Rosacea Skin Care Regime

Rosacea Skin Care Regime 

Rosacea is a medical skin condition characterised by hundreds of tiny and fine veins in the superficial skin surface. This increases blood flow to the skin surface resulting in the red flare ups or the ‘blushing’ that sufferer’s typically experience. Please see our full article  Rosacea Guideline

Rosacea Signs and Symptoms:

• Red blushing like effect over the cheeks and nose
• Fine little blood vessels or veins that become progressively more noticeable as time passes
• Small pimples or acne like lesions over the inflamed or red areas
• A skin sensitivity that comes and goes and may be extreme at times

Rosacea Skin Care Regime

Avoid the Following 

• Protect The Skin: from sun damage using non irritating SPF ingredients such as zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide
• Eliminate: any irritating or sensitizing ingredients as these pften cause flare ups and may even worsen the Rosacea
• Add: products that reduce redness and calm inflamed red skin
• Remove: the buildup of dead skin cells and wrinkles with products loaded with antioxidants

Applying Skin Care Products

1. Use a gentle sensitive skin cleanser that does not dry out your skin. See our cleansers here.
2. Remember to apply a sunscreen in the A.M. with SPF 30 or greater. My recommendation is to use an SPF that only contains active sunscreen ingredients titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide along with antioxidants such as Ferulic acid or Fern Block. See our sunscreens here.
3. If you have oily or combination skin then use a gel or a light serum moisturiser formulated with a number of different antioxidants and skin-repairing ingredients such as retinol,  Vitamin C and Vitamin E.  Retinol products here 
4. If you have normal to dry skin, in the evening use a lotion or cream moisturiser formulated with a number of different antioxidants and skin-repairing ingredients.
5. Once or twice a day, use a salicylic acid (BHA) exfoliant or face cleanser as these gentle acids not only help to clean the skin removing dead skin cells and prepare the skin for topical products they also help to reduce inflammation and redness.

Rosacea Retinol Fact:

Often people are scarred to use retinol if they have rosacea or sensitive skin. Retinol will not make rosacea or sensitive skin worse. In fact the exact opposite as research has shown that retinol will help calm the skin by protecting it against factors that produce inflammation in the skin.

See our sensitive skin and Rosacea skin products here.

Avoid Ingredients That Trigger

Ingredients That May Make Rosacea Worse

• Any toical products that have a fragrance especially if derived from natural plant extracts but this also includes synthetic derived fragrances
• All essential oils
• Lemon, lime, menthol, peppermint, pine, and cedar
• Alcohol
• Witch hazel

Eliminate

• Any cleansers hat come in the form of a bar soap and definitely stay away from granular or rough scrubs
• Cleansers that dry out your skin
• Toners with alcohol and fragrance

I hope you have found the above article on rosacea skin care guidelines helpful and useful. Please feel free to send me comments or any questions you may have with your skin regimes.

Kind regards

Dr Alek Nikolic

Helpful Resources:

Rosacea Support Group
Free, moderated, online community that offers support.

National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
Provides Q&A about rosacea.

National Rosacea Society
Quarterly newsletter, booklet to help people identify and avoid triggers, and other resources.