Retinol and IPL?

[bluestreet]

I got IPL yesterday, and it was awesome in diminishing my general redness. But then the lady was talking about getting it every 4-5 weeks for maintenance. Uh, no way is that in my budget. But I do have another from the package I bought that I'm planning to do in 4 weeks.

Anyway, do any of you have experience with IPL? And what are your thoughts on using a retinol before and after? Internet says to avoid using retinoid before but doesn't talk about after.

I'm also interested in any thoughts you have about IPL in general.

[treedimensional]

I purchased 3 IPL packages, each consisting of 3-4 treatments (sorry, it's been awhile), and used them once monthly over about a 2 year period.
The brown spots came off right away, but after a couple years they all came back in the exact same places. The redness reduction was very minimal, and tiny broken capillaries around my nose came back almost immediately, like within a couple months. So overall, high cost, minimal effect, and temporary benefit.
I want to try again, but at a different clinic, because I think the equipment may make a difference.
I had a brown spot done on my arm that has only partially come back, and not as dark, after about 4 years (without sunscreen). They may have used a different treatment at that clinic, however; so it might not apply to my IPL comments.