What to avoid when you have Rosacea

Hey everybody. For about six months I have been dealing with rosacea and all the fun little things that go along with it. Rosacea isn't just chronic redness; it can also appear as "papules and pustules," burning ans stinging, an enlarged nose due to excess tissue, and irritated eyes. My rosacea sits under the "papules and pustules" plus burning and stinging category, which pretty much means that when I have a flare up, it looks like acne. When I first started getting flare ups I thought it was acne, and treated it as such. That was probably the worse thing that I could have done, and once I finally figured out what the heck the problem was, I started doing tons of research to figure out a new skincare routine.


When you have rosacea, that means that you have sensitive skin. When you have sensitive skin, there are loads of things you need to avoid, especially if you are prone to rosacea.


The first thing you need to do is stop exfoliating your skin. Yeah, that's right. Papules and pustules can make your skin feel very rough, like it always needs exfoliating. Before I knew acne wasn't the problem, I exfoliated the crap out of my skin, which only made it worse. Your skin needs to repair itself, so exfoliation is the exact opposite of what your skin needs.

As far as products go, there are lots of ingredients you need to avoid. Always looks for products that are labeled "sensitive skin," and go from there. I always choose products that are oil free, because I have oily skin. My nighttime moisturizer has oil in it, but that doesn't matter because I only use it at night.

Products that you choose should be free of drying alcohols (not all alcohols are drying, did you know that?), fragrance, witch hazel, and anything irritating like menthol. Toners are pretty much a no-go. They contain alcohol and acne fighting ingredients that are going to exacerbate your rosacea. I stay away from acne fighting ingredients because they can be irritating. If I do happen to have a pimple, I use a spot treatment only on that one spot to clear it up. This method works well for me.

It's really important to stay away from scented products. I've heard that fragrance is the number one irritating ingredient in skin care. Think about it- you're just apply unnecessary chemicals to your already sensitive face.

I have found that simple is better when it comes to caring for sensitive skin. I use my cleanser, my prescription treatment for rosacea, and my moisturizer. During the day I also use a sunscreen. And that's it. When I start overloading my skin with products, I can really tell that my skin retaliates.


Sunscreen is important for everybody, especially those of us with sensitive skin. When it comes to sunscreen, look for physical suncreen ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Physical sunscreens are far less likely to irritate the skin than chemical sunscreens. It's difficult to find sunscreen at the drugstore that uses only these ingredients. Your best bet is going to be products that are made for babies or are labeled as natural. Neutrogena Pure and Free is a good line to use.


Here is a really helpful chart showing the differences between physical and chemical sunscreens.

Drying alcohols that are irritating to the skin are listed as :

Isopropanol
alcohol denat
ethanol
SD alcohol
ethyl alcohol

Avoid those and you'll be fine.


Fatty alcohols that are okay are listed as:


cetyl alcohol
cetearyl alcohol
behenyl alcohol
lanolin alcohol
stearyl alcohol

These alcohols are perfectly fine because they are not stripping or drying.



I know this is a lot of information, but I hope it helps you in choosing the skincare that is right for you.


Much love,
Gianna