When Rosacea Flares Up

Hello beautiful people, I wanted to talk about when rosacea flares up and answer the questions you have surrounding rosacea. I was diagnosed with rosacea in August 2012, and I’ve been managing it ever since. These days I rarely experience painful flares, and in this updated guide I’m sharing exactly what I do, what failed me, and the simple routine that keeps my skin calm now.

Update: 28 July 2026 – I’ve fully refreshed this post with my current routine. The biggest change since I originally wrote it: adding Asian skin care to my daily routine has honestly helped my skin more than anything else I’ve tried, and I share that whole routine below.

To be clear, I am not a doctor or a medical professional. I am sharing my experiences with rosacea, what I do when rosacea flares up on my face, the medications I’ve tried to treat rosacea, along with the skin care products that have helped me control it. What works for me may not work for you. Please see the full disclaimer at the bottom.

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The Quick Answer

When my rosacea flares up, I calm it with The Ordinary Azelaic Acid 10% Suspension, a product I’ve now relied on for over 6 years. For daily prevention, my gentle barrier-focused Asian skin care routine has helped more than anything: TIRTIR Milk Skin Toner, ILLIYOON Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream, and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+. IPL laser treatments eliminated my worst trigger. Know your personal triggers and protect your skin barrier. Details on all of it below.

What is Rosacea?

Rosacea is a skin condition that causes redness to the skin, often accompanied by small, red, pus-filled bumps on the face, similar to acne. Rosacea mostly affects women with fair skin, but men can easily have it as well. More than 16 million Americans have this condition, and an estimated 415 million people worldwide. It requires a medical diagnosis from a dermatologist. This is a chronic condition that can last for years or be lifelong.

How Long Have You Had Rosacea?

I’ve likely had rosacea since I was about 15, which is when my face started to turn red all the time. Back then, I would cake powder foundation on my face to hide the redness. I used heavy makeup to conceal my redness from rosacea. When I did not use makeup to conceal it, my family would ask me if I was ill, because apparently having a red, flushed face makes me look ill. I became very self-conscious of my bare face because of rosacea and would rarely show it. It affected my self-esteem and made me feel ugly. I was finally officially diagnosed in August 2012, and getting a name for what was happening to my skin was the first step toward getting it under control.

What Does Rosacea Look Like?

Often, you’ll see broken blood vessels on your face from rosacea. Some of the other symptoms you’ll get when you flare are a stinging and burning of your face like it’s on fire or the worst sunburn you’ve ever had. Sometimes you’ll end up with really rough, dry skin, though I blame some of that on the medications I’ve been prescribed. You may also see larger pores, broken blood vessels in your eyes, bumps on your eyelids, or redness on your nose.

Here’s What Rosacea Looks Like on Me

Here’s what rosacea looked like on me during a flare up in April 2020. You can see how my cheeks are flushed red, my nose is red, my chin is pink, my forehead is red. I included my neck and shoulders here so that you can see how my face looks darker and redder than the rest of my body. What you can’t tell from the photo is that my face is burning and very painful during a flare.

What Causes Rosacea?

Fun fact, doctors don’t know exactly what causes rosacea! They have some theories though. Some theories involve your gut bacteria being out of whack, mites that live on your skin becoming too plentiful, sun damage, or your genes.

In my case I’ve got Irish ancestry and rosacea is often referred to as the Curse of the Celts. I also experienced significant sun damage as a child around 12 years of age when I fell asleep next to a pool and ended up with second-degree burns that needed medical treatment. All those sunburns as a kid really do cause damage to your skin. You can check out the National Rosacea Society for more information.

My Current Rosacea Skin Care Routine

Honestly, the best thing that has helped my skin in recent years has been adding Asian skin care to my daily routine. K-beauty and J-beauty focus on gentle, hydrating, barrier-supporting formulas instead of harsh actives, and that philosophy is exactly what reactive, rosacea-prone skin like mine needs. My daily routine is now just three steps:

Step 1: TIRTIR Milk Skin Toner

I start with the TIRTIR Milk Skin Toner. It’s a gentle, milky hydrating toner that preps my skin without any sting or tightness. No fragrance burn, no irritation, just softness.

Step 2: ILLIYOON Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream

Next I use the ILLIYOON Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream on my face. This Korean ceramide cream is designed for very sensitive, dry skin, and the jumbo size lasts forever. Ceramides help repair and maintain the skin barrier, and a healthy barrier means fewer flares for me. This cream keeps my dry skin comfortable without any irritation.

