For three months I stopped using retin-a in order to give my skin a break.
During that time I noticed my skin's appearance slowly deteriorating. It was actually a little bit frightening, first the pores on my nose started enlarging, then, when large enough, the oil within them starting going black and brown. The skin around my eyes which has thinned due to sun damage reverted back to how it used to be, but even thinner. So much so that a whole bunch of veins could be seen around my eyes. Gradually, the skin around my whole face became rougher in texture and really uneven in colour. When I was using retin-a there was a uniformity to the colour around my face that really makes a huge aesthetic difference. My skin was blotchy and sallow for most of the 3 months.
This week I started using it again. Already I'm noticing the colour of my skin evening out and the size of its pores being reduced. Also a glow is starting to replace the ugly sallowness. Interestingly, although the retin-a is making my skin more red than when I was regularly using it, I haven't any flaking or redness when I wash it off like I did when I first started using it.
Looking at my self in the mirror, I look about 5 years younger now that I'm using it again. Scary.