Dermatica – is this the best anti-aging face cream ever?
Dermatica is the personalised anti-aging subscription treatment that I discovered during lockdown. I promised you in the blog post Best Beauty Products of 2021 that I would write a full review about my #1 beauty find, so here it is! A full length, honest review about the best anti-aging face cream I have ever used!
Dermatica contains, amongst other wonderful ingredients, the holy grail of anti-aging; the prescription drug Tretinoin. Sometimes known as Retin A, Tretinoin is a high-strength retinoid that works with your skin to speed up cell turnover. This in turn promotes healthier and younger looking skin. And boy… does it work!
The incredible benefits of Tretinoin:
- Proven to improve fine and coarse wrinkles by restoring dermal collagen
- Restores the deterioration of the skin caused by sun damage
- Diminishes skin roughness
- Tightens loose and sagging skin
- Reduces comedones, papules and pustules
- Suitable for long term maintenance therapy
Tretinoin is also used as a very successful treatment for acne, pigmentation, melasma, and rosacea, but for the purpose of this post, I will be focusing purely on it’s anti-aging benefits.
Before & after using Dermatica
Below are my make-up free and completely un-photoshopped before & after photographs – Yikes! As horrified as I am by the first image, and as painful as it is to look at it, the results of using Dermatica have to be seen to be believed! I would not be doing this product, or review, any justice without including it. Because this stuff really does work! I have not had any sneaky ‘work’ done – no fillers, no lasers, no anything. The changes you see are all down to this amazing product and I am blown away by the improvement!
(The other stuff that really works is the Eyelash & Eyebrow Serum that was #2 on my lockdown beauty discoveries list! In the after image, I am not wearing mascara, nor have my lashes or brows been dyed. it’s just another little miracle product working beyond expectation!)
Starting my Dermatica journey
I started my Dermatica journey as a result of my ‘New year, New me’ research at the beginning of 2021. I was looking old, feeling very unfit, and it was making me miserable. So I decided I was going to do something about it. This ‘research’ involved watching many hours of all things diet, fitness and anti-aging on YouTube. This is where I first became aware of, the wonder-drug that is, Tretinoin. With lockdown in full swing and dermatologists closed all round the country, I was not hopeful I would get hold of this prescription-only drug any time soon. Then much to my delight Dermatica popped up in a Google search! (No, I don’t give up easily!) and the rest, as they say, is history…!
What is Dermatica?
Dermatica is a skincare subscription service that is incredibly easy to use. You simply fill in an online ‘skin goals’ questionnaire, upload some rather depressing make-up-free selfies and then wait a few days for your tube to arrive in the post. Simples! The first month is free, and thereafter, it is a pretty affordable £19.99 a month, plus postage. Certainly a lot cheaper than surgery!
How the subscription service works
Behind the scenes, at Dermatica HQ, a dermatologist designs a prescription treatment plan to best achieve your goals. As your skin journey progresses, your formula is tweaked. They incrementally increase the strength of the Tretinoin, and other active ingredients, so that your skin can acclimatise over time.
A new tube is sent to you every 4 weeks, and after a few months, you are asked to fill in another online questionnaire and upload more photos. Mercifully, these were significantly less depressing! This is so that your improvements and any issues can be tracked. My interim photos showed a huge improvement around my eyes, in just three months!
The side effects of Tretinoin
Seeing how far I had come, in so little time, was just the inspiration I needed to carry on. You are probably wondering why, with the impressive results I was getting, I needed any ‘inspiration’? Well, I am not going to lie, Tretinoin is a powerful drug and it must be used sparingly and strategically to minimise the rather frustrating and unsightly side-effects, some of which you will almost certainly experience. Thankfully, for me it was lockdown when I started, so it wasn’t such a big deal, but it would be unfair of me to tell you only the good, and not the bad & the ugly!
Common side effects of Tretinoin:
- Redness of the skin
- Skin peeling
- Increased sensitivity to sunlight
Uncommon side effects of Tretinoin:
- Discolouration of the skin
- Inflammation of the skin
- Blistering of the skin
How to use Dermatica
A measured pump dose of Dermatica cream is applied to the face at night, after cleansing. You are told to expect a warm, stinging sensation. I have quite sensitive skin, so I was fully expecting it to tingle, which it did, but it wasn’t anything too uncomfortable. I am definitely in the camp of ‘no pain, no gain’, so experiencing the tingle reassured me that it must be doing something!
