The lines on my forehead were more noticeable at 23 than they are now at almost 31. That is a side effect of using a retinoid consistently for years.

When I started, my skin purged, dried out, and at week 6 looked worse than it had before I started. The same retinoid that caused that purge is the reason my skin texture is smooth now, and the reason my pore situation went from every single pore on my face being clogged to genuinely unnoticeable.

The unglamorous part lasted 2-5 months and felt like a year of bad skin, but the results transcend and compound over decades.