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Dermatica

Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid.

Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid
Retinoids

About this product

Dermatica is an online dermatology service that prescribes custom-formulated retinoids and other prescription-strength actives tailored to individual skin concerns, delivered monthly by subscription.

Guru Score

82%

Yay

7 experts · Moderate agreement
!
Mostly sponsored

Heads up: 4 of the 7 experts here were paid by the brand, leaving 3 unpaid. We have kept this score cautious as a result.

7Gurus
7Yay
0Mixed
0Nay

What they liked

  • Lightweight formula, absorbs without heaviness

What they flagged

  • Results take 3 to 6 months to show
  • Needs supportive hydrating products alongside it

What the gurus are saying

Tretinoin through Dermatica fades dark spots, evens tone, and smooths texture over months of consistent use, but results are gradual and the adjustment period brings real peeling and irritation that anyone with sensitive skin may want to approach cautiously. Gurus prize the convenience of accessing prescription strength without long doctor waits, the ability to adjust formulas as skin changes, and the option to combine actives like tretinoin with azelaic acid or tranexamic acid in one bottle. That said, retinization (the flaky, stinging phase when starting or restarting) is unavoidable even for those who know how to use it, and tretinoin demands strong hydration and barrier support alongside it.
Synthesized from 7 expert reviews · most recent take October 2025