Step 3: Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++

I finish with Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++, my daily sunscreen. Sun is one of the most common rosacea triggers, so daily SPF is not optional for me. This Japanese gel sunscreen is lightweight, doesn’t sting my sensitive skin, and doesn’t leave a white cast on my very fair skin. I wear it every single day, whether or not I wear makeup, and I never rely on SPF in makeup to protect my skin. It also makes a great base for makeup.

My Supporting Products

Beyond my daily three steps, I keep two products on hand for specific situations. Whenever I see acne or painful flares or breakouts, which is rare these days, I use The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%. And whenever my skin feels sensitive after using my prescription adapalene, I use CosRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence to soothe and hydrate it.

How I Handle a Flare: The Ordinary Azelaic Acid 10% Suspension

The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% remains my number one product for rosacea flares and rosacea acne, and at this point I’ve been using it for over six years. That makes it my longest-running skin care recommendation on this blog, and it’s still around $10. When I’m experiencing a flare up, I use it every day during the flare. When my skin is calm, I only reach for it as needed. I can’t believe how well this inexpensive product works for my skin with rosacea versus the $75-$250 prescription products made for rosacea that I’ve tried in the past.

My friend Cin, who was the first to suspect I might have rosacea back in 2008-2009, was the one who suggested I try this, and I love it. She also has rosacea and usually shares her tips for what helps her with me. I’m so grateful for her!

Just so you know, The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% is not specifically marketed by Deciem as a treatment for rosacea, but the ingredient azelaic acid is on the list of FDA approved treatments for rosacea. It’s formulated without alcohol, oil, nuts, gluten, parabens, or sulfates. It’s also cruelty-free and vegan.

Rosacea Triggers

My Rosacea Trigger List

• Foods: paprika, bell peppers, raw garlic, green tomatoes, eggplant (most nightshades for me), soy
• Alcohol
• Extreme temperatures
• Biting winds
• Hot humid weather
• Freezing cold weather
• Extended time in hot tubs
• Extended time in hot baths
• Fragrance in skin care
• Fragrance in makeup
• Lavender oil
• Working out (fixed my biggest trigger with IPL laser treatments)

I keep a list of my rosacea triggers. They can vary greatly from person to person. If I ingest nightshades that I’m intolerant to, I’m likely to have a rosacea flare up. Alcohol can be a trigger for my rosacea flares, which is one of the many reasons why I don’t drink much. Hot tubs and hot baths can cause me to flare if I stay in too long. Hot, humid weather can cause a rosacea flare for me. Freezing cold and biting wind causes me to flare. Extreme temperatures are just hard on me.

Fragrance in skin care and makeup often causes me to flare. Lavender oil is one of the biggest culprits for my skin. Most makeup wipes cause me to flare too, which is why I stick to the gentle ones in my best makeup wipes for sensitive skin guide. And over exfoliating causes flares for me as well. It truly is different for everyone, so use a journal to track your rosacea flares. I strongly recommend you keep a list of your triggers and avoid the things that cause them.

Can Rosacea Be Treated?

Treatment Options

• Prescription topical medication, such as Ivermectin, Azelaic Acid, Brimonidine, Metronidazole, and Sulfacetamide
• Prescription oral medication, such as Oracea (an antibiotic)
• Prescription minimizing medication, such as Mirvaso
• IPL laser treatment

Yes, there are a few different ways to treat rosacea. You can treat the symptoms of rosacea with medication, and you can minimize the symptoms with IPL, at least in my own personal experience. The FDA has approved Ivermectin, Azelaic Acid, Brimonidine, Metronidazole, and Sulfacetamide for treatment of rosacea.

I’ve tried several different prescription medications and hated the results for how they screwed up my skin. Aczone left me with permanently dry skin. Metrogel seemed to make my skin thin, so I discontinued using it. I had great success taking Oracea pills daily, but when my insurance stopped covering the name brand, the generic didn’t work for me, and I wasn’t willing to pay $250 a month out of pocket. That was just another example of how screwed up healthcare was for me in the USA, when insurance companies, not doctors, control your prescriptions. I tried Mirvaso, which worked sporadically. It was fine for 12 hours, but then my skin would bounce back with a bad rosacea flare, and you can’t use it twice within 24 hours, so I stopped using it too.

IPL Treatment for Rosacea

My bare face in 2020, except for a UD lipgloss.

