'Differin Gel Is My Boyfriend And It’s So Good To Me'
The tl;dr version: I think the love of my life might be Differin Gel.
This love story began when I got an IUD last February, and my skin promptly fell to crap.
That backslide into teenage-level acne was super great for my self-esteem. 0/10 do NOT recommend.
Around the same time, I started noticing that practically every dermatologist kept recommending a retinoid called Differin Gel. It was popping up everywhere:
As a dark spot fix
As a bacne treatment
And because it's a retinoid, it can help boost your skin's collagen levels and fight wrinkles, too.
The best part: While it used to be prescription only, it's been available OTC since 2017. For less than $20. Cheap AND effective? Swoon.
Basically, Differin could do everything. If it was a person, it would love its mom and have a dog and donate $100 to Planned Parenthood every month. Total. Bae.
So even though I'd been disappointed in the past by so many alleged acne cures, I figured I would open my bruised, battered heart to Differin.
I picked some up at CVS, asked the cashier twice if she was sure it didn't cost more than $12 (it didn't), and went home to test it out.
This relationship started slowly at first. I applied a pea-sized amount to my face every night after I washed, let it dry, and then put a moisturizer on top. I legit did this every day for over a month...and didn't see much love in return.
But I was committed. (After all, retinoids take time to show results.) So I kept at it, using the retinoid gel every single day-even bringing it with me on vacation.
And suddenly, two months in, I looked in the mirror to see...an absence of zits. Where before I had clusters of whiteheads and pustules in at least one place on my face every day, now my face looked...calmer. Clearer. I finally felt like my skin was within my control-not just a rageful hormonal mess that would arbitrarily decide to break out no matter what I did.
I've been using Differin on the reg now for over a year, and I can confidently say that my skin has come a long way since those dark times when I looked more like a pumice stone/pepperoni hybrid than an actual human. I still do get breakouts. But the ones that happen are generally less intense than what I used to get, and don't last as long. And there's less redness once the zits die down, too.
Now I've become that person who constantly talks about their one true love. "Have I told you about Differin?" I ask friends at work. "It's been a year. We're so happy together."
So yeah, some people have a bae who makes their knees weak, or who makes them laugh.
But there's no comparison to my bae, who brings out my better, clear-skinned self for the whole world to see.
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