Can Acne Medication Like Accutane Dry Out Hair Too?

in Oct 7, 2017

If you're taking Acne medication such as Retin A, Tazorac, Accutane or Differin, you may experience the drying effects for your skin - we highly recommend Aquaphor for chapped lips, but what about your hair?

It is partly what inspired our founder, Dale Janée, to start Savvy Sleepers satin pillowcases which are ultra-smooth for hair, skin and lashes. They are especially soothing if you're going through Accutane. Dale Janée remembers caused her hair to become brittle and break when she took Accutane as a teen. After trying Accutane again in her mid-twenties, it worked like a charm for her skin, but she did notice the drying effects on her hair again. Her satin pillowcase helped protect from additional damage and felt really soothing against her skin which was going through the drying, exfoliating effects of Accutane as well. You can see above in 2012 working as a stylist, she was trying to mask some of the hair breakage caused by stress and Accutane, with clip-in hair extensions.

If you do a google search about 'Accutane making hair thinner or brittle,' you'll find forums and questions being asked including: 'My acne is gone, but so is my hair!' and 'How can I prevent my hair from falling out on Accutane.' According to SkinTreatment.com - 'Another important point—Retin A, Tazorac, Differin, salicylic acid, glycolic acid and benzoyl peroxide should be stopped 3-5 days before facial waxing, hair removal, facial procedures or chemical peels, unless you are instructed otherwise by your dermatologist.'
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What Can Help your Hair if You are Using Accutane?

While we used Accutane, we did experience some drying effects, but here is what helped against additional damage...

1. Not drying out your hair with extreme treatments or over-bleaching. We recommend tossing your straightening iron in the back of your 'styling tool' drawer. Hot styling tools are a major enemy to dry hair.

2. Use a Microfiber towel to dry your hair after the shower. Hair is so fragile when it's wet, microfiber is more gentle. See all of our tips about how to avoid damage to your hair in the shower.

3. Take vitamins that help strengthen hair and nails (check with your Dr. first).

4. Help prevent additional breakage as you sleep that can be caused by cotton pillowcases, by sleeping on our pure satin pillowcases which are machine-washable so you can protect your skin as well. We were emailed recently asking if our satin is infused with aloe because it feels so soothing against sensitive skin. While it is not, our satin is the highest quality grade and feels gentle and healing against skin.

5. Try to avoid wearing your hair in ponytail every day - especially in the same spot - which can cause breakage

6. Try to use a healing & moisturizing hair mask 1-2 times a week

7. Let your hair stylist know you're on Accutane so you don't do any drastic hair treatments and he/she may be able to recommend a shampoo or conditioner to use while you're going through the treatment

We hope this helps and you can shop our full collection of satin pillowcases that are ultra-smooth for hair, skin and lashes while you sleep.