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Yay
"I started using the Dermatica retinoid maybe 3 months ago. This is a prescription strength retinoid and the only topical proven to actually reverse signs of aging in the skin, increasing cell turnover, smoothing texture, fading pigmentation, and stimulates new collagen production. But it's not an overnight transformation. I've been using this for 3 months and I can tell you results aren't that fast. I'm peeling in a good way. I think I'm seeing a lot of less texture on my nose and forehead, but the changes are very subtle for now. Tretinoin is like a long game. You don't really notice how much is done until like one day you look at yourself in the mirror and you're like, oh, okay. Wow. It doesn't hydrate, it doesn't calm, it definitely doesn't replace barrier care. So whilst tretinoin is incredible for resurfacing, you still need to hydrate. You need those supportive products around it too."
Yay
"I'm planning on trying it in the new year I want to get this year out the way first"
Yay
"Dermatica is great especially if you're in the UK. Those are also smaller and they send them monthly. They also have dark spot formulas so if you have like dark spots and scars they're fantastic."
All 4 takes from Cassandra Bankson
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"The prescription stuff and if your skin can handle it baby do not walk run the prescription tretinoin is so good this is literally the potent stuff remember this is what our body naturally makes and what our skin can use this stuff is so good and if you don't have a doctor or a dermatologist you can't get a prescription literally do not forget that there are online pharmacies that will pair you with experts two of my absolute favorites are from Dermatica and from Agency. If you're International, Dermatica is great, it's also under 30 bucks."
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"I'm going through retinization with dry patches, and it's like I know how to properly start a retinoid in my routine and yet this is still happening."
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"Dermatica is great especially if you're in the UK. Those are also smaller and they send them monthly. They also have dark spot formulas so if you have like dark spots and scars they're fantastic."
Which Retinoid is Best for Your Skin Type?
"You can get a custom blended prescription from dermatica where you're getting the full strength retinoid blended with other ingredients such as salicylic acid or tranexamic acid if you have hyperpigmentation or azelaic acid if you have rosacea. I like dermatica."
Yay
"I cannot stress enough how much Dermatica has changed my skin noticeably over the years I've been using them. The changes I want to see in my skin were achievable and realistic. I want to see a more even skin tone, a more even texture. I want to fade dark spots that hang around my skin after I have like a blemish or something like that. And then I also want some preventative measures in there as well too, reducing the appearance of fine lines also. I am not a skincare expert by any means. I don't know what serums I need. I don't know what ingredients I need. I don't know what will smooth out my skin texture over time. I don't know when to use it. Can I mix it with this or does that counter out this? I don't know. I can't be bothered to find out if I am honest with you. So that's where Dermatica make everything really, really simple. You'll notice that dark spots are faded. My skin looks more even. The texture of my skin, I would always complain about the texture of the skin around my nose when trying foundations, trying new makeup. And that doesn't seem to be an issue for me anymore. My skin just needed this balancing out. And I think I have been able to achieve that with the help of Dermatica."
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"I have been using Dermatica for almost, it's coming up to three months now and I have seen a vast improvement in my skin."
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"I have been using Dermatica for a really, really long time. I think it's years now. Dark spots on my skin became a lot less visible, my skin tone started evening out a little bit more. And areas on my face that were typically quite textured on my cheeks, around my nose, really did smooth out. I stopped using Dermatica for like a month for no reason other than I think I was testing some other products. And I really, really did notice the difference. Dermatica make it so simple for you to incorporate this into your skincare routine. Every night I would wash my face, remove my makeup, double cleanse, and then even when I'm just feeling a little bit lazy, I'll just use this. Maybe I might follow up with a moisturizer. Dermatica personalize a formula for you. So you go onto their website, you answer some questions about your skin goals, your skin types, what you want to see, what you want to achieve from your skincare and their dermatology team personalize your very own formula for you and send it to you every single month. So you don't need to worry about remembering to repurchase. And you just use this every night. It is so simple, you can literally have it by the side of your bed and quickly whack it on when you go to sleep. The formula itself is also very, very lightweight. This is to use at night. You wouldn't use it in the morning and then go out into the sun. It is just to use in your PM routine."
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"It's got me into such a good skincare routine using this every single night. It's actually got me doing something I probably wouldn't have been doing without this product. I haven't stopped being impressed with the way this product is changing my skin. Makeup sits so much better on my skin. The texture of my skin has vastly improved. This is definitely something that's going to help you out towards your skincare goals without having to be one of those product ingredient geniuses. Someone else has done it for you. If you are struggling with skincare in general, if you want to see change in your skin but you're not that clued up on skincare, where do I begin? What do I need? What ingredients do I need? Leave it all to Dermatica to make your personalized formula for you."
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"I cannot stress enough how much Dermatica has changed my skin noticeably over the years I've been using them. The changes I want to see in my skin were achievable and realistic. I want to see a more even skin tone, a more even texture. I want to fade dark spots that hang around my skin after I have like a blemish or something like that. And then I also want some preventative measures in there as well too, reducing the appearance of fine lines also. I am not a skincare expert by any means. I don't know what serums I need. I don't know what ingredients I need. I don't know what will smooth out my skin texture over time. I don't know when to use it. Can I mix it with this or does that counter out this? I don't know. I can't be bothered to find out if I am honest with you. So that's where Dermatica make everything really, really simple. You'll notice that dark spots are faded. My skin looks more even. The texture of my skin, I would always complain about the texture of the skin around my nose when trying foundations, trying new makeup. And that doesn't seem to be an issue for me anymore. My skin just needed this balancing out. And I think I have been able to achieve that with the help of Dermatica."
Yay
"Tretinoin is basically the best skincare ingredient you can get on the market for concerns like deep set wrinkles and damage dark spots hyperpigmentation acne scarring. It is an incredible ingredient but one of the downsides of tretinoin is that you need a prescription to be able to get it. At least in the USA it's not easy to get and if you know anything about dermatologists they are not cheap. My personal favorite way of getting tretinoin is through Dermatica. The great thing about Dermatica is that they're a digital dermatology provider so you can get your tretinoin prescription just through your phone. You'll be paired with a dermatology provider, they'll discuss your concerns with you and then give you a custom prescription based off of what you need. There's so many different dermatology providers online I've tried many of them but I've always returned to Dermatica because I really like their service, the communication they have. You get smaller prescription doses that you can easily change if you want something stronger or it's not really working for your skin concerns. If you are able to give tretinoin a shot I would honestly say that's the way to go."
