Balancing tret with my obsession for face oils

Hey everyone, I’m 47 and about a year into tretinoin (0.025% cream, nightly). My skin has finally adapted, and I rarely get peeling now. But here’s my dilemma. I’ve always loved face oils. They make my skin feel nourished and give that glow, but I’ve been hesitant to use them heavily since starting tret.

My current routine is pretty simple:

AM – Gentle cleanse with cerave, vitamin C from ordinary, moisturizer, SPF from la roche posay

PM – Cleanse with cerave, tret from highstreetpharma, moisturizer from la roche posay

The nights I do use oil, I sandwich it after moisturizer, and it seems fine. But I keep reading mixed opinions some people say oils can help buffer tret and reduce dryness, others claim they can block absorption. Has anyone here found a way to keep their beloved oils in rotation while still getting full tret benefits? I’m not ready to give up my rosehip and squalane, but I also don’t want to waste the potency of my tret.

Posted Oct 2, 2025, 1:45 PM UTC

97
Loading comments…