The secret to youthful skin

You've likely heard about the active ingredient tretinoin, which has been the mainstay of acne treatment for nearly 40 years as first-line treatment for inflammatory and noninflammatory acne. Many of your friends have used it, and you've been a fan, too. It has treated others time and time again.

Retin-A for anti-aging

Julyne Derrick, About.com's Guide to Beauty, has always thought of Retin-A as something you’d find in the medicine cabinets of pimply teens. A friend told her that it was an anti-aging lotion and cited it as the reason she has flawless skin. So Julyne tried it.

There’s more to Retin-A than meets the eye. What you may not know is that there are improved forms of Retin-A that actually help slow down the process of aging. This ingredient, which is found in lots of skin creams, helps to absorb excess facial oil to reduce facial shine and help prevent acne breakouts. However, the same product can also remove wrinkles and fine lines, and foster freshness in one’s face.

How it works

The minute you start using it, you might not see any changes for six to nine weeks. But after that, you should see a noticeable difference. Retin-A improves the blood supply to the skin, which makes the turnover of dead skin cells faster. That way, the new, younger-looking skin will appear. Now don’t get the two uses confused -- if you want to get a product with Retin-A for acne, go with the 0.1 percent cream. If you’re using it to slow down the aging process and prevent or improve wrinkles at the surface, go with the 0.05 percent cream.

Just use a thin layer at night, wash your face in the morning with a mild facial scrub or wash cloth (to get rid of the flaking on your face from the treatment), and then apply a good water-based moisturizer. This will also help with Retin-A’s drying effect.

Retin-A fan Julyne even posted about how her skin has never looked better at the age of 35. “It’s dewy, clear and pretty flawless,” she says. And she owes part of that face success to Retin-A. She attests that she’ll never stop using it. “I suggest it to all my friends, most of whom look at me as if they don’t really believe me,” she says in her blog. “I think the fact that you can’t get it over-the-counter scares them.”

Shopping for Retin-A

Lucky for you, Retin-A Micro is now available in a convenient, easy-to-use pump that delivers a consistent amount of medication with each use, making the beauty regimen easy. With the proper amount, there is a less chance of over-application and the irritation associated with using too much medication. By using Retin-A Micro Pump, there is increased patient compliance which was named one of top barriers in treating acne, according to results from a recent survey. Plus there are no more messy tubes, which we have been known to battle with in front of our bathroom mirrors time and time again.

Now when it comes to purchasing the product, do your research as it can be a little expensive. At Drugstore.com, they sell three tubes for $220.44 (one tube is $80.77). You can get an even greater deal if you buy even more tubes! Good luck!