peeling/drying. Generic forms of the topical medications can be even more drying if the drug store gives you those. Best way to combat that is to cut back on your daily usage and gradually work back up again over time .I use retin-A for acne as well as sundamage and it has really improved my skin (in addition to Philosophy skin care and Bare Minerals). I can only use it once a day though because it does dry me out and cause flaking if i use it more often.

It will make your skin more sensitive to sunlight and artificial light from tanning beds so yes daily sunscreen is a must. Birth control pills will also make your skin more sensitive to sunlight and the same recommendations for sunscreen apply. Freckles are a sign of too much sun and those particular skin cells have "tanned" if you will causing freckles and for current freckles to become darker (I only know that because today oddly enough I was talking to my mother in law who is a dermatology nurse about freckles). She told me there are products they use in their office to lighten freckles but they are expensive and can lighten the non-freckled parts of the face as well.

Speaking of BC pills. As far as I know as of this time Ortho-tricylene is the only one that is FDA approved for reducing acne, but as others have said other birth control pills have also shown to do the same (though they may not have FDA approval for it). Birth control pills can also make you break out as well depending on the the strength of the hormones that are in them especially around in the laugh line areas around the mouth and the cheeks. I no longer take them, but I have been on three different brands of pills plus the patch before and they worked at first for me by reducing acne breakouts but after about 6 months the acne came back .

As a side note the patch caused my skin to break out locally too because apparently my skin is sensitive to the adhesive. I dont recommend the the BC patch for anything.