Best Ways to Survive Rosacea
Since I was diagnosed with rosacea over a year ago, many of you have reached out asking if you have rosacea or how to cope with it. After living with my rosacea for a year, I’ve gotten a better handle on how to deal with it. For those of you who don’t know, rosacea is a common but incurable chronic skin condition. It often gives you the appearance of a red face. Othertimes, it causes you to break out. My skintype is sensitive. I’ve got combination skin, with normal to dry cheeks and under eye area. My t-zone gets oily. My eyelids are super oily. For the longest time I felt like almost everything broke me out, now I know a lot of it ties into rosacea.
PR + purchased by me.
Best Ways to Survive Rosacea
Visit the Dermatologist
The first step if you think you have rosacea is get to a dermatologist and get diagnosed. You may or may not have it. Women are three times more likely than men to have it. For me, before I was diagnosed, every time I washed my face it would turn red and my face would get so hot that my glasses would steam up! The skin was irritated. I would break out all too often. It sucked. That’s part of why I would slather on foundation on every visible inch of skin because I was ashamed that my skin always looked blotchy and I didn’t want anyone to see it. I was very self conscious.
Get it Under Control
Once you’ve been diagnosed with rosacea you need to get on medication to get it under control and stop irritating your skin. To begin with I was told to use products with colloidal oatmeal like Aveeno’s cleanser or super moisturizing products Cetaphil cleanser. It took me a while to find a great cruelty free option – Abbey St. Clare’s Aniba Cleanser (see my review here). Basically you want a moisturizing cleanser that doesn’t irritate the skin or cause drying. Honestly, I think making the change from the other cleansers I used (which often were nice) to one that is moisturizing like Aniba made a huge difference.
Use Moisturizer with High SPF
You also want to use a strong moisturizer with SPF every day. This isn’t a problem for me. I’ve used Moisturizer with SPF every day since I was 20 (and I wish I had started sooner!). You want at least SPF 30 in the Summer and at least SPF 20 in the winter. Right now I’ve been using Supergoop! Save Face SPF 35+ A.m. Moisturizer (see my review) non-stop. I’ve been putting some Paula’s Choice RESIST Super Antioxidant Serum (see my review) beneath it for a little extra kick of moisture.
Medications
There are many different medications available to help control rosacea. Currently, I control my rosacea with Metronidazole .75% cream (generic for Metrogel) and Aczone 5% gel. Metronidazole is basically an anti-inflammatory cream. Aczone is what I use only if I’m having a flare up and see zits (yuck). When I’ve got my skin under control, I use Metronidazole only once a week. When I’m experiencing a flare, I use it daily. Aczone is one I have to be really careful with because it can dry out my skin to the point that everything hurts. Not good!
Find Your Triggers
After you’ve gotten your skin under control, you need to figure out what your triggers are. Triggers cause flare ups. Possible triggers are sun exposure, stress, hot weather, heavy exercise, alcohol, hot baths, hot tubs, cold weather, spicy foods, humidity, skincare products, cosmetics, other foods, etc. There are a lot of potential triggers out there so if you’re noticing a flare up you may want to keep a rosacea journal to help you figure out a pattern. My triggers tend to be too much sun, too much humidity and heat, too long in the hot tub, cold weather, some skincare products, and some makeup products. It’s different for every one.
Another trigger for me has been makeup wipes and sometimes makeup removers. Right now, the absolute best makeup removers that do not irritate my skin are the Urban Decay Melt Down Makeup Remover, Paula’s Choice Gentle Touch Makeup Remover (see my review), and Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentrate (see my review). Both the UD and Embryolisse moisturize as they remove makeup, leaving my skin feeling soft.
Practice Moderation
Like so many good things in life, practice moderation if one of your triggers is something you love. I know that I can do some things, like take a hot shower, hot bath, or hang out in the hot tub, but for no longer than 30 minutes or my skin will start to complain. After an hour I’ll actually be in pain because my face will start burning.
Don’t Over Exfoliate
I used to be the queen of exfolation and I would exfoliate way too often. In retrospect I probably irritated my skin. Now I know better. I use my konjac sponge (see my review) daily to cleanse my face in the morning and the evening. I then use the Foreo Luna (see my review) twice a week to deep clean. Though, let’s be real, I love to break out the Luna to give myself a facial massage almost daily, too! I also really like using the Ellen Lange Retexturizing skin peel kit (see my review). That has to be one of the easiest, best ways to get rid of dead skin cells, make sure my pores are squeaky clean, and leaves my skin super soft.
Reduce Redness
There are a few products that are soothing and can help if you’ve just triggered a reaction. Paula’s Choice CLINICAL Instant Calm Advanced Redness Relief (see my review) can help. I’ve also heard great things about DERMAdoctor Calm Cool & Corrected anti-redness tranquility cream, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’m actually debating keeping the Paula’s Choice product in my car or purse (I wish there was a perfect purse size) so that if I’m out and something triggers it I can take care of it.
Cover Up
If you’re experiencing a flare up and you’re bothered by it, like I am when I flare, you can use makeup to cover your flare up. It Cosmetics Celebration Foundation Replenishment (pressed mineral foundation, see my review) is a full coverage foundation that my aesthetician says is good to wear after I have a facial peel. It also helps if I’m having a rosacea flare because it covers up the redness without causing flakiness. You can also wear Meow Cosmetics Pampered Puss loose mineral foundation (see my review), which is ultra soothing. I would also recommend the Cover FX CC Cream (see my review) because it’s vegan, has great coverage, and doesn’t contain any of the inflammatory ingredients including gluten, mineral or talc. I’ve also had people suggest green color correcting primers and powders to me, but I’ve never had one work to my satisfaction. They seem to work a little, but not enough.
