What has worked for your rosacea?

[zjgahsf]

I have erythematotelangiectatic rosacea (facial redness, flushing, and visible blood vessels but no acne).

I’ve tried:

• Finacea + Soolantra
• Soolantra alone
• Soolantra + Elidel
• Elidel alone

I see no little improvement in redness, and I feel the products are aging my skin. They also make my skin sticky and shiny, which I really dislike.

What has worked for you? 🙏🙏🙏

How long before you saw results? Did it initially look worse?

I’m following my dermatologist’s recommendations, but I’m curious whether I tried long enough.

Or are all these potions mostly pointless and just a tick‑box exercise before trying laser? ✅

@Legolaslady My dermato is pushing for laser since the topical treatments haven’t been working. I’m not sure my insurer would approve it 😬 How many laser sessions did you need? Do you have type 1 rosacea like me, or the type with papules?

@TinyMouseTheatre I love dairy 😅 I should try cutting it out for a while

@MouldyCandy Not very long. Maybe two months, and not every day, as I found it very drying! Did Finacea work on its own for you? Which rosacea type do you have? I was told to use Finacea (morning) and Soolantra (evening). I feel Soolantra (ivermectin) mostly helps the acne‑type rosacea, which I don’t have. Using both might have been too much and unnecessary for me! Maybe I should try Finacea alone 🤔

@MyJustCat Ah, after reading other posters’ experiences, I have a feeling this might be a winning combo for me 🥳 You have type 1 / no‑papule rosacea?

I have Rosacea with pustules and a few years ago a wonderful MNetter recommended Facetheory serum with azaliac acid. I use it every day and have clear skin.

I know it works, because if I stop using it for a couple of days the red and spots come back.

I’ve had skin+me for a while and that’s worked. I still have redness but not as bad. I’ve spoken to the prescribers and they said I need to try a cc cream as what they prescribe won’t completely get rid of it. But it has made a massive difference.

@HealthyRosyWhich SPF cream are you using, please? I’ve found Rozex helps but pretty much every SPF seems to irritate my skin.

I have type 2 always told it was acne until last year, before that I tried Dermatica and Skin & Me both did nothing. Used Soolantra for 4 months and things got a lot better, I stripped back my skincare to almost nothing and started using ridiculously expensive Klira 3 months ago. My skin is now clear, even in tone and I’m really enjoying having a very simple routine. Soolantra won’t help if it’s not down to demodex mites. No alcohol in skincare, work on barrier repair with ceramides and check your gut health.

Personally the best thing for me was Doxycycline.
Soolantra made no difference.

And my skincare is LA Roche Posay Toleraine, made a significant difference to the condition of my skin.

Hi @Medenagan and @zjgahsf , when I’m in the sun I use Badger sunscreen, which is usually very gentle on me. For foundation I used to use a good one made by Lush, but they discontinued it.

This is probably not very helpful, but when they stopped making it I just copied the ingredients and began making my own. It was oil based rather than water based, so there’s not the same need to pump it full of preservatives or mess about with emulsifiers (definitely necessary in water based formulas). Ignore all the bonkers DIY makeup recipes online that use “natural” emulsifiers and are preservative free while using ingredients like cocoa powder!!!

It’s just Shea butter, a mix of beeswax and carnauba wax, then cosmetic grade pigments to match your skin tone (zinc oxide for white, and red, black and yellow iron oxide to tint). It takes a bit of experimentation and faffing about to match your skin colour, but I make up a batch for the year and freeze it. It’s been bliss honestly, I never found a makeup that matched my skin tone so it’s nice to get it just right. Happy to share more if you wanted to give it a go but I’m aware it’s going to seem like an incredibly tedious job for most people!

How does yours feel? Mine feels reactive to everything sometimes, it feels hot and burning when it flushes. I think it’s also down to a damaged skin barrier. For the last few weeks I’ve been using soolantra at night, wait 20 minutes then put a barrier building moisturiser over it.

You need one with ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol. I use illiyoon ato lotion in the morning and inkey list ceramide at night. Wash with a really gentle cleanser, I use aveeno calm and restore. No exfoliation.

A damaged skin barrier is definitely a thing, I used a charcoal bar soap before I found skin & me and it destroyed my skin barrier. I then stuck to a gentle cleansing and moisturising routine and nothing else for a few weeks before using skin & me.
The cleanser I used (and still use) is Cerave hydrating cleanser and the moisturiser was Childs Farm Cocoa & Shea Moisturiser, I've since switched to Nivea Creme (the one in the blue tin) - all inexpensive and skin & me do a low cost offer for the first month.

Azelaic acid worked for me (mild rosacea), my friend had worse rosacea with more persistent flushing and Soolantra (ivermectin) was what worked in the end for her