I used to have a very painful rosacea flare up every single time I worked out. Because working out is important to me, I got 7 IPL laser treatments done to my face in 2014-2015 to prevent flare ups from working out. IPL laser treatments are very painful in my experience. They put protective metal goggles on your eyes and zap you in the face with a laser over every inch of your skin. I’m Skin Type 1 on the Fitzpatrick scale, and it hurts like hell. It basically feels like they’re snapping a rubber band against your skin, over and over again. But I would rather go through IPL than a flare up.

After my 7 IPL treatments, my rosacea flares became few and far between. IPL helped remove most of the surface redness my skin used to have. I still have some pink surface tones to my skin, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. And you know what? I think my skin is beautiful, despite my rosacea.

I sincerely wish my dermatologist had told me about IPL the day I was diagnosed, because I would have signed up immediately. My first dermatologist only offered topical or oral treatments, and the topicals really damaged my skin. It was a second dermatologist who recommended IPL, and I was furious the first hadn’t mentioned it. Adding up the costs of my 7 IPL treatments, they were cheaper overall than the medications that failed me. IPL was more effective and less expensive in the long run. I even made a video talking about my experience with IPL for treating rosacea, and you can read my rosacea update from that era too.

Rosacea and Makeup: What I Wear

Finding makeup that doesn’t trigger my rosacea and actually covers redness took me years, so here are my shortcuts. For foundation, I always match to my neck and chest rather than my face, because my face runs redder than the rest of me. The Laura Geller Baked Balance-n-Brighten holds the National Rosacea Society Seal of Acceptance, and its color correcting pigments genuinely neutralize my redness, which is why I reviewed it in depth. My favorite daily complexion product is the LYS Triple Fix Skin Tint Stick, and you can see everything that matches my very fair skin in my very fair foundation swatches. Fragrance-free is non-negotiable for me in both skin care and makeup, since fragrance is one of my triggers.

Rosacea FAQ

Is there a cure for rosacea?

No, there is currently no cure for rosacea, but there are things you can do when rosacea flares up, and flares can absolutely be managed. I believe we’d see more treatment options if rosacea primarily affected men instead of women.

Can rosacea affect the eyes?

Yes, rosacea can affect the eyes. It’s one of the many reasons you should get your eyes examined by an eye doctor for your health.

Can rosacea be painful?

Yes, unfortunately, rosacea can be very painful, especially when it flares up. I’ve had people mock me for complaining about the pain, but I’m sure they couldn’t make it a mile in my shoes.

Is it rosacea or seborrheic dermatitis?

You absolutely must see a dermatologist for a diagnosis. I happen to have both. My rosacea is on my face, and my seborrheic dermatitis is between my eyebrows and on my scalp. I treat the seborrheic dermatitis with a medicated shampoo, and my scalp flares when my allergies are bad.

Is Asian skin care good for rosacea?

In my personal experience, yes. The K-beauty and J-beauty philosophy of gentle, fragrance-conscious, barrier-supporting hydration has been the best thing I’ve added to my routine in years. My skin is calmer with my simple TIRTIR, ILLIYOON, and Canmake routine than it ever was with harsher Western actives. Just check every product for fragrance if that’s one of your triggers, like it is for me.

What’s the fastest way to calm a rosacea flare?

For me: stop all actives and exfoliants, stick to my gentle barrier routine, use The Ordinary Azelaic Acid daily during the flare, avoid my known triggers, and be patient. Everyone’s skin is different, so track what works for yours.

Does azelaic acid help rosacea?

Azelaic acid is on the FDA’s list of approved rosacea treatments, and prescription strength versions exist. In my personal experience, the 10% over-the-counter suspension from The Ordinary works better for my skin than any of the topical prescriptions I tried, at a fraction of the price.

Final Thoughts

Fourteen years after my diagnosis, my rosacea is the most controlled it has ever been, and the formula turned out to be simpler than I expected: IPL for the deep redness, a gentle barrier-first daily routine, azelaic acid for flares, and knowing my triggers. I hope you find this guide helpful.

If you have rosacea, how do you handle it when rosacea flares up? Have you tried IPL laser treatments, or found a holy grail product for your flares? I’d love to hear what works for you in the comments!

Again, I am not a doctor or a medical professional. This information about rosacea is for general informational purposes only. Information in this post may not constitute the most up-to-date information. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this site are hereby expressly disclaimed. The rosacea content on this posting is provided “as is;” no representations are made that the content is error-free.

More to See

• Laura Geller Baked Balance-n-Brighten Foundation Review
• The Best Makeup Wipes for Sensitive Skin
• Skin Care Routine for Women Over 40
• Best Foundation: Very Fair Foundation Swatches
• My Experience Treating Rosacea with IPL