Differin Gel

I was first prescribed the Differin .01% Cream about eight months ago, and my acne subtly began to clear. After two months of that, my dermatologist switched me over to the Differin .03% Gel and within a week, I noticed a severe difference. Two months from then, all my acne began to smoothe out and is now easy to hide scars. Now, for the first time in a long while, I am proud of my skin. The only negative I have about this product is it dries out your skin. I used St. Ives Apricot Exfoliating Scrub to wash off the dead skin from my face. It made my skin ultra sensitive to everything; from sun to fabric. But I was happy to pay this small fare as long as I finally got clear skin.

I am a 25 year old woman who has been dealing with acne since I was about 14 years old. I've tried practically every over-the-counter acne product with little to no results. I even tried Proactiv...BAD DECISION. my skin cleared, but dried out so much it resembled snake skin, forcing me to stop, and afterward my acne got WORSE. like from mild/moderate to moderate/severe. My mom had a prescription for Differin Gel 0.3 and offered a tube for me to try. After a couple of days I noticed that my oily skin was basically normal and some of the pimples were drying up. It's been about a year of use now and my skin is about 90% better. I've noticed that if I use it every night or every day (my schedule is sort of erratic) my skin dries out a little but only around thin-skinned areas like my nose, under my eyes and around my mouth so I try not to use it around those areas. I've also noticed that if i forget to use it for a few days, i'll break out a little but I can always fix it within a week of ... Read more

I used Differin for 5 months, and it worked really really well for me. It completely got rid of all my zits and whiteheads. I have stopped using it about four months ago and I haven't seen not one zit so far. The drawbacks of it though is that it is very slow to take effect, and once you stop using it, whitehead and blackhead come back. Also it dries out the skin like crazy, but you can always use lotion.

I have the differin gel 0.1, i have been using it for months now but cant remember the exact time. At first when i started getting spots i was about 12 through my first year of secondary school, i only got them on my forehead and i had a fringe so it looked like i had non atall because i felt selfconciouse about my skin and how people would see it, i would say i have moderate acne i now get the odd breakout on my chin and round my mouth but i tend to cover myself up with makeup. Most of the reviews i have read about this gel have been bad obviously the cream works for some people and not others and maybe people have not moderate acne but most of my skin is smooth now and im really happy with it so im going to continue using it. Sometimes i get really upset when i have a breakout and constantly feel real selfconcious why of my friends hardly have any spots and can wear there hair off there face while i have to cover mine up with a fringe eventhough there not terrible atall im just like ... Read more

THIS IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I HAVE EVER MADE...WAS TO USE THIS PIECE OF SHIT ON MY FACE..IT TOTALLY FUCKED UP MY SKIN AND NOW I HAVE A HUGE ASS PIGMENTATION ON MY MOUTH...WTF I WOULD TAKE ANY ACNE ANYDAY THAN TO HAVE THIS SHIT ON MY FACE

No improvement with my face whatsoever....If anything it has made my face redder and worse than usual. I am a 17 yr old male with moderate acne. Acne is very very embarressing for me to go out in public and to go to school. I've tried everything you can think of. I'm a person that is very worried about my appearance and the way that i look AKA the way my acne looks that day determines on how i act and how good my day is. I'm about to go to my school's wellness center to see if they will give me anything else for my acne. I'd really like to find something that works for me and gets rid of it. I've heard about Accutane and how its very powerful, its just the cost. I dont want to spend that much $ on something that may or may not work. Pray for me people, im tired of having acne

