Since being diagnosed with rosacea in 2015 I’ve been sharing my journey through treatments, prescriptions, lotions, potions and medication with the hope that my experiences may help others manage their own rosy skin and prevent major bumpy breakouts.
After trying loads of different products (and being sorely disappointed with most of them) I discovered a precious few that actually appear to calm my facial redness and keep those pesky pustules under control:
My Top Rosacea Skincare Products are available at the supermarket, pharmacy, drug store and online and absolutely won’t break the bank!
1. Coconut oil: I purchase 100% raw coconut oil in blocks or tubs (much like butter) at my local supermarket for less than $3 and put a bit in a small container in the bathroom for daily use for gentle cleansing and moisturizing while the rest lives in the fridge until needed. A single block lasts for months and, of course, can also used for cooking and baking. (grab my gentle rosacea skincare routine here)
2. An Anti-Redness cream for sensitive skin: I discovered this particular anti-redness cream in Germany and have used it ever since. This groovy herbal cream is specially formulated for rosacea and is also free of perfumes and very reasonably priced at €7 ($10 Cdn). Unfortunately it’s not available in North America, fortunately I stocked up before we moved.
3. Zinc Oxide cream: Not just for diaper rash and sunburns zinc oxide cream also helps calm my rosacea flushed skin and can be purchased in varying sizes for $2 – $5. My rosacea-flush-attacks are usually caused by being overheated and consist of 2 flaming hot, bright red-purple stripes on my cheeks, incredibly uncomfortable and not fun at all. A light coat of zinc oxide has my skin back to a normal temperature and colour in a few minutes. I carry a small tube in my bag at all times.
4. Metrogel 1%: Metrogel (metronidazole) Gel, 1% is a topical treatment for those pesky inflammatory lesions of rosacea and is only available by prescription. It’s very easy to use as only a thin layer is applied to the rosacea area once per day. I apply it after cleansing my face before bed so it can work its groovy magic overnight. The pump bottle is super convenient as it provides perfectly measured doses (& apparently contains 200+ measured pumps).
I’ve been using it nightly since early Jan/2017 and so far the product has made those annoying rosacea pustules completely disappear and has faded the redness on my cheeks considerably. Unfortunately Metrogel 1% has zero effect on the excessive flushing and blushing that goes along with rosacea but avoiding my triggers definitely goes a long way to preventing those insane rosy-cheek-attacks while out and about.
I paid $51.00 (cdn) for my prescription which is loads less than the cost of any of the over-the-counter/online product brands I had previously tried. $51 for over half a year of rosacea product that actually works is pretty impressive (especially when compared to the prices of the 1 – 3 month supplies of the ones that didn’t).
Check out my everyday redness concealing routine, product reviews + a few tips & tricks in my groovy video Rosacea MakeUp Tutorial:
Grab the links to my fave products mentioned in the video below:
1. It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye 2. It Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness 3. It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores 4. e.l.f Cosmetics Tone Correcting Powder 5. So Eco Face Brush Set 6. Nudestix Eye Pencil 7. Nudestix Lip & Cheek Pencil 8. Essence Big Lashes Volume Curl Mascara
Take a peek at my Living with Rosacea category and learn what happened when lasers met my face, discover my honest rosacea product reviews as well as my gentle rosacea make-up removing routine.
Got a rosacea tale to tell? Go ahead and share it in the comments below!
So happy to have found your blog. Recently diagnosed with mild Rosacea (pink chin and cheeks) and terrible dryness on my forehead. I can’t stand the constant flushing and never knew it was related to Rosacea just thought because I’m pale so it’s more visible. I’m learning a lot and was prescribed Soolantra which is similar to metrogel. I’m skeptical it will help with just redness but am willing to try. In the meantime, I’m going to try out your skin care routine . Thank you for sharing your Rosacea journey!
Before I was diagnosed I thought the exact same thing 😉 My pale skin = more visible redness – it was such a relief to finally find out that it was actually a skin condition that could be dealt with. It’s been a long journey experimenting with different lotions and potions but I’m hoping that I’ve finally found the right combination that works with my skin 😀 Be sure to let me know what works for you!
I’ve struggled with keeping my red nose under control! No amount of makeup could take away the redness on my nose…I felt self=conscious when seeing photographs, wondering if I could ever look and feel better about the way I looked. I am going to try some of your suggestions and see what happens!
Rosacea is the worst as the flushing can happen at any time for what appears to be a crazy amount of random reasons 🙁 Everytime I think I have my rosacea triggers figured out another few crop up, grrr! Finding the right combo of products is frustrating as everyone’s rosacea reacts differently so ya gotta try just about everything available to see what actually helps – the zinc oxide really does reduce redness rather quicky though and the coconut oil definitely helps with the dryness 😀