Every skin specialist can agree that Retin-A therapy is the gold standard, the cornerstone of good skincare. Maybe you were lucky enough to have started it in your 30s. Maybe you started to borrow it from your acne prone teenager in your 40s or maybe you were that 50-year-old lady sitting in my office asking me what to do for wrinkled, dull, blotchy skin.

The answer is Retin-A, the vitamin-A cream. This cream has been used since the 1980s when Dr. Kligman (in whose lab I worked at Penn) ,who was using it to treat acne, realized something unusual. In treating his acne patients, he would put a dollop of the Retin-A on the back of his left hand and smoothe it onto the patients’ face with his right hand fingers. After awhile, he noticed that the back of his left hand was smooth and bright and that the back of his right hand certainly wasn’t. Thus the idea of Retin-A as an anti-aging cream was born.

Retin-A Cream is famous for causing redness and drying. Thus it can be obtained in many different formulations to decrease this side effect. These fancy creams can cost $200 to $300 a tube or more. When I first opened up my practice in 2012, it cost $40 for a large tube of generic Retin-A which I suggested that you mix with your own moisturizer for starters. That same tube today costs $300. Now I know co-pays can help but still let’s get real! It’s Big Pharma out to get us again.

Well, never make a redhead mad. I started to search for a generic that I could offer to my clients at a reasonable price, in a comfortable formulation so that people would actually use the product. I am very happy to have found a company that will offer Retin-A at $38, $40 and $45 for 0.025%, 0.05% and 0.1% Retin-A respectively.

I also discovered some fabulous products developed by the same company that will  help reverse the signs of aging of your skin. I now offer all the Retin-A strengths in cream, an intensive repair cream, a very strong skin whitener, an under eye cream, an amazing hyaluronic acid moisturizer and a vitamin C cream for brightening the skin in the summer when you may not want to be on Retin-A. And they all come with a pretty VFA label no less!

Most importantly is the availability of Needle Free Serum, the aforementioned hyaluronic acid product. This is a formulation of hyaluronic acid that plumps the skin. They call it Needle Free because they claim it’s effect is like having a tube of filler injected into your skin with needles. Well, that is the marketing….However, used twice a day, it does attract moisture into the skin, plumping lips and softening fine lines immediately. I think the effects are cumulative and truly amazing. Combining this with the above products can really help your skin .

I am thrilled to be able to offer these products at $80 or less so that they can fit in most any budget. Please see below for my Easy Peasy Skincare Regime. I know that it has to be fast and easy – or even I won’t do it!

I also recommend City Lips to introduce you to a tingly, long lasting effective lip plumper. It just makes your lips look great. I wear mine all the time.

Another annoying feature of the ageing face is the thinning of the brows. To add insult to injury, did you realize that the brows turn grey-white too? Well, I found a way to thicken the individual hairs AND replace the color. Welcome Blinc into your life. This product, which comes in 8 different shades, is used like mascara for the hairs of your brows. No more dangerous, time consuming brow dyeing sessions. Just slowly stroke it on and your brows return to be seen and admired.

Running out of product and can’t come by? For $7.00 I will mail you your Creams. Send me a check and out it goes to you! I can also deliver product too! I often meet clients “for coffee” at KAF…. Just email me Dr.carol@vermontfacialaesthetics.com or give me a call/ text and leave a message of your shopping needs at 802.356.2343