Retin-A around the eyes. A do or a don't?

October 5, 2015 8:40 AM

I have used retin a for years but avoided my eye area. I've googled but never found a consensus. I have a low .25 percent strength cream... Can you beauties of askme give advice or experience?
posted by flink to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

I've used topical retinoids all my life (a lot as a kid, then a break for 20+ years, now on topical retinoids plus isotretinoin) for the treatment of severe ichthyosis.

I am aware of published studies showing that topical retinoids around the eyes have been very successful at getting good results.

IANYD but if you are tolerating the Retin-A well on other parts of your body, a little bit around your eyes shouldn't be a problem. Just don't get any ON or IN your eye. (Ouch.) When talking to friends starting on topical retinoids (in other contexts), I usually suggest that they try a little bit on a less-sensitive area to see how bad the side effects are for them. Because different people can have different reactions. I wouldn't want to start near somewhere sensitive to begin with, but if you're tolerating it well in other areas, that's a good indication as to what you'll experience elsewhere.
posted by QuantumMeruit at 9:27 AM on October 5, 2015

Oof. This is something I've always wanted to try but when I get a little dab too close to my eyes they are not happy. I'm prone to dry/dehydrated skin, though; maybe if I were willing to ride out the breaking-in stage of irritation some good could come of it. (Maybe not.) If you were going to try it, I would suggest applying moisturiser/eyecream first as a buffer, then maybe mixing a tiny dot of retin-a into more moisturiser (this might screw with pH though: the pH requirements of retin-a are confusing because isn't it all already converted into trans-retinoic acid or something? who knows) and dabbing a small amount onto the least sensitive part of only one of your eyes. Definitely patch test like this carefully for a week or two. You've probably already thought of all this but better safe than sorry when it comes to yammering on about patch testing!

That being said, I've been using a very strong and acidic vitamin c serum around my eyes for a month or two now and that's been fine.
posted by bugperson at 9:31 AM on October 5, 2015

I mix a little with my normal face cream, otherwise I find it too drying and I get dry flaking skin around my eyes. I worked up to it slowly, mixing tiny little amounts in at first. I still get flaking if I get it on my eyelids too often, so I only put the diluted mixture on there once a week or so.
posted by wwax at 10:43 AM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

A dermatologist told me to apply Retin-A (or any eye cream) to the contour of the eye, rather than the eyelid or delicate skin underneath. It's less likely to irritate the eyes or dry out the skin, and you still get the positive effects from the cream "traveling" to the rest of the eye area. Yes, that's the fancy medical term.
posted by mjm101 at 11:11 AM on October 5, 2015

Second mjm101. Retin A migrates, so I'd just tap it along your eye socket instead of applying it directly to your lids or undereye area.
posted by peripathetic at 2:37 PM on October 5, 2015

I use 0.05%, though only every second or third night until my skin adapts to it. I do apply it to my eye area, though only up to my eye socket bone (surely there's a better word for that?). I let migration take care of the rest. I've seen good results in the four months since I started using it.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 3:32 AM on October 6, 2015