I am a female age 30 with dealing with acne. My skin tone is Medium to light brown and oily but very soft. I do not have any dry areas. my different types of acne include white pustule bumps(a pustule is a inflamed pus filled bump that appears usually as a white cap on the top and the inflammation as a red colored base. Another type I sometimes have are the large and deep bumps- nodules(deep and highly inflamed bumps that are hard and typically painful to the touch. Cyst are filled with pus and liquid. I get pimples on my forehead,both cheeks,nose and chin. I currently have more than 10 pimples and a few dark brown spots from popping pimples(we are not suppose to burst our pimples guys this is a no-no) I usually break out once a month around the time of my menstrual cycle for about 1-2 weeks. I have every product you can think of gels,mask, spot treatments etc you name it I have it and have tried it from Clearasil, neutragena,medications etc. My main point is that I plan to be discipli... Read more

I am a 27 year old mother of 2 sons. I started dealing with acne when I was 13 and it was mainly just very bad on my forehead. I would always get breakouts atleast twice a months and they were bad enough to keep me at home on the weekends as a teen. My acne NEVER went totaly away and I have always dealt with very oily skin. About 3 months ago my skin started breaking out pretty bad all over my face and I just couldnt take cakeing on make-up anymore,which usualy just make it look worse! I called my family doctor and told her about my acne and she called me in Differin 0.1% and I went to pick it up right away! I have been using it daily for about a week now. The first few days of using it my acne got MUCH worse so bad I refused to leave the house. But I remember my doctor telling me it would get worse before it got better which I wasnt to happy with but I have tried EVERYTHING over the counter and NOTHING worked so I stuck it through. I am on day 8 now and I can honestly say my skin... Read more

I just started Differin this past week. In the few days I've been using it, my face really has become worse. My Dr. told me to use a "mild soap" to watch my face before. I don't know what a "mild soap" consists of. I was using Neutrogena Stress Acne pads but then I heard you shouldn't use the acid that's in it. Can anyone help me by telling me some mild soaps to use??

Hi there, as a 16 year old teenage lad I hated the acne on my back, the acne tended to only be there for a week (within a monthly cycle) then as it would disappear through benozyl peroxide treatment it would leave horrible red and purple marks! After 4 months of this i concluded that this treatment wasn't right for me and i resolved to go back to my GP/doctor. She referred me onto a prescribed 0.1 % Differin gel treatment. Its been two/three weeks now and the changes have been dramatic. I still have a few red bumsp on the shoulders but the markage left over is fast disappearing and I now have 75% of the skin on my back back to normal clear skin. I highly recommend it especially as it worked fairly rapidly on the skin on my back which is much thicker and pores much larger than that of facial acne. I keep the same washing routine, keep playing football/soccer and my girl friend (who has been very supportive) is understandingly ecstatic!! Keep fighting!

i am 26 years old and i've had severe acne ever since i can remember. i have tried pretty much everything. nothing seemed to help me. differin has changed my life. if you have bad acne you know what i'm talking about. people are so mean and i have cried many many tears. differin didn't work for me overnight. it actually made my acne worse. i was so disappointed but kept using it because i spent $150 for it. but i'm glad i did. i noticed my face started clearing up in different sections. first my forehead, then my cheeks. my major problems was my chin and around my chin line. it took a long time but it finally cleared up. it was so worth going thru the first six months to finally having clear skin. and one tube lasted over eight months and thats with putting it all over my face. it is not a overnight cure, at least it wasn't for me. this is my first review and i'm doing it because if i can help anybody with acne, it is worth my time. oh yea, make sure you don't get in the sun with it.... Read more

My dermatologist gave me Differin today and said to only put "a little" on ONLY THE PIMPLES !.. and from what I've read .. people put it on their whole face! maybe that's why it's not working well for them ... so make sure to Only put it once at night only on the pimples .. =]

Differin is not a non-presciption Gel. It is prescribed by a dermatologists office and is a medical and strong medication that should not be compared to over the counter products. It works for some and not for others. Work with your dermatologist to find the right solution. I have three teenagers with mild to medium acne (no cysts are extreme breakouts) and differin has worked for them at different levels.