This is what I’ve learned in the past year of dealing with rosacea. To prevent flare ups, I need to be mindful of my triggers. If I’m going to indulge in something that can trigger a flare up, I need to use moderation (like only a half hour in the hot tub). I need to be mindful of what skincare products I’m using and always use a moisturizing cleanser. I’m extremely sensitive to heat and humidity. Extreme heat actually seems to be my worst trigger. Don’t over exfoliate in the quest for cleaner pores, smoother skin, and no dry patches. Use foundations that don’t irritate the skin.
What are your tips and favorite products for dealing with rosacea?
Thanks for great and common sense advice. I have just purchased the Luna sensitive and it does clean your skin really well. People can feel very isolated with bad skin or hair conditions and it’s great to share.
I have had amazing results with the Somaluxe Redness Repair – I can even leave the house without makeup on and not be cringing! My skin is slightly reddish in tone, but still what most people would call normal. I use this Somaluxe Repair cream with my gentle face wash and the bottom line is my rosacea is functionally gone.
Too bad their stuff is packaged in jars 🙁 I hate jar packaging, so unsanitary and it doesn’t keep ingredients stable.
this is a good article! i feel a little confused though about using very moisturizing products for cleansing and extra moisturizing moisturizers because my skin is not dry; it is normal-combination (t-zone/forhead/chin are oily city and cheeks are normal). i don’t experience a lot of redness- i would say in typical areas like around nostrils and wherever i am having a ‘break out’ which act like cystic acne and hurt, a *lot* which are in the chin area, usually. what is the aczone speficially for? for break outs? I can maybe ask my derm/doc about using this in conjunction with the metrogel for now. luckily, i have some mineral makeup among my full coverage/bb/cc aresenals so perhaps on days where there are breakout issues, i can use these (IT cosmetics and CoverFx). any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated! :)) I am also going to have to go through Paula’s Choice and start getting some skincare through her line. Thanks for this information! :))
So for me, all of the Rosacea medications are very drying. They make my skin dry. It seems counter intuitive because before I was diagnosed with rosacea I had sensitive combo skin (oily t-zone), and I still have a slightly oily t-zone, but my cheeks and under eyes get very dry. Aczone is for break outs but I no longer use it. I was also able to stop using the metrogel, which dried me out horribly. I’m currently taking Oracea every other day for my rosacea, and then if I have a flare up taking it every day. It’s a prescription anti-biotic, low dose, that controls rosacea / break outs, and it’s working better for me than anything else.
I had to stop using mineral makeup (which made me sad) because it was too drying on my skin. It Cosmetics CC Cream is what I prefer to reach for more than anything else because it’s not too moisturizing, not too drying, it’s just right.
Thank you for this post. I was diagnosed a few years ago and I thought it only affected older women! Now I know I’m not the only not-old one with this annoying thing. And thank you for your advice!
I’ve probably had it since I was 18, so you are not alone!
I have never been diagnosed with rosacea and don’t get pimples. However, the absolute worst thing I have ever done for my skin was buying a clarisonic. I purchased it in DECEMBER and returned it the other day after using it for 6-8 times, My skin has never been so dry, so flaky, so red, so pimply. I am heartbroken and am trying to correct my skin.
I switched from my Clarisonic to the Foreo Luna and love it. It’s way more gentle.
wonderful tips! i dont have rosacea but i have a world of other skin issues and find this tips to be useful for them as well. I think stress is one of my biggest factors
Yes, stress is bad for us, all over!
This is an awesome post! I know many ladies out there feel all alone with their skin conditions so a post like this just shows they aren’t alone and it doesn’t have to beat them down.
Thanks Kimmi! Yeah, sometimes it makes me feel better to remember that lots of people have skin conditions and I’m not alone in my frustration.
Great tips! I know so many people who could use this post, bookmarking as well!
Happy to hear it 🙂
Like I said before, bookmarking this!!!
Yay!
Great tips! I have mild rosacea and find that moderation is indeed key.
Yeah, I can’t overdo it in the hot tub anymore.
Those are some really good tips! Great for sensitive skin too!
Yes, definitely! I thought I always had sensitive skin until the derm told me otherwise.
Very useful tips!
I’m glad you find them useful 🙂
My sister was diagnosed with rosacea, and she was surprised because she has brown skin, and usually fair skinned people have it. I will share this post with her.
I hope she finds it helpful!
Finacae Gel had been wonderful for my rosacea!
I’ve heard great things about Finacea but since the Metrogel is working I’m going to stick with it for now.
Stress is a big trigger for me, sometimes I wake up with those awful red bumps, but they go away by the end of the day. Drinking hot drinks also sets it off for me, like tea or hot chocolate. I use the Rx Finacea daily and it seems to be working well but I hate how it dries me out. The Dermadoctor Calm Cool & Corrected seems to keep it under control. It’s expensive but I just stocked up on Hautelook awhile ago when they had it for 50% off. Thank you for these rosacea posts, it helps to exchange experiences with it and get some tips on how to deal with it.
That’s great to hear about the DermaDoctor! And yay for Hautelook 🙂 You’re welcome! I get emails asking about rosacea and people wanting me to tell them if they have it. Since I’m not a doctor, I can’t diagnose, but I definitely recommend seeing the dermatologist. I’m happy to share my experiences and hopefully learn new things, too 🙂
Great post! I agree, see a dermatologist. I know a lot of people don’t want to use prescription meds, but for some of us, it’s the only thing that works. I also feel using gentle products and not overdoing it helps keep my rosacea much more calm, and even though it means there’s a lot I can’t use, good clear skin is most important to me.
I definitely feel like using moisturizing products, like a moisturizing face wash, and moisturizing foundation seems to help. I’ve never considered my skin dry, but it definitely reacts better to the extra moisture.