I think I have Rosacea - can anyone give me some good skincare recommendations?

[newgossipgirlfan]

I’ve always had a sort of redness through my skin on my cheeks. I’m not even sure how to describe it. It doesn’t look like all of the really bad rosacea pictures online but definitely a bit like some of the milder cases. More like a mottling all over my cheeks. My nose has got redder recently too.

I’ve always only ever really worn foundation to cover that redness rather than anything else. I’d rather not have to wear foundation anymore because other skin issues (dehydration possibly) are meaning my skin actually looks worse with make up on. I’ve always used a green primer.

Does anyone know of any good creams that can be used to help this redness? I’ve read on here about soo-something cream? But is that quite extreme to try to start with? I understand Rosacea isn’t curable but that there are things that will help it.

Thanks!

Skinoren cream works for me but it’s prescription.

The cream you’re thinking of is soolantra. The NICE guidance on it is here:

www.nice.org.uk/advice/esnm68/chapter/Key-points-from-the-evidence

There are different types of rosacea; you can have very red painful stinging skin, like sunburn, or the spots, or a combination. I haven’t used soolantra but have several times been prescribed antiobiotics, oxycycline or limecycline and both do help a lot.

I’d be anxious about the potential for pain with a cream since my skin’s already so sore when it flares up. Long-term antibiotics are not great but I find I use them and can come off them and then need to go back on. I’ve also started taking marine collagen and vitamin B12 in an effort to deal with the dryness. It is sort of working, I think?

I keep skincare as gentle as possible, so cetaphil cleanser, rose water spray, the ordinary natural moisturising factors. Maybe a serum for dryness - I have tried loads but none have really made a huge difference and when things are particularly bad (hello menopause) I just bung on a thick layer of Vaseline before bed. Gentle exfoliation is also good, I have found dermalogica’s rice based one effective in the past.

You might find your skin reacts to eg sugar, alcohol, spicy food so you could try cutting those out and see if it makes any difference. I use green primer and - from a recommendation on here - Boots No7 hydraluminous foundation which is great.

GP. They will prescribe something based on your type of rosacea and symptoms. I have it but mostly spots rather than flushing, so get on better with antibiotic cream or azelaic acid, both of which I get through the GP for the cost of an NHS prescription rather than paying through the nose for weaker or less effective creams by beauty brands.

Second the recommendation to be very gentle on your skin. I too use cetaphil face wash. And always use a sunscreen.

I had bad rosacea and tried metronidazol, soolantra, did IPL 3 times and seems nothing helped until I fully ditched dairy and started taking Restore. It helped to treat it however, if I indulge on cheese, I can see it on my face.
I used IT Cosmetics Bye bye redness for coverage and Holika Holika soothing serum to calm skin
www.lookfantastic.com/holika-holika-one-solution-super-energy-ampoule-soothing/11693504.html

Hate to say it, but my cheeks were getting red and mottled until I stopped drinking. Just another avenue to consider.

I’ll check out the link for the Soolantra, thanks! Do you think it’s worth trying that first if it looks suitable?

I’m also not sure how I feel about taking antibiotics long term. But I suppose if they work.

It’s completely overwhelming the amount of products out there for skin isn’t it

I’ve used that foundation in the past it’s lovely! Foundation is a huge issue for me because it’s hard to get one that doesn’t highlight my dry skin and make it worse.

Maybe I should try cutting out some food groups. The thought of that is just horrendous though. I know people do it but what a hassle. Could be worth it.

I don’t drink often at all so it’s absolutely not alcohol - my skin has been this way forever anyway even from before an age where I’d be having alcohol.

I’d go to the dr. Your not doing anything wrong you’ve picked up a skin condition. No one gets flu and says right that’s it no more chocolate for me.

My dh is on antibiotics for life for his immune system, no problems have been caused by it.

Prescriptions never really worked for me. Switched to cleansing balms and always careful to keep skin well hydrated and spf50 everyday. Don’t over exfoliate. If it’s really irritated I use Dermalogica soothing cream (which feels like a silicone primer).

My husband has rosacea and cutting out dairy really helped.

I tried Soolantra, after researching on mn and finding it mentioned more than anything else. Took 4/5 months to totally clear up, and now I use it once a week for maintenance. This was 3 years ago. Prescribed by my gp.

What does your current skincare regime look like? You mention having dry skin, if you can get it more hydrated I think you'll see some improvement in your rosacea. My Rosacea is much more reactive if my skin is dry.

You need simple plain hydrating stuff.
My basics include Cerave Hydrating Cleanser and Eucerin Replenishing Face Cream/Cerave Moisturising Cream. I also remove my makeup with Clinique Take The Day Off Balm

For foundation I recommend Nars Natural Radiant Longwear.

I used Soolantra for about three years, then gradually stopped, and my rosacea hasn't come back

Soolantra is amazing - hardly need it now

Hello
Have you tried azalaic acid? It makes a huge difference to the redness to the extent I don’t wear make up.
Other things I use are a salicylic acid face wash and centella asiatica/macdecoside creams. I also use erborian tinted moisturiser.
But it is the azalaic acid that made the most difference and I wish I had known about it before.

Should say I don’t have to wear make up….but I often do!

Have you tried probiotics or drinking kefir - both can be useful in sorting roseca?

Thanks for posting, OP, I’m in the same boat.

Has anyone had good results with the Ren Evercalm range? I’ve been thinking of trying it.

Also, I see people mentioning green primers but my experience (can’t remember the brands) was not great. Is there a really good brand or am I just doing it wrong?!

Please don’t mess around with different over the counter creams.
Go to the GP
Try Soolantra

@JingleCatJingle

Please don’t mess around with different over the counter creams. Go to the GP Try Soolantra

Yep this! I wasted so much money on various moisturisers, cleansers etc for my skin.

Ended up having laser treatment to 'break up' the red veins in my cheeks and occasionally use GP prescribed Soolantra to manage the general redness. I struggled to understand why I was always red faced, until I went to a new GP about an unrelated issue, they mentioned it and referred me to a dermatologist.

Does this look like rosacea? Sorry for poor photo but it’s a close up of my face. Not like this every day but I have outbreaks of it. I feel like it might be dependent on what I eat but haven’t pinned anything down.

I also recommend Soolantra. I tried every cream, wash, cleanser going but my skin was always flushed, irritated and flaky and often spotty. I went to see a dermatologist about an unrelated skin condition and he pointed out I had rosacea and gave me Soolantra. Within weeks my skin had cleared. Now I just use a Clinique face wash and Clinique 72 hour moisture burst. I've had loads of comments about how good my skin looks now. It doesn't work for everyone, but in my case it was amazing.

I posted a couple of months back OP with the same problem. I am now 6 weeks into an 8 week course of antibiotics. The effects are great, it’s definitely improving. No idea what happens when I come off the antibiotics.

I wanted to try soolantra from there recommendations here but the gp said an 8-week course is tetral-something ab’s wws the first port of call and we will check in at the end of it.

I’m 47 - I have the same drying issues and foundation can really, really highlight it!

I use la roche posay products and change them up but stay within that range. It never causes my skin to react. But if a saviour.

CeraVe wash and moisturiser has improved mine dramatically,I use the lotion if the cream feels a bit heavy.