I think my skin has cleared up some ive been on it for over 2 months now...but strangely its made me scar much worse when I do get a pimple. But I'm going to stay with it for now because I'm currently in the process of getting new insurance so from there well see. And my pores have gotten larger Im very confused cuz this is the opposite of what I was told would happen its really upsetting because I loved my pores before couldnt see them at all now there huugggeee. My skins much oilier to. Maybe my hormones are just changing though ugh i dont know

My son is only 10 but his skin is already breaking out badly. The doctor told me to get differin 3. He had very bad pimples on his forhead and on his nose. One got very large and broke. He has a scar from that one and he never messed with it at all. After about a month of putting the differin on his forehead and nose every night his skin is almost cleared up. Right now it is Febuary in Florida so the sun isn't bad but during summer the sun is horrid so I don't know what we will do this summer, epecially considering he goes to summer camp all summer and they are in the sun every day all day long.

There is no quick fix nor a miracle remedy. Good clear skin starts from the inside, plenty of water, eat well, vitamins, exercise, etc. We are what we eat/drink. For those of us that suffer from acne, we need more help such as antibiotics and topical medications. Believe me, I know. I had perfectly clear skin until age 20, then it was devastating with the embarassment, sore cysts and pimples and I was scurrying to try every remedy advertised out there to end the pain. Though my doctors kept telling me it was a hormonal imbalance, i was determined to rid of it, and soon! Over five years, I tried two different antibiotics (e, t) and many topical creams (including Proactive) and nothing seemed to work. I finally tried Accutane at age 28 and this killed the severe acne (the cysts), but I do occasionally get a few outbreaks every now and then but nothing like before with the painful cysts that causes scars. I started Differen gel .1 then .3 a year ago only as a recommendation of a new der... Read more

Used Diffrin, before my derm put me on Retin A. Diffrin did not seem to work at all and REtin A made my face very flaky and dry. Finally, my doc put me on Solodyn and a retinoid antibiotic combo gel called Ziana. The combination of the two have really worked for me.

I was on this for about two months and I didn't see any results. Last week I went to the doctor depressed because my acne had not improved at all. He put me on Sulpha (an antibiotic taken orally) and Tretinoin (generic for Retin-A). I can already see results from the combination of these two medications, and I've only been taking them a few days. Tretinoin is topical cream and it actually grows new skin, causing you to shed the layer you already have. It helps with scarring and wrinkles as well. It is God-sent. I feel blessed to find something that is actually working for me, because the Differin made me lose hope for a future with better skin. You have to try both though. Some people love Differin. Some people are terrified of Tretinoin and I've read many horror stories about it. I didn't go through the massive breakout phase with it because I had already brought up all the dormant pimples with Differin. But there will be a period of time with these medications when you first start u... Read more

Hi, well im using the 5% differin gel. its worked really well for 3 months, then i stopped because, there was none or little acne left. But then for about a month or so after acne started appearing again, and got a little strong, went back to the doctor again and he said that it should be used for 9 months non-stop then acne should stop or won;t be as strong as before. im just wondering, if this has happened to more people, or is this situation just happening to me.

This is my 4th weeks on differin. I do not see any improvement. My face is horrible. I am becoming so depressed. I do not want to even go outside. The acne has increased. I want to call my doctor to try something new, but I will try to put in my remaining 8 weeks. I think I will feel better if I can see a slight improvement.

ive been using differin for over six months. first things got worse then they got a little better. now im stuck with a little more than moderatley bad acne on my cheeks and some pimples in other places on my face. i wash my face when i wake up with gentle soap, then again before i go to bed, then i put diffwerin on. can someone tell me what im doing rong and what i shuld do?

AlexandraRipp, yes continue using it. All the acne you see was hiding under your skin and this medication is purifying your skin. Trust me, KEEP GOING.

