Any advice about rosacea before I have to wear a bag on my head?

[MaryWiselyornotatall]

I have recently been diagnosed with rosacea, a skin condition which causes red flushing and broken veins on the nose and cheek area, and which can lead to that horrible red, bumpy nose which is often regarded as a heavy drinker's complaint. The doctor says it isn't bad enough for antibiotic tablets, thank god, because at the moment I don't have the horrible pimples which it can cause, so has given me some metronidazole gel to apply twice a day.

I do have one tiny, bumpy patch on my already fairly noticeable nose, and am desperate to try anything which might minimise the chance of it getting worse. Does anyone have any suggestions, apart from nose amputation? I would try anything, whether skin products to help, or cosmetics to disguise the redness. It is apparently very common, but I don't find that particularly consoling. I don't want to look horrible!

TIA.

big sympathy. I've developed rosacea over the past year too, and but didn't realise to begin with, and blitzed the red bumps with spot treatments. Apparently it's pretty common for fair skin types, and starts between 30-50, so you're really not alone.

What worked for me was switching from Boots P&P (which I think was aggravating it) to Avene sensitive skin serum and moisturiser with a SPF30. Avene also does a topical soothing cream which calmed down the red spots on my cheeks quite quickly. I went back to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish from the No7 hot cloth cleanser too; it's very gentle. The French pharmacy skincare ranges like La Roche-Posay/Vichy/Avene have products targeted towards rosacea and are all quite effective, apparently.

I also got some metronidazole to blitz flare-ups, and that seems to work, although I'd prefer to keep it under control with diet/skincare if I can.

I was SO depressed when I got it (was 29-30) and felt so ugly. Touchwood I don't have it anymore (now 34). I used Rosex ceam (prescribed by gp) which cleared it up. And switched to the Avene range (from Boots), which is excellent for my skin. Other things will still make it flare up. WHen I fell pg with ds I stopped using Rosex and my rosacea hasn't reappeared (although I still only use Avene products on my face).

Good luck. x

Oh, and I found Bare Escentuals mineral foundation covers everything up surprisingly well without irritating.

My mum has this and I got her something herbal, think it was nettle tea? Holland and Barratt generally give good advice on things like this then go and buy it somewhere cheaper

I developed Rosacea when pregnant with my DC. It goes through bad patches, but is always there.

I second the Liz Earle recommendation - although I just use the cleanse and polish and moisturiser for dry/sensitive skin.

Try to see if you can colorate flare ups with food, for me red wine is a big no-no.

Bare Escentuals are amazing

Thanks Nearly and Wildfig.

I will give Avene a try, as I think I have used something of theirs before to soothe red skin, and found it excellent. A trip to Boots tomorrow, I think. Unfortunately, Wild, I have found the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish makes the rosacea worse, which is a shame, as I was a huge Liz Earle fan. I think it might be the cloths as apparently, some people need to avoid anything which rubs the skin.

I have already bought a trial pack of Bare Escentuels to try, but am still struggling to make it look ok, and not like a powdery, whiskery old lady. Whiskers! That is another whole area of annoyance, and should probably be my MN name.

Nearly - what is Rosex? Is it the same as metronidazole gel, or something different? I might mention it to my gp next time I see her.

Thankyou. Will let you know if I begin to look like a proper laydee again.

My DH was diagnosed with this a couple of years ago, but a course of antibiotics did pretty much clear it up.

I guess you might already know this (but just in case you don't) the doctor advised him to avoid tea, coffee, alcohol, chocolate and spicy food as they can all induce flushing, and to use a good high sunscreen - min factor 30. I've heard good hings about La Roche Posays range. MAC do a good factor 50 primer.

Also maybe a theatrical range of makeup might help disguise the redness? I use Ben Nye's concealers and face powder and the coverage is fab (i have v fair skin with a few broken veins and they work well for me).

For cleansers I would look at lush ultrabland - same theory as liz Earle but less essential oils. Or they do one called 9-5 which is a lotion with orchid oil. My sensitive spot prone skin loves it!

I have rosacea but also have it pretty much under control now. I was diagnosed after it flared up when I'd had my second child age 32 but looking back I'd always had a tendency to 'flush'

Liz Earle is ok for me most of the time but I have noticed my skin is even less red when I use nothing, just water to wash. But it gets too dry then so I've started using liz Earle moisturiser again, just a bit.

Heat makes mine flare up, and wine. Not sure about any particular foods although some say cheese/choc etc.

I use Virgin Vies One step face base as a foundation. I've tried others but that's the only one that doesn't aggravate it. I have heard good things about Bare Escentuals though.

I also have rosacea. I developed it when I was pregnant with my DD. I use rosex and Dermalogica and sometimes Clinique redness solutions. I do use Bare Escentuals though. I also have ocular rosacea so have to wash my eyelids morning and night.
Biggest help I found was giving up wine and coffee.

