[Routine Help] Should I start using adapalene again after what it did to my face?

[u/starwys]

So I started using adapalane on January 2025 and stopped using it early March 2025 after it gave me two huge cysts that eventually turned into this dark mass on my cheek (pictured above) that will not go away no matter what. Whenever I touch it, it feels like theres something underneath it, which makes me think it's not a regular acne scar or dark spot cuz those are usually flat on the face. I do have a dermatologist appt. in late may but this has been eating me up inside for months now and I just want to know if theres anything that can help.

Here's my current routine (for reference I have oily, acne prone skin):

AM: - Wash face with water (or when its too oily i use the unscented baptism dieux face wash) - Skin1004 Hyalu-Cica sunscreen (the blue one)

PM: - La Roche Posay Toleriane purifying foaming cleanser for oily skin - La Roche Posay Double repair moisturizer

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

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[u/CeramicBamboo]

I had a bad reaction to adapalene too, and kept going with it because I was convinced it was “purging”. Nope. Just gave me terrible cystic acne and awful scars. Had to do 3 rounds of microneedling and it’s still not all gone. Stop using it, some people are just sensitive to retinols and can’t use them, you may be one of us.

[u/kazooparade → u/CeramicBamboo]

This happens to me with the cream formulas of tretinoin I kept trying to get past “the purge” …never happened. BUT my skin handles gel formulations just fine. It can unfortunately be a bit of trial and error.

[u/starwys → u/CeramicBamboo]

Oh no that sucks! What do you use now in place of retinols? Ive heard many people who had bad reactions to retinols switched to azelaic acid, etc.

[u/ExtensionAverage9972]

I don't think so tbh I think you should start on benzyl peroxide 2.5 during the day and a retinol (a313 cream) or retinol alternative at night.

[u/starwys → u/ExtensionAverage9972]

What's a retinol alternative?

[u/ExtensionAverage9972 → u/starwys]

bakuchiol is one it's for people who either can't tolerate retinol or for people who can't use retinol because of pregnancy and stuff

[u/starwys → u/ExtensionAverage9972]

Do you recommend any bakuchiol products? I started reading about it and i'm interested.

[u/ExtensionAverage9972 → u/starwys]

I recommend them for people that can't tolerate retinol

[u/gowowogo]

Not an expert and don’t know much about the products you listed, but for me La Roche Toleriane is a red flag, it tore up my face and required a ton of remediation afterwards.

[u/starwys → u/gowowogo]

Honestly I've heard a lot of those sentiments but the reason I started using La roche is because my esthetician created a routine for me a couple years ago and im just now starting to follow it.

[u/gowowogo → u/starwys]

Totally get it, a lot of folks recommend that product but it hurt me and I’m not a wuss.

[u/Melindish]

Are you sure you didn’t damage the skin barrier? (Might look like dryness, sandpaper feeling, red, itchy, pimples)

[u/jwest99999]

Retinal purging 

[u/starwys → u/jwest99999]

Oh well I thought purging was small, painless bumps and not cysts?

[u/jwest99999 → u/starwys]

It mostly depends on what kind of acne you already have. It doesn't create new acne. It just brings up "dormant" acne for lack of a better word to the surface. It should be temporary. I'd recommend reducing frequency and maybe lowering the percentage if you find it to be unbearable.

[u/starwys → u/jwest99999]

I see, the % I have now is 0.1% and I thought that was the lowest. I do get cysts pretty frequently when I break out so maybe thats the kind of purging I get?

[u/jwest99999 → u/starwys]

Yeah, that's the lowest. I'd recommend pairing it with soothing ingredients and managing any kind of irritation, but it might be best to just kind of fight through it

[u/starwys → u/jwest99999]

Okay tysm! I'll start using it 1x or 2x a week and see how I fair. Is it true applying it after moisturizer reduces irritation?

[u/jwest99999 → u/starwys]

Yeah, moisturizers have emollients and exclusives that help prevent water loss in the skin(the whole point of moisturizers) and prevent things from getting into the skin. So, when you apply a moisturizer before your adapalene, it reduces the rate of absorption of the product and, therefore, the irritation. I have dry skin, so what I did when I was trying to get used to tretinoin is I would apply a moisturizer, let it dry, apply the tretinoin, let that dry, and then apply my moisturizer again. Now you don't have to do the last step because you have oily skin, but the rest is what I would recommend. Start with that once a week and build up from there.