Im not sure wat did it but i all of a sudden like overnight really got moderate acne. It was weird over the period of a week i went from no acne at all like perfect skin to moderate acne. I started using a bunch of stuff like proactiv and this natural remedy but nothing until i went on the combo of differin monoxicylin and panoxyl soap so for acne really u need to try all three methods of treatment to get results internal and the two externals of benzoyl peroxide and retin A. I now have light acne that is almsot all gone and now compeltely under control. Differin is known for light side effects so burning only happens with sensitive skin but lower usage until u get used to it. like every other other day for a few days then every other day and so on till its every day. Dont mess around with acne hit it hard from all angles possible when u start getting it and if that doesn't work use the miracle drug accutane for severe acne. its the only thing that works for all my friends who had... Read more

I tried Differin .3 gel for three months with no results. I called back my doctor and he switched me to Retin A Micro. Within two weeks my acne was clearing, and my doctor said because it was in a pump, I wouldnt overuse the product. Hands down, my vote goes to Retina Micro.

Differin may work for some people, but its side effects turn me off. Try something all natural like Vilantae instead.

I was very skeptical when I was prescribed differin gel. My face never got dried out or irritated. My face instead became super greasy everyday and the acne got worse, much worse for months and months! I had it worse than I ever had in my life! I thought it probably wasn't working since my face was so oily instead of overly dry like every one elses experiences, but I kept using it, just in case. The way I used it was, I cleaned my face everynight with a gental facial soap, then applied differin gel before bed. In the morning, I'd wash it all off really well with facial soap and apply clindamycin gel. I NEVER wore differin during the day and would recommend you not to as well. My doctor told me too many horror stories of how differin reacts badly with sunlight. It's been about 6-7 months now, and this week, for the first time ever, I have stopped getting acne. My blackheads, whitehead and cystic acne are all gone! After suffering with ance from age 13 to now, age 27, I'm still... Read more

Basically you have to try it because it works on some people and not others. I tried differin and it cleared my skin immensely at any given time I only had one pimple on my face or none.

Question about Differing and sun exposure(and my review below). How strong does sunblock have to be when using Differin? I know some people said they got very painful and ugly burns by being exposed to sun while on differin. Is sunblock something that can prevent it? HOw strong does it have to be? I have vacation in Hawaii coming up, so no way I can avoid the sun and I don't want to get painful/ugly burns on my vacation.....Any input appreciated. Thanks. I've been using Differin for about 7-8 weeks now (the .1%). First time I tried Differin, it was PAINFUL. I know I have very sensitive skin, but the way my skin reacted was NOT expected. After only 3 days of using Differin, my face was peeling really bad (like think sunburn kind of peeling + cracking skin) and my skin constantly felt like it was burning and itching. It actually hurt to talk...any action that cause the skin on my face to move HURT. Not to mention my skin got super dry and red. I gave my skin about 2 weeks to res... Read more

For some people....it takes 6 months for it to work. For me, I saw results over night! It works! And don't apply it all over your face...just in the affected area. I use the Differin GEL 0.3%. TRY IT!!!  ?

This gel is genuinly very good but i do not recommend using it if you suffer from severe acne because at first - as it works under the skin - your acne may get worse and the bacteria would be too strong. 1st of all i recommend visiting your doctor and pick up some Doxycycline and Dalacin T. This combination works well on acne prone and acne skin. It also reduces oil and kills bacteria. It additionally helps the pores to let excess sebum flush out as acne is caused by excess sebum and bacteria. After about 3 months of this combined treatment you should allow your doctor to examine your progress. They will either allow you too continue on the combined course or change the course. If your acne has improved and you only have a few blackheads and pimples, now is the time to request Differen gel. 1% for sensitive skin. The gel will remove any leftover active acne and make your face feel smoother. Only use at night. Do not worry about a shiny complexion when you apply the differen and even w... Read more

okay, i HAVE to say this. i freakin LOVE this stuff. people whine and say ooh ti makes my skin dry, it made me break out. it works under the skin, so it's going to get worse before it gets better. i used it about 3 years ago, but stopped just because my problem went away. well, it came back recently, so i started using it again. WOW my face looks sooo much better <3 i use the lowest level because i have sensitive skin. the 3% is for MAJOR breakouts, and yeah, it WILL hurt because it's trying to clear everything out. but i can't use the 3% because it literally burns my flesh, so yeah xD it's not the stronger you get it, the better the results. if you have bigger, harder to deal with breakouts, get the 3% but if you're like me, with only a few breakouts, and sensitive skin, then 1% is pwn.