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"Tretinoin is literally prescription and one of the best ingredients out there for treating deep set damage like wrinkles and premature aging. My personal favorite provider of this past year has been Dermatica. Dermatica is a Dermatology service that's online where you pay for a monthly subscription of a custom formula that's made by a Dermatology provider with prescription ingredients. They can fully customize based on your preference. I've tried a few of these providers and while I think they're each good in their own way, for tretinoin I've definitely enjoyed using Dermatica the most as I can really see the results. I like that they provide a bi-monthly bottle rather than monthly bottle like some other services do. It comes to about $30 a month so basically $60 a bottle, which is not the cheapest, but for me personally I don't use tretinoin every single day. I use it a few times a week, usually two, and if I'm feeling really frisky then I'll do three, which means the bottles end up lasting a lot longer and I get a lot more bang for my buck. I just love the convenience of it being mailed directly to you, the consistency and the enjoyability of the formulas, plus I've never noticed an adverse reaction to Dermatica formulas. Sometimes with prescription my skin has gotten really mad at me, but that's never once happened."
The BEST Skin Care of 2024 for Acne & Acne Scars
"You can go to a dermatologist to get a tretinoin prescription or you can do what I do which is use Dermatica, which is an online dermatology provider where they will send you your prescription in the mail and it makes it super easy and way more efficient than having to go to your dermatologist. I've tried a few different delivery dermatology providers but Dermatica has consistently been my favorite one and where I've really noticed the best results from my tretinoin use."
The BEST of 2024 for Wrinkles & Aging!
"Tretinoin is basically the best skincare ingredient you can get on the market for concerns like deep set wrinkles and damage dark spots hyperpigmentation acne scarring. It is an incredible ingredient but one of the downsides of tretinoin is that you need a prescription to be able to get it. At least in the USA it's not easy to get and if you know anything about dermatologists they are not cheap. My personal favorite way of getting tretinoin is through Dermatica. The great thing about Dermatica is that they're a digital dermatology provider so you can get your tretinoin prescription just through your phone. You'll be paired with a dermatology provider, they'll discuss your concerns with you and then give you a custom prescription based off of what you need. There's so many different dermatology providers online I've tried many of them but I've always returned to Dermatica because I really like their service, the communication they have. You get smaller prescription doses that you can easily change if you want something stronger or it's not really working for your skin concerns. If you are able to give tretinoin a shot I would honestly say that's the way to go."
Skin Aging: Your Questions Answered!
"There's a lot of great online dermatology providers like Curology or Dermatica, both of which I've used and loved. I definitely recommend using a service like Dermatica, that's what I personally use right now for my tretinoin, and I know and trust you're going to see a lot more powerful results at a way lower price point than buying Mary Kay products."
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"I personally love prescription skincare services like Dermatica, they make it super easy to get you a customized tretinoin product. I recommend using a service like Dermatica because they're able to connect you with a dermatology specialist who can prescribe you formulations or products with prescription ingredients that work a lot better than anything you'd find over the counter."
Yay
"Tretinoin is a prescription ingredient here in the United States, so you would need to go to a dermatologist to obtain a prescription or you can use an online dermatology service. I have used Curology, I've used Agency, and I've also used Dermatica, and all three of them I've had really positive, good success with. I've also been able to combine my azelaic acid and tretinoin with all three of these services. Tretinoin is helping my skin and helping to communicate to my cells to behave in a more youthful manner."
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"I think where these services really shine is their ability to combine other active ingredients that are a little bit more customized to what your skin needs. As I slowly started to get results, slowly started to clear my skin, slowly started to keep my skin clear, my goals started to change and so I was able to really customize that with the online services. So then I started working on my anti-aging goals and I moved over to tretinoin in 2020 first with curology and then I graduated to their sister brand Apostrophe, which is just a little bit more focused on the anti-aging journey. Both are really great, curology a little bit more focused on acne, Apostrophe a little bit more focused on anti-aging, but you can still get tretinoin with curology. So then I moved over to Apostrophe and I have my azelaic acid and my tretinoin, and then recently I've been trying out Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid because I just kind of wanted to expand my horizons a little bit."
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"I love online services because it's easy, it's affordable and it's really accessible. I also love that they do compound formulas at Dermatica."
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"Tretinoin is a prescription ingredient here in the United States, so you would need to go to a dermatologist to obtain a prescription or you can use an online dermatology service. I have used Curology, I've used Agency, and I've also used Dermatica, and all three of them I've had really positive, good success with. I've also been able to combine my azelaic acid and tretinoin with all three of these services. Tretinoin is helping my skin and helping to communicate to my cells to behave in a more youthful manner."
Yay
"Dermatica specializes in personalized, science-backed skin care in which your personalized formula will meet your skin goals whether it's acne, acne scars, aging, hyperpigmentation, rosacea, melasma, or just improving your skin glow. After you answer some questions and identify your primary concerns, you'll meet with a dermatology consultant who will go over your case and give you a personalized formula. They make the process so incredibly seamless and easy for you to access your dermatologist, get appropriate care, and get strength as medication that wouldn't necessarily be readily available over the counter. Sometimes your hyperpigmentation or your acne or whatever other condition you are trying to treat really needs more than what over-the-counter products can offer. It can be extremely difficult to get into a dermatologist, the wait can either be really long or you may not have someone accessible to you, so it's amazing that there are services like Dermatica that can offer you these types of prescription medications that you could normally only get by visiting a dermatologist."
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Frequently asked.

What is Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid?

Dermatica is an online dermatology service that prescribes custom-formulated retinoids and other prescription-strength actives tailored to individual skin concerns, delivered monthly by subscription.

Is Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid worth it?

Yes. All 7 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 82%.

What is Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid's Guru Score?

Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid holds a Guru Score of 82%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 7 expert reviewers we have collected.

Who is Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid best for?

Dermatica Custom Blended Prescription Retinoid is generally suited to acne-prone skin and mature skin.

Cheaper alternatives the gurus rate.

Lower-priced retinoids the gurus still rate highly, versus this mid-range pick.

See how they stack up →

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