Technically, and according to the advice from Dermatica, you are not suppose to use Tretinoin around your eyes. However, the before & after photos that I had seen online, where people had applied it, in tiny quantities, to just under the brow area, were so impressive, I did the same. Click on the links to the YouTube channels HotandFlashy and FiftyPlusBeauty to see for yourselves! These women have achieved fantastic results by incorporating Tretinoin into their long term skin care.
Experiencing the side effects
It is recommended that you allow the Dermatica cream to completely absorb before applying your moisturiser and this can take up to 20 minutes, so wait I did. As soon as I put the moisturiser on though, I felt a really intense burning/itching sensation and my face turned bright red. Knowing that this could be a side effect, I did not wash it off. It honestly took me quite a while to fall asleep because of the severity of the burning sensation.
Thankfully, the next morning, my face seemed absolutely fine, so I cleansed and moisturised with my usual products. Immediately though, my skin went red, prickly & itchy, as if I was suddenly having an allergic reaction to products I had used for years. So I put the question out to Google – which cleansers and moisturisers work best with Tretinoin? I was using Keihl’s Calendula Deep Cleaning Foaming Face Wash and Super Multi-Corrective Cream, which is packed full of great natural anti-aging stuff, but perhaps what I needed was something simpler, more basic and a lot less irritating to my sensitive skin.
Products to use alongside Dermatica
My Google search flagged up Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser & Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream as good options to use alongside Tretinoin. Both are cheap & cheerful and available at most supermarkets, so I made the switch. Much to my relief, this combination was much more comfortable to use – my face was still quite red after washing & moisturising, but thankfully the awful burning sensation was much abated, and even the redness lessened over time.
As the weeks went by, I had made my way through the first pot of Neutrogena gel cream, so went to buy a replacement, only to discover that Neutrogena had changed the recipe of their moisturiser and were introducing a ‘New Improved Formula!’ The new version now contains something called salicylic acid which is completely incompatible with Tretinoin. Unfortunately for my face, I didn’t know that and had to learn the hard way…!
I have made life simple for you. Below is a list of ingredients your moisturiser should NOT contain if you are going to use it in combination with Tretinoin. Don’t learn the hard way!
Ingredients incompatible with Tretinoin:
- Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) eg Glycolic acid
- Vitamin C
- Salicylic acid
- Benzoyl Peroxide
Peeling
Another common side-effect of the Tretinoin in Dermatica is peeling. I have to ‘fess up here – I did not exactly start my Dermatica regime slowly. I applied it daily from the get-go (as I was impatient and wanted results!) and by day 3 my face had started to peel… And it peeled really badly for the next 2 months! The image below is not of me, but my peeling was not dissimilar. It was impossible to wear foundation smoothly. No matter how often I moisturised, a couple of hours later, my face would be peeling again.
Things were just beginning to settle down when the Neutrogena formula change happened. It was a massive set back. My face started stinging again, redness was an issue and there was a whole lot more peeling. By now I was pretty desperate and trying all sorts of things to help with the dryness.
What finally helped with the peeling?
As an eczema sufferer, I have a drawer full of pots and potions that I have used, with varying degrees of success, to soothe the sore, irritated skin under my arms. With my face itchy and scaly, I hoped that perhaps one of them might help? After much trial and error, I found one that seemed to do the trick. A 100% natural Calendula cream, by Lyonsleaf, which amazingly stopped the peeling overnight. It was an absolute god-send…!
Sunscreen & protection
It is very important to wear a good sunscreen with a high SPF when using Tretinoin. The foundation I normally use has SPF 15 but it is recommended that you use SPF30, or higher, when using Retinoids. It is also essential to keep your face out of the direct sun at all times.
I was worried about adding another cream to my already very sensitive skin, but I needed the higher SPF so ordered some Trinny London BFF SPF 30 cream. It has a high sun protection factor, and purports to ‘boost glow and tone down redness.’ It did sting a little in the early days, but it would calm down quite quickly. As I was unable to wear foundation, because of the peeling, it helped to even out the appearance of my skin, as well as provide sun-protection.
As the owner of two dogs and a keen walker, I expose my face to the elements every day, so I have been very careful to keep it away from direct sunlight. I decided to get a visor, rather than a hat. I can tuck the band under my ponytail and it doesn’t blow off in the Cornish wind! Style-wise, you get what you pay for, so I splashed out on a Lululemon one. I wear it rain, or shine now and don’t know how I lived without it! It’s great for keeping the rain off your glasses, as well the sun off your face!