differin is a good product that'll get rid of acne. One advice would be to NOT use differin after putting on moisturizers. The moisturizers kind of blocks out the differin and you will break out. ONLY use differin on clean dry faces after washing it with warm water and gentle cleanser.

do not use differin!!!!!!! At first the medication helped with my acne but then i had a severe allergic reaction to the medication causing my skin to become extremely sensitive. My face is now swollen and i have severe itching due to hyperlysensitive skin which i have been dealing with for the past 7 months because every dermatologist i have been to latley is a complete idiot and has provided no help whatsoever.

I've been using differin for 2 weeks now. I am 24 years old and I have been struggling with acne for as long as I can remember. About 6 months ago it got even worse, I didnt think that was possible- but it did. I have not been out in public (as in out of my house- not even on the pavement) without makeup since i was old enough to wear make up. 2 weeks ago I visited a dermatologist and she recommended 3 things for me. 1 an antibiotic, 2 benzol peroxide to be used during the day and 3 differin at night only. All three were by RX only. within days my skin had begun to look and feel better the dark marks from the old acne is still there but the peroxide is supposed to help that in time (you can only use it sparingly or it will irritate your skin) I really think that if you are like how I was and you spent a small fortune in over the counter acne meds and face washes - give differin a try. Talk to a dermatologist, the visit is fairly cheap and let them try it on you. My ski... Read more

I've been using differin gel for just over two months alongside oxytetracycle and my skin has really improved. I'm 19 and have used pretty much everything you can get over the counter and this is the first thing to work. I now use a clean and clear wash and then differin gel at night. The differin gel really dries my skin out so i use bio-oil to moisturise it and help the scarring, plus being in better condition my skin can heal itself quicker. I think it's the oxytetracycline, not the differin gel, that has cleared my skin but it is really good for individual spots as it reduces redness and helps it clearer up quicker... though it needs to be used sparingly so it doesn't dry your skin too much.

I've been using differin for about 4 weeks now. it's really working for me, but I'm worried because I have bumps on my cheeks that have been there for years. I mean they're not red or blackheads or whiteheads or anything they're just little bumps all over my cheeks that are they same color as my skin and I'm worried with differin that it won't make those go away. besides that my forehead and chin look the best they've looked in years :)

Probably the best out there! it is effective but not too harsh. I was my face with Neutrogena Deep Clean cream cleanser & use this Differin gel. The gel worked better than the cream.

Cetaphil wash + Differin gel 0.3% + two Bactrim pills a day = my face FINALLY clearing up and starting to be touchably soft. I've been prescribed EVERY medication there is over the course of 8 years, except I refused to use Accutane for the obvious risk involved. I have never tried hormone pills or any type of birth control-- my mother is against using such things until trying everything else. I began the combination above about 6 months ago, but a couple of months into it I was so fed up at not seeing results that I quit all of my medication (topical and oral) and tried Clean & Clear's products again. That was a horrible mistake. I switched back after about a month. It's been about 2 and a half weeks since going back to the Differin and Bactrum and I'm seeing results. I was initially worried that my skin would need time to readjust to the medication again, but it seemed to pick up exactly where it left off. So I can honestly say that it does take some time. I wish I had been more p... Read more

this prodcut is the worst it caused me the hair loss for real i am so scared if my hair will completely grow back like before piss the hell out of me dont use this there are some side effects that are not even listed Just dont use this if you have acne dont go to dermatologist