Living With Rosacea
April is Rosacea Awareness Month and as the month draws to a close, we asked Claire, clinician at Face The Future Clinic, to talk about her experiences living with Rosacea. Read on to find out more, including how Clare manages her symptoms and the products she uses to maintain a healthy complexion.
* Please be aware that this post was published on 28th April 2020 during the first UK Coronavirus lockdown. Face the Future Clinic is now open and Claire no longer works from home.
My experience with Rosacea
Rosacea is a complicated skin condition manifesting itself with lots of different forms and varying symptoms. Personally, my Rosacea displays as diffused redness with thread veins, which I manage with in-clinic treatments such as IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) - you can read more about that here.
Rosacea is more common in fairer skin tones, but in clinic we are seeing a lot more cases in different skin types, often as a secondary condition and more aggressive than before. Here are my tips on how to manage Rosacea:
A consistent skincare routine
For me, it's important to have a consistent skincare routine, I know that I have to maintain my skincare for the health of my skin and I also know my triggers. This can vary for most Rosacea sufferers, with triggers including heat, stress, alcohol and spicy foods. For me, it's heat, UV rays and the worst offender of all - my computer screen! As I'm now working from home at a computer every day, I always ensure I am wearing my Heliocare 360 Colour Gel Oil Free SPF 50 in Bronze, which keeps me protected against blue light that leads to my red flushes and leaves my skin with a healthy and natural dewy glow.
Skin barrier function
My skin barrier function needs to be strong and functioning properly in order to protect my skin against external aggressors that can lead to an inflammatory response in my skin. Inflammatory responses can cause vessels to dilate and blood flow to leak through them, which is responsible for a flushed complexion. I have to keep my skin calm and avoid using lots of layers of different products, which just doesn't work for my skin, so my approach is definitely 'less is more'. My Rosacea symptoms are not just on my face; they extend onto my neck and chest too, so I always take my antioxidant and SPF products all the way onto these areas too, to help combat the redness there.
Taking care of skin from the inside
I'm a huge advocate of nutritional supplements and although my diet is good, consuming the recommended amount of vitamins from diet alone is impossible, so I always take a good quality supplement to support both overall health and skin health. I am currently taking Advanced Nutrition Programme Skin Vit C in order to support my immune system as well as promote healthy skin. I also take a daily collagen drink, either Beautycoll or Skinade, to support skin's collagen production and strengthen skin's collagen matrix.
The skincare products I use
I have two skincare brands that are my personal favourites for helping control and treat my skin problems. Not only am I dealing with Rosacea, but I also want to reduce signs of ageing - life can be so cruel sometimes! I have been using Emepelle products - both the Serum and Night Cream - for 3 months. This brand was devised specifically to treat pre and post-Menopausal skin - add that to my list of problems!
Emepelle's innovative MEP Technology safely and effectively helps to replenish the health and vitality of Estrogen Deficient Skin (EDS) including accelerated collagen loss and skin ageing. The products target the root cause of Estrogen Deficient Skin for a healthier, youthful-looking complexion and an improvement in dryness, dullness, laxity, atrophy, and the appearance of fine lines.
The other skincare range I use is the Jan Marini - 5-Step Skin Care Management System Normal/Combination Kit, to which I also combine the use of Jan Marini RosaLieve Redness Reducing Complex. Not only do these products smell amazing, but they also target signs of ageing, helping to strengthen skin and protect it against damage. The easy to use 5-step system contains everything you need to achieve perfect skin and treat a number of skin conditions and concerns including Rosacea.
I include RosaLieve Redness Reducing Complex in my routine as it provides instant relief for my flushes and red complexion. It combines a blend of natural extracts, Azelaic Acid and anti-redness Tetrapeptide-14 to visibly reduce redness and comfort skin. Oat Extract and Allantoin soothe irritations to minimise and prevent redness and flare ups, while the antioxidant powers of Green, White and Red Tea help to protect sensitive and fragile skin against environmental damage.
So that's how I take care of my skin and manage my Rosacea, not just during lockdown but every day. Consistency is key and my analogy for Rosacea is it's like having grey hair - yes another one of my problems! When you get it, it's there for life and it won't miraculously become blonde again. But you can maintain it and keep colouring it to make sure it's as good as it possibly can be.
Don't forget that every case of Rosacea is different, so we always recommend a consultation in order to recommend the best possible products for your individual symptoms and skin concerns. It's also worth remembering that it's not just what is happening on the skin surface, but also what's going on internally with things like hormones, diet and lifestyle, which all have a part to play in managing skin conditions like Rosacea.
Let us help you manage and maintain your skin!
You can contact our clinic team including Kate, Kimberley & myself for consultations, product reviews and any general or individual skincare advice on info@facethefuture.co.uk.
If you have any other questions about products, please contact our customer service team on shop@facethefuture.co.uk or call 0113 282 7744.
Written for you by: Claire, Face the Future
