Once upon a time, there was a girl on a 0.05 Tretinoin Cream named Retin-A. But Retin-A was so expensive, so she decided to try out Dermcare's 0.025% Gel version. At first, she found that a mixed regimen of Retin-A and Dermcare would work, and for a while, they did work together. But then the girl grew up and, in line with a new sensitivity to topical essential oils, she became unable to tolerate Dermcare's 0.025% Gel on her face, so they had to part ways.
Not only that, but since the girl grew up, Retin-A decided to part ways with her and went to a faraway land. Left with no choice, the girl searched and searched, and one day she met Vitacid 0.05%. They stayed together for a while, but had to part, as Vitacid could not help once tragedy struck....
Hehehe. Dramatics aside, I've really been on and off Tretinoin since college (don't ask when), and I used to purchase Retin-A a lot once it came out. I realized that part of the reason I kept going on and off was because I found the tube to be expensive and bought Dermcare 0.025% Gel on a whim to see how it would go. From first application, I found the smell of alcohol to be very strong on this one, but since my face developed no redness, and I enjoyed the cooling sensation this gave, I used this first alone. Then, when I noticed some acne coming back, along with the Retin-A alternately (1 day on tretinoin, one day off, alternating each brand) for around two to three years.
Sadly, I became sensitive to a bunch of things (which I think the cleanser AND gel together may have synergistically acted to do this), and no amount of breaks and buffering would make me take to the gel again. Which was a pity as it was less than Php 200 for a 20g tube (I bought in store so I can't quite remember).
I then continued Retin-A with no problems.... until I found out the brand was discontinued after I was halfway through my last back-up. So I went online and went for a good, cheap, branded tretinoin and ended up with the Vitacid 0.05% cream for around Php250 online for a 20g tube. I first tried it by itself but it wasn't doing quite as much as the Retin-A (the zits came again, though a bit less than when I was on Dermcare exclusively) o I started alternating Retin-A and Vitacid in the same manner.
Unfortunately, my last Retin-A tube ran out and I found myself using Vitacid exclusively. It was fine for around a month. But then I was seeing the same zits which the Vitacid could not help with. So I added another active which caused more problems (but that's another story).
All in all, Dermcare's 0.025% Gel may be suitable for a young person with resilient skin, but this may increase sensitivity in the future. Vitacid 0.05% Cream may be better for someone with drier, less acne prone skin.
But I found that both are inferior to Retin-A 0.05% Tretinoin Cream with regards to acne control and post-inflammatory scarring/hyperpigmentation (aka, the degree of skin turnover, for different reasons).
The lesson of this story is: formulation matters and your mileage may vary.
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