5 Must-Have Products for Rosacea: My Rosacea Experience
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After sharing last week about my struggle with rosacea, I had an overwhelming amount of people reach out saying they also live with this skin condition. I was diagnosed with rosacea at the age of 25 and it got worse after having both of my boys. Over the past 11 years, I’ve tried many different products and started learning more about what affects my rosacea. In this post I’m going to discuss what rosacea is, share more about my experience with this skin condition, point out some of the common triggers for flare-ups and share my top 5 must-have products for rosacea.
What is Rosacea?
Rosacea is a very common skin condition, which causes redness and little bumps, often on your cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. After a while, broken blood vessels might show through your skin, which can thicken and swell up. Other rosacea symptoms might include stinging or burning skin, rough, dry patches, a red swollen nose, large pores, and vision problems. Symptoms often come and go as rosacea flare-ups occur. The only way to properly diagnose and treat rosacea is with a certified dermatologist.
My Experience with Rosacea
A bad flare up in 2020
My mom and grandmother both have rosacea, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when I was diagnosed at 25, as it’s common for this skin condition to run in families. To be sure, I visited a dermatologist for a diagnosis and I continue to see one regularly for monitoring. Originally, my dermatologist wanted me to start a medication to reduce the redness on my face. But, this medication also happened to be a blood pressure medication. Since I already have very low blood pressure, this wasn’t a safe option. Instead, I have tried out many different products over the years and also learned to pay attention to certain triggers to help keep my rosacea at bay. I also came to learn that staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water can be very helpful.
My Rosacea Triggers
It took awhile and some trial and error, but I have learned to be mindful of different foods and environmental triggers that often cause my rosacea flare-ups. Here are the main triggers I’ve noticed.
Rosacea Food Triggers
Hot drinks like coffee and tea
Alcohol
Spicy foods
Dairy
Rosacea Environmental Triggers:
Wind
Sunlight
Extreme cold or hot weather
Stress
5 Must-Have Products for Rosacea
In addition to paying attention to these triggers and staying hydrated, I’ve tested out many different products over the years. These are my top 5 must-have products for rosacea from my own personal experience.
Best Rosacea Face Wash: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (when not removing makeup)
This is the face wash I use to cleanse when I am makeup-free, such as in the mornings. It is a mild, yet effective, formula. This gentle skin cleanser is known for its relieving, lotion-like feel that soothes rosacea-prone skin with a blend of moisturizing glycerin and anti-inflammatory niacinamide. I also love that it’s very affordable, for only $8-$16!
Best Rosacea Face Wash: SkinCeuticals Gentle Cleanser (when needing to remove makeup)
This face wash is a creamy, mild cleanser formulated with an emollient-rich surfactant and 3% concentration of key ingredients combining allantoin, glycerin, and orange oil to soften and restore skin’s surface. I appreciate that this non-foaming, gentle skin cleanser efficiently removes impurities and long-wear face and eye makeup without leaving any traces of residue. My skin is left feeling soft, moisturized, and primed for in-office treatments and at-home cosmeceutical use.
2. Best Rosacea and Acne Treatment Cream: Paula’s Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster
I’ve learned that azelaic acid is one of the best ingredients for soothing rosacea flare-ups. Azelaic acid is an anti-microbial and helps prevent pore-clogging and this particular product has a high concentration of this ingredient. This treatment cream also has the added benefit of helping reduce post-inflammatory acne hyperpigmentation. Once or twice daily, I apply this rosacea cream to my face and neck. It may be used alone or added to your favorite moisturizer or serum, just be sure to always follow with sunscreen during the day. I really love this product!
3. Best Rosacea Moisturizer: Eminence Vitaskin Calm Skin Chamomile Moisturizer
This rosacea moisturizer helps soothe irritation and hydrate sensitive skin with calming chamomile and arnica. It also combines those elements with shea butter and calendula oil to help relieve the appearance of redness. Out of all of the rosacea moisturizers I’ve tried, this is my absolute favorite!
4. Best Rosacea Color Corrector: Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment
This rosacea-friendly color corrector rapidly neutralizes the look of redness and visibly evens skin tone for healthy, natural-looking skin. It also contains SPF, which is important to help stop rosacea flare-ups from occurring. When blending, this cream will change from green to beige and visibly even out your skin tone. A little goes a long way, so you will only need to apply a dime size amount.
5. Best Rosacea Face Mask: SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Mask
This hydrating face mask contains highly-concentrated botanical extracts, a calming dipeptide, and hyaluronic acid to intensively soothe and replenish skin. This rosacea-friendly face mask cools on contact, comforts sensitive skin, reduces visible redness, and restores natural radiance and smoothness. It has also been clinically tested post-procedure (after laser treatments, extractions, etc.) to effectively reduce visual redness and discomfort. This is the face mask I reach for after a hard day or when I’m having a rosacea flare-up.
Rosacea Treatments
For now, I feel really good about managing my rosacea with these 5 products and paying close attention to my triggers. But, this is not to say that things won’t ever change. Another option that I may pursue in the future is laser treatments. For these rosacea treatments, my dermatologist would use the heat of a laser to collapse visible blood vessels which will in return reduce redness.
Your Experiences with Rosacea
Do you or someone you love also suffer from rosacea? Have you been able to manage it through over-the-counter products or do prescription medications work best for you? What are your top rosacea must-have products, are there others that I need to try? And have you noticed any additional rosacea triggers that I might need to be aware of? If the comments flooding into my DMs last week taught me anything, it’s that I am not alone in suffering from rosacea and I would love to learn more about your experiences as well. We’re in this together!