Laroche posay rosaliac cleansing gel is great for me. I use their Anthelios sunscreen if I'm somewhere hot, otherwise Clinique superdefense moisturiser. Clinique lady told me to use oil-free products always. I don't use anything which rubs or scrubs (it was using an Olay exfoliant that flared it up in the first place). Take antibiotics but only twice a week and that keeps it under control. Have also found Estée Lauder idealist even skin tone serum great for fading scars. Always always wear sunscreen.

And I second Clinique redness solutions foundation.

My Mum gets this, in terms of disguising it I bought her a green tinted primer to wear under her foundation (green filters out red), it works really well. Quite a few brands do them now, a good budget one is boots no.7.

My mum has all but got rid of hers by giving up alcohol and caffeine and switching to clarins moisturiser. She doesn't use anything except water and moisturiser on her face though as she also has quite dry skin.

Thank you all for your advice. I will have a trip to the shops this week and look at a few of the recommendations.

I have worked out that, like Fresh, I have to avoid anything that rubs, so Liz Earle cleanser is out, as are exfoliators. I have also realised that it looks much worse when I drink red wine, or eat tomatoes or chocolate, so there must be some common ground for lots of sufferers.

Bright - haven't got a Lush near me, but a friend recommended Cetaphil cleanser, which is really cheap, and now available in Boots, so I might try that.

Fresh - didn't know about sunscreen, so I will look for something heavy duty.

Once more, thanks to you all. I have always had good skin, so this is really getting me down, and I desperately want to avoid the horrid bumpy nose in the future. Will report back. I can't believe how helpful all these suggestions are, as my gp didn't really tell me anything about it, just gave me the gel. But she is lovely - just v busy, so I can't grumble too much. You are all luffly!

The pharmacy in my local Asda had cetaphil for £4 recently. I liked the cleanser.

The gel didn't do much for mine but a few months of antibiotic tablets sent it packing.
Was also advised by the doctor to use aqueous cream for washing and moisturising face as it is gentle. I got the chemist's own brand or you can splash out on E45.

I didn't think mine was that bad but when it was gone it looked so much better. Definitely worth persevering.

I have rosacea, brought on by stress. I am currently taking a daily AB which works well. Recently I forgot to take them when I went away for a few days and by the time I got home I could already feel the start of the bumps under my skin.

I have found the absolutely best foundation to be Estee Lauder Doublewear. It gives really good coverage. I personally don't like the almost airbrushed appearance that Bare Escentuals gives. For me, Doublewear is lighter and appears more natural. And gives really, really good coverage (did I already mention that?! ).

Does anyone know if there is a proper cure for rosacea? I have been taking these ABs for about 3 or 4 months and while they work and keep it at bay it is apparent that I have to keep taking them or else it gets worse again.

I tend to use Clinique Redness solutions cleanser, day cream and green under base as well as the foundation.

Another product which seems to help is Dr Haushka Rose Day cream which smells amazing.

Go back to your GP if what you're using is not working - there are definite alternatives.

I was diagnosed about 2 years ago and the combination that works for me is a topical antibiotic plus Panoxyl. I would also second Bare Escentuals foundation - great for cover up of angry red patches.

Good luck on finding a combo that suits you.

Rinders - hope your life is getting back on an even keel now, as I remember you from your past threads. Wishing you well. As far as my understanding goes, there is no absolute cure for rosacea, and it is a condition that just has to be managed. I know that stress also makes mine flare up, but now that I have given up a v stressful job and moved to live in the country, I am hoping that I will be much more relaxed. Thanks for the foundation advice, as I am struggling to make the Bare Escentuals work for me.

Stress is the worst trigger for me, and sugar; I try not to eat too much bread/pasta/wheat anyway, but if I overindulge, I do notice more redness. And I've heard that coffee is a trigger too, but if I give that up, my stress levels would go through the roof anyway.

The trick with Bare Escentuals is to get a decent kabuki brush - the Body Shop one is good - and to buff for longer than you'd think to work the powder into the skin. One of their sales assts once told me you had to sing Happy Birthday to yourself twice. (She didn't specify whether normal speed or Marilyn Monroe/JFK speed.)

Not a long-term solution but for evenings out/special occasions or even day to day if you are into wearing make up I have a couple of suggestions. A good colour adjust primer, a colour adjust powder and a colour adjust concealer are good to have, I work as a make up artist and find using these on clients with rosacea completely eliminates the issue. Some ladies only need one of these while others require 2 or 3 colour correcting products so it's down to how much you want/need to cover. The products I use and would recommend are;

Smashbox photo finish color correcting primer, adjust (green)
and
Smashbox halo yellow color correcting powder

The concealer I use I buy wholesale and it isn't available to the public but a good quality green concealer is great for this (and also brilliant for covering blemishes) look for one in a pan rather than a stick form that's nice and creamy as this is far easier to blend!

Thanks TRAT. Good to have a professional giving advice.

Wildfig - thanks for the kabuki brush suggestion, as I am not keen on the big brush supplied with BE kit.It seems a bit scratchy, and if I am trying to avoid rubbing the affected bits of my face, it seems a bit counter-productive. Will add Body Shop to my list of shops to visit. Wonder how DH is going to react if I start singing Happy Birthday to myself every morning?