Plagued by redness in your skin? Here’s how to calm rosacea naturally – with tips from one of London’s leading skincare experts
With over 15 years experience and celebrities visiting her clinic, Lisa Franklin has become to the go-to skincare expert and facialist for the British elite. Her relentless attention to detail, professionalism and knowledge combine to provide a luxuriously pampering and technical approach, treating her clients as unique individuals, rather than generic skin types.
Being in the business for so long, Lisa has seen a slight increase in sensitive skin and rosacea, and has taken great care to research all kinds of skin problems in detail.
Here in this Q&A, she shares her knowledge of these common skin problems with Eluxe, and shares some great tips on how to calm rosacea naturally.
What’s the difference between sensitive skin and rosacea?
It’s often difficult to tell the difference between skin conditions because their symptoms in many cases can be similar.
Rosacea is a progressive skin disease, with its causes under much debate. Recent studies even suggest certain proteins made by the immune system can trigger the onset of rosacea.
There are various symptoms depending on the type.
These include:
- Erythematotelangiectatic Rosacea, characterised by flushing and persistent redness, and may also include visible blood vessels.
- Papulopustular rosacea, characterised by persistent redness with transient bumps and pimples.
- Phymatous rosacea, characterised by skin thickening, often resulting in an enlargement of the nose from excess tissue.
- Ocular rosacea, characterised by ocular manifestations such as dry eye, tearing and burning, swollen eyelids, styes and potential vision loss from corneal damage
Sensitive skin occurs when the skin’s natural barrier function is compromised, allowing penetration of irritants into the skin mainly due to increased water loss. Part of learning how to calm rosacea naturally is to keep the skin hydrated.
What are the most common triggers for rosacea?
The most common trigger that aggravates rosacea is exposure to the sun, affecting over 80% of sufferers. So if you care about keeping your skin looking good, and want to know how to calm rosacea naturally, you must:
- limit your exposure to sunlight
- wear a hat
- use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF of 15 or higher.
Other triggers tend to be stress and extreme weather conditions.
The key is to be gentle with this skin, avoiding scrubs, harsh cleansers and alcohol based toners and avoiding triggers, including:
- alcohol
- spicy food
- pollution
- sunlight
- hot baths and saunas
- cigarette smoke
Which treatments can work, and what types of skincare should be avoided?
The key to knowing how to calm rosacea naturally is early diagnosis and treatment. It can be dramatically improved with good quality cosmeceutical skincare along with a course of treatments tailored to the individual’s needs and the type of rosacea. Rosacea sufferers should avoid harsh cleansers and scrubs, products made with alcohol and alpha hydroxy acids. Avoid rubbing, scrubbing or massaging the face. Oh, and use a serum or cream suited towards your skin type.
How can people keep attacks at bay?
There are many ways good skincare can help the symptoms of rosacea. Calming ingredients like echinacea, vitamin E and green tea will soothe and calm the skin. Stable forms of Vitamin C can strengthen skin cells, and capillary walls, reducing the severity and length of flushing. It can also reduce the reaction of histamines in your skin that can cause swelling. Ingredients like bilberry can also help reduce broken capillaries and tone down redness.
How can nutrition work to stave off an attack?
Try to maintain a healthy nutritious diet whilst avoiding triggers, it’s important to understand that everybody’s triggers are different. Therefore, an individual needs to understand these and perhaps keep a diary. That way, when symptoms occur, be they food or environmental causes, these can be addressed and eliminated.
Rosacea is characterised by areas of redness, flushing or widened blood vessels. It’s usually on the facial area. It tends to appear around the nose and cheeks. It gradually worsens with age, especially if untreated.
This is thought to have some relationship to changing hormonal levels. However, with good therapy, it is possible to prevent progression of rosacea.
To calm rosacea naturally, be sure to cleanse with a pure, non-alcoholic cleanser. Preferably something creamy. Or even better: a cleansing oil. You can use olive or coconut oil directly to cleanse, or try a commercial product like one of those below. To help fortify capillaries, you may also want to try a serum designed for this task.
Finally, don’t forget one essential: sunblock. This will help protect your skin from one of its key triggers. Just be sure it’s as natural and gentle as can be.
Great Natural Products To Calm Rosacea Naturally
1. Ren Evercalm Anti-Redness Serum
Formulated specifically to address the issues brought on by both sensitive skin and rosacea, this serum contains milk polypeptides to calm and strengthen skin while beta-glucan soothes redness and irritation.
Rice protein boosts the lifespan of cells responsible for skin volume. Then there’s rumex, a wild herb, which reduces swelling and prevents hyperpigmentation.
Finally, hyaluronic acid helps keep skin well hydrated.
Price: Around $55
2. Pai Calming Day Cream
Looking to calm rosacea naturally? This gentle formula is perfect! It’s packed with natural goodness, including matricine, chamazulene extracts, which have an incredibly calming effect on the skin.
Rosehip CO2 extract assists in strengthening skin cells, making them appear less red over time. Omegas, pro vitamin A and carotenoids all work to restore the appearance of damaged skin, making this fresh-smelling cream perfect for not only rosacea, but other skin conditions, like eczema, too.
Price: $59
3. Osmia Organics Purely Simple Face Cream
This super clean product has been deemed a winner by all of us at Eluxe who have tried it! It really is pure and simple, which makes it excellent for sensitive skin that’s prone to redness.
Based on a gentle, plant-powered formula, this moisturiser hydrates and soothes immediately. That’s mainly thanks to aloe vera juice, calming essential oils and emollient botanical extracts like apricot kernel and sweet almond.
The only issue? The pump. It squirts out a bit more than we would like. But it’s still one of the best organic moisturizers on the market!
Price: $62
4. Subtle Energies Rose Hydrosol Spray
Pure Indian Rose is the key ingredient of this gently toning and hydrating mist. It boosts tired skin, improves skin tone and refreshes both the skin and senses.
Based on Ayurvedic principles, this spray uses rose is a gentle ‘Rasayana’, or rejuvenator. In addition to calming skin, the delicate floral scent of this Hydrosol will nurture and comfort the senses, energising the heart chakra.
Price: Around $40
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