4 months in…
By the 4 month mark, all was going well. Even upping the ante by increasing the strength of the Tretioin in my prescription, from 0.015%, to 0.025% and then up to 0.05%, did not cause any adverse reaction. The peeling was under control, the burning sensation was a thing of the past. And the results were really starting to show – Dermatica was fast becoming as the best anti-aging face cream I had ever used. But then I had another set back. Dermatica decided it was their turn to give us a ‘New Improved Formula!’ On first application, I thought the new formula felt less drying when it went on, as the texture was creamier. How wrong I was! Not only did my face peel and sting worse than ever, I started getting a few spots too, just to add insult to injury! I couldn’t believe it, especially as this product is meant to be good for acne!
Dermatica ‘ready made’ products
My skin was all over the place again. My usual regime of products were not helping, so I decided to give the newly-launched range of Dermatica ‘ready made’ products a go. In theory, they are designed to work as a system, with the prescription serum. They are supposed to take the guesswork out of what cleansing and moisturising products to use. I knew the Tretinoin in the prescription product was working brilliantly, visibly reducing my wrinkles and tightening my skin. I just had to manage the side effects. My hope was that this would be the way forward, and a solution to all my problems…
How Dermatica ‘ready made’ product worked for me
I would have loved to report that this was the case and that these products worked well – but alas, they did not. In fact, they were a complete disaster and I used them for less than a week! My face was very red & hot after using just the cleanser. And the burning sensation, at night, after using the moisturiser on top of the Tretinoin, was pretty much intolerable. During the day, my skin looked very shiny as a result of using the Azelaic acid cream, yet was still flaking around my chin and nose… so on no level were the products working for me!
In spite of all this, I was determined not to throw in the towel! The results the prescription product was delivering, despite my set-backs with formula changes etc, were too good not to persist. So I decided to take things very slowly and reducing the dose and the frequency of Dermatica applications, to try and build my tolerance back up. I went back to using the Cetaphil cleanser and the Calendula cream, and hoped for the best!
6 months in…
Cutting back on how often I used the prescription Dermatica cream, gave my skin a chance to really calm down. I also read somewhere that you should leave your skin to dry fully after washing – for approximately 15-20 minutes, BEFORE applying the Tretinoin. This helps the skin be less reactive. You need to do this is as well as leaving 20 minutes AFTER applying the Tretinoin, before applying your moisturiser!
I wanted to get back to using the Tretinoin daily, so even though this is a total faff, I started doing it. It means my night time routine takes 40 minutes, from the time I take off my make-up and wash my face, to finally applying my moisturiser! I understand that is probably a push too far for some, but it certainly made managing the side effects easier, whilst getting the maximum benefit from the product.
Introducing new products to my beauty regime
Now that my face is fully acclimated to the daily use of Tretinoin at maximum strength, and I know which ingredients to avoid and which ones to include, I have been able to reintroduce some of my old Kiehl’s favourites. And some rather lovely new ones too! Calendula seems to be a key soothing ingredient for me, and I love the smell. Using it in Keihl’s products makes my skincare regime feel more luxurious and less medicinal!
8 months in – was it all worth it?
I am so happy that I stuck with it! In only 8 months, my skin has been totally transformed. It is smoother, and more even in colour. My pores are smaller, and my fine lines are much reduced. But best of all, my skin seems to be more elastic, sitting tighter to my face, with my eyelids dramatically lifted.
I am sure that taking care of myself in other ways, like eating more healthily, drinking less alcohol and doing more exercise has helped too, but the results from using Dermatica have been nothing less than extraordinary. It really does seem to be the best anti-aging face cream ever!
I hope I haven’t put you off giving it a go! The struggle really has been worth it! My advice would be to start very slowly to reduce the side effects. I probably lost several months of my life looking far worse than I needed to, as a result of my impatience and bad luck with formula changes!
Even though Dermatica don’t advise it, I would highly recommend using the product sparingly under your brows, as that has been where I have seen my most dramatic results. And finally, I would definitely recommend the 40 minute protocol, if you are experiencing severe sensitivity.
Hopefully my tips on what, where and when will help you avoid the mistakes I made and allow you to get the most out of this truly remarkable product.
Disclaimer: I am not a skin care expert. Any recommendations are based solely on my personal experience. If you are in any doubt about using the products in this post, please consult your GP.
[…] I probably have not been using it long enough to honestly see any difference in my skin, in terms of anti aging. I live in hope though that the silky-smooth surface will reduce the friction from any tossing and turning, benefitting my skin in the long run, as test results have shown. If you want read about an anti-aging product that really does work – go to my post Best anti-aging face cream ever! […]