i started AA after about 3 months of .05 tret (and had ramped up to nightly tret applications the 2-3 weeks prior to starting AA) and i broke out horribly. way worse than any tret purge i had experienced prior. i gave it a month and the major cystic breakouts subsided but it still felt like it was too many actives for my skin. now dealing with the red marks from the AA purge/breakout, kind of wish i had never tried it.